Other Sightings in Portugal

APENSOS 5, Volume I pages 222 to 225

Statement of Andrea Griffin re sighting in Alcateia, Algarve

Transcript of Statement in English

Confidential
Document Record Print

Date 22. 05. 2007

Incident message
M837

From: Griffin

Forename: Andrea

Information

I came back from Portugal last Sun, I went out with my sister and my niece from Manchester on April 29th and came back on May 13th. We were staying at a place between Villamoura and Albufeira and the hotel Albinuf in Acoteiaf. The only we knew that Madeleine had disappeared was cause we kept seeing something on the Portuguese station, none of the three of us could speak Portuguese but I picked up odd words that indicated that an English girl had gone missing froma village up the coast from where we were staying. Sat May 5th we went out to a restaurant in Acoteiaf called Pateo de Golfe. We came out at about quarter past ten in the evening and we passed coming back to the hotel an internet café on a row of shops, restaurants and an Aromoatherapy bar and outside was parked a white Portuguese car (Portuguese number plate). There was no pedestrians in the area at the time but in the internet café there was at least one person, my niece after we walked passed the white car said there was a little girl o the back seat of the car asleep on her own. At that point we all walked back to have a look in the car and on the back seat there was a little girl dressed in a white cardigan and a short blue denim skirt, she wasn’t moving and what i found strange was she was lying with her knees up in the air and not prone on the seat like other children. We couldn’t see her face or head at all as she was in shadow, behind the passenger seat in the well there were two balloons both pearlised, 1 pink and 1 white and on the side of the white car was the words Homecare written in blue writing and there was a telephone number underneath. On the back window my niece spotted a sticker again saying Homecare and I think she said either blue and red or blue and green. Whilst we looked in the car there was no-one around and the child didn’t move at all or make a noise. We were concerned but we thought that Dad or whoever would be in the Internet café. When we got back to the hotel we tried to find the news because I thought they might have released what the little girl was wearing at the time. We got an English station but there was nothing about clothing. After about quarter of an hour we were concerned and talking about it and I said I’m not going to sleep tonight we need to make contact with someone even if it is dismissed. Niece said there was something else odd, there was no car seat in the car. My niece (29 years) used to work in the area 2 years ago she knew it was the law to have a car seat. I said I’m going to reception to report it which I did. They took it seriously and rang the Portuguese police. About 20/30 minutes later I got a call from Reception to say the police were on their way to speak to me. 2 very young policemen turned up, they spoke English and they asked questions. They said the car had left the internet café. We realised we hadn’t taken the car registration number. They showed me a picture and said “is this the little girl you saw” I said “the face was in shadow so I can’t be sure”. The picture they showed was more mousey hair. They wrote nothing down. My niece said to them “I hope you go to the Internet café and question the owner as the car was right outside”. Our minds were put to rest as we’d told the police. Nothing appeared locally till the last Saturday when a poster was put up about Madeleine. The reason I’m calling now I’m catching up on things I’d missed due to the lack of papers. Speaking to the two policemen has not settled me I feel they dismissed it.

Person receiving: Sharon Sorby

Family members so the above may need clarifying.
Caller had no further information

Evaluation – Source – E – Untested source
Intelligence – 4 – Cannot be judged
Handling – 1 may be disseminated to other law enforcement and prosecuting agencies, including law enforcement agencies within the EEA and EU compatible (no special conditions).

Thanks to Albym

Processos Volume 11
Pages 2747 to 2751



-Witness statement of Marco Paulo Ventura de Pimental Vaz Pereira

Date: 20 July 2007; Time: 09h30; Place: PJ/DCCB/Lisboa
Officer: Renato C., Inspector


To the matter at hand he said:
--- He presents himself as a witness, by virtue of having observed an event that he believes could aid in the location of the minor Madeleine Beth McCann, missing since 3 May 2007 in Praia da Luz, Lagos.
--- Given that that disappearance had large coverage in the media he presumes that the greater majority of the population remain attentive [watchful] in the sense of being able to give some kind of contribution that could eventually lead to the location of the minor, as well as to the identification of the perpetrator of the supposed seizure/abduction, it being that the deponent is no exception.
--- He did, on 11 June 2007, about 20h45, when seated outside the "Café - Pastelaria Estrela Brilhante" [Shining Star café/tea room] situated in front of his residence, namely, Estrada de Mem Martins, see, coming from the lower part of that road, more specifically arriving from the area of "Restaurant Casa Maceira", a male individual accompanied on foot by a young girl of tender age, notoriously [notably?] minor [young].
--- Those personages [people] succeeded in calling [catching] the attention of the deponent, given that, the girl presented physical characteristics sufficiently identical to those reported in the media in relation to the minor Madeleine McCann.
--- He clarifies that the "Café-Pastelaria Estrela Brilhante" was closed, it being nevertheless
common for the residents of the area to make use of the esplanade [outside seating area] to meet and chat a little, or simply to rest.
--- At the precise moment that those persons passed by the witness the minor looked toward the area where the deponent was, it being that she said in a lively voice the following expression,
"Hello!", maintaining eye-contact with the deponent, notwithstanding that she continued
uninterrupted to accompany the man whom she was with.
--- Subsequently, he saw the man and the girl climb into a black "BMW" vehicle that was parked there, the car having pulled off immediately at a perfectly normal speed heading in the direction of Abrunheira, he not knowing, however, their destination.
--- Promptly and being convinced that it had been the missing minor, the witness went home, giving his account of the events to the authorities, by phone, more specifically, through the international emergency number - 112, there arriving at the place a little later officers of the PSP -
Public Security Police.
--- Immediately he described his observation to those police officers, they having taken note of the occurrence, he not knowing, however, the practical results of any work performed afterwards.
--- Asked to furnish more and better details of the vehicle he could only manage to add that it had been a large car, he not knowing the full model identity. He recalls further that it had darkened windows and a yellow licence plate with the label "NL", which fact he immediately associated with Holland because he knows that those labels indicate the country of registration of vehicles.
--- He adds further that he can affirm with certainty that the designation "NL" indicated that the vehicle was registered in Holland given that he worked in that country for about four years, recollecting perfectly such denomination.
--- Prompted about the number plate or about any other identifying items and/or badges/emblems, he mentioned not having managed to retain [in memory] any other items beyond those already mentioned.
--- Asked what seat the child occupied when she got into the vehicle, he stated not having seen, presuming only as a point of logic that the man whom she was accompanying had occupied the driver's seat.
--- Questioned objectively [directly] if he had heard the child at any time proffer any word or
expression, he responded negatively [shook his head].
--- Confronted with the fact that the PSP report has him mentioning that the minor had said "Help", he responded that that fact does not correspond minimally to the truth, reaffirming that she had uttered no word or expression, adding that that detail could only have come out in the report due to mere confusion [simple misunderstanding].
--- Questioned specifically if he knows from where the persons came he responded negatively having mentioned only the "Restaurant Casa Maceira", only the name, given that that place is in the area from which they came but there were many other restaurants and residences in the same area, it being certain that he became aware of them only when they passed in front of him, that is, in truth he does not know from whence they came, being able only to indicate the direction of the origin, as already done in the course of this questioning.
--- Asked if he had noted if the girl had been forced to accompany the man he responded negatively, adding however that the man had carried a tape-like key chain in his right hand, about 30cm (1 ft) long, it being that the girl had held onto it with her left hand.
--- Asked if the girl had possibly been tied to one of the ends of that key chain, he responded negatively.
--- Prompted if he could furnish more and better characteristics of the key chain, he responded negatively.
--- Asked to describe the minor he stated that she was female, Caucasian, normal build, white skin, about 5 to 6 years old, about 1 (one) metre tall and blonde hair, relatively short and curly.
--- Prompted if he saw the colour of her eyes, or any immutable and distinct mark in them (e.g. a brown mark in the retina of the right eye), he responded negatively.
--- Confronted with the fact that the PSP report mentions that the child he saw had a mark in her eye similar to Madeleine McCann, he responded that such information could only have been due to a simple misunderstanding, it not corresponding even slightly to the truth.
--- Asked to describe the child's clothing he responded that, only from what he recalls, she was wearing something blue but could not describe it.
--- Asked to describe the man who was with the girl he characterised him as being male, about 35 to 40 years old, skin quite brown, about 1,75m tall, thinly built, dark hair cut quite short, not managing to indicate any other details about him.
--- Requested to describe the clothing of the man he mentioned, not recalling completely, presupposing that he was dressed normally.
--- He intends equally to mention for this record that when the man passed him, with the child, the man was talking on the mobile phone, the deponent having the idea that the man expressed himself in a dialect characteristic of Arabic countries, he not being able to identify which.
--- Asked if he managed to hear any word or expression he stated that he heard the words "Abrunheira" and "Classic", immediately associating it to an alternate [?] establishment known as "Classic" which exists in the area of "Abrunheira".
--- But he adds that when the PSP officers arrived he was telling them where to find that place, it being that it was closed given that the events now related happened on a Monday, the weekly rest day for the employees of that house of night-time fun.
--- Asked to continue, he stated that he had not seen in the area around that establishment either the vehicle, or the man or the child.
--- Questioned if before the events observed by him he had already seen the man who was with the child, he responded negatively.
--- Asked objectively if he would recognise the man were he to be shown a photograph of him, or if he were to be in his presence, he responded negatively, adding that he did not pay attention to the man's face being more focused on the child who was with him.
--- Asked if he could indicate any characteristics of the mobile phone that was used, he responded negatively.
--- Asked if he knew of anyone else besides himself who has seen the events he related, he responded again in a negative sense.
--- He explains that what really called his attention to the situation was that fact that the girl had certain characteristics analogous with Madeleine McCann and the fact that she was with a man having features sufficiently different from hers, namely he having the idea that the man could have come from an Arab country.
--- Asked objectively about this, he stated that he had no certainty that the girl seen by him had really been Madeleine McCann.
No more was said. ...