The man who ran off with Maddy?


The man who ran off with Maddy? 
20 January 2008
The Sunday Mirror
Nick Owens and Grant Hodgson


Exclusive Hunt for Madeleine: Day 262
First image of suspect

This is the face of a stalker now believed to have snatched Madeleine McCann. The image is a former FBI artist's impression based on a detailed description given by a key British witness.

It clearly reveals the features of a moustachioed man - who was carrying a little girl in pink pyjamas, believed to be four-year-old Maddie.

The original photofit issued by Portuguese police showed only a round egg-shaped head and blank face and was widely criticised as being useless.

The new picture, which was last night welcomed by the McCanns, is seen as a breakthrough.

It was carefully put together after interviews with 50-year-old holidaymaker Gail Cooper - viewed as a credible witness by key figures in the inquiry.

The healthcare worker was staying just 600 yard from the McCanns' apartments and claims to have seen the mystery stalker in the picture on three occasions.

He is thought to be aged between 38 and 45. He has sallow skin, lank dark hair, large teeth and a distinctive droopy moustache.

The suspect, who is said to have spoken in broken English, knocked on the door of Mrs Cooper's apartment claiming to be collecting for charity.

Mrs Cooper, from Newark, Notts, said: "He made my blood run cold - he gave me the creeps "My judgment is that this man was very suspicious and could have been the kidnapper."

A few days later Mrs Cooper and her husband saw the same man lurking near a group of youngsters from the Mark Warner Ocean Club on the beach. "He looked odd and out of place," said Mrs Cooper, who told police of her concerns days after Maddie vanished.

Last night the McCanns' spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: "We urgently need to know who this man is and where he is."

But the two 39-year-old doctors from Rothley, Leics, have been dealt a blow by police chiefs in the resort of Praia da Luz who are bringing back the disgraced cop sacked from the inquiry to return to work on the case.

Lazy Goncalo Amaral - fired from the investigation after the Sunday Mirror exposed his long, boozy lunches - has held a string of meetings with new chief detective Paulo Rebelo.

And in a secret summit the pair have agreed he would be welcomed back on to the team responsible for finding out what happened to Madeleine, who vanished 262 days ago.

Amaral, 47, was leading the team when the investigation dramatically switched to put the couple in the frame.

A source said: "This will feel like a step back for Kate and Gerry.

"Amaral and Rebelo have been meeting regularly after he was kicked off the case and they are constantly talking on the phone.

"They have swapped notes and discussed various leads at length.

At times Amaral has been Rebelo's right-hand man. A lot of things that Rebelo has done since then has been on the advice of Amaral.

"The pair have become close and Rebelo thinks it will help having Amaral back as part of his team."

The source said Amaral, who has been working in Lisbon since his removal from the team, is desperate to return to Praia da Luz, the resort where Madeleine was taken.

The source added: "He really wants to work on the case again and has insisted he will be on his best behaviour and work hard."

Amaral was the main reason Kate and Gerry were named as suspects, despite there not being a shred of evidence that the couple were involved. He was eventually fired after launching a scathing attack on them in a Portuguese newspaper.

'He made my blood run cold'
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Maddy's blunder cop back on case


262 Days missing and.. Maddy's blunder cop back on case
20 January 2008
The Sunday Mirror
Nick Owens and Grant Hodgson

Exclusive Cruel blow for Kate & Gerry

The disgraced cop who was sacked from the Madeleine McCann inquiry is to RETURN to work on the case.

Lazy Goncalo Amaral - fired from the investigation after the Sunday Mirror exposed his long, boozy lunches - has held a string of meetings with new chief detective Paulo Rebelo.

And in a secret summit the pair have agreed he would be welcomed back on to the team responsible for finding out what happened to four-year-old Madeleine, who vanished 262 days ago.

The move will be a massive blow to parents Kate and Gerry.

Amaral, 47, was leading the team when the investigation dramatically switched to put the couple in the frame.

A source said: "This will feel like a step back for Kate and Gerry.

"Amaral and Rebelo have been meeting regularly after he was kicked off the case and they are constantly talking on the phone.

"They have swapped notes and discussed various leads at length. At times Amaral has been Rebelo's right-hand man. A lot of things that Rebelo has done since then has been on the advice of Amaral.

"The pair have become close and Rebelo thinks it will help having Amaral back as part of his team."

The source said Amaral, who has been working in Lisbon since his removal from the team, is desperate to return to Praia da Luz, the resort where Madeleine was taken.

The source added: "He really wants to work on the case again and has insisted he will be on his best behaviour and work hard."

The move to bring back Amar (sic)  is a sure sign the current team of police looking for Madeleine are desperately short of leads.

It will be heartbreaking for 39-year-old doctors Kate and Gerry because sources close to the investigation believe Amaral quickly convinced himself - and colleagues - that their child was dead. Amaral was the main reason Kate and Gerry were named as suspects, despite there not being a shred of evidence that the couple were involved. He was eventually fired after launching a scathing attack on them in a Portuguese newspaper.

A Sunday Mirror investigation exposed Amaral's work on the case as incompetent and lazy.

Instead of leading his team of 30 detectives, the chief inspector often took long boozy lunches, sometimes spending three hours guzzling wine and beer in restaurants in Praia da Luz.

It meant he sometimes worked for just four-and-a-half hours a day on the case.

Amaral disgracefully ignored most of 252 tip-offs of possible sighting of Maddy because he was convinced she was dead.

In a conversation with a Portuguese racing driver, he was heard saying he was sure the girl was dead even though there was no indication that she was.

He told ex-Formula One star Pedro Lamy he believed the McCanns drugged Madeleine to keep her quiet, killing her accidentally.

Amaral reportedly said: "The police case is we are sure the parents killed Madeleine. They are doctors and know about drugs. We are confident in our case."

One of the group involved in the conversation even said he believed the couple could have taken cocaine on the night Madeleine disappeared.

The conversation was a flagrant breach of judicial secrecy rules which have stopped Kate and Gerry from defending themselves against leaks and fake information.

Amaral, who has a young daughter of his own, has also been accused of concealing evidence that a team of his officers beat a confession out of a Portuguese woman who was jailed for the murder of her missing eight-year-old daughter.

'He is convinced she is dead'
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Police ignored tip


Police ignored tip that Madeleine was 'raped, murdered - and then dumped in reservoir'
13 January 2008
London Evening Standard

Marcos Aragão Correia

Marcos Aragao Correia
  • Marcos Aragao Correia
    • claimed underworld criminals told him Madeleine McCann was raped, murdered and her body dumped in a reservoir within 48 hours of her disappearance
    • refused to reveal underworld sources [Note: later emerged that source was a dream]
    • police ignored him
    • contacted Metodo3 who were "very interested" in his information
  • Metodo3
    • very interested in Correia's info
    • sent two detectives to Praia da Luz to meet with Correia
    • told Correia Metodo3 investigators believe Madeleine switched from one car to another in Silves
    • McCann spokesman:
    • "The lawyer concerned has acted appropriately by making contact with the authorities and our investigators and clearly the matter is now in their hands."
FULL TEXT:
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Police ignored Correia 'tip'


Police ignored tip that Madeleine was 'raped, murdered - and then dumped in reservoir'
13 January 2008
London Evening Standard

A lawyer claims Madeleine was killed by underworld criminals


Madeleine McCann was raped, murdered and her body dumped in a reservoir within 48 hours of her disappearance, a lawyer has claimed.

Underworld criminals contacted a human rights lawyer on May 6, three days after the girl vanished, with details of her alleged abduction and murder, he said.

But when Marcos Aragao Correia tried to tell police, he was ignored, he added.

The lawyer has contacted Kate and Gerry McCann's detective agency, which has begun to investigate his theory. If true, Mr Correia, 32, believes it would clear the couple of suspicion that they were involved in their daughter's disappearance.

He refused to reveal his underworld sources but said:
"They indicated that Madeleine had been abducted, raped and murdered within the first two days after her abduction, and her body thrown into a lake in the Algarve."
From the description of the location that he was given, Mr Correia deduced that Madeleine's body is at the bottom of the Barragem do Arade reservoir, near Silves, 40 miles from Praia da Luz.

The lawyer, from Madeira, travelled to the Algarve to investigate the claims and visited the reservoir, 150ft deep in places, with Metodo 3 last month.

In an interview with the Portuguese magazine Lux, Mr Correia said:
"It is the ideal place for somebody to get rid of a body, practically without leaving any trace."
He said Metodo 3 was "very interested" in his information.

The private detective agency has also investigated a sighting in Silves by a Portuguese lorry driver, who said he saw a woman handing a child to a man on a nearby roadside on May 5.

The witness told Metodo 3 the woman looked like Michaela Walczuch, the girlfriend of Robert Murat, the first official suspect in the case.

She said the claim was "ridiculous".

Mr Correia said Metodo 3 "sent two detectives to Praia da Luz to meet with me and told me that their own investigations indicated that Madeleine was switched from one car to another, precisely in Silves".

Kate and Gerry McCann's detectives have been investigating the claims

Police sources told Lux they did not believe Mr Correia's information was credible.

The McCanns' spokesman said:
"The lawyer concerned has acted appropriately by making contact with the authorities and our investigators and clearly the matter is now in their hands."
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New Maddie claim


New Maddie claim
13 January 2008
Sunday Herald Sun


Marcos Aragão Correia

Marcos Correia:
  • underworld criminals
    • contacted Correia on May 6 2007
    • gave Correia details of Madeleine's abduction and murder
    • Madeleine raped, murdered and dumped in reservoir within 48 hours of disappearance
  • police ignored Correia
  • claim could clear the McCanns of suspicion they were involved
  • Correia contacted Metodo 3
    • Metodo 3 investigating Correia's theory
FULL TEXT:
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Maddy dumped in lake


Maddy 'dumped in lake'
Ryan Parry
12 January 2008
Mirror


Marcos Aragão Correia

Marcos Correia:
  • paedophile ring abducted Madeleine
    • raped, murdered and dumped her in Barragem do Arade reservoir within 48 hours of disappearance
    • information came from underworld on May 6 2007
  • police
    • failed to act because believed McCanns involved
    • told him Madeleine may have been switched from one car to another in Silves
  • Metodo 3
    • investigating sighting of woman resembling Michaela Walczuch handing a child to a man in Silves on May 5 2007
FULL TEXT:
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Lawyer's underworld tip


Madeleine 'was murdered' and then dumped in a lake
[NOTE: Title changed to "Madeleine McCann dumped in lake, claims lawyer" and first line "Lawyer's underworld tip" removed.]
12 January 2008
Mirror



Marcos Aragão Correia

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