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The disappearance of Madeleine McCann occurred on the evening of Thursday, 3 May 2007 when a British girl, Madeleine McCann, went missing from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Algarve in Portugal, which she was staying in with her parents. Madeleine, who was in a bedroom with her two two-year old siblings, was initially thought to have only "wandered off" by Portuguese Police, but further investigation by Portuguese police suggested an abduction.

Madeleine McCann

Madeleine Beth McCann (born 12 May 2003 in Leicester, England) is a British girl who is the eldest daughter of Kate, a general practitioner in Melton Mowbray, and Gerry McCann, a cardiologist at Glenfield Hospital in Leicester. Madeleine, who has a brother and a sister, twins Sean and Amelie, two years old, lives with her family in Rothley, England.

A notable identification feature is her right eye that has a type of coloboma, a complete split in the iris (a black radial strip reaching from the pupil out to the edge of the white) at '7 o'clock' position (i.e. about 30° clockwise from the bottom).

Disappearance

Madeleine disappeared from the apartment where the family was staying on the evening of 3 May. At the time, her parents had put Madeleine and her two-year-old twin siblings to bed, and were dining 100 yards away with friends at a restaurant near the Mark Warner Ocean Summer Club. Kate and Gerry McCann reported to the police that they were taking turns checking on their children and that at approximately 21:00 Western European Summer Time Gerry checked on the children and they were all fine. At around 21:45 the couple returned from the restaurant to find an empty bed and the apartment door and window wide open and reported the incident to the police at 22:00. Staff and guests at the complex searched until 04:30 whilst police on the Spanish border and all airports in Portugal and Spain were notified.

Timeline from 3 May to 4 May 2007

• 21:00 Gerry checked the children.
• 21:45 The couple found that Madeleine was gone.
• 22:00 Incident reported to the police.
• 22:10 Police arrive at the hotel the McCann's were staying at.
• 22:30 Police investigation unit start the investigation.
• 04:30 Initial search called off.

Investigation

Early stages

Portuguese police Polícia Judiciária (PJ) said on 6 May that they had a suspect in mind and believed the child is still alive in the area. Police with sniffer dogs searched the resort village, which has a population of about 1,000. However, on 8 May, 5 days after her disappearance, the Judiciária admitted they were unsure whether Madeleine was still alive.

On 9 May Interpol released a yellow notice to all member police forces.

Portuguese media have reported that the PJ are pursuing two lines of investigation: an abduction by an international paedophilia network or an abduction by an illegal adoption network.

Experts from Britain were flown out to assist the Portuguese police experts and Leicestershire Police sent family liaison officers to help the McCann family.

On 11 May the local search for the suspect was called off after it had produced no results. Then on 13 May the Portuguese police admitted for the first time that they had no suspects in mind. The only tangible line of enquiry that they were prepared to disclose was that they were examining photographs taken by holidaymakers.

Court hearings into the case began on 14 May.

Murat and Malinka

At 07:00 WEST on the morning of 14 May searches began at a villa Casa Liliana, owned by Jennifer Murat, a British citizen, near the apartment where the girl went missing. Police and forensic teams sealed off the house, and at 16:00 the swimming pool was drained. Three people, including her son Robert Murat, were questioned at the main police station in nearby Portimão. Robert, a frequent visitor to the villa, had drawn the suspicion of Lori Campbell, a Sunday Mirror journalist, who informed the police. Former classmate Gaynor de Jesus said: "I do know that he has been the official translator for the police". Murat had said he was deeply concerned about Madeleine’s case because he had recently lost custody of his own three-and-a-half year old daughter who looked like the missing girl. No arrests have been made. Under Portuguese law arrests can only be made when a person has been given arguido (suspect) status officially; prior to being given this status persons are treated as witnesses. On 15 May Robert Murat was given this status but he has not been arrested or charged. It is not clear if Murat or the Police asked for the arguido status, it is thought that Murat might have asked for the status as it gives extra rights such as the right to remain silent. Murat has since gone to an unknown destination.

Chief Inspector Olegário de Sousa told a news conference on 15 May that a 33-year-old had been interrogated, but not enough evidence was found to justify arresting him. Sousa said police had searched five houses on Monday and seized "various materials" from the properties which were being subjected to forensic tests and had questioned two other people as witnesses. The suspect has signed an identity and residence statement which prevents him from moving house or leaving the country, and requires him to regularly report to police. Though no names were mentioned in the conference, the 33-year-old is believed to be Robert Murat and the other two questioned to be Murat's alleged girlfriend Michaela Walczuch, a German, and her former husband Luis Antonio, a Portuguese.

Despite Murat's reluctance to make a public statement, he has stated that he believed the case to have "ruined his life" and that his only way of survival would be the capture of Madeleine's captor. Murat has stated that he is being made a "scapegoat" so that the Police can be seen to have found a suspect.

On 16 May 2007, it was believed that two cars used by the Murats have been examined, and computers, mobile phones and several video tapes were taken away from their villa. It also emerged that a British architect who built the villa where Murat lives was ignored when he called police about a hidden basement within the property.The police were understood to have taken in for questioning Sergey Malinka, 22, a man of Russian origin, from whose property officers also took away a laptop computer and two hard drives. Malinka had set up a website for Murat. According to the Portuguese media, Malinka is said to be a convicted child sexual offender and a computer technician who is believed to be on good terms with Robert Murat, as the two exchanged frequent phone calls since Madeleine's disappearance—the reason the authorities started suspecting him.

The following day, a press conference was held in which Chief Police Inspector Olegário Sousa reiterated there was insufficient evidence to make an arrest. Regarding Sergey Malinka, police said that he had been questioned as a witness for approximately 5 hours, which did not, due to the "dynamic" nature of the investigation, mean the witness couldn't become a suspect.

Malinka spoke negatively of the coverage of the case in the Portuguese media, which had alleged that he was a convicted sexual offender, and denied he had contacted Murat and claimed to be "completely innocent". On 18 May, though, inconsistencies in his account of his relationship with Robert Murat emerged; while the Russian IT specialist had said he had not contacted Murat in a year, he mentioned three months to another reporter while Murat’s mobile phone records allegedly show he called Mr Malinka at 23:40 on the night Madeleine went missing.

On 19 May, Portuguese detectives flew to England to interview Dawn Murat, the estranged wife of Robert Murat.

Possible sightings

On 8 May 2007, it was reported that police in the mountainous town of Nelas, northern central Portugal, had received information of a girl matching Madeleine's description who was seen with a man in a supermarket. The man, a Belgian citizen, stopped at the supermarket with his daughter and left the place in a car before police could be contacted, but Police later confirmed that the sighting had been a false alarm.

On 9 May, the 24 Horas newspaper reported that police had found a vehicle near Praia da Luz that may have been used by the kidnapper.

On 9 May 2007, it transpired that CCTV video from a petrol station near Lagos showed a child matching Madeleine's description with a woman, with whom the child was having an altercation, and two men. Other people in the resort have come forward to report unusual incidents including a woman who noticed a man trying to take away a pram and a man who caught a stranger taking photographs of young blonde girls on a beach. On 10 May 2007 it was reported that the car, in which the three people who were caught on CCTV at the petrol station were travelling, had British number plates and it has been claimed that the person caught taking photographs was definitely one of the men on the CCTV footage.

On 17 May, an anonymous witness contacted police claiming to have spotted a Fiat Marea with a forged license plate, in Pinhal Novo, Palmela, Setúbal, which allegedly transported the missing toddler. Not much emphasis was put on this particular tip, though, given the existence of several similar cases of such sightings, from such geographically disperse regions as Spain, Switzerland or Morocco, though Chief Police Officer Olegário Sousa assured police were investigating such leads.

On 18 May, Marie Olli, a Norwegian woman living in the Spanish town of Fuengirola, contacted the police claiming she had seen a girl matching Madeleine's description in a petrol station in Marrakech, Morocco, on 9 May. The girl, who was said to have appeared sad, was allegedly accompanied by a man in his late 30s.

Madeleine's Fund

A fighting fund, known as Madeleine’s Fund: Leaving No Stone Unturned, was launched in Leicester on 16 May, with support from former local rugby union star Martin Johnson. The purpose of the fund is to help the family with their costs and to continue the investigation independently, should that prove necessary. The family said that any extra funds would be used to aid in the search for other abducted children. The website reportedly received 58 million hits and 16,000 messages of support by 18 May, only two days after its launch.

The family have remained in the same holiday resort since the disappearance. Madeleine's father made a brief trip to the UK on 20 May to help finalise the campaign for the search for his daughter.

Appeals

There were many appeals for Madeleine's safe return ranging from her family to celebrities, and from the police for photographs.

From the family

Her father, Gerry McCann, said, "Words cannot describe the anguish and despair that we are feeling. Please, if you have Madeleine, let her come home to her Mummy, Daddy, brother and sister." He went on to say that the family would leave "no stone unturned" in the search for Madeleine and that he and his wife "remained positive."

Madeleine's aunt, Philomena McCann, drew up a poster to circulate in a chain email to help find the child. She also commented during a live phone interview that there was little coverage of the case in other countries apart from the UK and Portugal.

From the police

On 21 May, the British Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP) reported that British police are calling on visitors to the Ocean Club Resort, Praia da Luz or the surrounding areas in the two weeks leading up to Madeleine’s disappearance on Thursday 3 May to provide copies of any relevant photographs taken during their stay, in an attempt to identify the abductor using a biometric facial recognition application, through which the features of bystanders in those photographs could be compared to those of international sex offenders and other criminals.

From football

Manchester United footballer Cristiano Ronaldo, who is Portuguese, made a televised appeal on MUTV for her safe return saying "I was very upset to hear of the abduction of Madeleine McCann and I appeal to anyone with information to come forward, please come forward."

Chelsea and England footballer John Terry and his Portuguese teammate Paulo Ferreira said that they were "devastated to hear that young Maddy was abducted. Our thoughts and feelings go out to her parents, her family and we are urging anyone out there with any information at all, please, please, please come forward."

On 11 May 2007, David Beckham also made a public appeal. "If you have seen this little girl please could you go to your local authorities or police and give any information that you have," said Beckham, holding up poster with a photograph of Madeleine.

After a picture was released of Madeleine in an Everton shirt, Everton's Portuguese footballers Nuno Valente and Manuel Fernandes appealed for any news on her whereabouts and Phil Neville issued the following statement on behalf of the club. "Everton has fans all over the world and I know that they, along with everyone connected with the football club, are hoping and praying for Madeleine's safe return. Our thoughts are very much with the family at this extremely distressing time." Manager David Moyes added "Everybody here is desperately wanting to hear good news and my thoughts and prayers are with the family. If anybody out there knows anything, please come forward".

Celtic footballer Neil Lennon made an appeal for Madeleine's safety and yellow armbands were worn on 12 May 2007 against Aberdeen to mark her 4th birthday.

A video appealing for help with the search for Madeleine was broadcast to Spanish football fans visiting the city of Glasgow for the UEFA Cup final on 16 May. Another film was broadcast at half-time during the English FA Cup Final on 19 May.

Prior to their departure for the Champion's League final on Monday 21 May, Liverpool FC's squad were photographed with a banner appealing for any information on Madeleine's whereabouts.

Reaction

The Portuguese ambassador in London, António Santana Carlos said, on 8 May, that the case was of "great concern" to Portugal and asked people to trust the police, amidst growing criticism of their handling of the case.

President Anibal Cavaco Silva announced on 9 May that he was following the case "with great concern", adding that the police were "doing everything to find the child alive".

Also on 9 May, Tony Blair's spokesperson said that the Prime Minister was following the case closely and that "we are helping in whatever way we can".

Criticism

Of the parents

There has been criticism of the parents in the Portuguese media. The Diário de Notícias insisted that Mr and Mrs McCann were suspects and claimed that on the night Madeleine disappeared they had not checked on her, contrary to what they told police. The Daily Telegraph has reported "Portugal has been stung by suggestions that the investigation has been handled ineptly, and while there is much sympathy locally for the McCanns they have also been criticised for leaving their children alone."

The couple were questioned by police on 10 May about why Madeleine was left alone in an apartment with the patio doors unlocked while they dined at the restaurant. There was a babysitting service together with a 'dining-out' creche service in the evenings for children aged four months to nine years - parents eating in the resort's restaurants drop the children off and pick them up later - but the McCanns did not use these facilities.

Of the police

There has been extensive criticism of the Portuguese police in the British media. It was reported that there were delays in obtaining and analysing forensic evidence, neither border nor marine police were given descriptions of Madeleine for many hours after she vanished, and officers had not been seen making extensive door-to-door inquiries. Critics allege that the scene had not been secured as tightly as it would have been in the UK and the lack of appeals for help and information has surprised British police experts. In response the police have stated that that they cannot release information because they are constrained by Article 86 of the Portuguese penal code that says information must not be released, apart from in exceptional circumstances, while the criminal investigation is still taking place.

Several Portuguese news media and opinion makers have criticised the massive police and law enforcement efforts, comparing it with the efforts used to help national victims in past similar affairs. (Taking part were up to 180 Portuguese police officials and civil protection helicopters together with hundreds of villagers and holidaymakers, an effort never seen in the search for other child disappearances in the country.)

It has emerged that the police failed to ask for for surveillance pictures of vehicles leaving Praia da Luz at the time of Madeleine's disappearance nor of the road between Lagos and Vila Real de Santo António, on the Spanish border.

It has been suggested that the chief investigating officer Guilhermino da Encarnacao may have been too keen to focus enquiries on one man, Robert Murat although the police admit no credible evidence has been found against him. Parallels have been drawn with the case of disappearance of another child, Joana Cipriano who disappeared on 12 September 2004 from her home in village of Figueira seven miles from where Madeline went missing. Encarnacao was also involved in that investigation which ended with the conviction of Joana's mother and uncle for her murder although no body was found and they never confessed.

Of the public reaction

The scale of the public reaction provoked negative comment from a number of media commentators. In his column on 17 May, Matthew Parris suggested that MPs wearing yellow ribbons was mawkish and an attempt to "tap in to the emotions of the mob". Then on 19 May, The Guardian described the public reaction as hysteria and drew a parallel with the response to the News of the World's anti-paedophile campaign.

Of the media coverage

Some have suggested that the high level of media coverage could be attributable to Madeleine's race, nationality, or socioeconomic status. The Independent, in an editorial on 15 May 2007, described the media coverage as showing a warped sense of priorities and condemned the criticism of the Portuguese authorities as jingoism. In his 17 May column in Portugal's Público newspaper, the former head of Portugal's bar association, José Miguel Júdice, said the enormous mobilisation was due to the fact that the little girl "is English, white, and the daughter of doctors.". On 18 May, Inter Press Service drew attention to the fact that that some observers point out that Madeleine comes from a well-heeled British family (both of her parents are doctors), unlike so many Portuguese or immigrant children whose disappearance has drawn scant attention from the press.

Publicity

An official web site for the search has been set up. After the disappearance, a large number of websites were registered, of which the domain names contained slight misspellings of Madeleine's name, plus various words related to searching or to not knowing, a practise known as typosquatting. Several of these websites contain content not related to Madeleine McCann.

The McCann family have released two video appeals themselves. The first is a photograph and video montage set to Simple Minds' song "Don't You (Forget About Me)" and includes an animation of the the word LOOK in uppercase with a reproduction of her coloboma as a radial line inside the first letter O, which blinks. The second features a montage of images with a voice over by actress Zoë Wanamaker mentioning her coloboma, asking for information of her whereabouts, and to download and display a poster of her from the official site.

An unofficial one minute's silence was held for Madeleine on 21 May but since it was organised by an anonymous viral email, it was not thought to be widely observed.

Robert Murat has tried to generate his own publicity by selling his story. However, publicist Max Clifford indicated that he would only represent Murat if he was cleared of suspicion of kidnapping.

Rewards

The total rewards on offer currently stand at over £2.6 million including:

• £1,500,000 (€2,200,000) including £250,000 by the News of the World, £250,000 by Sir Philip Green, £50,000 by Simon Cowell and £25,000 by Coleen McLoughlin. Other contributors include Sir Richard Branson, JK Rowling, and Bill Kenwright.
• £1,000,000 (€1,470,000) by British businessman Stephen Winyard.
• £100,000 (€147,000) by a colleague of Kate McCann.
• (£10,250) €15,000 by Portuguese newspaper Record.
• £10,000 (€14,700) by The Sun.

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65. "Criticism grows over search for missing toddler". The Age. 2007-05-10. Retrieved 2007-05-10. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
66. "Q&A: Madeleine McCann". The Guardian. Retrieved 2007-05-08.
67. ""Joana só teve direito a uma escavadora"".; "Rui Pedro, Desaparecido em 04/03/1998. "NÃO FIZERAM O MESMO"".; "Rui Pereira, Desaparecido em 02/03/1999. "ACREDITO QUE ESTÁ VIVO"".; "Cláudia Alexandra, Desaparecida em 13/05/1994. "NEM O TEMPO APAGA A DOR"" (in Portuguese). Correio da Manhã. Retrieved 2007-05-14.
68. Henrique Monteiro. "Joana e a menina inglesa" (in Portuguese). Expresso. Retrieved 2007-05-14. A justiça e a investigação criminal são iguais para ricos e pobres, ou a polícia sente-se particularmente impune quando a vida ou o sofrimento das pessoas envolvidas não vale sequer uma boa abertura de um noticiário?
69. "Maddy police ignored vital CCTV". The Daily Telegraph. 2007-05-19. Retrieved 2007-05-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
70. "Algarve police face mounting criticism". The Sunday Times. 2007-05-20. Retrieved 2007-05-20. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
71. Matthew Parris (2007-05-17). "Now no one will realise that I'm nuts about Hazel". The Times. Retrieved 2007-05-19. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
72. Brockes, Emma (19 May 2007). "In chatrooms and message boards, Madeleine hysteria grips the world". The Guardian. Retrieved 2007-05-19. The dozens of sites and subsites that have sprung up in the last fortnight - findmaddie.com, help_find_madeleine_mccann.com, givemaddieback.com, hopeformaddy.com and the misspelt findmadeline.com - were of such breadth and randomness that by yesterday morning, the appeal set up by the McCann family, ww.bringmadeleinehome.com, was forced to identify itself as The Official Website To Find Madeleine McCann. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
73. Editorial (2007-05-15). "Wild theories and a warped sense of priorities". The Independent. Retrieved 2007-05-19. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
74. ^ de Queiroz, Mario (May 18, 2007). "Some Missing Children More Equal than Others". Inter Press Service. Retrieved 2007-05-19. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
75. Mills, James (May 19, 2007). "Sick web hijackers cash in on Madeleine". Daily Mail. Daily Mail and General Trust. Retrieved 2007-05-22. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
76. "News Items". findmadeleine.com. McCann Family. May 21, 2007. Retrieved 2007-05-21. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
77. Madeline McCann (2007-05-18). Picture Video. McCann Family, Sky News. {{cite AV media}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
78. Madeline McCann, Zoë Wanamaker (voice) (2007-05-21). Video Appeal. McCann Family, Sky News. {{cite AV media}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
79. "Silence Held For Missing Madeleine McCann". Sky News. 2007-05-21. Retrieved 2007-05-21. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
80. "Kidnap suspect looks to cash in on ordeal". Gulf Times. 2007-05-23. Retrieved 2007-05-23. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
81. "Madeleine reward rises to £2.5m". BBC. 2007-05-12. Retrieved 2007-05-12. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
82. "Rewards For Madeleine Info Top £2.5m". Sky News. 2007-05-12. Retrieved 2007-05-12. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
83. "£1m reward over missing Madeleine". BBC News. 2007-05-11. Retrieved 2007-05-11. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
84. "£1m reward in hunt for Maddie". The Metro. 2007-05-10. Retrieved 2007-05-10. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
85. "Record oferece 15.000 euros". Record. 2007-05-12. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
86. "Sun offers £10k poster reward". The Sun. 2007-05-09. Retrieved 2007-05-09. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)

External links

• Official site, with a link to the appeal Madeleine’s Fund: Leaving No Stone Unturned

• Current events from May 2007
• Kidnapped children
• Disappeared people
• Crime in Portugal
• 2007 in Portugal