BB FANS

Cops: Maddie buried in Spain Sun

Fear's over Kate McCann's fragile health
EXCLUSIVE




Tormented Kate McCann was at a new low last night as fears grew for her fragile health.

For nearly five months she has borne herself with astonishing fortitude through the disappearance of daughter Madeleine and the agony of coming under suspicion.

She and husband Gerry have had their hopes cruelly raised and dashed before.

But the latest false sighting of Madeleine, four, in Morocco has left Kate more devastated than ever before, and looking underweight and strained.


Madeleine's aunt Philomena said: "How would this affect you? Sometimes they crash as it gets to them."

Kate's mother Susan Healy, 61, added: "Like any mum, I worry for her. She's lost a few pounds but that's only to be expected because of the constant levels of stress.

"People are concerned for Kate because she looks so fragile. But she's coping from day to day and remaining strong for Madeleine."

On Sunday, Kate - also mum of two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie - wept openly at church near her home in Rothley, Leics.

A friend said: "We know that Kate is fragile. But she's struggling on."

Despite previous disappointments Kate and Gerry, both 39, could not help but hope after a tourist in Morocco took a photo of a lookalike Madeleine.

They have always believed their daughter, who vanished from the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz on May 3, might have been taken to North Africa.

However on Wednesday it emerged that the child was Bouchra Benaissa, three-year-old daughter of a Berber farmer.

Employment adviser Susan, of Liverpool, said: "We were so disappointed.

"Kate in particular had been hoping so much. But she'll keep on hoping.

"She's having her ups and downs and, of course, I'm worried about her and Gerry. It's the most unimaginable thing for them to be going through.

"Kate is eating, we've made sure of that. But she's probably not getting as much benefit from her meals as she used to.

"Though the girl wasn't Madeleine, it's reassuring people are contacting police.

"Kate and Gerry are very grateful that the focus is getting back to finding their daughter and that people everywhere are continuing to support them."

Philomena revealed: "Gerry had it early from a police source that the girl in Morocco wasn't Madeleine.

"The child pictured was smaller and chubbier than Madeleine. Kate and Gerry steeled themselves to this and until police tell them Madeleine is dead they'll carry on."

A source added: "Although Kate and Gerry are always told not to get their hopes up whenever reports of sightings come in, there'll always be a part of them which thinks 'Maybe, just maybe, this could be the one'.

"Part of Kate's mind is still in Portugal where she last saw Madeleine."

The McCanns' spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, said that the false sighting would only reinforce their determination to find their missing daughter. He said: "Clearly it was a big disappointment.

"But what has come out of this is it has focussed attention back on the search.

"Kate and Gerry are pleased this tourist went to the authorities with the photo. They'd encourage anyone who thinks they see Madeleine to do the same."

More than 2,000 cuddly toys donated to the McCanns by wellwishers were packaged yesterday for two orphanages in Zhodina, Belarus.

Each toy has been individually tied with green and yellow ribbons and carries a small picture of Madeleine.

mirrornews@mirror.co.uk

SPIES TO FIND MADELEINE'S KIDNAPPER

BRITAIN’S network of spies could hold the key to finding Madeleine McCann, intelligence experts said last night.

Satellite and aerial footage as well as internet traffic should be used to help the hunt, which has so far drawn a blank, they added.

Sources said a secretive branch of the security services might be able to find her as they were among the best
in the world at using state-of-the-art technology to track people.

DailyExpress

I hate to sound heartless but is this much effort going into all the other thousands of children and young people who have gone missing since madelines dissapearance?

I think the McCann's are getting the coverage because the have the money to keep their missing childs name in the media spotlight.

I am sure all the parents with a missing child would love to have the assests/backing the McCann's have to recover their missing child but unless you have money you more then likely are at the mercy of the local police in your search. Oh, and it helps when the mother is a skinny attractive blonde to have the attention of the media...

Madeleine: Boatman spotted 'kicking something in the middle of the night' Mail

MADDIE: MCCANNS CALL IN PSYCHIC

Shattered parents Gerry and Kate McCann are desperately hoping a renowned psychic will finally unravel the mystery of their daughter Madeleine's disappearance.

The distraught couple plan to hold a heart-rending "reading" behind closed doors with an acclaimed medium

People

Disgrace of Madeline cop

THE SEARCH FOR MADELEINE: DAY 150

Puffing on a cigarette and knocking back beers, the man leading the world's biggest missing child inquiry enjoys yet another long, boozy lunch.

Portuguese police chief Goncalo Amaral worked as little as four-and-a--half hours a day this week - despite a mountain of uninvestigated sightings of Madeleine McCann on his desk.

Mirror

Kate McCann will risk jail to find Madeleine

Kate McCann is willing to risk 12 months behind bars in a desperate attempt to locate her daughter Madeleine, it has been disclosed.

Telegraph

Portuguese detectives send British police 40 questions to ask the McCanns

Portuguese detectives plan to send a legal letter to their British counterparts outlining more than 40 questions they insist the parents of Madeleine McCann must answer.

The British police will then decide how and where the questions will be posed.

The move has been ordered by prosecutor Luis Bilro Verao, who issued a public statement earlier this month saying there was not enough evidence against Kate and Gerry McCann to order a fresh grilling about the little girl's disappearance.

DailyMail

'Sacked maid kidnapped Madeleine to get back at bosses'

Police are investigating a tip-off that Madeleine McCann was kidnapped by a bitter ex-employee of the Mark Warner Ocean Club where the family were staying in Praia da Luz.

The tip-off - which was sent to the Prince of Wales's website - claimed that the three-year-old was abducted by a former employee of the Mark Warner holiday complex in Portugal.

It described the kidnap as a maid's "revenge" after being sacked.

DailyMail

Arabic adverts aid Madeleine hunt


As the McCanns intensify their search, Virgin boss reveals his anger at Portuguese media

Mark Townsend and James Robinson
Sunday September 30, 2007
The Observer

Television adverts in Arabic appealing for fresh sightings of Madeleine McCann will be screened across Morocco as her parents cling to the belief she may be alive in North Africa.

Despite the disappointment of last week's misleading sighting of a blonde girl in the Moroccan town of Zaio, the McCanns believe that their daughter might be somewhere in the country.

As the campaign to track down the four-year-old gains new momentum on the 150th day since she vanished, scores of billboards in villages and supermarkets featuring the face of the girl will also appear this week throughout the most remote districts of Portugal and Spain to jog the memory of anyone who may have missed her disappearance.

The latest attempt by the McCanns to find their daughter coincides with a scathing attack by Richard Branson on the Portuguese media over its coverage of the Madeleine case. Speaking for the first time since it emerged that he has donated £100,000 to Kate and Gerry McCann to help meet their legal costs, the billionaire founder of Virgin also criticised the country's police. 'The Portuguese press have behaved abysmally, fed inaccurate stories by the Portuguese police, which all turned out to be a load of garbage,' he told The Observer

The latest lurid stories emanating from Portugal include claims that the child's body was stored in a fridge and moved to 'various locations' around the resort of Praia da Luz before being placed in the boot of her parents' hired car and dumped.

Branson has been in regular touch with the couple, who returned to the UK last month but remain official suspects under Portuguese law. He compared Kate McCann's case to the plight of mothers who have been wrongly imprisoned in Britain for allegedly killing their babies. 'I've never doubted their innocence and I've seen this sort of situation before,' Branson said, adding that he has 'helped a bit behind the scenes' with high-profile cases involving cot deaths, but declining to name the women he has assisted. 'We've got a very similar situation here,' he added. 'I just felt they needed a helping hand - a young couple with enormous pressures on them.

'They didn't have good legal advice and they had a junior Portuguese lawyer. I knew that senior lawyers in Portugal thought what was going on was ghastly... so getting the most senior in Portugal on their side I think is very important.'

Closer to home, Gerry McCann thanked the British people who have supported the family. 'The support and kind words we have received from the local villagers has also helped to make our return that bit easier,' he wrote yesterday in his blog from the family's home in Rothley, Leicestershire.

The investigation into the four-year old's disappearance in May has attracted huge interest from around the world, partly as a result of the McCanns' determination to use the media to keep the story in the public eye. Some observers have criticised that tactic and others have accused the British press of acting irresponsibly by publishing stories pilfered from the Portuguese press, but Branson praised British newspapers, saying 'I actually think the British press have behaved remarkably well.'

Branson is also believed to be encouraging wealthy individuals to contribute to a fund set up to help meet the couple's legal costs. Brian Kennedy, a double-glazing businessman who owns the Latium Group and Sale Sharks rugby club, is paying the salary of the McCanns' spokesman Clarence Mitchell, who gave up his civil service job to work full-time for the couple.

Branson previously contributed to a £2.6m fund set up by wealthy donors for information leading to Madeleine's safe return. Others who gave money to the Find Madeleine fund include Harry Potter author JK Rowling. A spokesman for the Virgin boss confirmed that he had donated £100,000 after the McCanns said they would not use the original fund to pay for their legal costs after being named suspects. Ten days ago it was announced that the McCanns will not face further questioning over their daughter's disappearance after the Portuguese prosecution service ruled the police did not have enough evidence.

guardian

Now the Portuguese police say Madeleine died in a fall on a staircase Mail

Madeleine must have been drugged, says Gran



Madeleine McCann may have been drugged by her abductor to stop her crying out as she was taken, her grandmother said last night.

Eileen McCann, 69, thinks it is the only way she could have been snatched from the holiday apartment without her screams of alarm attracting attention.

She said: "I believe whoever took her gave her a drug. There is no way they carried her out of there without her waking.

"If she was taken when she was sleeping by somebody she did not know, she would have screamed the place down."


Her comments came as it emerged that hair - thought to belong to Madeleine - was found behind the sofa in the Praia da Luz holiday apartment which could reveal if she was drugged.

Forensic scientists in Birmingham are doing toxicology and DNA tests on the sample, according to reports in Portugal.

Portuguese police are anxiously waiting for the potentially "decisive" results on the hair found during a search in July, it is claimed.

Eileen, of Glasgow, condemned suggestions that her son Gerry and daughter-in-law Kate were involved in Madeleine's disappearance. The pair have been named as arguidos - official suspects - by police.

She said: "My son and Kate would never even slap their child, never mind do anything to harm her. They are running away from nobody because they are innocent."

One of the many theories being examined by detectives is that Madeleine died from an accidental overdose after being sedated by her parents, both 39-year-old doctors. The McCanns have strenuously denied these allegations.

Police claim they covered up the death by hiding the body and moving it weeks later in their Renault Scenic hire car.

But Eileen said of the fact Madeleine's DNA was found in the McCanns' hire car: "Little Amelie is wearing Madeleine's sandals and she is in and out of the car.

"Cuddly toys are in it. Madeleine's toys are in it. Madeleine's tops are in it that Amelie is wearing. It's nonsense."

The hair claim is the latest accusation against the McCanns to emerge from Portugal since Madeleine vanished 152 days ago, aged almost four. Police have accused the couple of feeding stories to the media to distract the investigation.

Kate and Gerry's lawyers are making a fresh bid to clear the couple's names. A family friend said they hoped to have their arguido status lifted "before Christmas".

The couple are planning a special TV appearance to be aired in Portugal and Spain to renew the hunt for Madeleine.

The interviews are expected to be aired next week to coincide with a publicity drive in Spain, Portugal and Morocco.

A friend said: "They want to appeal for local help. There are legal constraints but they are looking at ways to speak without jeopardising the investigation."

The new ad campaign will be funded by cash from the £1million fighting fund and will be targeting rural and remote areas in the Iberian peninsula and Morocco.

Posters have been designed for a billboard campaign. And talks are going on to have Madeleine's picture displayed on shopping trolleys in the targeted areas.

Meanwhile, European ministers are backing a plan to introduce an alert system across the EU for missing children.
Mirror

A senior Portuguese police officer criticised Gerry McCann over fears his daughter's abductor was hidden in their apartment, it was reported today.

Madeleine's father believes someone was hiding in her room when he went back to check on the children in the couple's holiday apartment in Praia Da Luz on the night of May 3.

But the head of Portugal's police federation, Carlos Anjos said the claim was a "ridiculous episode" and accused Mr McCann of being "negligent".

"Since their daughter disappeared, Gerry and Kate have followed a strategy of almost daily announcements of new facts," he told Diaria de Noticas.

"Four months after his daughter's disappearance - a period in which he was interviewed various times by the Policia Judiciaria, he remembered that a man was hidden in his apartment where his three children were sleeping, at a time in which he went to check if the kids were OK.

"If he was suspicious that there was a man in the apartment, and then he calmly went to dinner, then words cannot describe how negligent he is as a father."

Clarence Mitchell, the family's spokesman, said Mr McCann's fears came to him only after Madeleine's abduction and Mr Anjos had "totally misunderstood" what he said.

He told the Daily Telegraph: "This was in the original witness statement.

"There is nothing that has come out recently that should be of surprise to the officers."

In reports today Madeleine's grandmother repeated the abduction theory, saying she feared the youngster was drugged to stop her crying out for help.

Eileen McCann, 69, told the Daily Mirror: "I believe [whoever took her] gave her a drug. There is no way they carried her out of there without her waking.

"If she was taken when she was sleeping by somebody she did not know she would have screamed the place down."

Gerry and Kate McCann have told friends that they are prepared for a long battle to clear their names.

Lawyers have played down suggestions of an early end to their ordeal and Mr Mitchell said they accepted they could still be suspects on the first anniversary of Madeleine's disappearance.

"Our understanding is that this is a marathon rather than a sprint, we are in this for the long term," he said.

"I understand that they can remain arguidos for eight months and I understand the police can have an option to extend it.

"In theory, they could technically be arguidos right up until the first anniversary of Madeleine going missing."

The McCanns are seeking legal advice on the possibility of them giving interviews in Portugal despite the legal restrictions that come with them being identified as suspects, or "arguidos" in the case.

They are said to be "frustrated" at the gag especially in light of daily leaks to Portuguese papers, apparently from police sources, highlighting new theories about Madeleine's disappearance.

It is now understood discussions are actively under way about the possibility of them giving interviews to Portuguese and Spanish press next week.

They would coincide with the launch of a new publicity drive targeting the Iberian peninsula and Morocco, particularly remote parts. It also emerged the McCanns are considering taking advice from psychics in their search for her.

Scottish relatives are understood to have been reading up on mystics and have been in contact with at least one. They are now said to be urging to couple to take their advice.

The McCanns have had more than 1,000 approaches from people claiming to be mediums offering help and advice since May.

While any information judged to be relevant or credible has been passed on to police the McCanns, both devout Catholics, have had no direct contact with psychics, according to Mr Mitchell.

Metro