Latest news on the search for Madeleine McCann

[Mr Gray]

They've probably investigated it and come to the conclusion that it's nowt to do with MM then.

I think you are absolutely right...the pj decided that none of these could have anything to do with MM because it was the parents wot done it...so no one was investigated...absolutely spot on

[stephen25000]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-27122951


Madeleine McCann disappeared from her holiday apartment in May 2007
Continue reading the main story
Related Stories

Madeleine police seek sex attacker
McCann detective on new lead Watch
UK Madeleine detectives in Portugal
Police investigating Madeleine McCann's disappearance are now looking at 18 potentially linked cases of a lone intruder breaking into Algarve villas.

Nine of those concern alleged sexual assaults against British girls aged six to 12 between 2004 and 2006.

They include an assault on a 10-year-old in 2005 in Praia de Luz - the same resort from which three-year-old Madeleine vanished in May 2007.

Scotland Yard says it hopes UK officers will begin operations in Portugal soon.

The Metropolitan Police said six incidents had come to light since a special appeal on the McCann case was made last month.

Burgundy top
Two families said the intruder had worn a distinctive burgundy long-sleeved top
They include the incident involving the 10-year-old, which was not reported to police in either country until now.

The other cases were reported to Portuguese police at the time.

So far more than 500 people have been in contact with information since the March appeal.

'Bare-chested'
Investigators from Scotland Yard are waiting for an official agreement later this week which would allow them to begin "operational activity" on Portuguese soil.

Dep Asst Commissioner Martin Hewitt said: "I am cautiously optimistic that in the not-too-distant future we are going to start to see activity."

Mr Hewitt would not reveal what the operations would involve.

Detectives said last month the lone intruder was described as tanned with dark hair.

They said the man was bare-chested in some of the attacks, and some witnesses said he had a pot belly. Three victims said he had a "noticeable odour".

Two of the families said the intruder had worn a distinctive burgundy long-sleeved top, and one family said the top had a white circle on the back.

The man was said to have spoken English slowly, with a foreign accent.

...........and we heard all this several weeks ago.

So what's new ???

Was this man the one who died in 2009 ?

[Brietta]

...........and we heard all this several weeks ago.

So what's new ???

Was this man the one who died in 2009 ?

I think you've got that wrong, Stephen, this is not the information we were given several weeks ago, it is entirely new information involving attacks on other children which has been given to NSY.

I wonder if the various campaigns mounted against the McCanns would have had quite the same virulence if the British public had had this information conveyed to them in 2007.
As far as we were led to believe, Portugal was a 'safe' environment.

[icabodcrane]

So now Scotland Yard want to investigate 18  crimes committed in the Agarve on the basis of a tenuos link with Madeleine McCann's disappearance   ?

No wonder there are so many  'letters of request'  clogging up the pipeline !

Andy and his team might as well pack their bags and set up shop in Portugal permanently  ...   then they can really fill their  boots solving all these crimes the inept Portuguese have 'failed' to 

[Mr Gray]

So now Scotland Yard want to investigate 18  crimes committed in the Agarve on the basis of a tenuos link with Madeleine McCann's disappearance   ?

No wonder there are so many  'letters of request'  clogging up the pipeline !

Andy and his team might as well pack their bags and set up shop in Portugal permanently  ...   then they can really fill their  boots solving all these crimes the inept Portuguese have 'failed' to

There's an undercurrent of bitterness in your post because SY continue to point the finger away from the McCanns.

Sy are doing things properly......who knows what they would discover if they were allowed to do their job...and they will be. Portugal can only obstruct for so long before they are forced to cooperate

[stephen25000]

I think you've got that wrong, Stephen, this is not the information we were given several weeks ago, it is entirely new information involving attacks on other children which has been given to NSY.

I wonder if the various campaigns mounted against the McCanns would have had quite the same virulence if the British public had had this information conveyed to them in 2007.
As far as we were led to believe, Portugal was a 'safe' environment.

No. I heard the sky news report. It was referring to a man who sat on the beds of some of his victims.

This is a rehash of the same story IMO.

[Wonderfulspam]

Police investigate claims five more British girls have been sexually assaulted in Algarve by lone intruder as they hunt for 'smelly, pot bellied' Madeleine McCann suspect

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2611146/BREAKING-NEWS-Police-investigate-claims-five-British-girls-sexually-assaulted-Algarve-lone-intruder-hunt-smelly-pot-bellied-Madeleine-McCann-suspect.html

[Brietta]

Imo the reason was more likely that the MO did not involve abduction, also the parents were on the premises as these intrusions happened overnight.

There have been cases of an intruder entering premises without making a forcible entry.

There have been instances of children being assaulted during these incursions. 

The children we have heard about who have been targeted are British and have been on holiday.

The police must be allowed to investigate to rule out or prove a link to Madeleine McCann’s disappearance. 
It should be up to them to determine whether or not there is evidence to support or refute that this perpetrator has changed or modified his MO. 

How can there be criticism of an endeavour to discover a sexual predator whether or not the cases are linked to Madeleine’s?

[icabodcrane]

There have been cases of an intruder entering premises without making a forcible entry.

There have been instances of children being assaulted during these incursions. 

The children we have heard about who have been targeted are British and have been on holiday.

The police must be allowed to investigate to rule out or prove a link to Madeleine McCann’s disappearance. 
It should be up to them to determine whether or not there is evidence to support or refute that this perpetrator has changed or modified his MO. 

How can there be criticism of an endeavour to discover a sexual predator whether or not the cases are linked to Madeleine’s?

That's a good point

If catching  this pervert is a by-product of the investigation then all strenth to their elbow

[Alfred R Jones]

Out of interest is there anyone left here still labouring under the illusion that Scotland Yard still have the McCanns in their sights and are busy preparing a case against them?

[stephen25000]

Out of interest is there anyone left here still labouring under the illusion that Scotland Yard still have the McCanns in their sights and are busy preparing a case against them?

Out of interest, is there anybody still labouring under the illusion that SY has found anything of substance whatsoever, and they are floundering  in trying to find a suspect for a crime that is still classified as 'unknown'  ?

[Wonderfulspam]

Maddie suspect linked to five more sex attacks on young girls near Portuguese resort

DETECTIVES are investigating five more sexual assaults on young British girls in Portugal between 2004 and 2006 in relation to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

Authorities are now looking into nine sexual assaults and three "near misses" in total by a suspected lone intruder in the Algarve, where the three-year-old vanished in 2007.

Scotland Yard investigators are now "cautiously optimistic" of finding the truth as they line-up new operations on Portuguese soil.

Last month, investigators focused their intentions on a known paedophile who was said to be spotted carrying a girl of Maddie's description along a beach near her resort.

He was said to be responsible for a number of attacks on young girls in the tourist area of Praia Da Luz.

British officers are now looking into incidents where 18 holiday apartments were broken into and very little was stolen.

A 10-year-old British girl is said to have been one of the alleged victims in 2005, two years after Maddie went missing while on holiday with her parents.

Police say the break-ins could offer clues to how Maddie disappeared without a trace.

Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood said today: "As a result of those 500 calls, we have now identified a further five sexual assaults and one near miss. None of those six matters we were aware of prior to our appeal.

"In this new tranche of information we have got one crime which is very clearly in the heart of Praia da Luz in 2005, on a young, white, 10-year-old girl.

"Clearly the fact that we've now got an assault that is in the heart of Praia da Luz, very close to where a previous matter had been reported, means that we are even more interested in this as part of the inquiry.

"This offence now takes us into the resort so of course it is very significant in terms of trying to prove or disprove whether it has got anything to do with Madeline’s disappearance."

Witnesses described the key suspect as tanned, with dark hair and they say he spoke in English with a foreign accent.

A red t-shirt with a white hoop on the back, thought to be worn by the suspect, is being treated as key evidence by police.

A fresh investigation into the case was reopened last July after new evidence came to light.

Portuguese authorities still continue to work alone as British officers continue their own lines of inquiry.

Authorities are offering a £20,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and prosecution of those responsible for Maddie's disappearance.

http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/375727/Maddie-suspect-linked-to-five-more-sexual-assaults-on-young-girls-in-Portuguese-resort



Last month, investigators focused their intentions on a known paedophile who was said to be spotted carrying a girl of Maddie's description along a beach near her resort.

He was said to be responsible for a number of attacks on young girls in the tourist area of Praia Da Luz.

[Alfred R Jones]

Out of interest, is there anybody still labouring under the illusion that SY has found anything of substance whatsoever, and they are floundering  in trying to find a suspect for a crime that is still classified as 'unknown'  ?

Your sentence doesn't make much sense tbh.  I think SY may have uncovered some very significant information concerning sex attacks on young female children of holidaymakers in the Algarve which could be relevant to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. 

[stephen25000]

Your sentence doesn't make much sense tbh.  I think SY may have uncovered some very significant information concerning sex attacks on young female children of holidaymakers in the Algarve which could be relevant to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

You're floundering Mr. Jones.

Can you precisely state what type of crime has occurred ?

[Alfred R Jones]

You're floundering Mr. Jones.

Can you precisely state what type of crime has occurred ?

Floundering?

How about breaking and entering and sexual assault for starters?