CONFIDENTIAL
STATEMENT
Number : S18
Surname : MCCLUSKEY
Forename(s) : SUSAN
At approximately 10 to 2 in the morning of Saturday 5th May 2007, I was on holiday in the town of ALVOR, PORTUGAL, with my husband Richard. We were walking up the bank from the town returning to our hotel complex known as, CLUBE ALVORFERIAS, after a night out. We were the only people on the street. We were on the main road which was dark but lit by street lighting.
As we approached the hotel Raymond(sic) - (Richard surely ??) - drew my attention to a vehicle which had stopped on the junction across the road. It was parked in the middle of the junction and initially I had thought it had broken down because of the way it was stopped. I did not have any glasses on but I was able to distinguish a male with a child get up and stagger up the hill. I can say the vehicle was about 20-30f when it stopped (PAGE ONE) but we had a clear and unobstructed view of the junction. There was no traffic and the junction was well lit with street lighting. Raymond(sic) then decided to go across and check out the vehicle. We both went over and wrote the vehicle registration of the white 'pick-up' vehicle down on my hand. We had been at the vehicle only a very short time, possibly a couple of minutes when a woman and a couple in a dark vehicle appeared from the road in front of the van almost simultaneously. I could describe the woman as 5 ft 5 inches - 5ft 6 inches blonde ponytail with a very worried / white face. I only noticed she was casually dressed. I could see that the male who got out of the car was on his mobile phone. We got into conversation as he could speak English and I asked him whether he was looking for a man with a child to which he said yes. He said he had seen the man hit the girl who was her(sic) (possibly should be 'him') and had turned around to see if he could catch him which was how he had ended up here. I also asked him if he knew about the missing child to which he said yes. I said can we leave it with you and he said 'yes'. He was still on the (page 2) phone at this time.
In my original statement I described a distressed female who ran down a road towards a white van I had described.
Having viewed recent news footage of Mrs McCann I am now almost certain that she is the female I described as being in a distressed state. I say this because of her slight build, high cheekbones and her eyes and hairstyle.
I've agonised for days over whether or not to contact the police about this because it is a terrible thing to accuse somebody of. It had just not crossed my mind that the child’s parents could in some way be involved in her disappearance.
I have watched a good deal of news coverage about the McCanns over the past week or so. Another thing which has played on my mind is the coverage of Mr McCann walking off the aeroplane holding one of his young children. The way he was holding the child over his left shoulder reminded me of the man carrying the child from the white van in Portugal.
Although I could not describe the male I'd seen in Portugal because he had his back to me, it was the particular way Mr. McCann held the child that made me think. He held the child over his left shoulder with his left arm supporting the child’s weight.
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Deposition: Richard McCluskey
Age 61
Retired
Statement Date 09th May 2007
On Saturday 05 May 2007 at approximately 01.50hrs I was with my wife Susan in the holiday resort of ALVOR, PORTUGAL. We were walking up the bank from the town of Alvor in order to return to our hotel, known as the Clube Alvorferias, after a night out. As we approached the junction I observed a white ford transit vehicle drive up the bank and stop well away from the kerb in the junction turning right, blocking traffic turning right. I would describe the vehicle as a flatbed 'transit' van with a white cab area with white metal fold down side flaps/boards. I recognise the type of vehicle as I used to drive one. I did not notice whether it had any identifying marks of advertising on it.
As it had caught our attention I stopped and watched. I then observed a dark skinned male, well built, dark hair (page 1) get out of the vehicle and begin to stagger up the bank in a drunken manner. I could not see much detail because it was dark but
I could see that he had cradled a child of about 3-4 years over his left shoulder. Again I could not give anything else due to the darkness but it was clear that the child was not making any noise, or crying, or appear in distress. There was no movement at all.
I was aware that a child was missing in the area and therefore went and took the registration of the vehicle, which my wife wrote initially on her hand and later on a piece of paper.
I watched him stagger approx 200m up the bank and then turn right on a road into a complex area. It was at this point that the situation appeared very strange and so we decided to take the vehicle number.
As we were taking the number a woman appeared half running towards the van from the road on which the van was parked. She was clearly in distress and upon seeing us began to talk in Portuguese. We could not understand her and at this point we were the only other people on the street; but
as we were talking a young Portuguese couple appeared from (page 2) the same direction as the woman in a small red vehicle and stopped. The male came over and was able to speak good English he translated what the woman was saying. In the conversation it became apparent that the couple had observed the male with the child in a situation further up the road and had seen the man hit the woman and had driven around the block and found the woman with us. He said he had phoned the police. Thinking everything was alright we left the couple, woman and van in situ and entered our apartment.
Upon entering the apartment we put on Sky news and became aware of a news report about a young couple acting suspiciously in relation to the disappearance of the British child. I therefore went to thhe complex and informed them of what I had seen and gave him the registration on a piece of paper. We then returned to the area and saw the woman and the vehicle still in place. I returned to the apartment and after an hour hadn’t heard anything so I contacted the police. Eventually I got through to an English speaker and explained what had happened. The police stated they were sending someone to reception. I decided to go down and wait for them. As I got downstairs I could see two police in a patrol vehicle outside reception. The officers spoke English and I explained the situation and gave them another copy of the registration which we had written down. They told me they were dealing or had dealt with the situation. Then at about 03.15 we checked the area again and the van and woman had gone.
I can confirm that the registration was 3893 VL for the transit vehicle. I have also produced a hand-drawn map of the local area which I now produce as RMC/1.
Signed
R. McCluskey
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We went to Manchester and stayed at a friends house before catching the first flight of the morning, on Saturday 5th May 2007.
We arrived in Portugal on Saturday morning, where a friend lent us a car to use and we went to Praia da Luz. (Patricia Cameron)
"A lady from an apartment across Rua Dr Gentil Martins, overlooking our little side gate, came over to speak to us.
She said that the previous night she had seen a car going up the Rocha Negra – the black, volcanic cliff that dominates the village. There was a track leading to the Rocha Negra but nobody remembered ever having noticed any vehicle that far up in the daytime, let alone at night. This immediately conjured visions of Madeleine being disposed of somewhere on the overhanging cliff. I went to tell one of the police officers who was able to speak a little English. He was quite dismissive. It would have been one of the GNR men checking the area, he said."
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1:59 pings wouldn't be possible for 10 to 2. PDL to Alvor is about 20 miles so 30 mins drive. Any other connections with Alvor in this case? Anyone live there or own premises from statements etc?
Just added Richard's statement which seems to indicate that the woman spoke Portuguese so that couldn't be Kate.
