Disappeared and Abducted Children and Young Adults => Madeleine McCann (3) disappeared from her parent's holiday apartment at Ocean Club, Praia da Luz, Portugal on 3 May 2007. No trace of her has ever been found. => Suspects => Topic started by: Wonderfulspam on February 02, 2014, 11:23:22 AM
Title: Smith Man
Post by: Wonderfulspam on February 02, 2014, 11:23:22 AM
The Smiths' Sighting
3rd May 2007, around 10:00pm.
The Smith family, from Ireland are returning to their apartment after a night out.
As they walk, they pass a man carrying a child in his arms.
The man averts his eyes from them to signal that he does not wish to speak.
Witness testimony of Martin Smith, 26 May 2007
Date of Diligence: 2007.05.06 Location: DIC Portimao Name: MARTIN SMITH
The witness states: • That he comes to the process as a witness.
• Being of Irish nationality, he does not understand Portuguese in its written or oral form and is accompanied by an interpreter.
• That he has an apartment in Luz, Lagos, located in the Estela da Luz Urbanizaco, A1C. This apartment is co-owned by a friend whose name is L*** O*****. He normally visits Portugal three times a year. When here, he stays in the apartment. Concerning this period, he states that he arrived in Portugal on the 30th of April, 2007, with a booked return date of May 9, 2007. He arrived at Faro airport and flew out from Dublin.
• Concerning the facts under investigation, on the 3rd of May, he went with his family to the Dolphin restaurant in Praia da Luz where they dined. Around 21H00 they left the restaurant and headed toward "Kelly's Bar"; about a 50 metre distance from the restaurant, following the path, as it is very short. The walk took him a few minutes. In "Kelly's Bar" they consumed some drinks. They left that establishment around 21H55 as his son was due to return home very early the next day. This bar is located on Calheta Street.
• After leaving the bar, he travelled in the opposite direction and reached a set of stairs which gave access to Rua 25 de Abril (25th of April Street). On this artery they followed a second street, parallel to Rua 1 de Maio (1st of May Street) whose name he does not remember. He was heading toward his apartment (Estrela da Luz complex) which is located a little above the street that crosses the primary school. As he reached this artery, he crossed an individual holding a child. He notes that it is normal to see people carrying children, especially during the holiday season. This individual was walking the downward path, in the opposite direction. He is not aware where this person was headed. He only saw him as they passed each other. He assumed it was a father and daughter and thought nothing more of it.
• Urged, states that when he passed this individual, it must have been around 22H00. He did not know at the time that a child had disappeared. He only became aware of the disappearance of the child the next morning, from his daughter in Ireland. She had sent him a message or called him regarding what had happened. At this point he thought that MADELEINE could have been the child he saw with the individual.
• Regarding the individual he states that: he was Caucasian, around 175 to 180m in height. He appeared to be about 35/40 years old. He had a normal complexion, a bit on the thin side. His hair was short, in a basic male cut, brown in colour. He cannot state if it was dark or lighter in tone. He did not use glasses and had no beard or moustache. He did not notice any other relevant details partly due to the fact that the lighting was not very good.
• He was wearing cream or beige-coloured cloth trousers in a classic cut. He did not see his shoes and cannot describe the colour or form of the same.
• He states that the child was female, about four years of age as she was similar to his granddaughter of the same age. It was a child of normal complexion, about a metre in height. The child has blonde medium-hued hair, without being very light. Her skin was very white, typical of a Brit. He did not look at her eyes. As she was asleep and her eyelids were closed.
• She was wearing light-coloured pyjamas. He cannot state with certainty the colour. She was not covered by any other cover or sheet. He cannot confirm whether she was barefoot but in his group, they spoke about the child having no cover on her feet.
• Urged, he states that the individual did not appear to be a tourist. He cannot explain this further. It was simply his perception given the individual's clothing. He states that the individual carried the child in his arms, with her head laying on the individual's shoulders to the right of the deponent. He adds that he did not hold the child in a comfortable position.
• Having already seen various photographs of MADELEINE alongside her images on television, states that she may have been the child he saw. He cannot state this as fact but is convinced that it could have been MADELEINE. Indeed, this is the opinion of his family.
• Questioned, says that the individual did not speak nor did the child as she was in a deep sleep.
• States that it is not possible to recognise the individual in person or by photograph.
• Adds that in May and August of 2006, he saw ROBERT MURAT in Praia da Luz bars. On one of these occasions, he was inebriated and spoke to everyone. He did not use glasses at this time. He also states that the individual who carried the child was not ROBERT. He would have recognised him immediately.
• At being asked, states that he was accompanied by his wife, MARY SMITH and his son, PETER SMITH, his daughter-in-law, S***, and his grandchildren of 13 and 6 years of age (children of PETER) T**** and C***, his daughter AOIFE (12 years of age) and his other two grandchildren (A******* (10 years old) and E***** (four years old). These are children of his daughter B***** who was in Ireland.
• States also that when he passed this individual mid-street, traffic is minimal or non-existent.
• He adds that the group passed him some metres away so that they could make out the individual from various distinct positions.
• He has added a sketch indicating the direction of the locale and the sighting.
• He has no other elements to offer the investigation.
• And nothing more was said. He reads and finds it in conformity, ratifies and signs together with the interpreter.
Title: Re: Smith Man
Post by: Wonderfulspam on February 02, 2014, 11:27:04 AM
6th June 2007
Drogheda Independent
Local family may have seen missing Maddy
By Angela McCormick
A DROGHEDA family may have been the last people to see abducted four-year-old Madeleine McCann in Portugal.
The family is understood to have seen a child in the arms of a man on the night and at the time Madeleine was taken from her parents' apartments in Praia Da Luz.
They have reported the matter and recently gave statements to the Portuguese police.
The Portuguese police have asked the family not to speak to the press in case they compromise their investigations.
The family declined to give any details to the Drogheda Independent.
Portuguese police are convinced that the child, who vanished during a family holiday in the Algarve on May 3, was abducted.
A number of Drogheda-based families holiday in the nearby Estrela Da Luz apartments, part of a complex built by Drogheda man Gerry Fagan of Oceanico Developments.
'Estrela Da Luz is just around the corner from Praia Da Luz. Loads of Drogheda people go there. It is an absolute paradise,' said Jem O'Neill, a regular visitor.
Title: Re: Smith Man
Post by: Wonderfulspam on February 02, 2014, 11:33:22 AM
3rd January 2008
Daily Mirror
Maddy: We saw abduction
A family who may have seen Madeleine McCann being abducted could provide vital evidence in the search for the missing four-year-old.
The group saw a man walking towards the beach in Praia da Luz while carrying a child at the time Madeleine vanished, exactly eight months ago.
Portuguese police have taken statements from the family, who live in Drogheda, Ireland.
Now detectives hired by Madeleine's parents want to speak to Martin Smith and his family. The Smiths were leaving Kelly's Bar just before 10pm when they saw a man carrying a child 500 yards from the McCanns' apartment.
Kate McCann, 39, raised the alarm about her missing daughter at around 10pm.
The Smiths are thought to have described the man as white and 5ft 7in to 5ft 9in tall. His top clothing was obscured by the child. That description matches a suspect seen walking away from the apartment at about 9.15pm by Jane Tanner, a member of the "Tapas Seven" group of friends who were on holiday with the McCanns.
She saw a man carrying a child wearing pink pyjamas similar to those worn by Madeleine.
The McCanns' spokesman said yesterday: "Our detectives are being very methodical and I am quite sure that this family will be on their list."
The eight-month deadline means suspect Robert Murat, 34, hopes to be formally cleared today.
Title: Re: Smith Man
Post by: Wonderfulspam on February 02, 2014, 11:38:59 AM
3rd January 2008
Daily Mail
Maddie: Irishman provides dramatic new clues
EXCLUSIVE: Tourist met rude man carrying child in blanket on night Madeleine vanished
AN IRISH holidaymaker has spoken publicly for the first time of his disturbing encounter with a man carrying a child wrapped in a blanket on the night Madeleine McCann disappeared.
Now investigators hired by Madeleine's parents hope Martin Smith and his family can provide a crucial breakthrough.
Speaking from his home in Drogheda, Co. Louth, Mr Smith recalled the sighting, which is strikingly similar to one by a friend of the McCanns, Jane Tanner. In hindsight, the retired Mr Smith said, the mans rude behaviour should have aroused his suspicions.
He explained: "The one thing we noted afterwards was that he gave us no greeting.
"My wife Mary remembered afterwards that she asked him, 'Oh, is she asleep?' But he never acknowledged her one way or another.
"He just put his head down and averted his eyes. This is very unusual in a tourist town at such a quiet time of the year."
Their description of the barefoot child and the man, who wore beige trousers, echoes that of Miss Tanner, who said she saw a man carrying a sleeping child away from the McCanns apartment about 9.15pm.
Though the Smith family believe they met an almost identical man closer to 10pm, the coincidence prompted them to contact police after they returned to Ireland. Mr Smith said: "Luz is such a small place and so quiet, we felt a duty to tell police and let them decide if it was important."
Last night, McCann family spokesman Clarence Mitchell said detectives from the Spanish agency Metodo 3 now hoped to speak to the family. "Metodo 3 is being very methodical, working through a number of people they think might be able to help them, and this family will be on their list."
On the night of the disappearance, Mr Smith was dining with his wife in the Dolphin restaurant in Praia Da Luz, where they are frequent visitors.
The couple were with their daughter Aoife, their son Peter and his wife Sile,as well as four grandchildren Tadhg, Cole, Aisling and Eimear.
All nine met the man holding a child but their recollection differs slightly from Miss Tanner's.
"In the image she gave, the man was holding the child forward in his arms. The man we saw had put the child over his shoulders. But Luz was very, very quiet at that time of the year and the likelihood of two young children being carried around like this is very small.
"Also, our timings are a bit different. She saw the man at 9.15pm. We say 9.45or 9.50pm and the sighting was only a five-minute walk from where the child was staying.
"I dont know if this information will help the McCanns. We kept interested in whats going on but we tried to avoid the limelight."
The father of six yesterday said the Irish family would do anything they could to help the McCanns find their missing daughter.
"We have not been contacted by the private detective hired by the McCanns, and have had no contact with the investigating police since May 26 last year.
"But anything we can do to help try to solve it, we will." Recalling the event she witnessed, Mr Smith said it was some time before the family realised they could be star witnesses
"We were out the night it happened. My son and his family were leaving on the Friday and we were going for a family meal. We went home about 9.50pm and we heard nothing at all about Madeleine McCann until the next day.
"I was taking my son Peter to the airport and on my way back, I heard that a kidnapping had happened in the village of Luz.
"We were looking at all the commotion on Sky News and we really felt quite helpless.
"We had two grandchildren with us at the time, aged four and five, and it had a terrible effect on them.
"They all wanted to sleep in the same room as us until we went home on the Wednesday.
"We were home two weeks when my son rang up and asked was he dreaming or did we meet a man carrying a child the night Madeleine was taken. We all remembered that we had the same recollection. I felt we should report it to the police.
"I rang the Portuguese police and they took a statement from me on the phone.Then they asked me to make a statement to gardai, which I did in Drogheda two weeks after the disappearance.
"Two days later, Leicestershire police got on to us and said they wanted to speak to all nine of us. But we felt there was no point dragging grand children and the whole lot out to Portugal so just my eldest son, Peter, and youngest daughter, Aoife, and I flew to Luz to make a statement.
"The police were fairly busy and the station was pretty typical. They didnt seem to be the most efficient police you ever came across but they are probably no different to police anywhere else. We were interviewed separately and told them what we saw, and showed them on the map where we met the man and child.
"We spent the whole day there from 10.30am to 7pm with an interpreter. That day, May 26 last year, was the last time we had any contact with the investigation.I remember clearly because it was my wedding anniversary.
"I told them we went for dinner at the Dolphin Restaurant and then went on to have just one drink in Kelly's bar, just 50 yards away.
"We would normally have stayed out longer but my son and his family were going home the next day.
"As we made our way back to our apartment in Estrella da Luz, we met a guy with a child that appeared to be asleep.
"It looked like a blonde child, and I thought she might be four years old, as she was the same size as my grandchild who was with us.
"It was around 9.55pm and it was getting dark and he was looking downward so I couldnt tell you exactly what he looked like.
"None of us was 100 per cent sure what he was wearing but we all told police he was wearing beige trousers and a darker top. We all put him in his early 40s. I didnt think he was Portuguese." Insisting he knew chief suspect Robert Murat visually for years, Mr Smith told police the person he saw carrying a child could not be him.
"I told police it was definitely not him because the man wasn't as big as Murat. I think I would have definitely recognised him."
Title: Re: Smith Man
Post by: Wonderfulspam on February 02, 2014, 11:44:23 AM
9th January 2008
Drogheda Independent
Local family's anguish over 'Maddy' sighting
Madeleine (4) vanished on May 3rd last while her family were on holiday in the Portuguese resort of Praia Da Luz.
The Drogheda family, who first spoke to the Drogheda Indpendent last August, say despite current media reports that they will be contacted by the detective agency hired by parents Gerry and Kate McCann to find the missing toddler, no one has been in contact with them. 'We are willing to talk to anyone but our information is vague. It cuts us up that we can't be of more help but what we saw is not going to crack the case,' Peter Smith told the Drogheda Independent.
The Drogheda family, Peter, his wife Sheila and their two children Tadgh (13) and Cole (6), along with grandparents Martin and Mary Smith, were holidaying in the same resort at the time of Madeleine's disappearance.
Returning from a night out the family saw a sleeping child in the arms of a man, on the night the toddler was taken from her parents apartment. 'It was our last night. We left the restaurant early because my wife, who was expecting our third child at the time was feeling unwell.
On the way back to our apartment we saw a man walking down towards the beach with a child in his arms. It's a common enough sight in a holiday resort and we didn't think much of it. In fact it was only after we were home two weeks that I remembered seeing him. At the time my attention was focused on looking after my wife,' Peter, who lives in Greenhills, explained. 'When I mentioned it, it jogged my father's memory and he too remembered seeing the same man,' Peter added.
The family made a statement to the Gardaí who then contacted the Portuguese police. 'About three to four weeks after Madeleine disappeared we travelled back to Portugal and gave a description of the man in a statement to the police there,' said Peter.
Since then the family have heard nothing, from either the Portuguese police or the detectives agency Metodo 3, hired by her family to find Madeleine. 'We knew that what we had seen was so vague that we couldn't identify the guy. However we are willing to help in any way that we can if we are contacted,' the Drogheda man stressed.
Title: Re: Smith Man
Post by: Wonderfulspam on February 02, 2014, 11:48:27 AM
7th July 2008
Correio da Manhã
Irishman saw Gerry carry Maddie
Martin Smith, an Irishman, told the Polícia Judiciária that he saw a man carrying a child, that looked like Maddie to him, approximately around supper time on the 3rd of May.
The deposition of the witness was collected right at the beginning of the investigation, but the lack of complementary elements about the individual who was carrying the child did not lead the investigators to other diligences.
Days later, already back in his home country, Martin Smith contacted the Irish authorities. He asserted that when he saw the case on television and at the moment when he saw Gerry's face for the first time, when he was descending from an airplane, he had no doubts left. The man who carried the child on the day of the disappearance was her father.
The information was sent to the Portuguese authorities during a phase when the PJ still centered the process on the abduction theory. And, according to the final report, the lead was not followed up because at the time when Martin says he saw Gerry, the latter was having dinner at the Tapas Restaurant.
What the investigators established later on was that, after all, the reconstruction of the evening that was sustained by the group, was not straightforward. In truth, nobody knows at exactly what time each element of the group was present at the restaurant, given the fact that several of the English got up from the table in a more or less alternate manner during the dinner at the Ocean Club.
The PJ later equated the hearing of the witness through a rogatory letter. But the diligence ended up not being carried out, given the fact that without complimentary evidence, no results would be reached anyway.
Title: Re: Smith Man
Post by: Wonderfulspam on February 02, 2014, 11:52:36 AM
5th August 2008
BBC News
Police files give McCanns 'hope'
(extract) Other new information revealed in the files includes the account of one witness who reported seeing a man carrying a young girl with blonde hair on the night of the disappearance. He later told the police the man could have been Madeleine's father.
Martin Smith, 58, on holiday at the time, was interviewed by detectives in Portugal and his native Ireland but the line of inquiry was later discarded.
Four months after his initial statement Mr Smith contacted the police to say he had seen Madeleine's parents arriving back in Britain on BBC News, and the way Mr McCann carried one of the couple's twins reminded him of the man he had seen in Portugal.
When detectives replayed video footage of the couple's arrival at East Midlands airport, the witness said he was 60-80% sure that the man he passed was Gerry McCann.
But this was later dismissed by prosecutors because at the time of the reported sighting, shortly before 2200, Gerry McCann was sitting in the Ocean Club's tapas bar with other members of his party.
Many other reported sightings were listed in the files, including one report in which a little girl calling herself "Maddy" claimed to a shop worker in Amsterdam that she had been taken from her mother on holiday.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7543064.stm
Title: Re: Smith Man
Post by: Wonderfulspam on February 02, 2014, 11:55:00 AM
10th August 2008
Irish Mail on Sunday
Drogheda businessman told police he saw Gerry McCann carrying a child towards the beach the day Maddie disappeared
Father-of-six gave garda a signed statement saying he and his wife were ''60 to 80% sure'' that the man they saw holding the child was Maddie's father.
The claim, which was taken seriously by the Portuguese police, was made almost four months after Maddie disappeared on May 3rd this year.
Since then the McCanns have been totally exonerated of any involvement.
Mr. Smith had initally told police he had seen a man carrying a child that night, but that he couldn't identify him because he had not been wearing his glasses. The following September, however, the businessman saw clips of the McCanns returning from their holidays and said the footage of Mr McCann carrying his younger child had instantly reminded him of the mystery man.
''I would be 60 to 80% sure that it was Gerry McCann that I met that night carrying a child," Mr Smith said in his statement. ''It was the way Mr. McCann turned his head down that was similar... It may have been the way he was carrying his child.
''I am basing this on his mannerism, in the way he carried the child off the plane.''
Mr Smith's claim was passed to the Portuguese police who took it as more evidence in support of their mistaken belief that the McCanns had something to do with their daughter's disappearence.
Friends of the McCann family said last night that the decision of the Portuguese police to pursue Mr Smith's claims prove that they were determined to pin the blame on Maddie's parents come what may.
One said ''Look at the facts. This man sees an individual carrying a child on the night Madeleine vanished. He waits 13 days to report this to the police, going back to Ireland.
"The McCanns returning to England - It was this image that alerted Mr Smith in the meantime. At this stage he admits he has no idea who the man is, other than a basic description. A further three, almost four months go by before, after seeing him on television, he feels it could be Gerry.
''By now the police have dozens of statements putting Gerry back at the apartment complex at that time. Yet the Portuguese ask a combination of the Leicestershire police and the Garda to re-interview this witness. About what??
''And why? The truth is that this is part of the victimisation of Gerry and Kate which has gone on from the very beginning by the Portuguese,who were clearly desperate to get something against them."
The extraordinary saga began on the night of May 3rd 2007, as Martin and his wife, Mary, walked back from a local pub in Praia da Luz to their apartment with members of his family. They had decided to return to their apartment within an hour of dining out becasue their son, Peter, was catching an early morning flight the next day.
As they made their way back, they crossed paths with a slim man with a full head of chestnut coloured hair and dressed in beige trousers coming in the opposite direction.
It was 9.55 pm and the man was carrying a sleeping little blonde girl of about 4-years of age. The child's head was was resting on the man's left shoulder.
At this stage Maddie had already disappeared but the Smiths were unaware that a child had gone missing from PDL.
It was not until the following morning that a family member living in Ireland told them of Madeleine's disappearence. Mr Smith returned to Ireland six days after the litle girl went missing and it was another 2 weeks before he travelled back to Portugal to make a statement about what he saw that night.
In the statement to Portuguese police on May 26th, the grandfather -who wears glasses but was not wearing them at the night in question - said he would not be able to identify the man he saw.
Significantly though he was able to tell Police that the man was not Robert Murat, as he had met him on a number of previous occasions.
After making his statement, Mr Smtih returned to Drogheda and it was not until four months later that that he made contact with the police again.
This weekend, Mr Smith's wife Mary told the Mail on Sunday her husband had no regrets about coming forward.
He [Martin] doesn't want to talk, said Mrs Smith. He said what he had to say. I was with him [that night]. We saw a man carrying a child and that's all we know. We told them all that and that's it.
''The man he saw had the same stature as Gerry McCann. We felt we had to help. We're happy we did. We reported exactly what we saw.
"We only did what we thought was right for a missing girl and our hearts are breaking for her parents, as it would be if it were one of ours.
''I feel very much for them [the McCanns]. I have six grandchildren of my own and six children of my own.
"The poor McCann family must be heartbroken.''
Title: Re: Smith Man
Post by: Wonderfulspam on February 02, 2014, 12:18:52 PM
9th October 2013
Sky News
Madeleine McCann Police To Make New Appeal
Scotland Yard detectives investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann are due to release an e-fit image of a new suspect. Sky's Martin Brunt reports.
Title: Re: Smith Man
Post by: Wonderfulspam on February 02, 2014, 12:23:43 PM
9th October 2013
Daily Mirror
New Madeleine McCann e-fit of kidnap suspect could be very significant
There are lots of stones left unturned. It's good Scotland Yard have got the case by the scruff of the neck with a new e-fit.
The new e-fit of a Madeleine McCann kidnap suspect due to be unveiled could be very significant.
However, there may be a problem with accuracy if this was drawn from a recent description from a witness who saw something five years ago.
You have to take into account the length of time between when the witnesses saw what they saw and when the e-fit was prepared.
E-fits can be very, very useful. I've been involved in a couple of cases where we've found a suspect and there's a striking resemblance.
But if the witness is off target it can send police in the wrong direction.
There are certain rules you have to follow like how long a witness saw the suspect for, how near the suspect was, how clear their view was and how light it was.
If there's more than one witness you can compare their accounts but you still have to work within a legal system. It's got to be able to stand up in court.
There will be someone in the force trained to organise witnesses and glean as much information from them as possible.
What you can do now with e-fits is phenomenal. It's really improved over time. It's much better than the old photo-fits.
There are lots of stones left unturned. It's good Scotland Yard have got the case by the scruff of the neck.
I'm sure there are plenty of leads the Met Police are following that the Portuguese police didn't manage to.
I would like to be optimistic. My gut feeling is she's still alive. The next step will be finding a name and if that name is significant.
If someone comes up with a name, and that person can be placed at the scene or nearby, that's a bonus.
The police may already have a suspect in mind and they want witnesses to come forward and corroborate what one witness has already told them.
Title: Re: Smith Man
Post by: Wonderfulspam on February 02, 2014, 12:27:36 PM
10th October 2013
Daily Mirror
Madeleine McCann: Release of first suspect e-fit by British police takes investigation to new level
New hope for Gerry and Kate McCann as Met Police are believed to be focusing their investigation on one man
Six years after Madeleine McCann vanished, the search for the culprits has taken a major leap forward.
It emerged yesterday that British detectives are preparing to release their first e-fit since taking up the hunt for her.
The image is of a man who is a new suspect in the probe.
After receiving information from fresh witnesses, Met police are believed to be focusing their investigation on the man.
Madeleine was three in 2007 when she vanished from her family's holiday apartment in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz while her parents Kate and Gerry were at a nearby restaurant.
The e-fit created by Scotland Yard, which launched its probe three months ago, is expected to be featured on Monday night during a Crimewatch appeal for help to track down whoever took the girl.
The Met team, led by Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood, has worked with the BBC TV show on a reconstruction of the events leading up to the disappearance.
Chiefs would not comment on the significance of the e-fit, but vowed to "release the relevant material at the relevant time".
The force added it was planning "a series of public appeals" in various countries.
A statement said: "We are not prepared to discuss, comment or speculate on the content of the upcoming appeal in relation to the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.
"This has been weeks in the planning and each element of the investigation must be set into the overall context of the appeal."
The man officers are hunting was apparently near the flat at around the time Madeleine vanished.
This potential breakthrough is believed to have been warmly welcomed by the McCanns who are confident the search for their daughter is progressing.
In the years since Madeleine was taken, Kate and Gerry, both 45, of Rothley, Leics, have released various e-fits of potential suspects.
They included a man with buck teeth seen at the flat in the days before the McCanns arrived.
In 2011 the Met launched Operation Grange, a review of Madeleine's case, after complaints about the efforts of Portuguese police.
Then in July this year the review became a full-blown Scotland Yard inquiry.
Six Portuguese detectives based in Faro, in southern Portugal, are helping the Met by carrying out investigations on its behalf.
British detectives release efits of Madeleine McCann suspect Despite being placed at the crime scene by two people on the night in question the man has never come forward
Title: Re: Smith Man
Post by: Wonderfulspam on February 03, 2014, 04:14:57 PM
Title: Re: Smith Man
Post by: Wonderfulspam on February 03, 2014, 04:22:02 PM
14th October 2013
BBC Crimewatch
Title: Re: Smith Man
Post by: Wonderfulspam on February 03, 2014, 04:30:52 PM
14th October 2013
Sky News
Madeleine McCann: Key Sighting Ruled Out
By Ian Woods, Senior Correspondent
Police switch their focus to a second reported sighting of a man carrying a child which had been considered of less importance.
A man thought to be a key suspect in the abduction of three year old Madeleine McCann has been identified - and ruled out of the inquiry.
For six years detectives believed that a sighting of a man carrying a child close to her apartment was one of their best leads.
But a review of the evidence has concluded that it was an innocent British holidaymaker carrying his daughter home from a creche.
It means the inquiry has now switched its focus to a second sighting later that evening - and police have already received more than 100 new calls as a result.
The developments were revealed as part of a televised appeal and reconstruction on BBC Crimewatch.
Her parents Gerry and Kate McCann appeared live in the studio and said they were "feeling hopeful and optimistic".
"These cases can get solved and that's what the public need to think about tonight," said Gerry McCann.
"We don't know what's happened to Madeleine, we don't know who's taken her. The best chance of finding her is by identifying (the person who took her)."
Kate McCann said: "It doesn't matter how much heartache we put ourselves through as long as we get the result that we need."
She appealed to viewers to have "the courage and confidence to come forward", adding they could hold the key to "unlock" the case.
The Metropolitan Police's Operation Grange has been reviewing the evidence gathered by both the Portuguese police, and private detectives, and has come to a conclusion which they say completely changes the timeline of what happened on May 3, 2007.
Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry McCann had been dining at a restaurant in the Algarve tourist resort of Praia Da Luz.
They'd been taking it in turns with a group of friends to check on their children who were asleep in nearby apartments.
During one of these checks at around 9.15pm one of the friends, Jane Tanner, saw a man walking along the street carrying a child in his arms.
She thought nothing of it, but within an hour Mrs McCann checked the bedroom where Madeleine and her younger twin brother and sister had been sleeping, and discovered that the little girl had gone.
Although the Portuguese police did not publicise the sighting and instead made the parents suspects in the case, once their investigation closed the McCanns arranged for a sketch to be drawn showing the man Miss Tanner had seen.
Ever since it has been central to how people have viewed the case.
But Scotland Yard detectives reviewed the evidence and realised that around a dozen holidaymakers had been using a free creche at the Mark Warner resort, and they would have collected their sleeping children during the evening.
One of those parents was contacted by police and he agreed that he may be the man, and he had been wrongly identified as a possible suspect.
He agreed to pose for a photograph so his build could be compared to the sketch.
That, together with evidence that his two-year-old daughter was wearing similar pyjamas as the sketch, has convinced the man leading the inquiry that this sighting is wrong.
Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood told Sky News: "As you can see from the images we've put forward, both from what the man was probably wearing, and the actual physical location he was in, and the description of the child he was carrying, it is highly compelling.
"We believe in a convincing way that this is not Madeleine's abductor."
That information means that it seems likely that Madeleine was taken from the apartment slightly later than first thought.
And police have refocused their attention on a second witness statement which had been considered of less importance.
An Irish family on holiday in Praia Da Luz had told investigators that they saw a man carrying a child at around 10pm.
Their sighting was closer to the town centre on Rua Da Escola Primeria.
Two e-fits of the man which the witnesses helped create have now been made public. But the evidence is not new.
The e-fits were made in 2008 by private detectives working for the McCanns, but were not made public because they seemed less relevant than the 9.15pm sighting by Jane Tanner.
When asked how convinced he is that the second sighting is of Madeleine, DCI Redwood said: "The timing and location speak for themselves."
But he also realised that this too could be an entirely innocent man and appealed for help from the public in identifying him.
He said: "If this is you, and you are nothing to do with Madeleine's disappearance, then we really need to speak to you.
"It's so important for us to eliminate innocent sightings.
"But equally if anybody is looking at those e-fits and recognises the person, for whatever reason, then please have the courage to call in and tell us."
The Metropolitan Police team refuse to be critical of the previous inquiry in an effort to foster good relations with Portuguese police.
Six local officers based in Faro have been appointed to liaise with British police. But DCI Redwood hopes that ultimately the Portuguese investigation will be reopened.
He told Sky News: "Reopening the inquiry is a matter wholly for the Portuguese and we completely respect and acknowledge the differences in our system.
"But of course our aspiration is to have the case reopened so we can work together with our Portuguese colleagues jointly so we can establish what happened to Madeleine McCann."
DCI Redwood is also hoping to get more information about men seen in the vicinity of the McCanns’ apartment on several occasions in the week she disappeared.
When asked whether he believed the family were being watched, he said: "The physical evidence demonstrates to us that there are people, unexplained people, possibly doing just that.
"By the way the witnesses have described them ... lurking around in the very close proximity from where Madeleine was taken."
British police have also revealed that there was an upsurge in the number of burglaries in the resort in the weeks leading up to May 2007.
Exactly a year earlier there was also an incident in which a child raised the alarm after seeing an intruder in their holiday apartment.
The police are looking at whether these incidents could be related.
And they have also released e-fits of men described as "charity collectors" who had been going door-to-door" and may or may not be genuine.
Officers think there is a possibility they could have been checking apartments ahead of a possible break-in.
British officers are well aware that many residents of the Portuguese town have become fed up with the constant media attention.
But he made this direct appeal to them: "What I would say specifically is that this change of emphasis in terms of the timeline between 9pm and 10pm means we can genuinely ask the public in Praia Da Luz to go back over that time, and look at those efforts, and if you recognise someone in the local community please have the confidence to come forward to us."
The new appeal formed part of the BBC Crimewatch programme which featured a detailed reconstruction of the McCann's visit to the resort.
The last photographs of Madeleine which have been iconic because of their repeated use in appeals over the years, were brought to life by recreating the moments they were taken - Madeleine holding tennis balls, and sitting at the side of a swimming pool.
There was also previously unseen family video of Madeleine.
http://www.mccannfiles.com/id463.html
Title: Re: Smith Man
Post by: Wonderfulspam on February 03, 2014, 04:39:10 PM
16th October 2013
Daily Mirror
Madeleine McCann: Suspected kidnapper took a risky route putting him just feet away from her parents.
Chief reporter Andy Lines retraces the man's journey from Maddie's apartment to the main road in just over four minutes - but believes more people must have seen him.
The route the new Madeleine McCann suspect would have taken passed yards from where her parents were dining.
Just a wall would have separated Gerry and Kate, sitting with their friends, from their daughter being carried towards the beach.
I traced the route yesterday starting from apartment 5A where Maddie was sleeping.
It went right through the middle of the village down to the junction of the Rua Das Escadinhas and the Rua 25 da Abril where the mystery man was spotted.
If this was the man who kidnapped Maddie it's impossible to believe it was a well-planned operation.
He would have taken huge risks to take her into the village centre when he could have easily headed north towards the bypass.
I walked the route in 4 minutes 15 seconds – but it would undoubtedly have taken longer for a man carrying a three-year-old.
From the apartment the alleged abductor would have been most likely to take Madeleine out through the back gate.
He would have carried her 40 yards behind a 12ft white wall, out of sight of her parents, down a slight incline before turning right off the main road.
He would have walked past the tennis courts where Maddie had earlier been ball-girl.
He would have climbed down 11 steps then up six more to the main road, passing the Paragem No 4 route bus stop before walking down Rua Joaquim Teixeira.
After passing the Spar supermarket and the Restaurant Aquario he would have walked past a large area of fenced-off scrubland.
The route then goes down the Rua Ema Vieira Alvenaz and between two large blocks of flats.
The suspect would then have crossed the main road where Martin Smith saw him.
Though it was around 10pm it's hard to believe more people wouldn't have seen him.
Title: Re: Smith Man
Post by: Wonderfulspam on February 03, 2014, 04:41:30 PM
16th October
Daily Mail
Who did the key witness see?
Police focus on Irish family's claims they saw a family carrying a child away
Could Irish family have witnessed toddler being snatched?
Retired businessman saw man carrying blonde child
Thought at the time it was Gerry McCann, but proved to be elsewhere
The new Crimewatch appeal focused on a claim by an Irish family that they saw a man carrying a child through Praia da Luz at around the time Madeleine McCann was found to be missing.
Two differing e-fits of the suspect were issued, and police say it is possible the family did see the three-year-old being spirited away by her abductor.
The sighting came when Martin Smith, a retired businessman in his 70s, was walking back to his apartment in the Algarve resort following a meal and drinks at a bar with his wife and children.
At a spot a six-minute walk from the McCanns’ holiday accommodation, they saw a man carrying a blonde child aged around four.
It was just before 10pm and the street lighting was poor.
Although Mr Smith admitted he was not wearing his glasses at the time he later said he thought the man could have been Gerry McCann.
This is an impossibility as dozens of witnesses confirmed he was at the holiday complex at 10pm.
British police have also said they are certain that Mr McCann has nothing to do with his daughter’s appearance.
Speaking to Portuguese police a few weeks after Maddie disappeared, Mr Smith said it was ‘not possible to recognise the individual’.
His grandchildren were also unable to identify the man or the girl – but thought she could have been Madeleine.
Yet in September 2007 Mr Smith suddenly called police again to say he believed the man he saw could have been Gerry McCann.
He had been watching television coverage of the family returning to Britain. However numerous witnesses say they were with Mr McCann at the tapas restaurant at the time in question – so he could not possibly have been 500 yards away.
This has led to Mr Smith’s account being called into question.
The retired businessman from County Louth, Ireland, was staying in Praia da Luz with his wife Mary, now 65, his son Peter and his wife and their children.
He part owned an apartment in the resort and visited it three times a year.
Title: Re: Smith Man
Post by: Wonderfulspam on February 03, 2014, 06:10:06 PM
16th October 2013
Daily Express
We know name of Madeleine McCann's snatcher: Police get new lead from Crimewatch
POLICE were yesterday handed a potential breakthrough in the hunt for Madeleine McCann after Crimewatch viewers named the new prime suspect.
More than 1,000 calls, emails and texts flooded in after the dramatic television appeal.
And significantly several people identified the man now suspected of snatching Madeleine by the same name.
Last night Scotland Yard detectives were trying to track him down while also preparing to make appeals in Holland, Germany and Ireland. Their number one suspect was named amid a "truly unprecedented response" to Monday night's Crimewatch on BBC1 which attracted 7.3 million viewers.
The programme featured two e-fits of a man seen carrying a fair-haired child of Madeleine's age on a street in Praia da Luz, Portugal, at 10pm on the night that the then three-year-old vanished.
Crimewatch editor Joe Mather said yesterday: "They received several names for the key 10pm sighting - the sighting of the man carrying a child towards the beach.
"Several different names but also several callers mentioned the same name for that man. It is always signifi- cant if callers call in with the same name for an individual."
Mr Mather added: "It has been a truly unprecedented response.
"Significantly, there were lots of calls from British people who were in Praia da Luz at the time of Madeleine's disappearance who'd never previously spoken to the Metropolitan Police.
"So there's lots of information coming through there."
Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry McCann said they were "absolutely delighted" with the "overwhelming" response to the fresh appeal for information. In a statement, they said: "We know the public desperately want to help the search for Madeleine.
"We are genuinely hopeful that one or more of these responses will lead to a major breakthrough in the investigation.
"If anyone was in Praia da Luz around the time of Madeleine's abduction and has not spoken to the Metropolitan Police, or if they know who any of the e-fits might be, please have the courage to come forward and speak to the police in confidence."
Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood, in charge of the Yard's Operation Grange inquiry into Madeleine's disappearance on May 3, 2007, said: "We have now had over 730 calls and 212 emails as a direct result of the specific lines of inquiry we issued on Monday.
"We had 330 calls into the Operation Grange incident room and 400 to BBC1 Crimewatch. Detectives are now trawling through and prioritising that material. This will take time."
Mr Redwood added: "The Met is offering a reward of up to £20,000 for information leading to the identification, arrest and prosecution of the person or persons responsible for the abduction of Madeleine McCann from Praia da Luz.
"We have at any time 40 people waiting to answer calls at the Hendon call centre and officers at the incident room waiting to action the information."
The Crimewatch broadcast follows the dismissal of an earlier sighting of a "suspect" and child as a red herring.
For more than six years, a man seen carrying a young girl at about 9.15pm on the fateful evening was thought very likely to have been the kidnapper.
But police are now convinced he was an innocent British holidaymaker with his two-year-old daughter.
Instead, officers now believe that Irishman Martin Smith and his family may have seen Madeleine in the arms of her abductor just moments before her mother discovered she was missing at around 10pm. The man is described as white, in his 30s, of medium build and height, clean shaven with short brown hair.
He was carrying a child aged three or four who had blonde hair and was possibly wearing pyjamas similar to Madeleine's.
The Smith family saw him with the child in a near-deserted street only a few minutes walk from the Ocean Club apartment complex where the McCanns were on the family holiday.
Madeleine - who would now be aged 10 - vanished nine days before her fourth birthday. Her parents believe she is still alive and say there is no evidence she is dead.
A source close to the couple said: "Kate and Gerry are fairly upbeat. Whenever there is momentum and things are moving they feel positive."
As part of the Crimewatch appeal the couple, both 45, urged people to "rack their brains" and come forward with information.
Former GP Mrs McCann, of Rothley, Leicestershire, said: "Please, please have the courage and confidence to come forward now, and share that information with us, and you could unlock this whole case, so please."
Readers should note that this article was pulled by the Sunday Times shortly after going to press and was replaced by a somewhat watered down version in The Times the following day.
On Sunday 29 December the Sunday Times printed a retraction and an apology for suggesting that the e-fits were suppressed for 5 years. They now claim that the e-fits were passed to police as early as October 2009 which is still over two years after they were created by Kevin Halligen and Oakley International.
THE critical new evidence at the centre of Scotland Yard’s search for Madeleine McCann was kept secret for five years after it was presented to her parents by ex-MI5 investigators.
The evidence was in fact taken from an intelligence report produced for Gerry and Kate McCann by a firm of former spies in 2008.
It contained crucial E-Fits of a man seen carrying a child on the night of Madeleine’s disappearance, which have only this month become public after he was identified as the prime suspect by Scotland Yard.
But the trail was left to go cold for five years because the McCanns and their advisers sidelined the report and threatened to sue its authors if they divulged the contents.
The report, seen by the Sunday Times, called for the E-Fits to be released immediately and said "anomalies" in statements by the McCanns and their friends must be resolved.
A source close to the McCanns said the report was considered “hypercritical of the people involved” and “would have been completely distracting” if made public.
[Page 4]
The new prime suspect was first singled out by detectives in 2008. Their findings were suppressed. Insight reports
The team of hand-picked former MI5 agents had been hired by Kate and Gerry McCann to chase a much-needed breakthrough in the search for their missing daughter Madeleine.
It was the spring of 2008, 10 months after the three-year-old had disappeared from the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz, and the McCanns were beginning to despair over the handling of the local police investigation. They were relying on the new team to bring fresh hope.
But within months the relationship had soured. A report produced by the investigators was deemed “hypercritical” of the McCanns and their friends, and the authors were threatened with legal action if it was made public.
Its contents remained secret until Scotland Yard detectives conducting a fresh review of the case contacted the authors and asked for a copy.
They found that it contained new evidence about a key suspect seen carrying a child away from the McCanns’ holiday apartment on the night Madeleine disappeared.
This sighting is now considered the main lead in the investigation and E-Fits of the suspect, taken from the report, were the centrepiece of a Crimewatch appeal that attracted more than 2,400 calls from the public this month.
One of the investigators whose work was sidelined said last week he was “utterly stunned” when he watched the programme and saw the evidence his team had passed to the McCanns five years ago presented as a breakthrough.
The team of investigators from the security firm Oakley International were hired by the McCanns’ Find Madeleine fund, which bankrolled private investigations into the girl’s disappearance. They were led by Henri Exton, MI5’s former undercover operations chief.
Their report, seen by The Sunday Times, focused on a sighting by an Irish family of a man carrying a child at about 10pm on May 3, 2007, when Madeleine went missing.
An earlier sighting by one of the McCanns’ friends was dismissed as less credible after “serious inconsistencies” were found in her evidence. The report also raised questions about “anomalies” in the statements given by the McCanns and their friends.
Exton confirmed last week that the fund had silenced his investigators for years after they handed over their controversial findings. He said: “A letter came from their lawyers binding us to the confidentiality of the report.”
He claimed the legal threat had prevented him from handing over the report to Scotland Yard’s fresh investigation, until detectives had obtained written permission from the fund. A source close to the fund said the report was considered “hypercritical of the people involved” and “would have been completely distracting” if it became public.
Oakley’s six-month investigation included placing undercover agents inside the Ocean Club where the family stayed, lie detector tests, covert surveillance and a forensic re-examination of all existing evidence.
It was immediately clear that two sightings of vital importance had been reported to the police. Two men were seen carrying children near the apartments between 9pm, when Madeleine was last seen by Gerry, and 10pm, when Kate discovered her missing.
The first man was seen at 9.15pm by Jane Tanner, a friend of the McCanns, who had been dining with them at the tapas bar in the resort. She saw a man carrying a girl just yards from the apartment as she went to check on her children.
The second sighting was by Martin Smith and his family from Ireland, who saw a man carrying a child near the apartment just before 10pm.
The earlier Tanner sighting had always been treated as the most significant, but the Oakley team controversially poured cold water on her account.
Instead, they focused on the Smith sighting, travelling to Ireland to interview the family and produce E-Fits of the man they saw. Their report said the Smiths were “helpful and sincere” and concluded: “The Smith sighting is credible evidence of a sighting of Maddie and more credible than Jane Tanner’s sighting”. The evidence had been “neglected for too long” and an “overemphasis placed on Tanner”.
The new focus shifted the believed timeline of the abduction back by 45 minutes. The report, delivered to the McCanns in November 2008, recommended that the revised timeline should be the basis for future investigations and that the Smith E-Fits should be released without delay.
"The report questioned 'anomalies' in the McCanns' statements"
The potential abductor seen by the Smiths is now the prime suspect in Scotland Yard’s investigation, after detectives established that the man seen earlier by Tanner was almost certainly a father carrying his child home from a nearby night creche. The Smith E-Fits were the centrepiece of the Crimewatch appeal.
Investigators had E-Fits five years ago
One of the Oakley investigators said last week: “I was absolutely stunned when I watched the programme . . . It most certainly wasn’t a new timeline and it certainly isn’t a new revelation. It is absolute nonsense to suggest either of those things . . . And those E-Fits you saw on Crimewatch are ours,” he said.
The detailed images of the face of the man seen by the Smith family were never released by the McCanns. But an artist’s impression of the man seen earlier by Tanner was widely promoted, even though the face had to be left blank because she had only seen him fleetingly and from a distance.
Various others images of lone men spotted hanging around the resort at other times were also released.
Nor were the Smith E-Fits included in Kate McCann’s 2011 book, Madeleine, which contained a whole section on eight “key sightings” and identified those of the Smiths and Tanner as most “crucial”. Descriptions of all seven other sightings were accompanied by an E-Fit or artist’s impression. The Smiths’ were the only exception. So why was such a “crucial” piece of evidence kept under lock and key?
The relationship between the fund and Oakley was already souring by the time the report was submitted — and its findings could only have made matters worse.
As well as questioning parts of the McCanns’ evidence, it contained sensitive information about Madeleine’s sleeping patterns and raised the highly sensitive possibility that she could have died in an accident after leaving the apartment herself from one of two unsecured doors.
There was also an uncomfortable complication with Smith’s account. He had originally told the police that he had “recognised something” about the way Gerry McCann carried one of his children which reminded him of the man he had seen in Praia da Luz.
Smith has since stressed that he does not believe the man he saw was Gerry, and Scotland Yard do not consider this a possibility. Last week the McCanns were told officially by the Portuguese authorities that they are not suspects.
The McCanns were also understandably wary of Oakley after allegations that the chairman, Kevin Halligen, failed to pass on money paid by the fund to Exton’s team. Halligen denies this. He was later convicted of fraud in an unrelated case in the US.
The McCann fund source said the Oakley report was passed on to new private investigators after the contract ended, but that the firm’s work was considered “contaminated” by the financial dispute.
He said the fund wanted to continue to pursue information about the man seen by Tanner, and it would have been too expensive to investigate both sightings in full — so the Smith E-Fits were not publicised. It was also considered necessary to threaten legal action against the authors.
“[The report] was hypercritical of the people involved . . . It just wouldn’t be conducive to the investigation to have that report publicly declared because . . . the newspapers would have been all over it. And it would have been completely distracting,” said the source.
A statement released by the Find Madeleine fund said that “all information privately gathered during the search for Madeleine has been fully acted upon where necessary” and had been passed to Scotland Yard.
It continued: “Throughout the investigation, the Find Madeleine fund’s sole priority has been, and remains, to find Madeleine and bring her home as swiftly as possible.”