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Madeleine McCann - she
is NOT wearing these
clothes. Photo: Supplied |
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John Hill - Operations
Manager for Mark Warner
holiday resort, Praia da
Luz. Photo: Mark
Rawcliffe - The Resident |
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Dusting for fingerprints
- the Polícia Judiciaria
searching for a lead.
Photo: Mark Rawcliffe -
The Resident |
Madeleine McCann, who will be
four-years-old on May 12, along with
her parents Katie and Gerry from
Rothley, north Leicester in the UK,
were staying in one of the Mark
Warner holiday apartments in the
Ocean Club complex which is in the
Praia da Luz area near Lagos in the
western Algarve.
The Resident spoke to John Hill -
Operations Manager for Mark Warner,
who told us the parents went for
dinner at a tapas restaurant in the
resort while the children Madeleine
and 2-year-old twins, Amelie and
Sean, were asleep.
John Hill said "They had not
requested the 'dining out' service -
a child minding service which allows
parents to enjoy a meal while their
children are being looked after by
qualified personnel." While this
service is available at the resort,
the parents decided to check on the
children at regular half hourly
intervals themselves.
It has been rumoured that the
parents did request the baby-sitting
service available at the resort
until 5pm on Thursday afternoon.
The parents left at 8pm for dinner
and apparently when they returned
during one of their half hourly
checks at 10pm, fair haired
Madeleine was gone.
There were no signs of forced entry,
and the door to the apartment was
undamaged and closed, although it is
believed that one of the windows was
open.
John Hill said to the PA news agency
that around 60 staff and guests at
the purpose-built complex had
searched until 4.30am while police
notified border police, Spanish
police and airports. "It was a very
emotional and very frantic night and
everyone did a fantastic job of
getting involved and trying to
search the area," he said. "As you
can imagine, Madeleine's parents are
distraught and not doing very well
at all."
He said there was no physical
evidence that the girl had been
abducted from the family's rented
apartment while they ate at the
tapas restaurant 200 yards away.
"It's still questionable as to
whether it's an abduction," he said.
"We are hoping that Madeleine is
found as soon as possible and safe
and well."
But Jill Renwick, a family friend,
told GMTV that the parents were
certain that Madeleine has been
abducted. Ms Renwick said of the
holiday: "This is the first time
they have done this. They are very,
very anxious parents and very
careful and they chose Mark Warner
because it is a family-friendly
resort."
A hunt by a number of visitors and
local residents was carried out
throughout the night looking for the
pretty, fair haired girl, and an
appeal has been made for volunteers
to join the search - see Appeal for
help to find missing Madeleine.
The Resident spoke to the GNR who
told us that police tracker dogs
were dispatched from Lisbon this
morning to help in the search.
Apparently,the Algarve does not have
sniffer dogs that are trained to
pick up human scent, but only to
detect drugs. As soon as the dogs
arrived, they are reported to have
picked up Madeleine's scent from the
apartment and followed it to
Supermercado Baptista, where
apparently the scent disappears.
The Resident spoke to an employee at
Supermercado Baptista who told us
that the PJ were in the premises to
check the supermarket’s surveillance
cameras in case they had registered
images of Madeleine. However, the
employee told us that the two
cameras are unable to record images
and are only used by staff to check
the aisles for any suspicious
customer behaviour.
The Resident has been informed that
the Bombeiros, Maritime Police and a
team from Lagos Câmara are also
involved in the search operations in
Praia da Luz. A special criminal
investigation team from the Polícia
Judiciária (PJ) is also travelling
down from Lisbon to assist local
police.
Police are currently concentrating
their efforts in the centre of the
village, but The Resident has been
told that search teams will be
covering a wider area around Praia
da Luz. Helicopters are also flying
over the area.
Manuela Romano de Castro, from the
British Embassy in Lisbon, told The
Resident that “we cannot give out
details about the family at this
time”. However, according to
Leicester Mercury newspaper, the
mother was a GP from Liverpool and
the father is a top medical
consultant from Glasgow. Manuela
Romano de Castro informed us that
“British Consul, Bill Henderson, has
been in close contact with the
family and visited them this
morning. He has also been to police
headquarters this morning.”
A source informed us that the
child’s grandparents, as well as
counsellors from Mark Warner in
England, are flying to the Algarve
tonight.
