'Missing people machine' used to hunt Madeleine McCann

Oct 8 2007

A man who claims to have invented a device for finding missing people today said he knows where Madeleine McCann was taken after her apparent abduction.

Ex-policeman Danie Krugel believes the four-year-old was not transported beyond the area where she went missing and rates her chances of being alive as “very slim”.

He scoured Praia da Luz, in Portugal, and the surrounding land for clues, he said, using hi-tech equipment he developed himself.

Madeleine’s parents gave him a piece of her hair, found on her clothing, for use with the device, which uses a person’s DNA to track them down, said the South African.

It is understood Gerry and Kate McCann called in Mr Krugel after hearing of a series of successes in his homeland, where he has reportedly been dubbed The Locator.

The university health and safety director refused to reveal how his hi-tech methods work. He said he was currently in negotiations with companies to develop the ’matter orientation system machine’, which is said to also use satellite technology.

And today, he was reluctant to talk in detail about his search in Portugal, carried out over four nights in July.

He said: “I don’t want to interfere with this investigation. I think that she’s still in the area because the possibility that she’s alive is very slim.

“I gave an area for them to search to the police and to the McCanns with maps and photographs of the area.”

It was reported today that he had uncovered a “forensic route” from Madeleine’s holiday apartment, along paths and roads to a nearby beach.

Mr Krugel would not comment on the report, saying: “The area is walking distance from Praia da Luz. I don’t want to say exactly where because I don’t want to interfere with this investigation. I don’t want to give anyone the chance to destroy their prints.

“If I look at the area, there a very, very slight possibility that she could be alive.

“From the piece of hair I was able to conclude that she was in the area.”

Madeleine, from Rothley, in Leicestershire, went missing from her family’s holiday apartment on May 3 while her parents dined nearby.

The McCanns’ spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: “We cannot comment on anything that goes to the very heart of the investigation.

“However, Kate and Gerry will never rule anything out which may have a degree of credibility behind it. Therefore they will try anything if there is a genuine chance of it helping to find Madeleine.”

Mr Mitchell stressed that the McCanns had not hired Mr Krugel.

Mr Krugel is said to have used his device to trace victims of an infamous South African paedophile, Gert van Rooyan, in the late 1980s.

Using samples of hair, he pinpointed a spot which led to the discovery of bones.

ends

1 POLICE Portugal

'MISSING PEOPLE MACHINE' USED IN HUNT FOR MADELEINE

By Tim Walsh, PA

A man who claims to have invented a device for finding missing people today said he knows where Madeleine McCann was taken after her apparent abduction.

Ex-policeman Danie Krugel believes the four-year-old was not transported beyond the area where she went missing and rates her chances of being alive as “very slim”.

He scoured Praia da Luz, in Portugal, and the surrounding land for clues, he said, using hi-tech equipment he developed himself.

Madeleine’s parents gave him a piece of her hair, found on her clothing, for use with the device, which uses a person’s DNA to track them down, said the South African.

It is understood Gerry and Kate McCann called in Mr Krugel after hearing of a series of successes in his homeland, where he has reportedly been dubbed The Locator.

The university health and safety director refused to reveal how his hi-tech methods work. He said he was currently in negotiations with companies to develop the ’matter orientation system machine’, which is said to also use satellite technology.

And today, he was reluctant to talk in detail about his search in Portugal, carried out over four nights in July.

He said: “I don’t want to interfere with this investigation. I think that she’s still in the area because the possibility that she’s alive is very slim.

“I gave an area for them to search to the police and to the McCanns with maps and photographs of the area.”

It was reported today that he had uncovered a “forensic route” from Madeleine’s holiday apartment, along paths and roads to a nearby beach.

Mr Krugel would not comment on the report, saying: “The area is walking distance from Praia da Luz. I don’t want to say exactly where because I don’t want to interfere with this investigation. I don’t want to give anyone the chance to destroy their prints.

“If I look at the area, there a very, very slight possibility that she could be alive.

“From the piece of hair I was able to conclude that she was in the area.”

Madeleine, from Rothley, in Leicestershire, went missing from her family’s holiday apartment on May 3 while her parents dined nearby.

The McCanns’ spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: “We cannot comment on anything that goes to the very heart of the investigation.

“However, Kate and Gerry will never rule anything out which may have a degree of credibility behind it. Therefore they will try anything if there is a genuine chance of it helping to find Madeleine.”

Mr Mitchell stressed that the McCanns had not hired Mr Krugel.

Mr Krugel is said to have used his device to trace victims of an infamous South African paedophile, Gert van Rooyan, in the late 1980s.

Using samples of hair, he pinpointed a spot which led to the discovery of bones.

ends

1 POLICE Portugal

'MISSING PEOPLE MACHINE' USED IN HUNT FOR MADELEINE

By Tim Walsh, PA

A man who claims to have invented a device for finding missing people today said he knows where Madeleine McCann was taken after her apparent abduction.

Ex-policeman Danie Krugel believes the four-year-old was not transported beyond the area where she went missing and rates her chances of being alive as “very slim”.

He scoured Praia da Luz, in Portugal, and the surrounding land for clues, he said, using hi-tech equipment he developed himself.

Madeleine’s parents gave him a piece of her hair, found on her clothing, for use with the device, which uses a person’s DNA to track them down, said the South African.

It is understood Gerry and Kate McCann called in Mr Krugel after hearing of a series of successes in his homeland, where he has reportedly been dubbed The Locator.

The university health and safety director refused to reveal how his hi-tech methods work. He said he was currently in negotiations with companies to develop the ’matter orientation system machine’, which is said to also use satellite technology.

And today, he was reluctant to talk in detail about his search in Portugal, carried out over four nights in July.

He said: “I don’t want to interfere with this investigation. I think that she’s still in the area because the possibility that she’s alive is very slim.

“I gave an area for them to search to the police and to the McCanns with maps and photographs of the area.”

It was reported today that he had uncovered a “forensic route” from Madeleine’s holiday apartment, along paths and roads to a nearby beach.

Mr Krugel would not comment on the report, saying: “The area is walking distance from Praia da Luz. I don’t want to say exactly where because I don’t want to interfere with this investigation. I don’t want to give anyone the chance to destroy their prints.

“If I look at the area, there a very, very slight possibility that she could be alive.

“From the piece of hair I was able to conclude that she was in the area.”

Madeleine, from Rothley, in Leicestershire, went missing from her family’s holiday apartment on May 3 while her parents dined nearby.

The McCanns’ spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: “We cannot comment on anything that goes to the very heart of the investigation.

“However, Kate and Gerry will never rule anything out which may have a degree of credibility behind it. Therefore they will try anything if there is a genuine chance of it helping to find Madeleine.”

Mr Mitchell stressed that the McCanns had not hired Mr Krugel.

Mr Krugel is said to have used his device to trace victims of an infamous South African paedophile, Gert van Rooyan, in the late 1980s.

Using samples of hair, he pinpointed a spot which led to the discovery of bones.