Madeleine's parents mark 100th day

Aug 11 2007

PORTUGUESE police have suddenly adopted a harder attitude towards the parents of missing Madeleine McCann in recent days, a source said last night.

As Kate and Gerry McCann prepare to mark the 100th day since their daughter’s disappearance, detectives have started to treat them with a new formality, the source said.

The change in tone between the McCanns and the investigation team comes amid a series of unconfirmed Portuguese newspaper reports that police now believe Madeleine was killed in her family’s holiday flat in Praia da Luz and the McCanns are suspects.

The McCanns, from Rothley, Leicestershire, have strongly denied these suggestions and insisted they would not be “bullied” into leaving Portugal by the growing backlash against them.

Mr McCann told the BBC: “It’s incredibly difficult when people are implying that your daughter is dead and that you may have been involved in it.”

On Monday, Mr McCann met senior officers in the case at the British consulate in Portimao for a routine briefing, the source said.

But when he and his wife next spoke with detectives, two days later, the meeting took place at the police station in Portimao and the tone was much more formal.

Portuguese papers have claimed that investigators are now focusing on the McCanns and the seven friends on holiday with them when Madeleine vanished.

But Chief Inspector Olegario Sousa, of Portugal’s investigative Policia Judiciaria (PJ), stressed this week that the family were not suspects.

Madeleine has not been seen since she vanished from her bed in the family apartment in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz on May 3.

Until now, the police investigation has centred on Anglo-Portuguese expat Robert Murat, 33, the only official suspect in the case.

But Mr McCann said yesterday that detectives could now be “starting with a new slate”, fuelling speculation Mr Murat will be formally cleared in the coming weeks.

Neighbours of Madeleine’s grandparents in Mossley Hill are meanwhile remaining positive that she will be returned safe and well, supporting the campaign with signature yellow ribbons on gates and trees.

Christine Salt, who lives across the road, said: “We have all got to remain positive, everyone is supporting the family, the yellow ribbons show that and they will stay up until she is found.

“I am sure it all must be taking its toll and I cannot understand people who are criticising them over there, it does not help at all”.

Last night the couple again insisted they would not be “bullied” into leaving Portugal by a growing backlash against them.

Mrs McCann said: “It doesn’t get any easier. The 50th day seemed like such a long time when we marked that. We have doubled that now.

“It is the 100th day but it is just another day without Madeleine for us and for Madeleine, another of being separated from her family.”

The lawyer of the only suspect in the case claimed yesterday residents in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz wanted the family they referred to as “these bloody McCanns” to go home.

But Kate McCann said she and her husband Gerry would tough out the harsh treatment they had received in recent days and stay in Portugal.

She said: “We will never go through anything worse than being parted from Madeleine.

“We will not be leaving or be forced out. I am not prepared to be bullied into doing something that I don’t want to.”

The McCanns had been besieged this week by a “huge gaggle” of Portuguese media outside their apartment in Praia da Luz, a family spokesman said.

Yesterday the couple halted their daily routine of taking their two- year-old twins Sean and Amelie to the crèche at the Ocean Club resort.

The move followed concerns about photographers and film crews taking pictures of their children and disturbing holidaymakers using the child-minding facility.

Francisco Pagarete, lawyer of Robert Murat, 33, the only official suspect in Madeleine’s disappearance, said today he thought it “strange” that parents would leave their children alone in a foreign country.

Madeleine was abducted on May 3 after Mr and Mrs McCann left their three children asleep in their apartment while they ate with friends at a nearby tapas restaurant.

The couple have strongly defended their judgement that it was safe to leave their children alone, with Mrs McCann saying they were “at worst” naive.

Mr Pagarete said: “It’s not attacking the McCanns in any way, but it’s not the normal thing to do.”

The lawyer stressed that this was his “private opinion” and had nothing to do with his involvement in the case.

Explaining his comments that: “people in Praia da Luz say, “These bloody McCanns should just go away and leave this town. They are giving it a bad name’,” Mr Pagarete said he was simply reporting the words of residents who were suffering financially because of the dip in tourism following Madeleine’s disappearance.

The McCanns refused to discuss the accusation, saying only that the local community had always been “supportive”.

Mr Murat - who has always insisted he is innocent - hopes to receive a letter formally clearing him of his status as a suspect in the coming days or

Mr McCann was apparently referring to a second search of Mr Murat’s house last weekend - which reportedly uncovered no new evidence - and the discovery last week of blood traces in the apartment where Madeleine went missing.

He told the BBC: “There has been a shift in the investigation and the way it was proceeding previously...

“Now if that means we’re starting with a new slate, we’ve always said all scenarios are possible, and we have always done everything to co-operate.

“We’ve stayed here, we’ve worked with the investigation, and everything that we have done in the last 100 days has been with the belief that Madeleine was taken alive, and I haven’t seen any concrete evidence to the contrary.”

Mr Murat, who has always insisted he is entirely innocent, hopes to receive a letter formally clearing him of his status as a suspect in the coming days or weeks, his lawyer Francisco Pagarete said.

It was reported today that Portuguese police want to question a British man on holiday in Praia da Luz at the same time as the McCanns who helped in the search for Madeleine.

The man arrived in Portugal on April 28, the same day as the McCanns, and left on May 6, the day they should have flown home, according to the Portuguese newspaper Jornal de Noticias.

Police have recovered an Opal Corsa he rented from a car hire company in Faro, about 60 miles from Praia da Luz, the paper said.

Detectives are now reportedly trying to establish whether this man had any connection with the McCanns.

Portuguese police could not be reached for comment, but in the past they have consistently refused to confirm or deny reports about the investigation.

The McCanns helped to launch a new section on the popular YouTube video-sharing website today to highlight the search for missing children.

The new site - www.youtube.com/dontyouforgetaboutme - is aimed at the millions of young people around the world who visit the site every day.

It will be managed and policed by the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children in Washington DC.

There are already 229 videos connected to the Madeleine campaign on YouTube, one of which alone has been visited 50,000 times.

Mrs McCann said: “With Madeleine’s abduction, we have been concerned about her crossing borders, and the internet reaches the whole world.

“We have had so much goodwill and support from everyone, we wanted to give something tangible back to help others.”

US First Lady Laura Bush recorded a message of support for the new site, appealing for people to watch the videos and look out for the missing children in their communities.

Madeleine’s family are expected to mark tomorrow’s grim 100-day milestone with a series of events, including a special Catholic prayer service in Praia da Luz.

The occasion will be marked in Britain by prayers and pledges of support by sports stars, including Jonny Wilkinson, Frankie Dettori and Everton Football Club.