Martin Smith sighting

The Smith sighting, related to an entry in Gerrys blog?

Day 37 and McCann could not figure it out. Why had no one come forward about the sighting. Ths Irish family , how could Gerry McCann possibly know it was an irish family who saw a child that night?


At this juncture the only person who could have known ,was the abductor himself.


Martin Smith was correct he did see Gerry McCann.




Day 37 - 09/06/2007 - Saturday
DATE GERRY USED

Day 37 - 11/06/2007

Kate and I had a slightly busier day on the media front than expected. We did a short press interview for the Irish Sunday papers, mainly to thank the Irish for their fantastic level of support. We followed that with one for the British Sundays which is likely to be the last one we do for a while. We talked about our pain of not having having Madeleine for such a long time and for our need to grieve, which occurs mainly in private. We also talked about how after Morocco we will have to spend some time reflecting both emotionally, and also how best the campaign can be taken forward. What we want to ensure is that the campaign has a psoitive effect on finding Madeleine.

After this we headed down to Sagres which is the very most southwestern tip of Portugal. There is a very nice beach and we had lunch with the family.

After returning from the beach we did the Irish version of Crimewatch-‘Crimecall’. There are a lot of Irish tourists in and around Praia da Luz and although the awareness of Madeleine’s disappearance in Ireland is extremely high, we want to ensure that everyone is aware of the appeal and we want the Irish public to come forward with photographs of people who they do not know who were in and around Praia da Luz in the 2 weeks leading up to the 3rd May. The address to upload photographs is: to www.madeleine.ceopupload.com . We have also asked for people to contact their local police if they have seen a man matching the description of the suspect carrying a child seen around the time of Madeleine’s abduction. He is 30-40 years, 1.70-1.80m (5’7”-11”), caucasian and was wearing a dark jacket, beige or mustard coloured trousers with dark shoes. No major news on the investigation front- we still believe it is just a single phone call away.

We know Martin Smith was pressured by Team McCann but he obeyed the law and remained silent .

What the Maid saw.

Ocean Club employee, Maria Julia de Silva , and what she noticed the morning of Wednesday May 2nd. 2007

Maria cleaned the apartment the day before Madeleine disappeared.

She remembers that when she entered Apartment 5A on the Wednesday, the parents were inside.

After being duly authorized, she entered and carried out her work, because they were already on their way out.

While she was in the apartment, there were no children there, and she supposed that they were in the creche.

While performing her work, she remembers having noticed that the couple were sleeping in the room located opposite the entrance, where she confirmed the presence of a child's bed (crib) or cot.

The room gives onto an outdoor garden by means of a terrace, as it is on the ground floor,.

In the room next to the entrance to the apartment there was a bed placed next to the wall (where she supposed the missing child slept), and also the second child's bed (crib).

All these beds were untidy at the time, meaning that they had been used.

She also declares that in the room next to the entrance was another bed that had not been used.

Maria Julia de Silva noticed something of great importance. The cots, one being in the parents room and the other in the room Maria presumed Madeleine had slept.

The following evening May 3rd, both cots were together in the same room.

SILVIA MARIA BATISTA

Silvia is responsible for maintenance in ‘The Ocean Club’

Silvia said she was alerted about the disappearance of Madeleine between 22.30 and 23:00. She was at home and was informed of the event via a telephone call.

She drove immediately to the Ocean Club where she arrived a few minutes before elements of the GNR (Local Police) popped in.

After she arrived she went immediately to the apartment 5A where she found several people inside the apartment and outside of it.

She entered the flat but soon left without having spoken with anyone, because she was informed that elements of the GNR (Local Police )were in the principal reception. She went there to meet them.

When she came close to the elements of the GNR (Local Police) she found that behind her was

Gerry, Madeleine's father, accompanied by another man whose identity she doesn't remember.


Then Gerry kneeled down, hit the floor with both hands, positioning himself as if he were a praying Arab, and screamed twice of anger, what he said being impossible to understand.

Then Gerry stood up and accompanied her (the witness) and the other man in the car of the GNR to apartment 5A.

Silvia entered the apartment and asked for the passports of all elements of the family, and also photographs of the missing girl.

She went with Gerry to the GNR car to hand over the requested documents. She mentions she did this, as well as other tasks, at the request of the GNR Commandant, because she could translate their questions and the missing girl's family's answers.

She remembers Gerry gave the Commandant several photographs of the missing girl.

They were postcard-like pictures, taking into account their size and shape and seemed all the same to her.

(Strange they were so quick to have Madeleines photographs ready to give to the police when thoughts were still the child could have wandered off, it would appear abduction had been decided before the police had even arrived)

Silvia understood also, that since the very beginning either Gerry or the others insisted on stating that Madeleine had been snatched, all using the word abducted” instead of MISSING, and all showing much interest in informing the press of the situation.

She also recalls entering the room where Madeleine should be sleeping and remembers now that the door was closed.

The room was dark. The blinds were down, some light entering through their holes.


The windows were closed and the curtains slightly open.

Gerry, who followed her and the elements of the GNR, said he did close the window because of the babies sleeping in the room, a fact she confirms. (Silvia is confirming the twins were in the room, she did not see the window open, in fact no one saw this window open as Kate could not force the heavy metal shutter, as Dianne Webster had already confirmed)

Explaining why it was only Kates fingerprints found.



Silvia recalls that the beds which were in the middle of the room and used by the babies were aligned and therefore found it strange that someone had taken Madeleine from the bed where she would be sleeping and had gone to the window because there was no space to pass.

Silvia opened the wardrobes of that room in order to confirm that Madeleine wasn't eventually hiding there.

Then everyone left the room and someone shut the door.

She remained for some time in the living room, near the GNR elements, Gerry and other elements of the group who went in and out and spoke on their cellular phones.

She observed that none of the elements of the group including the father and mother of the child was concerned with looking for her.

The mother was sitting on the bed of her room, the father was with her (the witness) and the elements of the GNR, and other elements of the group went in and out and spoke on the phone, anxious, in her opinion, to tell the press what had happened

The parents were also very anxious to tell family and friends back in England that Apartment 5A had been broken into...The shutters were smashed and Jemmied...

A blatant lie there was no break in nor any sign of any smashed or jemmied shutters.

Silvia Batista was in the room with Gerry and GNR and at no time does Silvia mention she noticed a broken shutter or Gerry mentioning this to GNR.

The British press on May 4th 2007 were reporting a break-in and the abduction of three year old Madeleine Beth McCann. The McCanns had spent the night phoning friends in England to tell them lies
.
Dr.McCann
When questioned, he said that on the day they arrived, April 28, they removed two cribs that were in their room, and placed them in Madeleine's room. He is unable to confirm but possibly there were three cribs.

(Dr.McCann a born liar, he just cannot help himself. The maid was there when two cots arrived May 28th)

It is not true that on a certain day they placed one crib in their room, leaving the other in Madeleine's room. (Another lie)


This is from Kate Healys Police statement May 4th, 2007
KATE SAID.

The apartment has two beds in one bedroom, and two in another where there are also two cots on loan from the Ocean Club.

The interviewee and her husband sleep in one bedroom and the three children in the other. The twins sleep in cots, Madeleine in a normal bed, the other bed staying empty.


Note:: Kate does not mention a third cot....

Maria Julia de Silva has already confirmed Saturday 28th April, only two cots arrived at apartment 5A.

Maria also confirms the two cots May 2nd ,were in seperate rooms.

Maria had by May 2007 worked for ‘The Ocean Club’ for thirteen years. A trusted employee .

The Baby Sitter

Matthew Oldfield said April 28th 'We dined at the Millennium because the tapas was closed.' This is true the tapas was closed but the group had paid into a package deal, the Millenium was part of that deal ,breakfast and evening meal.

All the other days they ate at the Tapas. From Sunday, April 29th to Thurday, May 3rd. 5 days, 5 dinners, at Tapas.

Lunch said Matthew, would be eaten in a group, this included the children, Payne’s apartment commonly used, due to its larger size. Matthew also explained the first booking made for dinner at the Tapas, which was for Sunday night, was made by O'Brian, but he is not sure.


Matt clarifies, Monday morning his wife Rachael, undertook such reservations, adding still that it would have been for all the remaining days except for Friday 4th May, as a Tennis Club dinner for that night had been planned.

Jane Tanner also confirms the booking was permanent for 20h30...until the end of the stay.

 Dr.Gerald McCann during an interview said about the night of  'Why did you not come when we were crying'  'we did not even know  even know if we could get into the Tapas. (This is a blatant lie if the others are telling the truth, but are they? )

Each evening it seems someone from the group had a bout of sickness. Fiona in her statement, said someone, every night was sick. ( If Paulo Rebelo was right in his assumption and seven children were together, the person who 'claimed sick' would have stayed with the children. There of course being no sickness at all, it was taken in turn to sit with the children...leading to the conclusion there was no neglect. One was a bay sitter)

Gerry McCann said that Sunday lunch was spent in the apartment of Payne except for Matt , who it appears was the first to be 'sick'. Matt also did not attend Sunday dinner. Matt would have been the baby sitter for Sunday night.

Dianne Webster said there was no need for the Paynes to check on their children as they had a baby monitor

Dr.McCann thinks on Wednesday David Payne checked on the McCanns children but he is not sure.It is odd that this generosity was only extended to the McCann children as we have already been told the Paynes did not need to check their own.

Monday and Tuesday evening seemed to have caused some confusion. Dr. McCann does not remember which of these days Madeleine had slept for sometime in his room with Kate, who had told him one or both of the twins were crying.

Russel and Tanner also suffered from a bout of amnesia about these dates. Russell said in his statement “I remember the night well as it is the only night we were together”. But then Russel does admit defeat because he and Jane are unsure if this was Monday or Tuesday evening they were all together.

(Monday, someone was away from the table, Rachael has said she was not at dinner on Tuesday. Sunday, was Matts turn. )

(This goes well with the theory of Paulo Rebelo, the group cannot say they were all together at the table at the same time because this never happened  and they could not guarantee an observant waiter would make a statement to this effect., always someone was missing and that someone was the chosen baby sitter for the evening)

Miss Najova Chekaya., Quizz mistress, invited by Gerry Mccann to sit at his table.  May 2nd, the same night Mrs.Fenn heard a child screaming, only one child which meant the twins were either very heavy sleepers or not in the apartment.

Miss Chekaya sat with the group for about 20 minutes enjoying a drink. She does not know whether Madeleines mother Kate was there.

.Najova said she sat at the table about 9.30... No one left while she was there including Madeleine’s father. She did notice an empty chair of someone who had had dinner and left.

Kate’s witness statement is clear for the night Tues May 1st...She and Gerry checked the children twice each: 9.00 pm... 9.30 pm... 10.00 pm.. and 10.30 pm... ( Out of complete character then on May 3rd others from the group start to check McCanns children when Dianne Webster had already said each was resposible for checking their own.

Najova was shown photographs of the group and Miss Chekaya is unsure if David Payne was present or not...leading once again to justified doubts of a table of nine.

Wednesday May 2nd, Rachael Oldfield was feeling unwell and stayed in her apartment all night.

 (Or baby sitting)

Her husband Matt was at the restaurant. Wednesday 2nd May... they all remember staying late for a drink at the bar. They did not return to their apartments until close to midnight.

Toys on her bed. ?

Criminologist Mark Williams Thomas has a thesis and his thesis is Madeleine was abducted after she left the apartment. He thinks this happened after Madeleine was wandering around the complex looking for her parents.

MWT has said that publicly available evidence leads him to believe three year old Maddie arranged her toys on her bed and left through the unlocked patio door.

He also questions, is it unreasonable to presume Maddie woke up and after neatly tucking up her toys went in search of her parents.

MWT came to this conclusion after reading through 10,000 documents amassed by P.J.

He went on to describe how an abductor would not have arranged the toys on the bed as he would be in a hurry to escape. Based on evidence provided by the files and a number of factors suggest that this the likely scenario.

MWT explains his thesis well and I have trouble understanding why the McCanns insist that Madeleine was taken from her bed. By their own admission the Patio doors were unlocked.

The McCanns have never spoken of toys only Cuddle Cat and Maddies pink blanket.

Where then did MWT come to the conclusion that there were toys on Madeleines bed. Who told him? He does not appear to have made this up as he claims there is evidence in the files to suggest this. He also claims that Madeleine tucked up her toys before leaving. Again, how does he know the toys were tucked up?

The first interview with the McCanns was May 4th. A young couple looking tense as Gerry McCann gave a short written speech. Kate, Madeleines mum ,clutched a soft pink toy we later learned was Cuddle Cat, Madeleines favourite toy.(was it ? or was it a PR prop)

Cuddle Cat, who played centre stage as this abduction unfolded. Kate was seen walking on the beach, standing on the balcony or evening posing for a photograph. Cuddle cat was always there, Kate used to inhale the sweet smell of her first born that lingered on the small soft toy. (The many times washed soft toy)

We now come to the night of May 11th. The eve of Madeleines birthday, what a terrible day this must have been.The McCanns attended a church service . The good people of Portugal prayed along with this poor couple for the safe return of their child. This night ,the McCanns looked tense and nervous. The candle too large for Kate to hold in her fragile hand. Cuddle Cat, Kates faithful companion had a little friend with him.A doll, a doll with long yellow hair. Could this be Rag Doll ?The doll that Kate had bought for Madeleines birthday. But why would this doll be in Portugal ?Madeleine would have been back home in Rothley on this special day had she not been abducted(allegedly). Madeleine would be enjoying her birthday party and her Dr.Who cake , opening her presents and seeing for the first time Rag Doll.

Could it be that Rag Doll was Madeleines favourite toy and not Cuddle Cat? Could it be that MWT referred to Rag Doll who Madeleine tucked up in her bed?

Did the McCanns manage to sneak away after the church service. Did the McCanns go to Madeleines secret hiding place and did her parents sit with her until the clock struck 12...Did Maddies parents take her truly favourite toy Rag Doll to be with her forever?

Could this explain the truly bizarre behaviour of the McCanns on Madeleines fourth birthday when leaving the church. We have all asked and been shocked by the sheer joy on their faces. More than any other photographs they have stayed in our minds. How can they look so happy when it should have been their daughters birthday.?

Much could be explained if the McCanns had spent time with Madeleine on her fourth birthday. If this did happen the McCanns took a big risk, a risk where they could have been followed and their secret revealed...luck was on their side.

The expression ,a picture tells a thousand words.How different the faces of the McCanns on eve May 11th to the following day May 12th. Madeleines birthday. If those pictures could speak what would they tell us?


Rag Doll 'her one and only appearance. But the date is of great importance.

If Madeleines remains are ever found, will we also unravel the mystery of rag doll   ?






One month later in th Sun `reports...
Was this rag doll given to Maddie by her captors?By ANTONELLA LAZZERI, in Portimao, Portugal

Published: 04 Mar 2010

THIS little girl's rag doll could have been given to Madeleine McCann by those who snatched her, investigators believe.

The cuddly plaything was among evidence suggesting Maddie was held at a remote house - but Portuguese cops abandoned the line of inquiry.

Private detectives hired by the missing tot's parents Kate and Gerry found the white bungalow in an orange orchard outside Silves, Portugal, after trailing a woman seen earlier with a Maddie lookalike.

They staked the place out and spotted the doll and a child's drawing.

Quizzed ... Yvone AlbinoPortuguese police on the Maddie case were tipped off, but the McCanns camp claim they did not fully investigate.

A source close to the McCanns said yesterday: "This is one of the strongest leads there's been in the hunt for Maddie.

"There was credible evidence at the orchard that needed proper investigation by the Portuguese - that never happened."

The private investigation began after British tourist Jean Godwin, 56, contacted the Find Madeleine hotline.

She reported seeing two woman with a girl she was "100 per cent sure" was Maddie in Carvoeiro on September 7, 2008.

Mrs Godwin, of Widnes, Cheshire, said the women were holding the hands of a "gaunt" little girl, who was wearing a "black wig to disguise her fair hair".

She was struck by the large irises in the girl's eyes - a feature of Maddie in photos.

Staked out ... the house in a Portuguese orchardWhen the women realised Mrs Godwin was looking they hid the child's face. She said: "I'm convinced it was Madeleine."

One of the two women was identified as holiday home cleaner Yvone Albino. She lives near Silves - which is 30 miles from the Praia da Luz resort where Maddie, three, disappeared on May 3, 2007.

Also a woman was seen passing a child in a blanket to a man in a car on May 5, 2007 - in Silves.

Retired care worker Mrs Godwin confirmed Mr Albino was one of the women she saw from a photo.
The photo was also shown to British witnesses who saw a couple acting suspiciously near the McCanns' holiday apartment. Several identified Mrs Albino.

Teacher Jorge Vitorino Cabral Martins - who was seen meeting Mrs Albino at the orchard property several times - was also placed in Praia da Luz by several witnesses.
Martins ... with girlfriend

McCann investigators saw Mr Martins discard a "child's drawing done by someone aged four to five". They also photographed the rag doll on the front seat of his white Citroen Berlingo van.

During a surveillance operation, Mr Martins was seen shopping for clothes and shoes for a little girl.

Neither he nor his girlfriend Maria Alice dos Santos Silveira have young children or grandchildren.

McCann 'tecs visited the Silves house pretending to be buyers. They were convinced the other woman seen with the girl was inside but no one answered.

Dave Edgar, head of the inquiry team, sent a report to Portuguese cops. It lies, with more than 50 other sightings of Maddie, in a dossier filed away at a police HQ.

It was obtained by The Sun and revealed yesterday.

Maddie ... missing since 2007

Cops confronted Mrs Albino, who denied being the woman Mrs Godwin saw. A police report states: "Nothing of interest was found."
Martins and Silveira denied having anything to do with Maddie's abduction.

He said the doll was given to him by his students. Mrs Silveira said the drawing had belonged to her 28-year-old daughter.

That was as far as the police took the matter. But the McCann team are still working on the lead. The child's drawing has been sent off for forensic analysis.
Kate and Gerry, both 41, of Rothley, Leics, insist they will never give up looking for their daughter.

The source added: "After Dave Edgar sent his report to the Portuguese police our investigators heard nothing more.

"It is now clear from the files that very little was done to rule these people out as suspects.

"But it was very significant information and remains an open investigation."

A WOMAN whose possible sighting of Maddie at a store in Dunedin, New Zealand, was revealed by The Sun yesterday has been interviewed again by police.

Checkout worker Taryn Dryfhout is angry she was not asked the questions before. She said: "They wanted descriptions of the people and how they paid. I'm sure it was Maddie. She was very afraid."

The girl was snapped on store CCTV in December 2007.

a.lazzeri@the-sun.co.uk

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/2877697/Rag-doll-could-have-been-given-to-Madeleine-McCann-by-those-who-snatched-her.html

In the depths of despair, the McCanns inspire awe with their renewed strength

By PAUL HARRIS
Last updated at 08:31 15 May 2007

They held each other's hands and clung tightly to the one hope they have left. Somewhere, they believed, their little girl was safe. Somewhere, Madeleine was being looked after. Eleven days on, Kate and Gerry McCann summoned the strength to block out the unthinkable in this endless, fruitless search for their four-year-old daughter.
Then they shared their hope with the rest of the world - and told how they could not even consider going home until Madeleine is found.
By the time Mr McCann had finished speaking his knuckles were white in his wife's constant grip. His voice was beginning to falter and his eyes were screwed shut against the blinding sun.
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Determination is etched into the faces of Gerry and Kate McCann as they cling to each other and to hope

But he was determined to stay in front of the cameras until he was sure he had got his message across. Until he and his wife saw "concrete evidence to the contrary", he said, they would continue to believe that Madeleine was "safe and being looked after".
A few hours before last night's dramatic developments, anyone who wondered how this once-happy mother and father have been coping with what happened had only to share these few minutes with them.
They have become familiar faces in the cobbled streets of Praia da Luz and their appearance never fails to invite respect, sometimes applause, as they make their way silently and privately around the Algarve resort.
This was different, though. They were in command now and they were about to change the rules. Scores of distraught parents might have touched hearts with TV appeals over the years, but few have conducted themselves like the McCanns.
From the depths of despair - and from a tragedy that was visibly destroying them day by day - they emerged to take control. Not just of their emotions, but of the way they will now proceed at this crushingly-difficult time.
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The McCanns have sworn not to leave Portugal until they find their missing daughter Madeleine. Friends and family believe they will keep their word

A few moments before 8am, they strode side by side into the sunlight to stand within yards of the apartment from which Madeleine disappeared on May 3.
Hand in hand, they ducked under the police tape which still seals the area, and steeled themselves to face an audience which, they knew, would be watching around the world.
Mr McCann carried some handwritten notes but barely even glanced at them. In his role as a consultant cardiologist he must have prepared countless patients and relatives for difficult news, and he spoke with a clarity and straightforwardness which seemed almost professional. But bad news can never have been as hard as this, and certainly never so personal.
He told us how he and Kate, who are Roman Catholics, had drawn strength from the "spiritual outpouring" which continues to flood over them from family, friends, strangers and supporters.
Mr McCann candidly admitted that he and his wife, a GP, were deliberately ignoring the negative to concentrate on the positive.
They had been counselled by a trauma specialist, who, he said, "enabled us to utilise tools to help us look forward, to try to put the speculation out of our heads and channel everything into looking forward".
How were they coping? "It's been extremely difficult," he replied, with unintentional understatement. But the support they were receiving - and the fact that lawyers had now arrived to handle the everyday mechanics - had suddenly lifted a great burden. It had allowed them to focus, he said, "on our own physical and mental well-being, and that of our family".
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The strain has worked visible change on both Madeleine's parents, but Kate McCann in particular has appeared at times almost unable to stand - until yesterday

We already had a flavour of how difficult that has been, and how heart-rending. The couple's two-year-old twins, Sean and Amelie, wave at the TV when pictures of their sister appear, and blow kisses at the posters which bear her image in every street and restaurant around the busy resort. Kate McCann is still buying treats for them in threes - three rag dolls, three ice creams ... and is seldom seen without Madeleine's favourite cuddly toy, often pressing it softly to her cheek. The first few days transformedthe 38-year-old blonde from a happy, laughing mother in those family pictures to a gaunt, haunted figure who could not bring herself to eat or even sleep while her little girl was missing.
Yesterday, however, she appeared to have found renewed strength. Her head wasn't bowed now and her voice was clear. Someone asked how long she would stay in Portugal. "I can't even consider going home at the moment," she said. "Absolutely can't even let it enter my head."
Whatever happened over the weekend, and whatever help the trauma specialist offered, she was clearly fortified.
Back home in England, Madeleine's aunt Philomena McCann said: "They are being counselled on what to do for the good of their health, and that's helping them get through. But the couple are strong and have strength of character that is not apparent on a day-to-day basis. Kate is very strong. She will not give up - she will pursue Madeleine for ever if need be."
The previous 24 hours certainly seemed to be a turning point - you got the impression for the first time that they had been able to step back a little from the tragedy engulfing them, and to plan a strategy for survival.

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The change in the McCanns from an earlier press conference last week was notable

Perhaps that is not surprising. In their jobs back home they are both used to organising people, taking the lead, and making difficult choices. Here, they have been virtually helpless, and it has massively increased their frustration. So speaking to the media in such raw detail yesterday, we were told, was the first part of that strategy. It was an idea which came from them, not the police. Likewise, it was the McCanns who decided they would take questions for the first time, rather than simply reading a statement.

Mr McCann was careful to praise the Portuguese police operation but said he could not discuss what they were doing. He also thanked the media for its coverage of the case, perhaps the only weapon the couple have in keeping public awareness high. They knew that even the tiniest detail, or triggered memory, could so easily lead to a breakthrough.

But it hadn't come yet - or if it had, the Portuguese police were being astonishingly relaxed about it. Quite how much information they were giving the couple about their investigation was unclear, although if it was anything like the detail they had been making public, it would be scant indeed.

At around the time the McCanns faced the media yesterday, Portuguese TV reported that police were "close to a conclusion" in the inquiry. Chief Inspector Oligario Sousa said: "We have two or three hypotheses and one in particular is very strong." He did not reveal what it was.A friend of the family summed it up like this: "We have a great many questions and not many answers." For the moment, therefore, the McCanns had just their positive thoughts to cling to. If only they could turn them to reality.

Snakes in the Grass

England woke May 4th 2007, to the news an Apartment had been broken into and a three year old child had been abducted from her holiday home in Praia da Luz, Portugal. The childs name Madeleine Beth McCann.

Amazing coverage  24 hour wall to wall.
Family and friends were interviewed on British television telling the reporters about smashed and broken shutters, Madeleine had been snatched .

The same day we could see on our screens forensics entering and leaving Ap.5A, the McCanns holiday home.

We saw close up forensics, dusting the shutter for prints, the shutter did not look ‘broken or smashed’ as had been reported...in fact we were later to learn this was not the case..there was no sign of a forced entry.

The broken shutter was a lie.

We also later read from Police files, the only fingerprints found on the window were those of Madeleines mother, Kate McCann.

Mrs Fenn , who lived in the apartment above the McCanns heard some noise on the evening May 3rd , 2007. The time just before 10.30 pm.

Mrs Fenn looked over her balcony and saw a woman crying and saying ‘We’ve let her down Gerry, we’ve let her down’

Mrs Fenn, called down and asked what was wrong? Gerry replied ‘ A small child has been abducted’

Mrs.Fenn said ‘Shall I call the police?’

Kate told her they had already been notified.

This again was not true, the call was not logged by Police until 10.40 pm.

Mrs Fenn told Police she had heard a child screaming for well over an hour on Tuesday May 1 st , she was so concerned she called a friend to ask what she should do. The childs screams were frantic, screaming Daddy, Daddy....

(So much for the every fifteen or thirty minute checks.)

The group of Doctors said they left their children alone each night so they may go for dinner. Jane Tanner, one member of the group who claims to have seen the ‘abductor’ taking Madeleine away said they checked their children in the apartments every fifteen minutes...Gerry said this is not true they checked their children every thirty minutes.

The abduction, according to the McCanns took place after Gerry did his 9 o’clock check...Gerry on leaving the apartment bumped into a friend, Jeremy Wilkins. Jeremy said they spoke for around three minutes. While this discussion was taking place , Jane Tanner had arrived to check on her children (her apartment close by) she claims to have seen Gerry and Jeremy talking , actually walked past them... and neither say they saw her. The road was narrow and if anyone had walked by, Jeremy said he would have seen them, he saw nor heard anything.

Jane also told police she saw a man walking in a hurry carrying a child whose feet were bare, she thought this odd because it was a cool night and the child was not wrapped in a blanket. Jane said she later realised this was Madeleine.

To sum up, Gerry had checked on his children, left the apartment and spoke with Jeremy. Jane Tanner spots Gerry, Jeremy and the abductor with Madeleine...all this has happened within four minutes...Gerry , Jane and Jeremy outside the apartment while someone enters and according to the Mccanns, smashes a heavy metal shutter to break into the apartment and take Madeleine.

The days that followed... all staff members from the resort Ocean Club, police and the good people of Praia da Luz...took time from work and did not sleep...the days were spent searching in brush and undergrowth for Madeleine.

And Madeleines parents, where were they, did they search? No, Kate and Gerry opened up a private company called ‘No Stone Unturned’ a fund claiming this money would be used to search for Madeleine they then went Jogging and played Tennis as the money rolled in.....

Role playing

The play was set to begin. No time for rehearsals, when suddenly an extra appeared, an extra who had no place in the events about to take place.

Shortly after 9 pm May 3rd, Jez Wilkins, the famous TV Director had become a major player in the abduction of Madeleine McCann. Later, newspaper headlines would scream ‘Madeleine and the Silent Witness’ the man who would clear the McCanns.

When we look at the police statements, no one has come forward to say they saw any of the group walking around or near any apartments on any other night.

Wilkins, did see Tanner May 3rd, but much earlier in the evening, he remembers she wore a purple dress and was standing outside her apartment. If Tanner saw Wilkins she has never said so.

Tanner has not mentioned seeing Jez and if what Jez says is true ,at some stage in the evening Jane changed her clothes.
Gerry McCann was seen the evening of May 3rd leaving or returning to his apartment by someone who knew him. The young Irish girl  (not sure if this young lady exists)also saw McCann and Wilkins talking together... no one has denied that this meeting did take place.

The problem for McCann is that this messed up his well thought out plan. The timing of Tanner seeing Wilkins, McCann and the abductor all at around 9.15 or 9.20 pm means if, as McCann claims, he had just checked his children and all was well the abduction took all of four minutes and while he and Jez were standing outside the apartment.

 McCann needed to explain why he was there to Jez, checking his children and telling him if he had not been with a group they would not have left the children alone, the seed was planted, the children alone left a window of opportunity for an abduction. Wilkins later had a knock on his door not to ask for help but to inform him McCanns child had been abducted.

Tanner gave McCann an alibi by saying she saw him and the abductor at the same time. The Smith Sighting, if anyone later would think they recognized McCann, was now covered. (Or so they thought)

There are no witnesses for any other evening, no one saw anything because there was nothing to see.

The plan would have been so simple, the McCanns would have returned to the apartment after dinner and drinks, (drinks paid for by credit cards that they claim not to have had.).... at a much later time, their usual 11.30 or 12.00 pm. The simulated abduction planned to take place at just before 10.00 pm would leave more than ample time to play on neglect.Instead, we only have a window of four minutes at the most for the abductor to have entered, jemmied shutters, grabbed a sleeping Madeleine without disturbing the twins in their blanketless cots and make his get away.

Had things gone to plan, I believe we would not be sitting here at our keyboards trying to discover what really happened to Maddie. There would have been evidence of a forced entry and anger from the public at the amount of hours the children were left alone but leaving a huge opportunity for an ‘abductor’ to have taken a child.

Wilkins foiled the plan and a new idea was whipped up, the tearing of a childs book to write on and fit a timeline, children checking, to match the meet with Wilkins.

Bridget O’Donnell , the partner of Jez, what is her role in all of this ?

Paul Gordon, a witness, told police he was harassed by the newspapers and in turn Brian Kennedy and the McCanns about the Donation caller.

December 14th 2007, Bridget wrote an article for the Guardian. Bridget either has a very bad memory, or she said things to mislead. Tennis coach Georgina Jackson said Madeleine had a tennis lesson on Tuesday May 1st... Bridget admits Madeleine and her daughter were in the same group as they had both practiced for a dance to be shown the following Friday... why then did Bridget say the tennis lesson was on Thursday morning, the day after Madeleine vanished?

Bridget also claims they sat in the afternoon sun and laughed as Gerry practiced his tennis swing. Again Georgina in her witness statement said she had seen Jez and McCann talking but very few words... there does not appear to be this friendship Bridget would like us to believe.

Bridget also tried to make the PJ look foolish by claiming they did not recognize a photograph of Madeleine, she was also very unpleasant about Robert Murat.

 Was Bridget afraid and if so what of,  afraid Jez might be next in line for some imagined blame or accusation. Bridget also wanted to make it very clear ‘There were no drug fuelled swingers on this holiday.

The longest shadow

Jeremy and Bridget both work in television, Jeremy producing documentaries and Bridget had worked on Crime Watch.

They flew to the resort April 28th 2007. Whilst on the plane they came into converstaion with O’Brian and Oldfield, the reason, their children were of the same age and were playing together. They were also aware of the presence of their partners, Jane Tanner and Rachel Mamphily.

Flight attendants would be walking up and down with food and drinks.  Parents would have been asked in a friendly way , to keep their children under control apart from the fact they may harm themselves.  The children may have been used as to how the couple new the Oldfields and O’Brian. Not the first time in this story the children have been used to cover for the parents.

Jeremy claims to have first met Gerry at a tennis coaching session held by staff associated with the Mark Warner resort on the first Monday of their holiday April 30th. He found Gerry to be amicable and willing to chat. He paired with Gerry for part of the lesson and described him as ‘Good company if not a little gregarious’

He did not see Gerry again until Tuesday May 1st. This you will remember, was the night Mrs.Fenn heard a child screaming Daddy, daddy from the McCanns apartment.

Jeremy, during another tennis lesson met some of the group and only then realized the people he met on the plane were Gerrys friends.

Jeremy recalled also this same day walking to the creche with Gerry around 12.30 hrs because Madeleine had spent the morning there. Jeremy does not mention if he saw Madeleine.

Jeremy seemed eager in his statement to explain the creche and how it functioned. The evening creche seemed more important to him than the daytime . Jeremy said the children would be left with staff and most would be picked up before 10pm. Notice the time, 10 pm.

It would not be  an unusual sight to see people walking at night with children in their arms asleep. The Creche would also supply a blanket to cover the child if required.

Wilkins noticed the group appeared to be boisterous when in the Tapas with Gerry playing centre stage ‘Almost holding Court’.

They also noticed the behaviour of David Payne, he seemed to be ‘playing up’ to Gerry. Maybe this game of theirs is what ended the friendship between the McCanns and the Gaspars.

Jeremy and Bridget back up the McCanns version of leaving the children alone and doing regular checks.

We then come to May 3rd 2007.

Jeremy went to play tennis at 10.30 hrs, Gerry was there, they chatted, also present was a female member of the group but he did not know her name ?

After tennis they all went to the pool ? Who is all? Jeremy,Gerry and the woman without a name?

By this time Jeremy states both Gerry and Kate were now present and spent time talking with the female tennis coach. A little confusing here and I am surprised Jeremy was not asked to clarify, was Kate already at the pool?

At 12.30 hrs Jeremy and Bridget went to collect their children from the creche. They did not see the group anymore that day.

Their son of eight months , was unable to sleep , about 20.15 hrs Jeremy took him in the pushchair for a walk.

Jeremy, walking on the right side of the road passing the Tapas bar on his left. The street lighting was not good but clear enough to see. As he approached the corner of the McCanns apartment he saw Gerry appear from the area of the gate. At this time they were stood with Gerrys back to the building near to the gate and Jeremy facing him. Rua Dr Agostino was about 10-15 meters to his right and the pathway leading to the front of the apartment block about 5 meters to his left.

Jeremy is adamant he saw nor heard anyone. The conversation lasted at most about three minutes.

Gerry was chatty, his normal self.

The couple woke with a knock at the door around 01.00 hrs. On answering they spoke with the resort manager and a member of the group known as Matthew. It was then they heard Madeleine was missing.

Several weeks later, Jeremy received calls from Gerry , he wanted permission to use his name in a Portfolio of evidence being compiled by the McCanns. They were very persistent and made several attempts to contact him both at work and at home.

They had no objection to being included but were concerned as to the method being used.

Much explained as to why Bridget wrote her anxious article in the Guardian about her friend Kate, The couple were being pressured by Gerry Mccann.

It was very important to Jeremy where he stood when talking to Gerry, very important and detailed, also important to Jane Tanner so much so she burst into tears. But of no importance to Gerry McCann, Gerry would decide where his bit part actors should stand after all this was his version of events.

Jeremy also wanting to make it very clear there would be nothing strange in seeing a man with a sleeping child before 10.00 pm.

Bridget feeling she had to explain in her article Jeremy had walked home the night of May 2nd with their sleeping son in his arms, wrapped in a blanket.

The couple must have known and realised something was dreadfully wrong.

Jez Wilkins has a deep dislike for Dr.McCann