Media Mayhem - MCCANN MEDIA NONSENSE OF THE DAY

There is more than one person, 'Justice' Hogg. There is also a group of friends, one of whom said 'we have a pact'.

I don't doubt for a second this has been posted before but in the current climate it's worth another airing. This is third hand information so take it with a salt lode from a Siberian mine. 

From the hand of the indefatigable and staunch supporter of all things McCann - Martin the Fricker of the Daily Mirror #makersyerfonkdunnit..

Portuguese police looking for Madeleine McCann missed chance to question suspect

Portuguese police went to Christian Brueckner's home shortly after Maddie's disappearance in Praia da Luz, Portugal, however he was not in when they visited, disgraced ex-chief Goncalo Amaral said.

Christian Brueckner is the prime suspect in Madeleine McCann's disappearance  [ ]

ByMartin Fricker

   22:23, 22 Jun 2020

Portuguese detectives tried to quiz Christian Brueckner shortly after Madeleine McCann ­vanished – but he was not in when they visited and it is not known if they returned.

The astonishing revelation that police may have given up probing the German fiend early on after getting no answer at his door came from Goncalo Amaral.

The disgraced ex-chief led the much-criticised initial probe in 2007 and has been in a legal fight with Madeleine’s parents Kate and Gerry for nine years.

Amaral, 60, said: “I have been told by colleagues, who are retired like me, that they had come knocking on the door. That person was not at home.”

Amaral was removed as head of the probe in 2008 after criticising British police. And he falsely claimed in a 2009 book that Madeleine died accidentally and Kate and Gerry covered it up.

Rather than admitting in his latest interview mistakes were made, Amaral launched a fresh attack on the McCanns and the pals they were holidaying with.

The McCanns sued Amaral for defamation over his controversial book, The Truth Of The Lie, in the Portuguese courts and the battle is still rumbling on. Amaral has made more than £350,000 from his book and a DVD spin-off.

He made similar claims in last year’s Netflix documentary about Madeleine’s disappearance.

And in Sunday’s interview, he claimed Brueckner – currently in jail in the German city Kiel on a drugs conviction, and fighting a second sentence for raping a 72-year-old woman – has been made a “scapegoat” as he is an “almost perfect suspect”. He alleges German authorities altered photos of the pervert’s VW Westfalia camper van.

Amaral handed the presenter what he claimed were photos of the vehicle taken last year, showing it had cartoon-style characters painted on the front and back, and a Portuguese number plate.

Amaral said: “I think it’s important to ask why the photo put out by the ­authorities of the van was altered.”

Asked if he thinks Brueckner is guilty, he replied: “To answer that it has to be proven first an abduction took place.”

During their libel case against Amaral, the McCanns spoke of the “devastation, anxiety and pain” that his claims caused.

Kate told a Lisbon court how, after hearing Amaral’s allegations, her son Sean, then nine, had asked her if she had hidden his sister’s body. She added she and Gerry had taken advice from a child psychologist on how to answer queries from Sean and his twin sister, Amelie.

Last week, the McCanns said they no longer have a spokesman and they insist they “will not be giving a running commentary on the investigation”.

Meanwhile, it emerged Brueckner owned two other vehicles, including a Mercedes van, when the tot vanished.

Police only flagged up a VW camper and Jaguar XJR when they made a new appeal earlier this month.

Last week, we revealed Brueckner was driving a blue Bedford van at the time, which was scrapped in 2009.

Pals said he was also using a 30ft Tiffin Allegro motor home in 2007.

But court files released yesterday show Brueckner was also the owner of a white Mercedes-Benz 205D van and a grey Opel Ascona.

The whereabouts of both vehicles is unknown and neither are thought to have been swept by forensic experts.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/portuguese-police-looking-madeleine-mccann-22235786
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Something tells me all will be revealed in Gonçalo Amaral's new book   .

If anyone is to be believed, I put Dr Amaral way over and above any tabloid journalist.

And another one but a bit closer to home and a reliable source..

“What kidnap?” Maddie detective gives interview as mainstream warns “investigation could be dropped if missing evidence isn’t found”

By Natasha Donn - 26th June 2020

Gonçalo Amaral, the detective whose theory on what happened to Madeleine McCann sparked a massive court battle with the missing child’s parents, has finally spoken about the media ‘circus’ involving latest suspect Christian Brueckner.

Almost the minute he did so, Rogério Alves – the Portuguese lawyer representing Kate and Gerry McCann – dismissed his input as ‘fantasy’.

Shortly afterwards reports started churning out the suggestion that ‘the whole investigation could be dropped unless missing evidence isn’t found”.

Said the Sun in another of its ‘exclusives’ on the case: “NO CHARGE Madeleine McCann suspect may NOT be charged admit German prosecutors despite ‘concrete evidence”.

Within the text, the concrete evidence is explained as (little more than) German police being “convinced” of Brueckner’s guilt.

As Amaral has said since the ‘early days’ when he was removed from the investigation for his inconvenient approach, it really is time for a serious probe.

Anyone who has followed this mystery through the ups and down of the last 13 years will recall that many others have called for a serious investigation – from former Metropolitan Police chief Colin Sutton, to the group of ‘armchair detectives’ often dismissed as conspiracy theorists (click here).

Amaral gave his interview to ‘local’ newspaper ‘Jornal do Centro’, following a TV slot last weekend where he suggested German investigators actually ‘released’ questionable images when they trailed their quest for ‘the smoking gun’ that would nail Brueckner to “the deed” (click here).

The Portuguese-registered camper van that Brueckner drove when living in the Algarve back in the early 2000s was not white and yellow, as police images have shown, said Amaral. It was covered in childish graffiti.

The stills of the very different-looking camper were shown to news anchor José Alberto Carvalho and beamed to the television audience.

“Is it that the German authorities came to the conclusion that in 2007 the vehicle was painted white? Who told them that?” Quizzed Amaral.

“Could it be that German or British authorities – because I don’t know who did this, it certainly didn’t come from Portugal – could it be that they released this to try and check information? See if anyone called up to say, ‘I saw that vehicle’ when of course they couldn’t have because the van looked different then..?”

Amaral also questioned the images of Brueckner splashed across the world’s press. They were relatively recent. None showed him as he had been in 2007, and “people change”, said the former detective who has himself changed radically over 13 complicated years.

The bottom line of Amaral’s discourse remains that Brueckner has been chosen as an ‘almost perfect suspect’.

“As the parents said it was a pedophile from the start, a pedophile has had to be found”, he told Carvalho – adding that the only detail that would make Bruecker ‘more perfect’ as a suspect would be “if he was dead”.

Little has been said in the British press about Amaral’s latest comments.

Nothing has been reported on his insistence that the kidnap theory is “the one where the least evidence actually exists”.

Focus in the mainstream now is that despite the media brouhaha, charges may never be brought against Christian Brueckner – for the simple reason that nothing but circumstantial evidence links him to the disappearance from Praia da Luz 13 years ago of Madeleine McCann.

Brueckner’s lawyers meantime are pushing for their client’s release from jail where he has already served ⅔ of a drug sentence.

https://www.portugalresident.com/what-kidnap-maddie-detective-gives-interview-as-mainstream-warns-investigation-could-be-dropped-if-missing-evidence-isnt-found/

This makes my head spin, we know for a fact CB had short hair and was indeed driving the white and yellow VW and not the one with the cartoons on it.

Why is G Amaral saying he was driving the one with cartoons?

I really hope his new book enlightens us.

Thanks for the posts Verdi.

Martin Fricker wrote:Last week, the McCanns said they no longer have a spokesman and they insist they “will not be giving a running commentary on the investigation”.

June 2020

'This time it feels very different': Kate and Gerry McCann have had their hopes raised so many times but their close adviser CLARENCE MITCHELL believes the latest development in Germany could be significant

By Clarence Mitchell For The Daily Mail

For Kate and Gerry McCann there have been many heart-stopping moments since their three-year-old daughter Madeleine went missing from their holiday apartment in Portugal 13 years ago.

Countless times their hopes have been raised over the years, but nothing has brought them any closer to solving the mystery of their daughter’s disappearance – or ending their pain.

Ever since that terrible night of May 3, 2007, it’s been a rollercoaster of alleged sightings around the world and tip-offs, most of which, while well-meaning, have not been accurate.

We’ve had a plane with engines running, ready to recover a child who turned out not to be Madeleine and hundreds, if not thousands, of psychics telling us where she is. None of it has come to anything.

The situation goes quiet for a long time, then comes back with the force of a train.

With the manic events of the past 36 hours, you could say we have been here before – but this time something feels very different.

This is the first time I can recall the police, not just in one country but three, targeting a specific, identifiable individual: a 43-year-old German itinerant who was living in Praia da Luz when Madeleine vanished.

For the first time detectives are asking very specific, detailed questions about one person’s activities, his vehicles and his phones.

Let’s bear in mind he may still be ruled out, but we have never had that degree of focus before which makes it feel more significant.



Kate and Gerry have known for some time about this new lead. They knew it would cause something of a storm, which it has. They were told by the police not to tell anyone. They didn’t, not even their wider family, so the appeal would have maximum impact.

The Germans are treating this as a murder investigation, but have made it quite clear they don’t have any evidence to prove the worst has happened.

The British police are keeping an open mind and are still treating it a missing person investigation, as are the Portuguese.

Kate and Gerry have never given up hope, even with the latest developments, that Madeleine might still be found alive.

Only when they are presented with incontrovertible evidence to the contrary will they accept that the worst has happened.

Sometimes Kate asks me ‘am I wrong to keep hoping?’, and I tell her: ‘No, you are not.’ There was a child recovered in China last month after being missing for 33 years. It happens.

I still believe it’s possible, but with this suspect’s criminal convictions, including sex offences, there is always that terrible thought in the back of your mind.

Unfortunately, Kate and Gerry have known the risk of Madeleine being the victim of this type of crime from day one, but they are resilient enough to understand that without going to pieces.

That gives them strength, so whenever a gruesome headline appears they are expecting it.

Like everyone they have good and bad days, Kate particularly, but they are fully aware and realistic about the awful possibility of what might have happened.

They just want to know the truth and whoever was responsible to be held to account and face justice.

They need to know what happened to their daughter because they need peace.

I first met the McCanns two weeks after Madeleine’s disappearance. I was working as a civil servant for the Cabinet Office; having been a BBC journalist for 20 years, I was seconded by the Foreign Office to help them deal with the media.

I first met Gerry when he came back to Britain to get some of Madeleine’s belongings to help with DNA profiling. I was introduced to him at a police station in Leicestershire and we went back to Portugal together. I met Kate the next day.

It was a surreal time. It was so long ago now but in many ways still feels like yesterday.

Of course there was a professional detachment, but as a father to three young children I could feel a certain degree of sympathy and understanding for them.

Sending out videos and pictures, I felt I almost knew Madeleine as well, and yet she was a girl I had never met.

Because I’d had assurances from the authorities that they were innocent parties in a rare case of stranger abduction – and I could see they were from everything they said and did, and how they reacted to everything – I thought there was also a moral case here to help a family in obvious crisis.

Such was the scale of the story, it was a cycle of madness that snowballed along and negative stories gained traction very quickly. In 2007 social media was only just kicking off.

Public opinion hardened the moment it was reported Gerry and Kate had been dining with friends in a tapas restaurant when Madeleine was abducted from her bed a few metres away, while her twin siblings Sean and Amelie slept.

Instantly, there was judgment that they were somehow neglectful and had let their daughter down, but the reality of the situation is that their checking system – with adults going to see the sleeping children every 20 or 30 minutes – was better than anything that could have been offered by the holiday centre.

I could see they had done their best under the circumstances, made a judgment. They fully accept that due to a billion-to-one chance they’d got it wrong. That’s something they are going to have to live with for the rest of their lives. They have always said that.

The fact is they did not think it any more dangerous than having dinner in the garden while their children slept in the house. The restaurant was far closer to the apartment than aerial photos in the media suggested, and they had a clear line of sight to the French windows.

But I could see in private moments the real pain, upset, anger, hurt and distress which people weren’t seeing outside.

All they were seeing of Kate and Gerry was when they made an occasional statement – and then they were accused of being cold and aloof.

That was because they were told not to show, if possible, any overt emotions, because (I am sad to say) some offenders who commit these sorts of crimes can get a perverse kind of kick out of seeing the distress they have caused the parents of the children they have taken. Because they both Kate and Gerry were doctors, they took that very seriously.

I got to know them as friends and knew they were innocent of any involvement. I could see the way they had been traduced and the pain that caused them, quite apart from the loss of Madeleine. I felt very sorry for them.

So it was a calculated risk when I quit my civil service job to work for the McCanns. Madeleine could have been found the very next day and I would have been out of work – but I also wanted to do it on a personal level, to act as a fire shield for them.

I could see they needed help and I was proud to be able to give it. I have continued to work for them ever since, lately pro bono.

Despite all they’ve been through they are two very strong characters. It’s often said that something like this can tear a couple apart, but in this case it has brought Kate and Gerry together more strongly, partly for Madeleine’s sake but also to focus on their twins Sean and Amelie, who were very young at the time.

Kate threw herself into looking after the twins and eventually stopped her medical work to look after them full-time, though she does do a little bit of voluntary work with people with dementia. She is also an ambassador for the charity Missing People.

Gerry is very practical. He threw himself into his job as a cardiologist and he is the breadwinner.

When I first started working with them I never imagined that Madeleine’s disappearance would remain unsolved after 13 years. Obviously you hope it will be solved in one day, and we always said ‘all it takes is one phone call’.

They very much welcome this new appeal for information around this individual. It would be fantastic news and a right and happy result if Madeleine were still found alive, but, whatever the outcome of this latest development, essentially Kate and Gerry just want to know the truth about what happened to their daughter.

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8393499/Kate-Gerry-McCanns-close-adviser-Clarence-Mitchell-believes-latest-development-key.html

Published: 22:00, 5 June 2020 | Updated: 11:59, 6 June 2020

Yuk.  The three of them are vomitous.

The phrase " he lies with as many teeth as he has in his mouth " fits so well for the odious Mitchell ! 

crusader wrote:This makes my head spin, we know for a fact CB had short hair and was indeed driving the white and yellow VW and not the one with the cartoons on it.

Why is G Amaral saying he was driving the one with cartoons?

I really hope his new book enlightens us.

Thanks for the posts Verdi.

At your service !

I'm confident all will be revealed.

Gonçalo Amaral has nothing to gain but universal acknowledgement of the truth. Whether or not he agrees or disagrees with divergence of detail is immaterial, fact remains we are all here for the same reason .... justice in the name of Madeleine McCann!

For those who forget, for those who don't already know, lest they forget..

McCanns thank ‘wonderful’ police

Friday 13 Jul 2007



The father of missing Madeleine McCann received a standing ovation as he appeared before police officers all over the country to thank them for their help in the search for his daughter and urged them not to give up.

Gerry McCann, wiping away tears after a poignant video of his daughter was shown to officers at the Police Bravery Awards at the Dorchester Hotel in London said he and his wife were now fully aware of the police’s “sterling work”.

His daughter, four-year-old Madeleine, was snatched from her bed as she slept in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz 71 days ago.

Mr McCann told his audience: “Over the past 10 weeks Kate and I have been reminded of what a wonderful job you do.

“The role of our forces is often not appreciated until you really need their help.

“Kate and I would like to thank all of the police officers in the UK that were involved in the operation to find Madeleine for their sterling work.”

He also praised the Portuguese police and other forces in countries where Madeleine has been sighted for their “commitment and co-operation.”

He said: “It’s been 70 days since Madeleine was snatched from her bed as she slept. Each of those 70 days has been unbearable for her family. No child should be separated from its family in such a way.”

He once again praised the “support and kind words” he and his family have received from members of the public, adding: “We will not give up and we will not stop searching for her.”

He asked police and the public to continue to support him and his wife as they search for their daughter.

https://metro.co.uk/2007/07/13/mccanns-thank-wonderful-police-540333/

Ironic how Professor Gerald McCann gets a standing ovation at a UK police bravery awards ceremony, only two months after his precious daughter disappeared off the face of the earth. When he and his bastion of representatives pursued the coordinator of the Portuguese police investigation through the law courts, destroying his career and life in the process. The one person at the time, with his dedicated team of officers, who cared about Madeleine McCann - and still does!

What was Gerry McCann even doing there?

The injustice makes me so angry.

I was reminded of this tabloid report published back in February 2017..

'OUR LAWYERS ARE WATCHING' Kate and Gerry McCann warn ex-cop Goncalo Amaral not to publish his new book in Britain

Goncalo Amaral accused Maddie's parents of covering up their daughter's death and is now reportedly looking for a British publisher for the sequel to mystery

YASMIN JEFFERY Gemma Mullin

20:27, 5 Feb 2017Updated: 13:16, 6 Feb 2017

THE TOP cop who accused Madeleine McCann's parents of covering up her death has been warned his second book on the case must not be published in Britain.

Kate and Gerry McCann are set to inform former Portuguese detective Goncalo Amaral: "Beware, our lawyers are watching!" if he tries to sell his new novel in the UK.

After defeating the couple on appeal last week after an eight-year fight, Amaral is reportedly looking for a British publisher while finishing off the closing chapters of his second novel about Maddie's disappearance in Switzerland.

Speaking on the upcoming book, family spokesman Clarence Mitchell said on Sunday: "If Mr Amaral's current book about Madeleine or any new one he may be planning to write is published here in the UK Kate and Gerry's lawyers will take immediate action.

"He needs to know lawyers are watching."

He added: "If he thinks his old or new book will appear here he'll have another think coming.

"If that's his intention whoever is responsible will be sued.

"Carter-Ruck will have no hesitation issuing a writ for defamation."

According to a source in Portugal, Amaral is confident his sequel could be a "big hit".

The insider told the Mail Online: "Mr Amaral knows that the world is fascinated with the Maddie story and her parents."

t comes just days after Portugal's Supreme Court ruled that his first book The Truth Of The Lie, which alleges the youngster had died and Kate and Gerry McCann had covered it up, could be published.

The McCanns, whose daughter went missing while on holiday in Praia da Luz in May 2007, were said to be "extremely disappointed" by the decision.

Mr Amaral led the investigation into Maddie's disappearance but later resigned after accusing British police officers of not fully cooperating with the Portuguese investigation.

Mr Amaral released the book three days after the case was closed in 2008.

He later took part in a documentary for Portuguese television in which he claimed that Madeleine was dead, there had been no abduction and the McCanns had hidden her body.

Goncalo Amaral was ordered to pay 500,000 euro (£429,000) in compensation to Kate and Gerry McCann in 2015 by a Lisbon court over the claims he made in his book and documentary.

They argued on the grounds the claim was no substantiated by the evidence and was defamatory.

The decision was overturned following an appeal last year but the McCanns took the case to Portugal's Supreme Court, which has now found against them.

They now face big court costs which they will take from but will eat into the dwindling Find Maddie Fund, which is made up of public donations and proceeds from Kate's best-seller book.

The libel case reportedly left the ex-detective close to financial ruin and is now planning to write a second book on the case, which he thinks "would sell well in Britain."

A friend told the Sunday Express: “He could only afford to pay the legal bills thanks to donations, mainly from people in Britain, who have given more than £50,000.

"With the support in Britain he obviously thinks his second book on the case would sell well if translated into English and he is actively looking for a publisher.

“For the time being he is working hard on the second book in Switzerland but he wishes to thank his supporters in the UK for supporting his battle to protect freedom of expression.”

The friend added that he is also looking for a company that would be interested in publishing his first book in English.

However the doctors, both 48, have said they will sue if the book is sold in the UK.

It comes amid speculation the couple, from Rothley, Leicestershire, have been offered huge bids for an exclusive interview on the 10th anniversary of their daughter's disappearance.

A close friend of the McCann’s said: “They have been bombarded with offers from media around the world.

“They’re already got 30 sitting on the table and are getting new bids every other day particularly from the big American networks."

After three-year-old Maddie vanished during a family holiday to Portugal in May 2007 Kate and Gerry were in a £1million bidding war by two of America’s biggest chat show stars at the time – Oprah Winfrey and Barbara Walters.

The McCanns, for an undisclosed fee, finally chose Oprah and in May 2009 told in a heart breaking interview how they felt their snatched daughter was still alive.

Just last month Kate and Gerry were given fresh hope and “buoyed up” when a kidnapped girl Kamiyah Mobley was found alive in the US after an incredible 18-year search.

Maddie, if alive, would turn 14 in mid May just nine days after the anniversary.

We pay for your stories! Do you have a story for The Sun Online news team?

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/2791401/kate-and-gerry-mccann-warn-ex-cop-goncalo-amaral-not-to-publish-his-new-book-in-britain/

A bidding war - how sickening.

Talking of novels..

Dr Hill, a Visiting Research Fellow in the School of Law, has written an article for The Conversation on the 'flaws' of the Madeleine McCann investigation, which has also been covered by i-News.

Dr Hill’s article recaps a series of events, starting with his personal experience of first meeting with the McCann family at the time of Madeleine’s disappearance. Dr Hill “had been sent to Portugal as part of the UK’s Child Exploitation Online Protection Centre (CEOP) response to Madeleine’s disappearance. [He] was a detective superintendent and senior investigating officer (SIO) with knowledge about predatory child sexual abusers and non-familial child abduction”.

In the article Dr Hill proceeds to explain how the events unfolded in the weeks and years following the disappearance and his personal involvement with the investigation. Dr Hill claims that the investigation was flawed from the start. “From the outset I was struck by the lack of urgency surrounding the investigation and it was difficult to establish any detailed information around what direction the investigation was taking” says Dr Hill.

Dr Hill proceeds to expand upon the notion that the investigation was flawed from the start and explains that “the first 24 to 48 hours of a child abduction investigation – often referred to as the ‘golden hours’ – are critical to its successful outcome”.

The article concludes that “there is a need for a systematic approach to core policing functions to deal with the complexity. And it is vital to have a thorough, well documented investigation strategy. These investigations also require highly skilled and experienced investigators who have the ability to make defensible decisions based upon reliable information and create investigative strategy and policy that can stand the test of hindsight. A failure to do so can have serious consequences”.

https://essl.leeds.ac.uk/law/news/article/1197/dr-graham-hill-authors-article-on-the-flaws-of-the-madeleine-mccann-investigation

Read the full article in The Conversation and also covered by i-News.

Madeleine McCann's parents have £750,000 to fund private search if police end hunt

So far the police investigation to try and find missing three-year-old Madeleine McCann has cost £12.5 million and a decision on whether to approve further funding is pending

Madeleine McCann suspect's lawyer says 'we'll find out soon' why police are digging at allotment

By Lorraine King - 10:06, 26 Apr 2021

A fund set up by the parents of Madeleine McCann's parents has more than £750,000 in it which could pay for a private search if police stop looking for her.

So far the police investigation to try and find the missing three-year-old girl has cost £12.5 million and a decision on whether to approve further funding, believed to be an extra £300,000, is pending, the Daily Star reports.

Doctors Kate and Gerry were reportedly told by the Metropolitan Police that they are continuing to treat their daughter as a missing person.

Brit detectives are said to have told the couple that they think it is "highly unlikely" drifter Christian Brueckner – who German investigators have alleged killed Madeleine – will be charged over her disappearance 14 years ago as there is "no evidence" linking him to it.

Newly released accounts for Madeleine's Fund: Leaving No Stone Unturned Ltd – which was set up 12 days after she vanished to handle well-wishers' donations – has a balance of £773,629.

The McCanns are holding on to the cash reserve in case the police inquiry comes to nothing.

According to financial documents, the cash will be used to secure the safe return to her family of Madeleine McCann, "ensure her abduction is thoroughly investigated" and the culprits are identified and brought to justice.

Once that objective has been fulfilled any remaining money will be donated to help crack similar cases.

The McCanns, from Rothley, Leicestershire, were unavailable for comment on Sunday night.


The McCanns set up the trust 12 days after their daughter vanished to handle well-wishers' donations ( Image:
MDM)

Her parents were dining with pals in a nearby tapas bar.

Next week will mark the 14th anniversary of Madeleine's disappearance.

The cash reserves are made up of donations from celebrities and well-wishers, royalties from a best-selling book Kate wrote in 2011 about the case and the sale of merchandise designed to keep the public searching.

According to the accounts the book brought in £6,543 in the 12 months to last March.

The McCanns were reimbursed with £4,229 from the fund to cover legal costs for their "ongoing libel action in Portugal" against ex-police chief Goncalo Amaral who wrote a book accusing them of covering up their daughter's death.

Both Kate and Gerry, who vehemently deny his allegations, continue to hope they will one day be reunited with their daughter who will turn 18 on May 12.

Last week they posted a message on the Official Find Madeleine Campaign Facebook page urging supporters: "Never stop believing in hope because miracles happen every day.''

Drifter Brueckner, 44, was identified as a suspect in the Brit youngster's disappearance last June.

German police said a call from his mobile was transmitted by a phone mast near the apartment where Madeleine's family was staying around an hour before she disappeared.

German-born Brueckner is currently serving a seven-year jail sentence for raping a 72-year-old woman in the same Algarve resort.

His lawyer has insisted Brueckner had nothing to do with Madeleine's disappearance and police should "expect to order holy water as a long drink in hell" before he will cooperate with their investigation.

A Home Office spokesman said they were giving "careful consideration" to a request for extra funding for the police investigation.

The Mirror has contacted a spokesman for the McCanns and the Metropolitan Police for comment.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/madeleine-mccanns-parents-750000-fund-23980584

'I feared for own kids'



Rev Haynes Hubbard outside Our Lady of the Light church
By Gail Edgar
July 12 2008 01:00 AM

The Anglican priest who prayed with the McCanns after Maddie vanished has revealed he feared for the safety of his own children in the aftermath of the little girl's abduction.
Rev Haynes Hubbard, who is the senior chaplain of St Vincent's Anglican Chaplaincy, arrived in Portugal just three days after Maddie went missing on May 3 — one year ago on Saturday.
And the shock and trauma of what happened in Praia da Luz affected his wife Susan so much she initially wanted the family to leave the country and return to their native Canada.
The couple first heard the name Madeleine McCann when they landed at Lisbon airport on May 6 with their three children, then aged nine, eight and six months.
Speaking to Sunday Life at the Our Lady of the Light church where a vigil is still held for Maddie every Friday evening, Rev Hubbard recalled: "We left Canada on May 5 and arrived here on Sunday, May 6. My wife had our infant child in her arms and in Portuguese a woman asked her 'where are you going?'.
"My wife responded in Portuguese, 'to Praia da Luz,' and the woman said, 'oh no, that's where the little girl's been taken from'.
"She said this to a woman with three children crowding around her ankles.That was our introduction.
"We came down from the airport straight to the church and the media were swarming the building."
Rev Hubbard immediately got to work by helping to organise special services for Madeleine at the small Roman Catholic church in the town which the Anglican community of Praia da Luz also uses.
He met the McCanns during the first week of Maddie's disappearance and he and his wife gradually formed a close friendship with them.
"My wife Susan comes from generous country stock and she started cooking for them and leaving little meals — pots of stew and loaves of bread and things for Kate with a note.
"Eventually the notes became phonecalls and the phonecalls became visits and eventually they became part of our family.
"We prayed lots together and they came to our services very often."
Rev Hubbard revealed what it was like living in Praia da Luz in the weeks following Madeleine's disappearance.
"We were watching the news about two weeks afterwards. We were watching the helicopters and listening to them on television, but when we turned the television off we could still hear them.
"That sense that this isn't something you can turn off was a heavy, heavy weight.
"You have to live it and we were going to live this story, this pain, vicariously but still be present to it."
He explained the experience was very frightening for a family who had just moved to the country to live overseas for the first time.
"It wasn't a weight that we didn't want to carry, but it was very frightening.
"We locked our doors and locked our windows in ways we never thought of. Susan wanted to go back to Canada because it was safe in Canada — of course it's not, but it felt safer there because this hadn't happened."
Gradually, though, the couple realised that the people of Praia da Luz were special.
"Some evil happened in this community which isn't reflective of the community at all. Evil has been perpetrated and Madeleine has been taken.
"The community acted very strongly, they said 'we're going to look'.
"They were wonderfully responsive. This was our introduction to Luz — it was a place that said we're going to put these posters up, we'll look, and look, and look.
"Luz is still a beautiful little town that a horrible thing has happened to. The character of Luz isn't different.
"Luz is not a tainted place. Evil happens and we need to beat it down with goodness, if we can."
Today, Rev Hubbard is glad he and his family decided to stay in the quiet Algarve town that has appeared in so many headlines.
But while he describes Kate and Gerry as "part of the family" and remains in close contact with them, he admits he doesn't know what they are like without the sadness which has gripped them since Maddie's disappearance.
"We met a couple who had lost their daughter, whose daughter had been taken away from them, and that was shattering.
"Their fear for her was overwhelming but you can't live in fear and they're too resourceful within themselves to live in fear, so now they're striking back and trying to make a difference.
"But the couple who have lost their daughter are still there. I haven't been to their home but I can only imagine the empty spot that was Madeleine's still being there and crushing them with its memory and its presence.
"So despite the determination to make sure that this doesn't happen again to anyone else, their Madeleine is still missing and she needs to come home.
"They are a pretty remarkable couple, but they are still a couple who are waiting for Madeleine to come home.
"I don't know what Kate is like with a smile in her heart. I've seen her with a smile on her lips, but I've never seen her with a smile in her heart.
"We can't pretend to know them properly, but what we have seen in grief we are impressed with and profoundly moved by.
"We pray that one day we will know them when they are complete again."
After Madeleine's disappearance, both the Roman Catholic and Anglican communities who use the church, began to meet for prayer vigils for Maddie.
At the beginning, around 35 people attended regularly.
Now, a small group of around 10 people — mostly Portuguese — still meets every Friday night.
A special service has been planned for the one year anniversary of Maddie's disappearance next Saturday night, although Rev Hubbard says he hopes instead they will be travelling to Kate and Gerry's home in Rothley, Leicestershire to celebrate her safe return.
"We are just going to continue to pray that she comes home and that God will change the hearts of those who have her and that on May 3 there will be no need to go to a service here, but that we can all go to England and celebrate with Kate and Gerry as they have their little daughter back."
Rev Hubbard remains convinced that Madeleine is alive and can one day be returned to her parents.
"Then we can finally meet a couple and a family who are what they're supposed to be. And that would be an extraordinary moment."
While the community who worship at Our Lady of the Light have united to pray for the little girl's return, the story has divided people worldwide.
Rev Hubbard said: "This story more than any other has allowed people to express the most extraordinary opinions completely based on absolute subjective nonsensical evidence. This has not been a unifying story — but it has allowed some to say 'I don't care what anyone else thinks, I'm going to pray for Madeleine and Kate and Gerry and Sean and Amelie.
"I'm certain that the secular community of both English and Portuguese have all sorts of other opinions, but for those of us who go to this church and attend services, we're just waiting for Madeleine to come home."

https://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/sunday-life/news/i-feared-for-own-kids-28407634.html

    
 
 

Madeleine McCann’s parents’ new agony

As a prime suspect in the Madeleine McCann case is announced, Closer speaks to Jon Clarke who has followed the story since the three-year-old went missing...

by Kristina Beanland | Posted on11 06 2020

The biggest breakthrough in the 13-year search for Madeleine McCann came last week, when German authorities said they had almost enough evidence to charge a convicted paedophile with her murder.

At the time of going to press, the suspect was a 43-year-old German man, who has a long history of sex crimes against women and children, and is currently in jail for the torture and rape of a 72-year-old woman.

Police are also reopening the investigation into a missing five-year-old girl, dubbed “the German Maddie”, who was snatched from woodland in Germany while on holiday with her family in 2017 – at a location less than 50 miles from where the suspect lived at the time.

But while Maddie’s parents, Kate and Gerry, have always held on to the belief that their daughter, who would now be 17, is still alive, German officials have stressed that this is a murder inquiry.

In a statement uploaded to the Find Madeleine website, Kate and Gerry said, “All we have ever wanted is to find her, uncover the truth and bring those responsible to justice.

“We will never give up hope of finding Madeleine alive, but whatever the outcome may be, we need to know, as we need to find peace.”

Journalist Jon Clarke was one of the first on the scene in Praia da Luz, Portugal, when Maddie went missing from a holiday resort in May 2007, while her parents ate in a nearby restaurant. He has been reporting on the case ever since.

He believes that – while the news of Maddie’s apparent death will be heartbreaking – Kate and Gerry may finally find closure.

Jon, who is currently back working on the case in Praia da Luz, told Closer, “Since 2007, there have been a few leads about Maddie’s whereabouts, but they’ve amounted to nothing. This time, it seems different. There’s strong evidence linking this man to the crime, and there’s a feeling that we might finally get some answers.

“I remember the anguish on Kate and Gerry’s faces when I first met them the day after Maddie went missing. It would be devastating for them to find out that Maddie has died, but they deserve to know what happened to her, no matter how awful.”

And Jon, who lives in Malaga, Spain, with his wife and two children, says that some locals in the area have long been suspicious of the German man.

He says, “Everyone in the area knew about the elderly woman who had been raped. I remember speaking to some people who said that there must have been a link between the two crimes, because Praia da Luz has been considered such a safe area.

"They felt that two awful incidents that happened so close to each other must be related. But because the victims were so different – an elderly woman and a young child – it must have been discounted.”

Jon recalls the call he received from a British newspaper on the morning of 4 May 2007, asking him to report on a missing child.

He says, “I remember thinking that by the time I got there, she’d have turned up. Praia da Luz was a sleepy little village and hardly anyone was around when I arrived later that morning. But I was shocked when I saw the McCanns’ apartment – there was no security and just a flimsy piece of police tape covering the side gate.”

A few hours after arriving, Jon met Kate and Gerry. He says, “They were polite, and even thanked me for reporting on the case. They were clearly devastated. The press conference outside their apartment later that day only confirmed my feelings. I think almost every person there shed a tear. As a journalist, you try not to get too emotional about a story, but my own daughter had just turned two, so it was hard not to get upset.

“In the days that followed, it was clear this was a story like no other – hundreds of journalists descended on the town and Maddie’s face was everywhere. Everyone was looking for her – I must have walked the length of the beach ten times, combing through the wasteland and looking in abandoned houses.”

Jon stayed in Portugal for two weeks while the case unfolded – until it became clear that Maddie was no longer in Praia da Luz. He says he has since returned countless times to report on the story, and even appeared in a Netflix documentary that aired last year about her disappearance.

Now, Jon is back in Portugal.

He says, “The atmosphere is tense here and the locals are in shock. A lot of theories have been floated over the years, but the idea that Maddie could have been taken by a paedophile is the one that no one wanted to be true. And it’s tough on the people here, knowing that the place they call home is famous for something so awful. They want answers too, so that their town can start to move on.”



While reporting on the case last week, Jon was asked by a newspaper to visit one of the homes of the German suspect, to see if the people living there knew about its previous owner.

He says, “The house is in the middle of nowhere, four or five miles outside of Praia da Luz. It would have been so easy for a dangerous man like him to lay low, and not cause too much of a stir. Expats rarely ask questions of each other anyway – it’s almost an unwritten rule not to dig because there’s lots of reasons, sometimes private, why someone would want to relocate to another country. So he’d have blended in without too much trouble.”

Now Jon hopes the next time he returns to Praia da Luz will be under different circumstances.

He says, “When I think about what Kate and Gerry have lived with for all these years, it breaks my heart. My daughter is a similar age to Madeleine, and every time I come down here, I feel so lucky that something like this didn’t happen to my family.

“The man the police are investigating was a nasty piece of work with a string of horrific convictions. It’s time justice was done for Madeleine.”

https://closeronline.co.uk/real-life/news/madeleine-mccann-german-suspect-jon-clarke/

Feeling fear and misery, are they? Oh dear, how sad, never mind.

Crime: The Madeleine McCann case and the media – By Len Port

Posted on 01 May 2017.

By Len Port, Contributor (*)



The most reported and discussed missing person case ever recorded is still not only a highly contentious mystery, but also a personal tragedy that has been turned into a public farce by elements of the media.

In the entirely predictable press frenzy surrounding the imminent 10th anniversary of the disappearance, much of the coverage, particularly in the British tabloids, has been farcical. But it should not be dismissed lightly.

Unable to come up with “news” on the case, the tabloids have been rehashing the same old speculation and guesswork.

“Could Madeleine McCann have been snatched by a lone paedo or simply wandered off?….”

“She was sold to a rich family, says ex-cop….”

“New hope after decade-long search….”

“Experts say Madeleine McCann’s body is almost impossible to find ”.

And then there was the much-touted Australian TV show that promised “a major breakthrough in the case”.

Meanwhile, the Daily Mirror took a slightly different tack with a story headlined, “What REALLY happened the night Madeleine McCann disappeared as nanny breaks her 10-year silence”.

The story did not explain what “really” happened, nor did it name the nanny or why she had remained silent for so long.

It quoted her as considering the McCann to be “the picture perfect family” and repeated the usual British criticism of the Portuguese police.

More surprisingly, she claimed that the resort from which Madeleine vanished was considered so unsafe that nannies were given rape alarms (whistles) and advised, “don’t go anywhere by yourself, ever”.

There was nothing to suggest the Mirror had tried to question or check this or any of the nanny’s other assertions, but, in Praia da Luz, they were viewed with derision. It was seen as yet another attempt to brand Praia da Luz as a den of iniquity, which it is not and never has been.

The official police files on the case contain nothing about rape whistles or alarms. None of the signed statements by child-care workers mentioned anything about suspicious goings-on or Luz being “unsafe”.

The manager of the Ocean Club where the McCanns were staying said in a police statement in 2007 that he had “no knowledge of any untoward situation involving Ocean Club users or in the village itself, other than some damage and minor thefts”.

The Mirror story was also a reminder that real journalism has to a large extent been replaced by ‘churnalism’, which disregards traditional standards of original news gathering based on impartiality and fact-checking for accuracy and honesty.

The nanny’s story was quickly recycled virtually verbatim on the Internet by other tabloids. Even the broadsheet Daily Telegraph fell into line as did news services in the United States, Australia and New Zealand.

Trial by the media has had a huge influence on public perceptions about guilt or innocence in this case. Most of the mainstream media reports state as if it were a fact that Madeleine was “abducted”. Maybe she was. Maybe she wasn’t. There is no certainty either about the other main theory that her parents covered up an accidental death in the apartment.

Until solid evidence is found and the culprits are brought to justice, the public fascination with this case will continue to fuel and be fuelled by the media’s determination to churn out stories whose accuracy and agenda may sometimes be open to doubt.

The current avalanche of stories inevitably evokes the previous admission by Lord Bell, founder and former chairman of the Bell Pottinger public relations group, to columnist and author Owen Jones that “the McCanns paid me £50,000 in fees to keep them on the front page of every single newspaper for a year, which we did”.

Nevertheless, “Maddie” helps circulation figures and makes money. Money, along with misinformation, has always played far too big a part in this case which – let’s remember – is about the tragic loss of a child.

https://portuguese-american-journal.com/police-investigation-the-madeleine-mccann-case-and-the-media-by-len-port/

Madeleine: Brown urged police to give more details
Chancellor acts after parents voice their concern at the lack of disclosure by Portuguese detectives

Brendan de Beer in Praia da Luz
Sun 27 May 2007 00.56 BST

Gordon Brown has personally intervened in the search for missing four-year-old Madeleine McCann after her parents became frustrated by the lack of progress in the police investigation.
After a series of telephone conversations with Madeleine's father, Gerry McCann in recent days, the Chancellor requested assistance from the Foreign Office and the Home Office. He asked that pressure be brought to bear on the Portuguese authorities to allow more information about the inquiry to be made public.

Gerry and his wife, Kate, have been desperate for a description of a man seen carrying what appears to have been a child on 3 May to be made public, but Portuguese police refused for three weeks because of the country's laws, which forbid the details of an investigation being released.

The Observer understands that Brown gave the McCanns an assurance he would do 'anything he can' to help. The British embassy duly applied pressure on the Portuguese authorities to find more flexibility in their secrecy laws. British ambassador John Buck visited the Algarve last Thursday. A day later Portuguese police made a U-turn and issued a detailed description of the man, said to be white, 35 to 40, 5ft 10in and of medium build, with hair longer around the neck, wearing a dark jacket, light beige trousers and dark shoes.

Asked whether Brown had influenced the decision, Clarence Mitchell, a Foreign Office spokesman for the McCann family in the Algarve, said: 'Draw your own conclusions.' He said in a statement: 'I can confirm that telephone conversations have taken place between Gerry McCann and Chancellor Gordon Brown. During them, Mr Brown offered both Gerry and Kate his full support in their efforts to find Madeleine, although details of the conversations will remain private.'

Although they have praised the efforts being made to find their daughter, the McCanns were said to be increasingly frustrated in recent days at delays and communication problems. The family have met lawyers in the Algarve and threatened legal action to push for the information to be released because of the exceptional circumstances.
The Observer can confirm that a top law firm in London had been asked late last week to seek legal avenues through which the McCanns could be kept up to date on the latest developments in the investigations.
It also emerged yesterday that The Prince of Wales and Duchess of Cornwall had been following the case 'closely and with deep concern'.

The McCanns yesterday emerged from their apartment to say that they had had an 'amicable and very constructive' meeting with police. 'We very much welcome the decision of the police authorities to release details of a man seen by witnesses here in Praia da Luz on Thursday, 3 May, the night of Madeleine's disappearance,' Gerry said in a statement.
'The release of this important information followed an earlier meeting we had with senior police officers. We feel sure that this sighting of a man with what appeared to be a child in his arms is both significant and relevant to Madeleine's abduction.'

It emerged that the couple plan to widen their search across Europe. The McCanns are expected to visit Seville and Madrid before moving on to Berlin and Amsterdam. A source said that the reasoning behind the visits is that, 'after Britons, Spanish, Germans and the Dutch are the most frequent visitors to the Algarve', and the most likely to have seen something suspicious.
The campaign fund is now well over £300,000, according to Mitchell. He stressed that the McCanns 'never asked for a single euro'.

In a new interview yesterday the McCanns spoke about their feelings since the night they left their three children asleep in a holiday complex apartment while they dined with friends in the complex's grounds, returning to find Madeleine had been abducted, and their refusal to give up hope of welcoming her back with 'a very big hug'. Asked if she forgets for even one second that her daughter is missing, Kate said: 'Madeleine is such a huge personality it is obvious when she is not there.'

Gerry, wearing yellow and green ribbons on his wrist to accompany those his wife has tied to her hair for more than three weeks, said: 'My waking thought is that the phone by the bedside has not rung. And that means Madeleine has not been found.'

Kate added: 'I am better in the morning, it seems like a fresh start. Evenings are harder. '
The McCanns are drawing strength from their twins, two-year-old Sean and Amelie. Kate said: 'The twins are so young they just get on with things, but obviously we don't want them to forget about Madeleine. We are hoping to see a child psychologist to explain what has happened to Madeleine to the twins.'
She added: 'They help us to get through this. We are a strong family and they were so close to Madeleine, only 20 months apart.'

Gerry said: 'We could have lost the twins too. There were three children in the room. That's the worst nightmare... This is so rare. It's a million to one. We really have to make sure it doesn't affect the twins growing up and their normal childhood. 'This is not a time for grieving. We believe she is still alive, so grief is not the appropriate emotion. We are absolutely determined to get her back. It's a bit like we are waging a war. It's a backs-to-the-wall thing.' His eyes welled up with tears when asked the first thing he would do if Madeleine returned home.
'I think we will be having a very big hug. Hope, strength and courage are our motto. There is nothing more I would like than to see Madeleine walk in, so we could use the fund to help find other missing children.'

https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/may/27/ukcrime.gordonbrown?fbclid=IwAR30B9GjFX3nR81L9T-oYU5bSXvLlGWzod4SVKbf5TAGd8x9D3mJepdWYlU

This is a mixed bag of jumbled nonsense, although reasonably well put together.  Thus I don't know where to stick it, aside from garbage - so media mayhem it is.

True Crime

Madeleine McCann and the Epstein Connection

Thirty-eight paedophiles operated in Algarve when Madeleine was abducted, were they connected to Epstein?

Sam H Arnold
Aug 31, 2020

Madeleine McCann was born on 15th May 2003. She was the eldest daughter of Gerry and Kate McCann and big sister to twins. She disappeared from her holiday apartment in the Algarve, nine days before her fourth birthday. She was a happy blond girl, with a slight colour blemish in one eye. Some two years after her disappearance the possible connection to Epstein was released, not to be recognised until this last year.
Madeleine McCann’s Abduction

On 3rd May 2007, Madeleine and her family were holidaying in Praia du Luz a popular destination for tourists in the Algarve. She was on holiday with her family and friends of her parents. The day started like every other day with a trip to the pool, then the creche whilst her family played tennis. Once back home she went to bed at 7 pm with her siblings in a cot beside her.

At 830pm both Kate and Gerry McCann, went to a local tapas bar to meet their friends. They pulled the bedroom door too and left the windows and shutters closed. They did, however, leave the patio door unlocked, so they could access the apartment. They requested the same table every night. A table where they could see the apartment, but none of the entry points. It was stated in the restaurant booking that they required this table because their children would be alone. It is possible that whoever abducted Madeleine saw this information.

At 905pm Gerry McCann made the first check on the children. When he entered he remembers seeing the bedroom door now wide open. He checked on the children and they were all asleep. Thinking nothing of the change of position of the door, he closed it and went back to the restaurant.

Then at 930pm a friend from the party went to check on his children, also alone in an apartment. He offered to check on the McCann children whilst he was there. He reports that the door was once again wide open. Hearing no noise from the room though he went away, failing to check on the children in the room.

When Kate McCann went to check at 10 pm she found the bedroom door open, as she went to close it a gust of wind slammed it shut. She went into the room and found the bedroom windows open and Madeleine missing. She carried out a brief search of the apartment before rushing back to the restaurant stating, “Madeleine is gone, someones taken her.” This was a strange outburst, many people would have thought a child was missing and wouldn’t jump to the conclusion of abducted. The police were called at 1010pm and the search started.
Initial Suspects

As the police investigated there were several suspects, including the parents. One of the theories, were as doctors they had sedated their children whilst they went out and got the dose wrong with Madeleine, killing her. Police stated they found traces of blood in the apartment, was there a tragic accident the McCann’s covered up? The parents have successfully sued every newspaper which has suggested this. Using the money to continue the search for their daughter.

A mysterious man was also an early suspect. He was seen carrying a child past the McCann’s apartment at 915pm. This gentleman was ruled out of enquiries when it was concluded he was an innocent father carrying his daughter back from the night creche. This brings about the further question, why the McCann’s did not use the night creche.

Later the investigation would centre on a man called Robert Murat, as he was local to the area and known to the police. He would later be awarded £600 000 for defamation of character.

The final suspect to come to light, at the time, was a paedophile called Raymond Hewlett. Hewett lived in the area at the time. This was the first connection to a paedophile, it would not be the last.

The Photofit and the Similarities to Maxwell

Tired with the progress of the case, the McCann’s hired their own private detectives. They uncovered two British men who three days after the abduction had met a woman in Barcelona. The woman had hinted, after a brief conversation, that she knew something about the abduction. Working with these two men, the private investigators released a photofit of the woman they wished to question. At the time she was described as a Victoria Beckham lookalike.

However, many people have now said that the photofit looks very like a picture of Ghislaine Maxwell at the time.

 

It has been well reported, that Maxwell from 1990s used to recruit girls for Epstein. Could it be that Madeleine had been a gift for Epstein? In the summer of 2007, Epstein would sign a plea bargain in Miami where all co-conspirators would be free from prosecution. This would have occurred shortly after Madeleine was abducted. Is this timeline a coincidence or could there be more to the photofit and Epstein’s crimes? The publicity around the disappearance was huge, anyone involved would have panicked.
Portugal is a Hub for Paedophiles.

Epstein was likely attracted to Portugal, which has been described recently as a haven for paedophiles. Portugal would have been well known in the paedophile community. In 2010 the case of Casa Pia Orphanages came to its conclusion.

In 2010 an elite paedophile ring was brought to justice. Some of those tried were very prominent men and would have moved in the same circles as Epstein. Amongst those convicted was a former ambassador, Manuel Abrantes. A prominent television personality, Carlos Cruz and a UNESCO ambassador, Jorge Ritto. All were convicted of using the Casa Pia Orphanages as a way to claim children for their needs. During this case, a raid named Operation Predator obtained images of children. It is reported that images of Madeleine McCann were seized, although, this has never been confirmed. Paulo Rebelo, the policeman responsible for the Casa Pia Orphanage case, later became the lead investigator in Madeleine’s abduction.

This is not the first case in Portugal and will not be the last. It has become a magnet for paedophiles around the world who use the country’s lax laws to fulfil their desires. There were 38 known sex offenders in the Algarve when Madeleine was abducted. Could these cases and images have a connection to Epstein, the timeline would fit.
The Prime Suspect

Authorities will deny the connection with Epstein and will state that the picture is a coincidence and could match many women of that age. This is, however, not the last time that the timelines for the two cases will be close. In August 2019 Epstein allegedly took his own life.

One year later on 2nd July 2020, a month before Maxwell’s arrest, authorities would state that they had found the man who abducted Madeleine McCann.

Christian Brueckner is a German paedophile who is in prison for sex crimes. He has two previous convictions for sexual misconduct with girls. He has also been investigated for child sex abuse. He was in the Algarve during the time the McCann’s were on holiday. His 1980’s VW camper was pictured there, in 2007.

It is alleged that he had confessed to his part in her disappearance whilst drinking in a pub in the Algarve. His drinking partner thought nothing of this, at the time. The publicity surrounding the tenth anniversary of Madeleine’s disappearance. Prompted him to tip German police that Brueckner could be their man. Questions should ask why he had not come forward before. No one has ever identified this man.

Although there was DNA connected at the time, it is impossible to identify whether this matched Brueckner, as it is considered too old. He has of yet, not confessed to the abduction, but remains in prison for his other crimes.

In a further twist to the story, a retired teacher came forward on 25th July 2020 to stated that she has seen Madeleine in an Algarve Supermarket. She says she looked 17, which would fit with her age. She recognised her because she had the blemish in her eye.

At the worse, the parents were negligent leaving their children in an apartment in a foreign country. Contrary to popular opinion, they were investigated by social services and cleared to keep their twins. Whatever your opinion on them, it is fair to say they have suffered the ultimate price for their actions, the loss of their beautiful girl.

Whether Brueckner is guilty or not remains to be proved. It is widely thought now that Madeleine is dead and will never be found. You can only hope if her fate did rest in one of the 38 paedophiles in the Algarve, at the time, that her death was quick and painless. Whether dead or alive, I hope that the family get the closure they deserve one day. I also hope that wherever her soul rests Madeleine McCann is free from pain and happy. Time will tell if this case is ever solved and whether Maxwell is the face in the photofit.

https://medium.com/crimebeat/madeleine-mccann-and-the-epstein-connection-d7dae29cbcf3
...................

Two major points to trash this article .... null and void!

1.  There is no evidence to suggest, let alone prove, that Madeleine McCann was abducted.
2.  Epstein was not interested in three year old children, his preference was teenagers - nubile flesh.

Another mixed bag with no particular place to go.

This disgusting tabloid report hit the headlines over four years ago, in November 2017 - why now !?! As if I couldn't guess.

British student makes bad joke about being Maddie McCann

Friday, December 31st 2021

A British student named Harriet Brookes has claimed on social media she was in fact Madeleine McCann, the three-year-old girl who disappeared in May 2007 while on vacation in Portugal with her family.

Brookes' friend Elizabeth posted her messages on Twitter, where they went viral. “Guys, I don't usually believe in conspiracy theories, but I honestly think I'm Madeleine McCann,” the young woman wrote. “I'm Madeleine McCann and I don't know what to do with myself,” she added.

Harriet insisted she had the same features of the girl who disappeared 10 years ago in Praia da Luz: a brown spot around the iris and a mole on the right thigh. To support her statements, the young woman shared with her friends some photos, which she called “Evidence A” and “Evidence B”.

It would all ring a few alarms if it were not for the fact that Maddie would be 14 years old today, while Harriet is currently studying at the University of Leeds, which prompted reactions of social media users saying Harriet was just seeking attention.

Harriet then said it was all a joke which went misunderstood. “I feel like a lot of people are taking it so seriously. I got a message from a girl who said she was going to skin me.”

Meanwhile, the real search for Maddie continues: Scotland Yard has received 154,000 pounds sterling to continue with the investigation, at least until next May, while Kate and Gerry McCann, did not comment on Brookes' “joke.”

Kate and Gerry did issue an update on the investigation on their official Madeleine McCann Facebook page. Police are currently planning a trip to Portugal to interview associates of the man they suspect of having been involved in her abduction. After addressing the COVID-19 crisis, the McCanns ”couldn’t let the opportunity pass to say a very big ‘thank you’ once again to all our supporters.”

A suspect - Christian B - was identified by investigators last year and the case continues to progress.

Meanwhile, German Police are still following the lead that convicted paedophile Christian Brueckner, who is also suspected of attacking Irish waitress Hazel Behan, who has waived her right to anonymity, in Algarve three years before Madeleine's disappearance. The convicted paedophile, 45, is already in jail for a 2005 rape in Praia da Luz.
German prosecutors now hope to charge Brueckner with the rape of Hazel, who was 20 at the time, early next year.

https://en.mercopress.com/2021/12/31/british-student-makes-bad-joke-about-being-maddie-mccann