Articles by Padraic Flanagan re: Madeleine McCann


Padraic Flanagan Articles
Daily Express










JUNE 2007

Bungling Madeleine police to search the flat . . . seven weeks on
19 June 2007
Padraic Flanagan and Matt Drake in Praia da Luz

Portuguese police are to go back to the flat where Madeleine McCann was snatched to seek fresh clues – seven weeks after she disappeared.
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Maddy's Dad Robbed of 'Memories'
TORMENT: Relatives are angry at the insult to Gerry and Kate McCann whose photos have been stolen
21 June 2007
Padraic Flanagan in Praia da Luz

The father of Madeleine McCann revealed yesterday how a sneak thief has stolen irreplaceable photographs of his kidnapped daughter.
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I've Named Maddy Kidnapper
'I know man who took Maddy'
21 June 2007
Padraic Flanagan in Praia da Luz

Antonio Toscano Spanish journalist claims to know the identity of Madeleine McCann’s kidnapper Previously, had been criticised by a spokesman for Madeleine’s family for not revealing the identity of the French paedophile he claimed was behind the kidnap.
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Gerry McCann robbed of 'precious memories'
Madeleine family's fury at the 'dirty animal' who stole precious memories
Thursday June 21,2007
Padraic Flanagan in Praia da Luz

The father of Madeleine McCann revealed yesterday how a sneak thief has stolen irreplaceable photographs of his kidnapped daughter. The pickpocket stole Gerry McCann’s wallet minutes after he arrived in London to boost the search for Madeleine. It contained two treasured pictures of the missing four-year-old, who was snatched 49 days ago as she slept at the family’s holiday apartment in Praia da Luz on Portugal’s Algarve.
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Madeleine Is Spotted Five Times In Malta
22 June 2007
Padraic Flanagan in Praia da Luz

Police in Malta have jaunched a full-scale hunt for Madeleine McCann after five separate sightings of the missing four-year-old in five days. A string of British tourists have contacted police to say they have seen a youngster who bears a striking resemblance to Madeleine.
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McCanns' thanks to Express readers
23 June 2007
Padraic Flanagan in Praia da Luz

The parents of missing Madeleine McCann spoke yesterday of their unflinching determination to find their missing daughter – and thanked Daily Express readers for giving them hope. Kate and Gerry McCann, who have endured unimaginable torment since fouryear-old Madeleine was kidnapped 51 days ago, praised all those who have supported their campaign.
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Our fears for suspect
25 June 2007
Padraic Flanagan in Praia da Luz

The chief suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann has been driven to the brink of suicide, his family said yesterday. Father-of-one Robert Murat is the sole suspect in the investigation into the four-year-old’s disappearance 53 days ago from a Portuguese holiday apartment. Banned by law from commenting on the case, the businessman has asked his family to speak out and protest his innocence. His plea came as police in Malta appeared to dash hopes Madeleine was on the holiday island, after investigations into at least 18 alleged sightings proved fruitless.
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Missing girl's parents move to a new villa in the Algarve
26 June 2007
Padraic Flanagan in Praia da Luz

The parents of Madeleine McCann are setting up home in Portugal after vowing to remain in the country until the toddler is found. Kate and Gerry McCann have found a modest villa close to the resort from where their daughter was snatched and plan to move in within a fortnight. The couple yesterday insisted they will remain in the Algarve for the "foreseeable future", returning home to Rothley, Leics, only when they are finally reunited with four year-old Madeleine.
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Police in Malta probe eight more sightings of Madeleine
26 June 2007
Padraic Flanagan in Praia da Luz

Eight more sightings of missing toddler Madeleine McCann have been reported in Malta police said yesterday. The reports follow more than 20 other alleged sightings of the foury ear-old on the Mediterranean island in recent days.
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Madeleine police in hunt for arab's luxury yacht
Maddy: Find the arab's yacht
27 June 2007
Padraic Flanagan in Praia da Luz

A girl resembling missing Madeleine McCann was seen being taken aboard the yacht of a wealthy Arab family, police in Malta have been told. The island’s overstretched force was last night desperately trying to trace the boat. Several people contacted police to report the sighting. Some were so convinced the girl was Madeleine that they tried to approach the Arab family but were blocked from getting near the yacht by security guards.
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Madeleine : Police quiz man over kidnap claim
28 June 2007
Padraic Flanagan in Portimao

A SPANISH investigator who claims to know the identity of Madeleine McCann's kidnapper yesterday handed his evidence to police in Portugal.
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Madeleine police arrest couple
29 June 2007
Padraic Flanagan in Praia da Luz

A man and a woman were arrested in Spain yesterday over the kidnap of Madeleine McCann. Italian Danilo Chemello, 61, and his Portuguese girlfriend Aurora Pereira Vaz were held in a dawn swoop on their home in the Costa del Sol resort of Sotogrande. It is believed that the couple were detained on suspicion of trying to extort reward money from four-year-old Madeleine's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann. Reports suggested they had claimed to know where Madeleine was being held and wanted £2.5million to provide information.
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Found: A sinister Madeleine archive and a child's bed
Maddy: Secret child's bed at couple's home
30 June 2007
Padraic Flanagan in Praia da Luz

A child’s makeshift bed has been discovered at the villa of a ruthless couple who plotted to swindle a £2.5million reward from Madeleine McCann’s parents. Police sources in Portugal said a small cot was found in the garage of convicted child abuser Danilo Chemello and his girlfriend Aurora Pereira Vaz.
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JULY 2007

Found: Treasured photos stolen from Madeleine dad
Mccann's Joy As Pictures Are Returned
2 July 2007
Padraic Flanagan in Praia da Luz

Precious photographs of missing Madeleine McCann were back with her father Gerry last night after his stolen wallet was sent back to him.
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Two Months After The Kidnap, A Mum's Plea
4 July 2007
Padraic Flanagan in Praia da Luz

The mother of missing Madeleine McCann pleaded with the toddler’s kidnapper yesterday: 'It’s not too late, please give her back.' GP Kate McCann, 38, made the TV appeal for mercy exactly two months after her four-year-old daughter was snatched as she slept in a holiday apartment in Portugal. Her husband Gerry, 39, revealed the strain they had endured since the kidnap in Praia da Luz on May 3.
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Scrum on! Let's find Madeleine
5 July 2007
Padraic Flanagan in Vilamoura Portugal

Rugby ace Jonny Wilkinson and his England team-mates yesterday joined the appeal to find missing Madeleine McCann. 30 minute meeting with McCanns. Team in Algarve training in preparation for Rugby World Cup.
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Fury at Labour snub to family of Madeleine
6 July 2007
Padraic Flanagan in Praia da Luz

David Miliband was under fire yesterday for turning his back on the parents of missing Madeleine McCann. The new Foreign Secretary has failed to make any contact with the family. His predecessor, Margaret Beckett, made regular calls offering support to the McCanns. Mr Miliband could face a carpeting for the snub from Prime Minister Gordon Brown who, as Chancellor, contacted the McCanns to promise to help 'in any way he could'.
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Madeleine parents hit by new extortion plot
7 July 2007
Padraic Flanagan in Praia da Luz

The parents of Madeleine McCann faced fresh agony yesterday after a man claiming to have information about their daughter was held for fraud. The unemployed man, 39, was arrested in Holland after demanding £1.35million from Kate and Gerry McCann for revealing the whereabouts of their missing four-year-old.
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Net Is Closing On Kidnappers
9 July 2007
Padraic Flanagan in Praia da Luz

Net is closing on kidnappers Chief suspect faces new quiz. Police leading the Madeleine McCann investigation expect a major breakthrough this week in the hunt for her kidnappers. A source close to the Portuguese team said yesterday that the net was finally tightening on those responsible for abducting the fouryear-old.
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Maddy: Suspect Quizzed For Ten Hours
11 July 2007
Padraic Flanagan in Portimao

The main suspect in the kidnapping of Madeleine McCann faced a fresh grilling by detectives yesterday. Robert Murat was questioned for ten hours by police investigating the four-year-old girl's disappearance. It is the second time father-of-one Murat, who denies any involvement in the youngster's abduction, has been quizzed by officers.
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Maddy's Family Friends Quizzed
12 July 2007
Padraic Flanagan in Portimao

Three friends of the parents of Madeleine McCann flew back to Portugal yesterday to help police catch her kidnapper .The group, including two doctors, were questioned by detectives over their accounts of the night the four-year-old girl vanished on May 3. Rachael Oldfield, 36, Russell O'Brien, 36, and Fiona Payne, 34, were dining with the McCanns at a restaurant near the family's holiday apartment when Madeleine was snatched.
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Madeleine : Mum's friends face to face with suspect
13 July 2007
Padraic Flanagan in Praia da Luz

The prime suspect over the kidnapping of Madeleine McCann has had a face-toface showdown with three Britons who could shatter his alibi. Robert Murat was confronted by three friends of the missing four-year-old's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, during interrogation at police headquarters in Portimao. Doctors Russell O'Brien and Fiona Payne, with another friend Rachael Oldfield, flew to Portugal to contradict Murat's claim to have been at home on the night Madeleine disappeared 71 days ago.
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Maddy: Suspect's Alibi Is In Doubt
14 July 2007
Padraic Flanagan in Praia da Luz

KEY witnesses cannot agree on crucial events surrounding Madeleine McCann's kidnap. The officer leading the hunt last night revealed the impasse thwarting the investigation.
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AUGUST 2007

New sighting of Madeleine
24 August 2007
Padraic Flanagan in Cartagena Spain

Police are investigating fresh claims that Madeleine McCann is alive and being held captive after witnesses reported seeing her being bundled into a car in Spain. Two witnesses told detectives they are "certain" they saw the missing four-year-old girl with a man who was acting strangely at a petrol station earlier this week.
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Now parents are accused of killing Madeleine with drug overdose
25 August 2007
Martin Evans in Praia da Luz and Padraic Flanagan in Cartagena Spain

The parents of Madeleine McCann were furious last night after a Portuguese magazine accused them of killing their daughter. Gerry McCann exploded with rage after the front-page report declared: 'Policia Judiciaria believe parents killed Maddie.' According to the news magazine, detectives are now 'almost absolutely certain' that Kate and Gerry killed Madeleine by giving her an accidental overdose of sedatives to help her sleep.
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Army of Britons join the Costa hunt for Madeleine
25 August 2007
Padraic Flanagan in Cartagena Spain

Thousands of British expats on the Costas are joining the hunt for Madeleine McCann amid reports of her being held captive in Spain. Two women told detectives they are "certain" they saw the missing four-year-old being bundled into a car at a petrol station in Cartagena on the south-east coast. The reports have prompted a massive police search across the region for a dark green Citroen ZX hatchback after the possible sighting on Tuesday evening.
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New setback over crucial DNA evidence
28 August 2007
Martin Evans and Padraic Flanagan in Praia da Luz

Agony for parents as delay hits test results THE search for Madeleine McCann was dealt a devastating b low last night after it was revealed that DNA tests needed to unlock the case will not be ready for weeks. Officers have been on standby, ready to arrest a suspect as soon as the results are confirmed. But the crucial evidence is still not ready. DNA samples were taken earlier this month from the bedroom where the four-year-old girl disappeared. The discovery of the samples led to what detectives described as a 'decisive stage' in the investigation.
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Madeleine 's parents rocked by stream of vicious smears
28 August 2007
Padraic Flanagan in Praia da Luz

Angry denials fail to halt tide of lies. Kate and Gerry McCann are the subjects of a vile whispering campaign which has led to them suffering a daily torrent of smears. As they still try to come to terms with the loss of four-year-old Madeleine they continually face new accusations, including that they were responsible for her death.
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Father storms out of TV interview
29 August 2007
Padraic Flanagan and Martin Evans in Praia da Luz

MADELEINE - He erupts in fury at 'blood on wall' question. The father of missing Madeleine McCann has finally buckled under the strain of her disappearance and stormed out of a TV show. The 39-year-old cardiologist ripped off his microphone when asked about blood spatters on the wall of the apartment where his four-year-old daughter went missing and marched out, leaving shaken wife Kate alone to face the interviewer.
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DNA test result 'is just days away'
29 August 2007
Padraic Flanagan and Martin Evans in Praia da Luz

Police chiefs leading the hunt for Madeleine McCann believe a major breakthrough could be only days away. They have told parents Gerry and Kate McCann to expect the result of vital DNA tests that could unlock the mystery of the disappearance this week. Samples were taken earlier this month from the apartment where the McCanns were staying in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz when the four-year-old girl disappeared on May 3. The discovery of microscopic blood specks in Madeleine's bedroom and on the curtain in her parents' bedroom has led detectives to believe the investigation is now at a "decisive stage".
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'Syringe Found In Madeleine's Apartment'
30 August 2007
Martin Evans and Padraic Flanagan in Praia da Luz

Parents' anger at new claims they drugged her. Police hunting for missing Madeleine McCann discovered a syringe in her parents' bedroom it was dramatically claimed last night.
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Kate's appeal for mystery woman
30 August 2007
Padraic Flanagan in Praia da Luz

KATE McCann is appealing for a mystery woman she met on the day of Madeleine's disappearance to come forward and contact her. She put out the call on husband Gerry's daily blog despite the fact that Madeleine vanished almost four ...
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Police forces squabble over DNA that could help to find Madeleine
Day 120 - The hunt for Madeleine
31 August 2007
Padraic Flanagan and Martin Evans in Praia da Luz

THE probe into Madeleine McCann's disappearance is in danger of stalling amid a rift between Portuguese and British police. Senior officers in Portugal are growing increasingly concerned at delays by British forensic experts in analysing key DNA samples that could unlock the 120-day mystery. Relations between officers from the two countries are now so bad that sources close to the investigation in Portugal have briefed local media that British specialists have "botched" the tests.
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SEPTEMBER 2007

Parents: We're going home
Police: Wait for DNA tests
1 September 2007
Martin Evans and Padraic Flanagan in Praia da Luz

Police hunting Madeleine McCann have urged her parents not to leave Portugal before crucial DNA tests are complete. Kate and Gerry McCann were planning to return to their home in Rothley, Leicestershire, in a fortnight. Relatives were going to help them pack and support them as they made the painful journey back to Britain without Madeleine. But now senior detectives have urged the couple to stay in the Algarve for another month, insisting it will be "worth their while".
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Madeleine Mum’s Secret Prayer: ‘Today Could Be The Day She Comes Home’
3 September 2007
Padraic Flanagan and Martin Evans in Praia da Luz

The mother of Madeleine McCann marked a heartbreaking milestone last night with the vow: 'We will never give up.' The 39-year-old GP revealed her torment four months after her daughter’s disappearance in Portugal on May 3. Kate and heart specialist husband Gerry, also 39, struggle to keep their spirits up by constantly reassuring each other: 'Today could be the day Madeleine comes home.'
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New attack on parents
Madeleine: New slurs piled on parents
4 September 2007
Martin Evans and Padraic Flanagan in Praia da Luz

The anguished parents of missing Madeleine McCann faced a fresh onslaught of slurs yesterday. Friends believe Kate and Gerry McCann are the victims of a concerted sniping campaign to hound them out of Portugal. It is feared they are being targeted because their continued presence in the country highlights the failure of the police to capture their daughter’s abductor.
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Twins still set a place for Madeleine at dinner table
4 September 2007
Martin Evans and Padraic Flanagan in Praia da Luz

The younger brother and sister of missing Madeleine McCann still insist on laying a place at the dinner table for her, four months on from her disappearance. Two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie were finally told last month that their beloved big sister, now four, was missing and might not be coming back. But, in a tender and heartbreaking gesture, the twins still carry on as if she will return at any moment.
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Parents: We blundered
5 September 2007
915 words,
Padraic Flanagan and Martin Evans in Praia da Luz

The parents of Madeleine McCann admitted yesterday how their shocking blunder left her prey to a childsnatcher. Kate and Gerry McCann said they made a devastating error in believing she would be safe while they were dining just y ards away. But the couple, both 39, revealed in a new interview how they both felt secure knowing they could see the veranda of their holiday apartment from their table outside a tapas restaurant.
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Madeleine: Arrest is now 'close'
6 September 2007
Martin Evans and Padraic Flanagan in Praia da Luz

DNA tests produce vital result. POLICE who are hunting for missing Madeleine McCann are expected to make an arrest in days. The news comes after a long-awaited forensic breakthrough. The results of DNA tests, which have taken a month to complete, were given to detectives in Portugal yesterday. They are understood to confirm police suspicions that Madeleine died in her parents’ holiday apartment.
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Yet again the parents are the last to know
6 September 2007
Martin Evans and Padraic Flanagan in Praia da Luz

The parents of Madeleine McCann were furious last night after Portuguese police refused to tell them of the forensic breakthrough in the hunt for their four-year-old daughter. Kate and Gerry were said to be very upset after they learnt of the significant development from the media rather than detectives.
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Maddy's mum: Now we fear we are suspects
7 September 2007
Padraic Flanagan and Martin Evans in Portimao

Madeleine - Police question her for hours. The mother of Madeleine McCann fears detectives now believe she was behind her daughter's disappearance. As Kate McCann was questioned for more than five hours at a police station in Portugal yesterday, close friends said she was "terrified" of being framed. Part-time GP Kate looked strained and nervous as she was driven to the Policia Judiciara headquarters in Portimao by her husband Gerry, who is to be interviewed separately today.
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McCanns put return home on hold
7 September 2007
Martin Evans and Padraic Flanagan in Portimao

Plans to fly back to UK on Sunday are now in ruins THE hopes of Kate and Gerry McCann finally returning home were in tatters last night after the dramatic developments in the hunt for their missing daughter.
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Vital 'clues' found by dogs trained to sniff out death
Hunt for Madeleine Day 128
8 September 2007
Padraic Flanagan and Martin Evans in Portimao

The Madeleine McCann case has been blown wide open by two British sniffer dogs trained to detect human blood and the scent of human remains. Keela and another English springer spaniel called Eddie were dispatched with their handlers to Praia da Luz to help detectives last month.
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Victims of a lurid whispering campaign
8 September 2007
Padraic Flanagan and Martin Evans in Portimao

Madeleine's parents have had to endure a daily torrent of smears and lies from the Portuguese media. Kate and Gerry's strenuous denials have failed to dampen the press's appetite for scandal.
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Outrage of friends and relatives back home
8 September 2007
Padraic Flanagan and Martin Evans in Portimao

Madeleine's aunt yesterday blasted Portuguese police for their treatment of Kate. Philomena McCann said: "To have reached this stage is completely unbelievable. The utter incompetence of the investigation has led to this. We are ...
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Madeleine: 'We Can Prove Parents Did It'
10 September 2007
Padraic Flanagan in Praia da Luz and Martin Evans in Rothley

Portuguese police make dramatic new claim over evidence. HE parents of Madeleine McCann flew back to Britain yesterday as Portuguese police said: "We have enough evidence to convict you." They made their confidence clear as Kate and Gerry McCann dramatically returned home with two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie. The couple left the Algarve just two days after they were named as official suspects in the disappearance of their elder daughter. Detectives now expect to receive further forensic evidence gathered from the McCanns' groundfloor apartment at the Ocean Club complex today or tomorrow.
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'Panic' flight back to Britain only fuels more local suspicion
10 September 2007
Padraic Flanagan in Praia da Luz

KATE and Gerry McCann's dramatic flight to Britain was made within hours of agreeing the time was right to leave their legal nightmare in Portugal.The doctors, both now suspects in the disappearance of daughter Madeleine, said they took the last-minute decision for the sake of their two-year-old twins, Sean and Amelie. But observers in Portugal said leaving so soon after being made 'arguidos' would only confirm local opinion that the case against them was strong and they were running while they still could.
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Madeleine's body 'was in hire car'
Compelling new DNA evidence
11 September 2007
Padraic Flanagan in Praia da Luz

Powerful new evidence was put forward last night to suggest Madeleine McCann's body was placed in a car hired by her parents 25 days after she vanished. Police sources revealed they had obtained a full DNA profile match with the four-year-old from a previously undisclosed sample. They said the presence of the full profile was the strongest evidence so far that Madeleine had been in the car. They also disclosed it was one of three DNA profiles matching Madeleine's - two full and one partial - recovered by forensic investigators. It followed earlier revelations that scientists had found Madeleine's DNA "underneath the upholstery" in the family's hire car.
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McCanns' happy family image comes under fire
11 September 2007
Padraic Flanagan in Praia da Luz

The McCanns yesterday faced fresh allegations in the Portuguese press aimed at wrecking their happy family image. Guests and staff at the Ocean Club resort in Praia da Luz were said to have complained how it was always left to Kate to care ...
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Madeleine: Mass Of Hair In Car Boot
12 September 2007
Padraic Flanagan in Praia da Luz

Parents could be charged in days says prosecutor. A mass of Madeleine McCann's hair found in the boot of her parents' hire car could only have come from the little girl's body police confirmed yesterday.In a sensational development, Portuguese police said the "surprising amount" of hair was found in the spare wheel storage well under the boot floor of the Renault Scenic hired by Kate and Gerry McCann 25 days after Madeleine disappeared.
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'Gerry may not be the father'
12 September 2007
Padraic Flanagan

The smear campaign in Portugal against the McCanns continued yesterday with claims that Gerry may not be Madeleine's father. According to reports in local papers DNA tests have thrown up discrepancies that have puzzled scientists and ...
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Our nightmare is unending says dad
Our nightmare is unending says Maddy's dad
12 September 2007
Padraic Flanagan in Praia da Luz

GERRY McCann told yesterday how the sensational claims against Kate have sent the family into an "unending nightmare". He said he is "100 per cent confident" that GP Kate had nothing to do with Madeleine's death. The cardiologist, who along with his wife has been made an official suspect, or arguido, used his blog on the Find Madeleine website to speak of the 'pain and turmoil' of the past week.
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Find the body and prove we killed her
13 September 2007
Padraic Flanagan in Praia da Luz

The McCanns' challenge to police yesterday. The parents of missing Madeleine McCann yesterday challenged the police: "Find the body and prove we killed her. The couple, who are suspected over the child’s death and the disposal of her body, issued the startling ultimatum as the public prosecutor in Portugal sent the police case against them to a judge. It is thought that the McCanns’ high-powered lawyers have told them that without a body it will be extremely difficult for the authorities to press charges."
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Does mum's diary hold vital clue?
14 September 2007
Padraic Flanagan in Praia da Luz

KATE McCann’s diary could hold the critical clue to her daughter’s disappearance, Portuguese police revealed yesterday. Detectives believe that desperate entries made by Madeleine’s mother will help unlock the secret of what happened to the four-year-old. As well as Kate’s diary, police have also applied for a court order to seize Gerry McCann’s laptop.
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Madeleine Was 'Killed By Sleeping Pills'
14 September 2007
Padraic Flanagan in Praia da Luz

Sensational new claim. Forensic traces from Madeleine McCann's body "prove" she overdosed on sleeping pills it was sensationally claimed yesterday. A damning police dossier is said to show that body fluids found in the boot of the car hired by her parents 25 days after she disappeared suggest she was drugged.
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Kate's diary 'tells of despair at her 3 hysterical children'
14 September 2007
Padraic Flanagan in Praia da Luz

KATE McCann's diary shows her as a harassed mother struggling to cope with her "hyperactive" daughter Madeleine it was claimed yesterday. Excerpts from the emotionally-charged journal – now at the centre of the Portuguese police probe – are reported to reveal a mother at her wits’ end coping with three 'hysterical' children. The claims, reported in several Portuguese newspapers, also allege that 39-year-old GP Kate complained in her diary of being forced to cope alone with looking after the children.
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Dogs on 'a trail of death'
14 September 2007
Padraic Flanagan in Praia da Luz

Scent of a corpse is followed from flat to the beach SNIFFER dogs have detected a trail of death leading from the holiday apartment where Madeleine McCann disappeared down to the beach at Praia da Luz, Portuguese police believe. The springer spaniels, brought in from South Yorkshire police to assist the Portuguese investigation, are thought to have found the scent of a corpse stretching for a mile down to the shore. The same scent was detected on clothes belonging to Kate McCann, in the boot of the family's hired Renault Scenic and on the key fob of the car, rented 25 days after Madeleine vanished.
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Police say only a confession will do
15 September 2007
Padraic Flanagan in Praia da Luz

Police fear that the body of Madeleine McCann will never be found and only a confession by her parents can convict them of killing her. The startling revelations came as officers told of their worries that her body was dumped far out to sea in a bag weighted down with stones.Detectives are convinced she is dead and believe her remains are now gone for ever, a vital piece of missing evidence which seriously weakens their case against Kate and Gerry McCann.
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Friends could be made to return for more questions
Mccann Friends Could Face Police Quiz
Russell O’Brien could be questioned over his statement
15 September 2007
Padraic Flanagan in Praia da Luz

Friends of Kate and Gerry McCann could have helped the couple get rid of daughter Madeleine’s body, it was claimed last night. According to sources in Portugal, detectives plan to ask several of the McCanns’ dining companions to return to answer more questions about the night the youngster disappeared.
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OCTOBER 2007

Madeleine - Police want answers to 14 questions
25 October 2007
Padraic Flanagan in Praia da Luz

What detectives demand to know. Police chiefs have drawn up a dossier of new questions for Kate and Gerry McCann about the night their daughter disappeared, it was revealed yesterday. Detectives are travelling from the Algarve with an official request to interview Madeleine’s parents and the seven friends with whom they were on holiday in Praia da Luz.
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Kate breaks down during TV grilling
25 October 2007
Martin Stote and Padraic Flanagan

THE HUNT FOR MADELEINE KATE McCann broke down in tears last night as she revealed the daily heartbreak she endures without her missing daughter Madeleine.And she insisted that she remains totally convinced that Madeleine is still alive - despite Portuguese police believing she is dead - claiming a fierce maternal instinct drives her conviction.
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Madeleine - 70% don't believe McCanns
26 October 2007
Padraic Flanagan in Praia da Luz

Viewers who watched Kate and Gerry McCann’s tearful TV interview delivered a damning verdict yesterday. A phone vote moments after the broadcast revealed nearly 70 per cent thought the couple were not telling the truth about Madeleine’s disappearance. The verdict came as police chiefs in Portugal reacted angrily to the McCanns’ decision to set up a phone hotline in neighbouring Spain manned by private detectives.
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Police: Parents are hampering probe
26 October 2007
Padraic Flanagan in Praia da Luz

Police in Portugal yesterday attacked the decision by the parents of Madeleine McCann to launch a hotline in Spain claiming it could hinder their investigation. Officers on the Algarve involved in the hunt for the missing girl believe the decision to set up the operation manned by private detectives is a deliberate snub. They fear information may not be passed on to detectives in Portugal.
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'BE KIND TO KATE'
Be Kind To Kate, Begs Mother
27 October 2007
Martin Stote in Rothley and Padraic Flanagan in Praia da Luz

The mother of Kate McCann made a desperate appeal to the public last night. Susan Healy insisted her daughter was not on the brink of a nervous breakdown but begged: 'Please be kinder to her. She has enough to cope with. 'Yes, she is distressed at times and she can’t smile that often at the moment but she is very strong and she is going to fight on to get Madeleine back.' The heartfelt plea came after an astonishing attack on GP Kate by a Spanish psychiatrist, who claimed she was unbalanced. The 'vile criticism' prompted Mrs Healy to speak out in defence of her daughter. 'People are saying she’s at breaking point but she’s not going to have a breakdown,' she said.
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Lip readers drafted in after police gaffe
27 October 2007
Padraic Flanagan in Praia da Luz

POLICE in Portugal tried to film Kate and Gerry McCann secretly in a bid to trap them. But they bungled the recording it was claimed yesterday.
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Three New Sightings In Morocco
29 October 2007
Padraic Flanagan in Praia da Luz

Private detectives hired to find Madeleine McCann have received three new reports of sightings. They are now focusing their hunt on a wealthy woman in Morocco. Three callers to an international telephone hotline set up last week by the McCanns reported separate sightings of the missing youngster in the north African country.
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New bungles of the Portuguese police
29 October 2007
Padraic Flanagan in Praia da Luz

Bungling police may have wrecked any chance of getting vital DNA evidence from Kate and Gerry McCann's hire car after officers drove it to the forensic lab.vAnd British suspect Robert Murat’s camper van was involved in a crash while it was being driven by Portuguese officers, it has emerged.
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Lab tests 'will not stand up in court'
29 October 2007
Padraic Flanagan

The case against Kate and Gerry McCann appeared to be in tatters again last night amid fears that DNA evidence was inconclusive writes Padraic Flanagan.
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Police chief re-enacts abduction
30 October 2007
Padraic Flanagan

The new police chief in the Madeleine McCann investigation staged a dramatic re-enactment of her abduction yesterday writes Padraic Flanagan. It suggests the Portuguese police are again considering the possibility that Madeleine was kidnapped as the case against her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, seemed on the verge of collapse.
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We've found a kidnapped blonde girl but it's not her
30 October 2007
Padraic Flanagan in Praia da Luz

The parents of Madeleine McCann were given new hope last night after another kidnapped girl was found safe in the mountains of Morocco. Private investigators searching for Madeleine found a blonde girl who had allegedly been kidnapped by a North African family. Sources in the Barcelona detective agency Metodo 3, hired by Kate and Gerry McCann to organise the hunt for Madeleine, said Interpol is now investigating the discovery.
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Police To Turn Heat On Murat
31 October 2007
Padraic Flanagan

Detectives investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann are to interview official suspect Robert Murat again. New police chief Paulo Rebelo ordered his elite team to conduct a fresh interrogation of the first official suspect in the case after they staged a dramatic reconstruction at the crime scene this week.
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Original http://www.express.co.uk/posts/view/23728/Police-to-turn-heat-on-murat
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I saw stranger lurking near Madeleine 's flat
31 October 2007
Padraic Flanagan in Praia da Luz

A nanny has told investigators she once discovered a stranger lurking outside the apartment from which Madeleine McCann disappeared. She worked at the Ocean Club in Praia da Luz and phoned a hotline set up by the McCanns’ private detectives to tell of last year’s chilling ordeal, which has sinister echoes of the Madeleine case.The nanny told Spain’s Metodo 3 detective agency that the mystery man ran away when she spotted him hiding in the shadows as she was babysitting.
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NOVEMBER 2007

I looked her in the eyes
2 November 2007
Nick Fagge in Morocco and Padraic Flanagan in Spain

The search for Madeleine McCann received a major boost yesterday following the most compelling sighting yet in Morocco. A Spanish tourist claims she saw the girl get into a taxi with a middle class Arab woman before being whisked away into the lawless Rif mountains on North Africa’s Mediterranean coast. Naouval Malhi is convinced it was Madeleine because the youngster had the distinctive flash in her right eye, where the pupil merges with the blue-green iris.
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McCanns and friends 'jumpy and nervous'
6 November 2007
Padraic Flanagan in Praia da Luz

Police in the Madeleine McCann case told yesterday how suspicion fell instantly on the parents and their friends. Two members of the early response team confirmed the investigation was fatally flawed from the start because of 'chaotic' conditions at the McCanns’ apartment. They were speaking publicly for the first time and the Daily Express agreed to their request for anonymity. Both uniformed officers, beat police in the Guarda Nacional Republicana, said they immediately noticed the strange reaction by the McCanns and their friends to the unfolding tragedy.
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DECEMBER 2007

The saddest day
26 December 2007
Martin Evans in Praia da Luz and Padraic Flanagan

Kate and Gerry hide their anguish for twins' sake. Kate and Gerry McCann spent the saddest Christmas Day of their lives yesterday consoled by the help of specialist grief counsellors. They tried their hardest to hide their anguish as they took their two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie to Mass. As they passed the heartbreaking milestone of their first Christmas without her, they vowed they would 'never give up hope' in the hunt for four-year-old Madeleine.
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JANUARY 2008

New Madeleine swoop
14 January 2008
Padraic Flanagan in Praia da Luz

Crematorium searched for her remains. THE hunt for Madeleine McCann switched to the Canary Islands last night as police searched an incinerator for her remains.Detectives swooped on a pet crematorium in the Gran Canaria town of Telde after a worker there was arrested for attempting to abduct a child. They were alerted after the terrified 10-year-old girl told her mother how she fought off the man as he attempted to drag her off the street into his van just days ago.
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Detectives searching pet crematorium for Madeleine's remains
14 January 2008
Padraic Flanagan in Praia da Luz

The hunt for Madeleine McCann switched to the Canary Isles last night as police searched an incinerator for the missing child's remains. Detectives swooped on a pet crematorium in the Gran Canaria town of Telde after a worker there was arrested for attempting to abduct a child. They were alerted after the 10 year-old girl told her mother how she fought off a man as he attempted to drag her off the street into his van just days ago.
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Madeleine : Family anger at plans for a 26-part TV series
15 January 2008
Padraic Flanagan in Praia da Luz

TV chiefs in Portugal are planning to make a 26 episode series about Madeleine McCann. It has been written by policeman turned criminologist Francisco Moita Flores who blames Kate and Gerry McCann for their daughter's disappearance.
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Child snatched off street 1 hour from McCann villa
Madeleine: Kidnapper has 'struck again'
16 January 2008
Padraic Flanagan in Huelva

Fears were growing last night that the kidnapper of Madeleine McCann has struck again. Detectives hunting for the missing British girl were heading for Huelva, in Spain, where five-year-old Mari Luz Cortes vanished after popping out to the shops alone on Sunday.
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Police probe Madeleine link to new child snatch
17 January 2008
Padraic Flanagan in Huelva

Portuguese and Spanish police have linked up to find out if there is a link between the kidnap of a girl in Spain and the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. Mari Luz Cortes, five, vanished off a street in Huelva on Sunday when she walked 100 yards from her home to buy a packet of crisps. It happened just a 90-minute journey from where Madeleine was last seen and last night her parents Gerry and Kate told last night how they were reliving their agony.
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I feel your pain
18 January 2008
Padraic Flanagan in Huelva

Kate's note to kidnap parents THE parents of missing Mari Luz Cortes received a heartfelt message of support from Kate McCann yesterday. The distraught couple, whose five-year-old daughter went missing on Sunday, have met with the McCann's private detectives to probe links between the two cases.
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My message of hope for mother of Madeleine
19 January 2008
Padraic Flanagan in Huelva

The mother of missing Mari Luz Cortes yesterday gave Kate McCann a tearful message of hope. "Don't give up " she sobbed. "Madeleine will be found." Irene Suarez Cortes, 30, spoke out in the midst of her own nightmare – the disappearance of her five-yearold daughter a week ago.
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New manhunt 'another diversion by McCanns'
22 January 2008
Padraic Flanagan in Praia da Luz and Nick Fagge

The manhunt by Madeleine investigators prompted by a drawing of a possible abductor is designed to divert suspicion from Kate and Gerry McCann the Portuguese police believe. Last night, sources in the Policia Judiciaria revealed reports of a dishevelled man lurking around Praia da Luz were investigated months ago and found to be groundless.
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Lookalike 'will put No1 suspect Murat in clear'
Madeleine: Lookalike 'will clear Murat'
24 January 2008
Padraic Flanagan in Praia da Luz

These lookalike pictures may clear Robert Murat the first suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. On the left is Praia da Luz estate agent Angus Symington 37 and on the right Mr Murat 34.
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Found: The man wanted in hunt for Madeleine
25 January 2008
Padraic Flanagan in Pedragosa Algarve

THE Daily Express has tracked down a gun-toting oddball who sparked the latest poster hunt for Madeleine McCann’s kidnapper. We found hog farmer Joaquim Jose Marques at his ramshackle Algarve smallholding. Yet last night the McCanns’ £50,000-a-month team of private detectives were still nowhere near tracing him.
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APRIL 2009

New drive in hunt for Madeleine
29 April 2009
Padraic Flanagan

MADELEINE McCann's parents told yesterday how they take hope from cases of abducted children being found alive years after they were snatched. Kate and Gerry McCann said the ordeals suffered by child captives such as Austrian Natascha Kampusch and Americans Elizabeth Smart and Shawn Hornbeck show that youngsters can survive even after they go 'off radar' for years.
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MARCH 2011

Gift from Kylie boosts funds to carry on hunt
11 March 2011
Padraic Flanagan

KYLIE Minogue has given a huge boost to the parents of Madeleine McCann by raising funds to help the search for their missing daughter. The singer pledged her support for the youngster’s family by donating a designer handbag for their 'Bags of Hope' auction. Kate and Gerry had asked people to donate bags for three fund-raisers in Leicester, Liverpool, and Glasgow.
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I want to give an account of the truth on Madeleine
11 March 2011
Padraic Flanagan

The true story of Madeleine McCann's disappearance is set to be revealed in an explosive new book billed as the publishing sensation of the year. Four years on, Kate McCann’s emotional first-person account of her daughter’s abduction from a Portuguese holiday apartment will give a huge boost to the depleted fund to find her. The family doctor and her cardiologist husband Gerry have pledged to use every penny of the proceeds from the book, called simply Madeleine, to continue their desperate search for her.
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MAY 2011

I've been to hell and back to revive the huge search for Madeleine, says Kate
Book reignited Maddie agony
My torture over horrible vivid fear that a pervert took Madeleine Kate
7 May 2011
Padraic Flanagan Tracey Kandohla

KATE McCann reveals today how she forced herself to relive the torment of her daughter Madeleine’s disappearance in a bid to reignite the search. Friends said she 'went to hell and back' to write the book she hopes will find her daughter, recollecting every detail from those first terrifying days four years ago.
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NOVEMBER 2011

Our heartache by the McCanns
24 November 2011
Padraic Flanagan

The parents of Madeleine McCann have revealed how their lives were turned upside down by coverage of their daughter's disappearance during a family holiday. Kate and Gerry McCann spoke of their turmoil at the Royal Courts of Justice during a measured attack on the media industry. As their lawyer described their treatment as a 'national scandal', cardiologist Gerry said there was 'one simple reason' they were giving evidence to the Leveson Inquiry into press standards.
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