Madeleine McCann: German prisoner identified as
suspect in disappearance
Unnamed suspect, in prison on a separate charge, was
in the vicinity of Praia de Luz on 3 May 2007
Ben Quinn
and Philip Oltermann in Berlin
Published
onWed 3 Jun 2020 21.37 BST
British
police have identified a German national as the new prime suspect in the
investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann in Portugal 13 years
ago, as a fresh international appeal for information was launched.
The suspect
who is currently in prison in Germany has not been named. He was in the
vicinity of the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz on the evening of 3 May 2007,
and had a telephone conversation that ended just over an hour before the child
went missing from the holiday apartment where she had been sleeping alone with
her younger twin siblings as her parents dined at a nearby restaurant.
German
investigators launched their own appeal for witnesses on Wednesday in which
they revealed the suspect was a convicted paedophile in prison for sexual
offences and drug trafficking. They have initiated proceedings against the
suspect on suspicion of McCann’s murder.
He was
described as being white, with short blonde hair, possibly fair, and being of
around six foot tall. Now aged 43, in 2007 he was 30 – but it was said that he
may have looked as young as 25. The man, who is in prison on an unrelated
matter, had been in the Algarve between 1995 and 2007, with short spells in
Germany during that time.
In what
they described as a significant moment in their investigation, the Metropolitan
police released details of the telephone number used by the man and a number he
had been called from, along with photos of a camper van he was said to have
been using to live “a transient lifestyle” in Portugal’s Algarve.
An appeal
for information was made for anyone who recognised the numbers, the camper van
and also a Jaguar car linked to the man. German police also issued an appeal
with additional details on national television.
“Our main
line of inquiry is this suspect,” said Stuart Cundy, the Met’s deputy assistant
commissioner.
“He is the
main focus of our investigation, which is why we are making this appeal, to
help us with that investigation, to prove or disprove his involvement.”
Kate and
Gerry McCann, from Rothley, Leicestershire, issued a statement through the
police in which they welcomed the appeal. Madeleine would have turned 17 on 12
May this year.
“We welcome
the appeal today regarding the disappearance of our daughter, Madeleine. We
would like to thank the police forces involved for their continued efforts in
the search for Madeleine,” the couple 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.”
Police said
that significant information regarding the man had emerged after investigators
made an appeal in May 2017, the 10th anniversary of Madeleine’s disappearance.
After
German federal police authorities were engaged by British and Portuguese forces
in November 2017, a “huge amount of work” had taken place so that investigators
could understand all that they could about him and his connections to Praia da
Luz.
Images were
released of a distinctive VW T3 Westfalia campervan, an early 1980s model with
white upper body and a yellow skirting and a Portuguese registration plate; as
well as a 1993 Jaguar car that was registered in Germany. On 4 May 2007, the
day after Madeleine’s disappearance, the suspect got the car re-registered in
Germany under someone else’s name at a time when police believe the car was
still in Portugal. They want information from anyone who may have seen both
vehicles, which have been seized and are in the possession of police in
Germany.
In what was
described as an unusual action, police released the details of two Portuguese
mobile phone numbers. Members of the public are being asked if they recognised
one of them, +351 912 730 680 , which was used by the suspect or if they had
stored it in their contacts. It was called by someone else from the number +351
916 510 683 on the night of Madeleine’s disappearance at 7.32pm for a
conversation that finished shortly after 8pm.
“We are not
saying the person making that call is a suspect in this case. They are someone
we need to identify as key person and we need to get in touch with them,” said
Cundy, who added that any information in relation to the numbers could be
critical.
Some people
would know the man who the police were describing, he said, appealing to them
directly.
“You may be
aware of some of the things he has done. He may have confided in you about the
disappearance of Madeleine. More than 13 years have passed and your loyalties
may have changed. He is in prison and we are conscious that some people may
have been concerned about contacting police in the past. Now is the time to
come forward. We are appealing to you.”
Other
details about the man’s lifestyle and properties in the Algarve were due to be
released on Wednesday evening on a German television programme similar to the
BBC’s Crimewatch, but British police want the public to focus on the details of
the telephone numbers and the car.
In Germany,
an appeal for witnesses was aired on Wednesday night via Aktenzeichen XY, a
long-running TV programme with the aim of throwing light on unsolved crimes.
Christian
Hoppe, of the German federal office of criminal investigations, told the
programme the suspect had two previous convictions for sexual abuse of girls.
He said the suspect lived in Portugal between 1995 and 2007 in a house between
Praia da Luz and Lagos, where it appears that he drew the attention of
authorities for drug dealing and break-ins at hotels and holiday homes.
While
German police first received a tip-off about the suspect following a broadcast
on the same programme in October 2013, the information at the time had not
sufficed for an investigation or an arrest. On the 10th anniversary of
Madeleine’s disappearance in 2017, Hoppe said, police had received a tip-off
about the same suspect but still required further testimonies.
Unlike the
German murder inquiry the Met investigation is still being treated as a missing
person’s investigation. Cundy said police did not have definitive evidence as
to whether Madeleine was alive or dead.
More than
£11m has been spent on the British end of the investigation, known as Operation
Grange. Funding, which was formed at the request of David Cameron’s government
in 2011 after a plea from Madeleine’s parents, is regularly reviewed.
A team of
four Metropolitan police detectives continue to investigate. Their
investigation has looked at more than 600 people who they believe or believed
may be significant and in 2013 four male suspects were identified. Interviews
in Portugal led to a search of an area of land close to where Madeleine had
been staying but the men were subsequently eliminated from the investigation.
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