Maddy McCann missing in Portugal

[Siobhan]

I don't know JB... he was brought in cause a reporter said "he was acting suspicious".. is everyone going to go around accusing people on this??? I know the reward money is huge, it is going to cause more hinderence than help???

[Luna]

I don't know JB... he was brought in cause a reporter said "he was acting suspicious".. is everyone going to go around accusing people on this??? I know the reward money is huge, it is going to cause more hinderence than help???

i feel as if they have done this so it looks like that are actually doing something. IF this guy is innocent his life is ruined he will always be remembered for this.

He has already been released without arrest.

[alan45]

This is an unusual development I agree. I watched the McCanns on TV last night and was amazed to see how calm Maddys mum appeared to be after the last 11 days. It may just be me but I honestly think that the police know more than they are able to admit publically. I think we will see a dramatic development in this case within the next few days.

Of course she may just be totally exhausted or drugged to the eyeballs (with trnqulisers) but for some inexplicable reason I was very impressed by them. If as we all hope Wee Maddy is still alive and released the family will be pilloried by the Gutter Press who are unable to buy their story off them.

I hope Im right and this next few days sees her being returned.

[Luna]

Sky News has learnt that Briton Robert Murat is being treated as a formal suspect by police investigating the abduction of four-year-old Madeleine McCann.

Robert Murat"There is a suspect," in the case, a spokeswoman for the judicial police said, without giving any further details.

Mr Murat was questioned with two other people yesterday and released last night.

Mr Murat lives with his mother in a villa 100 metres from the apartment where Madeleine was abducted. The building was sealed off and searched yesterday morning.

The Portuguese police now consider Robert Murat to be an "Arguido" which translates as a formal suspect.

That means he is considered a suspect but can remain at liberty.

Arrests can be made only once police consider someone a suspect.

Crime correspondent Martin Brunt said: "Mr Murat's mother, Jenny, says he was released some time over night.

"He is now staying with friends. She has advised him not to go back to their villa at Praia da Luz..

"She spoke to him by phone briefly and he is very upset. He believes the police are trying to find an Englishman to blame."


The Murats' villaForensic officers and sniffer dogs examined the Murats' villa on Monday morning.

Mrs Murat told Brunt that computer and communications equipment had been removed.

Brunt added: "We know from our own sources that Robert Murat has been under some kind of electronic surveillance by police, probably for more than a week.

"So it looks as though police had been waiting to swoop on the villa and talk to him."

Mrs Murat has said her son was with her the night Madeleine vanished and that he had nothing to do with the abduction.

Mr Murat's cousin Sally Eveleigh said he was "only trying to help" with the investigation - and may have been over helpful.

As well as Mr Murat, a German woman and a Portuguese man were also interviewed until late on Monday night.


Madeleine: Missing for 12 daysLocal newspapers are reporting that two vehicles are being examined by police - one a green German VW van, the other a Hyundai car. Both had pictures of Madeleine in their windows.

Mr Murat had become familiar to journalists in Praia da Luz since Madeleine was snatched from her family's holiday flat 12 days ago.

He told reporters he had a daughter the same age as the missing girl who looked very similar to her.

Mr Murat, who described himself as half-Portuguese, said he was helping the McCanns as a translator.

But journalists became suspicious and went to the Portuguese police with their concerns last week.

Madeleine was snatched from her bed on May 3 while her doctor parents Gerry and Kate, from Rothley, Leicestershire, were dining in a tapas bar opposite their apartment.

Child protection expert Mark Williams-Thomas told Sky News: "The parents (Gerry and Kate McCann) will be able to take positive aspects from this. They can see the police taking action, following up leads. But it's still looking like it's going to be a long haul."

A reward of more than £2.5m is being offered for information leading to her discovery.

[alan45]

Lets all hope and pray that this is the breakthrough police have been hoping for and the final outcome is good

[Eastenders_4ev@]

hope this is the big breakthought we have been waiting for and maddy is returned safely
visit maddy's site http://www.bringmadeleinehome.com/
and download the banner to show support

[Abigail]

It may just be me but I honestly think that the police know more than they are able to admit publically.

I think they do too. But under some silly Portugese law they can't release any details of their investigation. It's stupid, they can't release any details or an e-fit, which could both help the police find her.

I really hope that they are close to finding her. It's been almost 2 weeks now, who knows what she's going though.

[Chloe O'brien]

Police are still investigating a man regarded as a suspect in Madeleine McCann's abduction, despite not having enough evidence to arrest him.

The 33-year-old man is believed to be Briton Robert Murat, who lives with his mother Jenny in Praia da Luz, Algarve.
Mr Murat said later he had been made "a scapegoat for something I did not do".
Police searched the Murat's villa 150 yards from where Madeleine, of Rothley, Leicestershire, was last seen on 3 May.
Speaking off camera, Mr Murat told Sky News: "This has ruined my life and made my life very difficult for my family here and in Britain.
"The only way I will survive this is if they catch Madeleine's abductor."
He added: "I've been made a scapegoat for something I did not do."
Earlier, Chief Inspector Olegario de Sousa told a news conference he could not confirm whether Madeleine was alive or dead.
He said police had searched five houses on Monday and seized "various materials" from the properties which were being subjected to forensic tests. They also questioned two other people as witnesses, he added.

The suspect has signed an identity and residence statement which prevents him from moving house or leaving the country, and requires him to regularly report to police.
Mr Sousa confirmed that the suspect, whom he declined to name, had assisted police in the early stages of the investigation by working as a translator.
Meanwhile, Madeleine's parents Gerry and Kate McCann were joined by about 15 of their friends and several villagers at a private church service in Praia da Luz.
The service was held jointly by a Portuguese priest and Father Paul Seddon who baptised Madeleine and has flown out to the Algarve to support her family.
'Hope for more'
Earlier Mr Murat, formerly of Hockering, Norfolk, was officially declared a suspect - or "arguido" - which gives him additional legal rights under Portuguese law.
He may have been named as an arguido by police or could have chosen to take the status himself to gain those protections.

An arrest can be made once someone is an arguido, but only if there is sufficient evidence.
"We can hope for more, but for the moment we can say we are continuing on this objective," Mr Sousa said.
"When you work, you work to get results, but this doesn't always happen at once.
"Let's wait and see. We are hopeful that this case will be over in the near future."
Pool drained
Mr Murat, a former property developer, had become well known to journalists during the search for Madeleine.



The search of his mother's property, known as Casa Liliana, began at 0700 local time on
Monday after Sunday Mirror journalist Lori Campbell had spoken to the British Embassy and the police about Mr Murat.
It is believed police have drained its swimming pool and taken away computers, mobile phones and several video tapes
His mother is a 71-year-old former nurse, believed to be a widow, who has lived in Portugal for 40 years and brought her son and daughter up in the country.
Mr Murat's uncle, Ralph Eveleigh, who runs a bed and breakfast in the nearby village of Burgau, said his nephew was at home with his mother on the night Madeleine went missing.
"Robert is so sweet and good-natured. He was just trying to help," he added.
Madeleine disappeared from her bedroom 12 days ago as her parents ate dinner at a nearby tapas restaurant.
On Monday, Mr and Mrs McCann said they would not return to the UK until she was found safe and well. Mr McCann, who is originally from Glasgow, said the couple would continue to believe she was being cared for until they received "concrete evidence to the contrary".

[Abigail]

I honestly don't know what to make of this suspect. Obviously the police must have had sufficient grounds to take him in for questioning, search his mother's house and five others plus take away his computer and videos. They have also confiscated his passport and he's required to report to the police every 5 days.

He says he hasn't done anything wrong and he's being made a scapegoat. How could the police do all of that if they had no legal grounds to? Why would they confiscate his passport if they considered him a witness as opposed to a suspect?

I think there is a hell of a lot of information that the police aren't releasing about this guy and in doing so they're allowing this man to parade his innocence (I'm not saying he's guilty).

[.:SpIcYsPy:.]

"Earlier, a film asking for help to find her was shown at the FA Cup final at Wembley.

The two-minute Find Madeleine video, set to Simple Minds' song Don't You (Forget About Me), was shown on big screens before the kick-off and during half-time.

The footage was seen by 90,000 fans at the ground and as many as 450 million more on television screens worldwide.

Police are investigating several possible sightings of four-year-old Madeleine, from Leicestershire, including one in Marrakech, Morocco."