We know name of Madeleine McCann's snatcher: Police get new lead from Crimewatch- 16.10.13

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PUBLISHED:  00:00, Wed, Oct 16, 2013


We know name of Madeleine McCann's snatcher: Police get new lead from Crimewatch

POLICE were yesterday handed a potential breakthrough in the hunt for Madeleine McCann after Crimewatch viewers named the new prime suspect.

By John Twomey



More than 1,000 calls, emails and texts flooded in after the ­dramatic television appeal.

And significantly several people identified the man now suspected of snatching Madeleine by the same name.

Last night Scotland Yard detectives were trying to track him down while also preparing to make appeals in Holland, Germany and Ireland. Their number one suspect was named amid a "truly unprecedented response" to Monday night's Crimewatch on BBC1 which attracted 7.3 million viewers.

The programme featured two e-fits of a man seen carrying a fair-haired child of Madeleine's age on a street in Praia da Luz, Portugal, at 10pm on the night that the then three-year-old vanished.

Crimewatch editor Joe Mather said yesterday: "They received several names for the key 10pm sighting - the sighting of the man carrying a child towards the beach.

"Several different names but also several callers mentioned the same name for that man. It is always signifi- cant if callers call in with the same name for an individual."

Mr Mather added: "It has been a truly unprecedented response.

"Significantly, there were lots of calls from British people who were in Praia da Luz at the time of Madeleine's disappearance who'd never previously spoken to the Metropolitan Police.

"So there's lots of information coming through there."

Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry McCann said they were "absolutely delighted" with the "overwhelming" response to the fresh appeal for information. In a statement, they said: "We know the public desperately want to help the search for Madeleine.

"We are genuinely hopeful that one or more of these responses will lead to a major breakthrough in the investigation.

"If anyone was in Praia da Luz around the time of Madeleine's abduction and has not spoken to the Metropolitan Police, or if they know who any of the e-fits might be, please have the courage to come forward and speak to the police in confidence."

Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood, in charge of the Yard's Operation Grange inquiry into Madeleine's disappearance on May 3, 2007, said: "We have now had over 730 calls and 212 emails as a direct result of the specific lines of inquiry we issued on Monday.

"We had 330 calls into the Operation Grange incident room and 400 to BBC1 Crimewatch. Detectives are now trawling through and prioritising that material. This will take time."

Mr Redwood added: "The Met is offering a reward of up to £20,000 for information leading to the identification, arrest and prosecution of the person or persons responsible for the abduction of Madeleine McCann from Praia da Luz.

"We have at any time 40 people waiting to answer calls at the Hendon call centre and officers at the incident room waiting to action the information."

The Crimewatch broadcast follows the dismissal of an earlier sighting of a "suspect" and child as a red herring.

Kate and Gerry McCann during Monday's Crimewatch appeal for fresh information [BBC]

Please, please have the courage and confidence to come forward now
Kate McCann, Madeleine's mother

For more than six years, a man seen carrying a young girl at about 9.15pm on the fateful evening was thought very likely to have been the kidnapper.

But police are now convinced he was an innocent British holidaymaker with his two-year-old daughter.

Instead, officers now believe that Irishman Martin Smith and his family may have seen Madeleine in the arms of her abductor just moments before her mother discovered she was missing at around 10pm. The man is described as white, in his 30s, of medium build and height, clean shaven with short brown hair.

He was carrying a child aged three or four who had blonde hair and was possibly wearing pyjamas similar to Madeleine's.

The Smith family saw him with the child in a near-deserted street only a few minutes walk from the Ocean Club apartment complex where the McCanns were on the family holiday.

Madeleine - who would now be aged 10 - vanished nine days before her fourth birthday. Her parents believe she is still alive and say there is no evidence she is dead.

A source close to the couple said: "Kate and Gerry are fairly upbeat. Whenever there is momentum and things are moving they feel positive."

As part of the Crimewatch appeal the couple, both 45, urged people to "rack their brains" and come forward with information.

Former GP Mrs McCann, of Rothley, Leicestershire, said: "Please, please have the courage and confidence to come forward now, and share that information with us, and you could unlock this whole case, so please."