MADDIE COPS CLOSE IN ON NEW SUSPECT
Portugal police reveal they’re probing ‘foreigner’ who was in area
A KNOWN paedophile has been named by UK police as the prime Madeleine McCann suspect, it is claimed.
Portuguese officers are said to be “nearer” to cracking the case after British chiefs tipped them
off about a “foreign man” who was in the same Algarve resort as Madeleine when she vanished aged three in 2007.
A source added: “The suspect is no stranger to police.
“Investigators are looking into this case in more detail.”
PORTUGUESE police have been handed extra resources in the hunt for Madeleine McCann after British officers named a new prime suspect, it was claimed yesterday.
The pervert was said to have been prowling the Algarve resort when the three-year-old vanished on May 3, 2007.
British police tipped off their Portuguese counterparts and a source claimed they are finally closer to solving the 12-year-old mystery.
It was reported that the suspect, a “foreign man”, has previously been investigated over paedophile cases – but not Madeleine’s disappearance.
Respected news website Expresso said the Policia Judiciaria are now probing his movements.
The suspect’s name and nationality remains a secret and it is not clear if his whereabouts are known or even if he is alive.
Expresso, citing a Portuguese judicial source, claimed Scotland Yard “recently” sent the tip to police in Porto.
It added: “According to the source, it relates to a complaint made about a foreigner who was in Portugal in May
2007. The suspect is no stranger to Portuguese police. At the time the PJ investigated him on suspicion of being involved in cases of paedophilia.
“But in light of the information coming from London, the investigators are looking into this case in more detail.”
The source told the website: “This is a line of investigation that is still open. Like others.”
Both the Policia Judiciaria and Scotland Yard refused to comment on the development – first revealed in Correio da Manha.
The newspaper, which was leaked information by local officers when Madeleine disappeared, reported: “Police are following new Maddie kidnap clues. More inspectors are advancing with an investigation into a new suspect.
“A new clue and a new suspect, which the PJ are trying to keep an absolute secret, has led to new resources being put in place to investigate the little girl’s whereabouts.” The paper claims police “admit to being nearer to knowing what
happened to Madeleine”. It also reported that prosecutors have “sealed” the fresh secret information because it is an “active line of investigation”.
Portuguese detectives are already said to have spoken to witnesses who could help in connection with the new lead.
Police still insist that finding Madeleine is their priority. The child was
The suspect is no stranger to police. At the time the PJ investigated him over paedophilia PORTUGUESE JUDICIAL SOURCE ON SUSPECT NAMED BY BRITISH POLICE
nearly four when she disappeared from the family’s holiday apartment in Praia da Luz.
Parents Kate and Gerry, of Rothley, Leics, left her alone with her younger twin siblings while they ate in a nearby tapas bar with friends.
Madeleine’s kidnap from the Ocean Club was recently the subject of a Netflix documentary.
One possible suspect in the youngster’s abduction is an English-speaking predator who was active in the area of Praia da Luz in 2007.
It was previously reported that he entered properties rented by British holidaymakers, including families with young children.
In one case a girl woke up and asked: “Is that you, daddy?” The intruder replied in a foreign accent: “Yes.”
Portuguese police reopened the case into Madeleine’s kidnap in October 2013 after linking convicted burglar Euclides Monteiro to the inquiry.
He was an immigrant and restaurant worker at the Ocean Club who was fired for stealing from guests. There were claims he might have snatched Madeleine as an act of revenge against his former employer.
But detectives never got to question him because he died in a tractor accident two years after she disappeared.
Scotland Yard has a small team still working on Operation Grange, which was launched in 2013.
Last month it asked the Home Office for extra funding so it can continue the £11.75million probe for another six months. At its height there were 29 full-time officers working on Operation Grange but it now has just four detectives.
More than 60 persons of interest have now been investigated and 650 sex offenders considered possible suspects. There have been nearly 9,000 reported sightings of Madeleine around the world.
The original Portuguese police investigation, which was widely criticised, was shelved the year after she vanished.
Last night Portugal’s Attorney General’s office would only say its probe – led by officials in the Algarve town on Portimao – is “ongoing”.
A spokesman for Scotland Yard: “The investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann remains ongoing.
“We are not providing a running commentary.”
It has led to new resources being put in to investigate the little girl’s whereabouts LOCAL NEWSPAPER REPORTS ON THE LATEST DEVELOPMENTS