Madeleine McCann’s kidnappers protected

SOMEONE is protecting Madeleine McCann’s kidnappers, says a detective who hunted for her for three years.

As Kate McCann went through yet another Mother’s Day without Madeleine, retired Detective Inspector Dave Edgar broke his silence for the first time.

Madeleine, from Rothley in Leicestershire, went missing in May 2007 during a family holiday in Portugal with her siblings and parents Kate and Gerry.

Revealing findings, that a childsex gang most likely took the threeyear-old, he told the Mirror: “Someone knows what happened and it’s time they came forward.”

Mr Edgar believes an abductor has secretly confessed to the crime and, speaking for the first time since his three-year private investigation into the 2007 disappearance, he said one of those involved will have opened up to a friend or relative.

Calling for an end to the agony of Madeleine’s parents Kate and Gerry, he pleaded: “If anyone confided in you, now is the time to come forward.”

When the Metropolitan Police took over the search in 2011, Mr Edgar handed his files to the force.

But he has kept in contact with the probe and believes a new appeal could finally solve it.

He said: “Someone knows, it must be on someone’s conscience, please come forward.”

During his probe, paid for by the Find Madeleine Fund, Mr Edgar’s small team of investigators examined a number of potential suspects,

Mr Edgar had a 30-year career with the RUC and Cheshire police and worked on high profile murder cases.

He believes it was a planned operation by a lone kidnapper or a gang.

He said: “If the motive was gangrelated child prostitution, there might have been more than one involved.”

And that’s where a breakthrough may come.

He said: “They can’t keep it to themselves and research has shown they always confide in someone else.”