Maddy police hunt for mystery ‘woman in purple’
BRITISH police hunting for missing Madeleine McCann have travelled to Bulgaria to investigate what they have described as being an important new lead, it was reported yesterday.
Detectives are on the trail of a mysterious “woman in purple” who they believe could solve the case.
Two witnesses saw the woman – who is thought to have originally come from the eastern European country – lurking outside the family’s holiday apartment in Portugal on the night Madeleine went missing in May 2007.
The woman’s husband, who is now dead, is said to have been a convicted paedophile.
The couple were working as domestic helpers in the Algarve holiday resort of Praia da Luz when Madeleine disappeared, aged three.
They are said to have left the resort shortly afterwards. Police had been unable to locate the woman, despite carrying out extensive searches.
She is believed to be the key figure keeping alive Scotland Yard’s £12million Operation Grange investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance.
It is thought Madeleine’s parents – Kate and Gerry McCann – are being kept informed of developments.
Last night the McCann family spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, said of the police probe: “They want to find her as one final line of inquiry.”
A source said the woman was being sought as part of a “process of elimination”.
One of the witnesses who spotted the woman was British grandmother Jenny Murat, 79. She is the mother of Robert Murat, 43, who was arrested over Madeleine’s disappearance in May 2007, before being cleared of any wrongdoing.
Mrs Murat said she saw the woman standing near the McCanns’ Ocean Club apartment around 90 minutes before Madeleine vanished on May 3. Her parents were dining at a nearby Tapas bar at the time.
Mrs Murat said: “I saw a woman standing on the street corner near a lamp post, staring at the flat.
“I don’t know who she was, but she caught my eye because she was dressed in purple-plum clothes.
“It struck me as strange because it’s so usual for anyone, particularly a woman, to be standing alone on the street in our resort, just watching a building.
“The next morning we heard that a little girl had gone missing and I later told police about the woman I’d seen right outside. Officers here never questioned me about her. I suppose they had other leads initially to follow up.”
Last month Scotland Yard was handed £154,000 to continue its investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance, but last night declined to elaborate on the new development.
A spokesman said: “The Operation Grange team is not prepared to discuss any lines of inquiry while the investigation is on going.”
Leading cardiologist Gerry and former GP Kate, both 49, of Rothley, Leicestershire, have vowed never to give up hope of finding Madeleine.
In May, they faced the agony of marking 10 years without their daughter.
At the time the couple spoke of their “decade of pain” but they added: “Thankfully there is an active police investigation to try to find Madeleine and bring her abductor to justice.”