Post by Admin on Mar 20, 2014 15:33:36 GMT
Police investigating the disappearance of three-year-old Madeleine McCann from a holiday apartment in Portugal in 2007 say they are hunting a man who assaulted five other British girls in resorts on the Algarve between 2004 and 2006. The announcement is the latest development in a long-running and controversial hunt for the missing girl.
What happened after the case was closed in 2008?
Portuguese investigators turned their files over to the McCanns' private detectives, who continued to follow up potential leads and tip-offs, while the McCann family and their supporters pressed UK authorities to open an investigation of their own into the case. Kate and Gerry published a book, "Madeleine," about their search for their daughter in May 2011. In the same month, London's Metropolitan Police began a review of Madeleine's disappearance. In October 2013, British police issued new police sketches of potential suspects in the case, along with new lines of inquiry linked to a series of burglaries in the resort where Madeleine went missing. An appeal on the BBC TV show "Crimewatch" led to more than 1,000 calls from the public; two callers named the same suspect. Police in Portugal later said they would reopen the case.
Have there been any sightings of Madeleine?
Sightings of Madeleine have been reported as far afield as Morocco, Holland, France, Belgium, Brazil and New Zealand, but all appear to have been false alarms.
What do Madeleine's parents believe happened to her?
Kate and Gerry McCann believe Madeleine was kidnapped, and that she is still alive somewhere. The couple regularly appeal for information on her whereabouts. In May 2009, two years after Madeleine vanished, Kate McCann told U.S. TV presenter Oprah Winfrey that she was keeping Madeleine's room ready for her, and that she visited it twice daily, "just (to) say hello ... just (to) tell her we're still going ... to do everything we can to find her." Madeleine would now be nine years old, and age-progressed images showing what she may look like have been released.
What are the latest developments?
On March 19, 2014, British police said they were hunting a man who assaulted five other young British girls on holiday in Portugal in the years leading up to and following Madeleine's disappearance. Officers are now investigating a dozen potentially linked crimes at resorts near where the three-year-old vanished. In each of the cases, a man described as tanned and with short, dark, unkempt hair, is suspected of breaking in to vacation homes where British families were staying in the Algarve. In four of the incidents, girls between 7 and 10 years of age were sexually assaulted in their beds.
What happened after the case was closed in 2008?
Portuguese investigators turned their files over to the McCanns' private detectives, who continued to follow up potential leads and tip-offs, while the McCann family and their supporters pressed UK authorities to open an investigation of their own into the case. Kate and Gerry published a book, "Madeleine," about their search for their daughter in May 2011. In the same month, London's Metropolitan Police began a review of Madeleine's disappearance. In October 2013, British police issued new police sketches of potential suspects in the case, along with new lines of inquiry linked to a series of burglaries in the resort where Madeleine went missing. An appeal on the BBC TV show "Crimewatch" led to more than 1,000 calls from the public; two callers named the same suspect. Police in Portugal later said they would reopen the case.
Have there been any sightings of Madeleine?
Sightings of Madeleine have been reported as far afield as Morocco, Holland, France, Belgium, Brazil and New Zealand, but all appear to have been false alarms.
What do Madeleine's parents believe happened to her?
Kate and Gerry McCann believe Madeleine was kidnapped, and that she is still alive somewhere. The couple regularly appeal for information on her whereabouts. In May 2009, two years after Madeleine vanished, Kate McCann told U.S. TV presenter Oprah Winfrey that she was keeping Madeleine's room ready for her, and that she visited it twice daily, "just (to) say hello ... just (to) tell her we're still going ... to do everything we can to find her." Madeleine would now be nine years old, and age-progressed images showing what she may look like have been released.
What are the latest developments?
On March 19, 2014, British police said they were hunting a man who assaulted five other young British girls on holiday in Portugal in the years leading up to and following Madeleine's disappearance. Officers are now investigating a dozen potentially linked crimes at resorts near where the three-year-old vanished. In each of the cases, a man described as tanned and with short, dark, unkempt hair, is suspected of breaking in to vacation homes where British families were staying in the Algarve. In four of the incidents, girls between 7 and 10 years of age were sexually assaulted in their beds.