Madeleine McCann: seeking the man by The Dolphin
Madeleine McCann appears on two national newspapers front pages today. You can read more about the Mirror’s news on a top cop’s theories here.
So much for the opinion. What we who have followed this story from the outset crave are facts.
The Express has actual news on the actual investigation into what happened to the missing child. The paper leads with the “phone box clue” to “Missing Maddie”.
James Murray says:
DETECTIVES are investigating phone calls made from a telephone box in Praia da Luz in a bid to trace a man acting suspiciously shortly before Madeleine McCann disappeared.
Indeed. It is odd. Who uses a phone box these days?
The story goes that Adrian and Lizelle Marais, a married couple working at an eatery called The Dolphin close to the phone box, spotted a “strange” man who “looked similar to a photofit of a suspect”. Their restaurant is around 700 metres from the Ocean Club, where Madeleine McCann was staying.
So which suspect are we looking at? We’ve seen a few in the media. The paper notes:
That led Portugal’s public prosecutor to order all phone records for the call box to be checked in an effort to find the man, who has never been traced.
Adding:
The prosecutor made the order on the grounds that the man may have abducted or murdered the lost three-year-old.
And so the jump is made. From being man at phone box at a busy summer holiday report, he is now someone who “may” have murdered a child.
We then get to which “suspect” the story relates to.
The call box is 50 yards from the spot where a man carrying a child similar to Madeleine was seen by Irishman Martin Smith and his family, who had been dining at the Dolphin at around 9pm on the night she disappeared.
Mr Smith’s account formed part of a Crimewatch reenactment.
Policia Judiciaria files on the case outline what Lizelle told officers the day after Madeleine vanished. The report states: “The person used the public telephone for long periods of time, always more than 10 minutes. To her, the person did not appear to be either a tourist or a resident. One time she had passed close to him and had felt ‘strange’ but did not know why.”
Mysterious stuff. But not new. Just old and in light of no developments in the case over ten years, still worthy of a look. And, as the Star proves with its interpretation of the Express‘ story, anything can be vital in the mystery of ‘Our Maddie’. Says the Star: “Madeleine McCann: Phone box may be key to finding Maddie.” Or not.
Posted: 23rd, April 2017 | In: Madeleine McCann, Reviews, Tabloids Comment | TrackBack | Permalink
