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Timeline of Madeleine McCann case – This Just In - CNN.com Blogs May 3, 2007:
– Madeleine’s parents, Gerry and Kate McCann, report that Madeleine has disappeared. The couple go on to campaign internationally to secure the safe return of their daughter, including having a meeting with Pope Benedict XVI and securing support from soccer star David Beckham.
May 14, 2007:
– Portuguese police name Robert Murat, a British man living in Portugal, as a suspect in the case.
September 7, 2007:
– Portuguese police name Kate and Gerry McCann as suspects in the disappearance of their daughter, after reportedly finding suspicious DNA in a car the family rented 25 days after reporting her disappearance. The Sunday Mirror quotes Kate McCann as saying Portuguese police are trying to get her to falsely confess that Madeleine died in an accident and that the parents panicked and disposed of the body. The McCanns deny any wrongdoing.
October 2007:
– Portuguese police investigator Goncalo Amaral is removed from the McCann case after a newspaper reports he accused British police of favoring Madeleine’s parents.
November 2007:
– Gerry McCann returns to his job as a cardiologist in Leicester, England, nearly six months after he stopped work to conduct a massive and public search for his missing daughter.
March 2008:
– The McCanns accept $1.1 million in libel damages and front-page apologies from the London newspapers the Daily Express and the Daily Star over stories alleging the parents were involved in the disappearance or death of their daughter. The money goes to Madeleine's Fund, a nonprofit company set up to find the girl and bring to justice anyone who played a role in her disappearance.
July 2008:
– Portuguese investigators close the case. A spokesman for the Portuguese prosecutor’s office says authorities have found no evidence of involvement by the McCanns or Murat. Police turn their case file – containing up to 30,000 pages – over to attorneys and private investigators working for the McCanns.
– Kate McCann says she thinks being named as a suspect by the Portuguese police had a devastating effect on the case.
August 2008:
– A spokesman for the McCanns says they believe their daughter is alive, in part because the files from the Portuguese police probe into her disappearance do not reveal evidence she has been killed.
– The Portuguese police files, which police released to the McCanns after they closed the investigation, show a senior British forensic scientist said it was impossible to conclude whether a DNA sample from the family’s rental car in Portugal came from Madeleine, a family spokesman says. The spokesman says that Portuguese police had claimed to Gerry McCann that his daughter's DNA had been found in the vehicle. “You have to ask what the police were trying to achieve by over-presenting evidence that they did not have, and clearly could not claim to have," the spokesman tells the BBC.
December 2008:
– The McCanns launch a video appeal for information about their daughter's disappearance, featuring previously unseen footage of Madeleine at home with her family in Leicestershire, central England. The video ends with the message: "This is our second Christmas without Madeleine. Please help us make sure we don't have a third."
May 2009:
– The McCanns unveil a digitally enhanced picture showing what Madeleine might look like if she still is alive. At this point, Madeleine would be 6.
– Kate McCann tells “The Oprah Winfrey Show” that she keeps Madeleine's room ready for her and says she visits it twice daily, "just (to) say hello ... just (to) tell her we're still going ... to do everything we can to find her."
September 2009:
– A Portuguese judge issues an injunction against Amaral, the Portuguese police investigator who was taken off the case and then wrote a 2008 book alleging that Madeleine may have died accidentally, with the McCanns’ knowledge, at the Portuguese resort. The judge orders unsold copies of the book to be returned to the publisher, and orders the ex-investigator not to repeat his allegations. Amaral was taken off the McCann case in October 2007.
July 2011:
– A report of a girl in India bearing a resemblance to Madeleine creates a frenzy on social media. But a spokesman for the McCanns says there is no reason to believe the girl is Madeleine, and that the report is no more credible than other tips that proved incorrect over the years.
November 23, 2011:
– Kate McCann tells the Leveson inquiry into British press practices that she felt “totally violated” when she saw her diary had been published in the News of the World newspaper. The publication of the diary came after the editor of the now-defunct newspaper verbally beat her and her husband, Gerry, "into submission" to make them do an interview with the newspaper, Gerry McCann said.
May 3, 2007
Madeleine McCann goes missing from her apartment while on holiday with her family in Portugal, just days before her fourth birthday.
May 5, 2007
Portuguese police say they believe Madeleine was abducted but is alive somewhere in the country.
May 15, 2007
Local resident Robert Murat officially named as a suspect by Portuguese police.
May 25, 2007
During BBC interview, the McCanns speak of their guilt at leaving their children unattended in their room while they had dinner.
May 25, 2007
Portuguese police release description of another man who was allegedly seen on the evening of Madeleine's disappearance carrying something which resembled a child.
Aug 11, 2007
Police publicly acknowledge for the first time that Madeleine could be dead.
September 7, 2007
Parents Gerry and Kate McCann named as suspects by Portuguese police.
September 9, 2007
McCanns return to the UK and investigations continue.
October 25, 2007
McCanns release a new artist's impression of the suspect identified by police four months earlier.
December 22, 2007
McCanns send a public message to their daughter saying "Our only Christmas wish is for you to be back with us again".
March 19, 2008
McCanns accept 550,000 pounds in libel damages from Express Newspapers over reports they were responsible for Madeleine's death.
April 7, 2008
Portuguese detectives fly to the UK to re-interview the seven friends who were on holiday with the McCanns.
April 10, 2008
A leak of the couple's first police interview reveals Madeleine asked her mother on the morning she vanished: "Mummy, why didn't you come when we were crying last night?"
April 26, 2008
Gerry McCann says is in a BBC interview that he believes is daughter is "probably alive".
July 7, 2008
McCanns gain limited access to police files concerning possible sightings.
July 17, 2008
Murat receives 600,000 pounds in libel damages from four newspapers connecting him with Madeleine's disappearance.
July 21, 2008
Portguese police clear the McCanns and Murat of suspect status due to insufficient evidence. The country's attorney-general "archives" the case.
August 4, 2008
Police files, running to 17 volumes comprising over 11,000 pages, are made public.
January 13, 2009
Gerry McCann returns to Portugal for the first time since his daughter's disappearance.
March 24, 2009
The McCanns launch a new appeal for information in the area where Madeleine went missing.
April 4, 2009
Gerry McCann returns to Portugal to film a reconstruction of the events of the evening Madeleine vanished.
April 22, 2009
The McCanns do an interview with Oprah Winfrey in the US to mark two years since Madeleine's disappearance.
September 23, 2009
The McCanns return to Portugal as a couple for the first time in over two years, to meet with lawyers and a PR agency.
January 28, 2010
A video of the McCanns' search for Madeleine is shown at a fundraising event in London which marks 1,000 days since Madeleine's disappearance.
October 19, 2010
A Lisbon court overturns a ban on a book by former Portuguese detective Goncalo Amaral, Maddie - The Truth of the Lie, which questioned the McCanns' account of Madeleine's disappearance.
November 14, 2010
The McCanns sign a deal to write their own book about Madeleine's disappearance.
May 12, 2011
The McCanns publish their book Madeleine. In an open letter in The Sun newspaper, they plead with British prime minister David Cameron to launch an "independent, transparent and comprehensive" review of all the leads in the case.
May 13, 2011
Mr Cameron tells the McCanns there will be "new action" involving the Metropolitan Police.
July 28, 2011
Speculation of a possible sighting of Madeleine in India is hosed down by a family spokesman.
November 23, 2011
Kate McCann tells the Leveson inquiry into phone hacking by the UK media how she felt "violated" when excerpts of her private journal appeared in the News of the World in September 2008.
April 17, 2012
Spanish police conduct a search in a Costa del Sol resort following information from Portuguese police.
April 25, 2012
British police release a computer-generated image of what Madeleine might look like now, and say they genuinely believe she could still be alive.
I am British and I am more than aware in Scotland Yards interest in reopening the case as well as reviewing the files . Something that I fully support.
The Metropolitan Police (Scotland Yard) are also calling for the case to be reopened.
All the British Police can do is review the case informaion and files and look at any new information gathered, passing any progress made to the Portugese Police in the hope that they will reopen the case. British Detectives can not reopen an inquiry themselves, it is up to the Portugese to do so, and also to allow units such as Scotland Yard in to their country to aid any future investigation. There being a big difference between a case review and the reopening of a case.
Date of disappearance: 03-05-2007 between 21.30 and 22.00.
Probable causes: from apartment 5 A, Ocean Club Rua Agostinho da Silva, Praia da Luz.when she was sleeping in one of the bedrooms whose window faced the parking area of the respective block together with her two year old twin siblings. The possibility of abduction was raised by the parents, given that Jane Tanner, a temporary resident of apartment D5, Ocean Club, Rua Agostinho da Silva would have seen an individual aged between 30 and 40, about 1.78 m in height, with dark hair, wearing light coloured trousers and a dark shirt, who was carrying a child who appeared to her to be wearing pyjamas and also because of the fact that the shutters of the bedroom in question were raised and the window open. The Portimao PJ were contacted, two inspectors arrived at the scene and proceeded to make inspections.
People who label the Portugese LE as incompetent bumblers need to read Amaral's book, "The Truth of the Lie"...extremely compelling, first hand view of the investigation directly from the lead investigator.
There was no bumbling...once LE realised who and what they were dealing with, they were immediately on the back foot. You cannot investigate if those involved lawyer up immediately and refuse to cooperate - which is EXACTLY what happened here.
How can you investigate what happened to a little girl if the last people to see her alive WILL NOT TALK TO YOU?
Date of disappearance: 03-05-2007 between 21.30 and 22.00.
Probable causes: from apartment 5 A, Ocean Club Rua Agostinho da Silva, Praia da Luz.when she was sleeping in one of the bedrooms whose window faced the parking area of the respective block together with her two year old twin siblings. The possibility of abduction was raised by the parents, given that Jane Tanner, a temporary resident of apartment D5, Ocean Club, Rua Agostinho da Silva would have seen an individual aged between 30 and 40, about 1.78 m in height, with dark hair, wearing light coloured trousers and a dark shirt, who was carrying a child who appeared to her to be wearing pyjamas and also because of the fact that the shutters of the bedroom in question were raised and the window open. The Portimao PJ were contacted, two inspectors arrived at the scene and proceeded to make inspections.
Jane Tanner is one of the Tapas Six.
The Smiths, who saw the same individual, identified him as Gerry McCann.
Scotland Yard are more than capable of reviewing the case, helping to reopening the case and bringing any case to court.
It should also be noted that until an individual is brought before a court of law and found guily by a jury of their peers they are presumed not guily. Tabloid press articles and trial by internet not withstanding.
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