Daily Express Headline says: Police have uncovered details of the escape route taken by missing Madeleine McCann’s abductor, it was revealed yesterday. The sensational new development came at the end of a week of intense activity in which police sources said the 78-day-old investigation had reached “a critical stage”.
A new witness has reported seeing a man rushing past the tiny Nossa Senhora church in Praia da Luz towards the seafront at around 9.30pm on May 3, just after Madeleine was snatched from her bed at the Ocean Club resort. The sighting – which police sources say is “significant” – backs the testimony of a friend of Madeleine’s parents, Jane Tanner, 36.
She had previously told Portuguese police that she saw a man rushing away from the complex carrying a small child wrapped in a blanket at around 9.30pm.
Three other friends, who had been on holiday with the McCanns, have also said they saw a man near the apartment shortly after four-year-old Madeleine disappeared. They have insisted the man was the chief suspect – British expatriate Robert Murat, 33. A third witness – also interviewed this week – is believed to have seen a man matching Murat’s description near the Ocean Club resort on May 3.
A police source said yesterday: “This information is being taken seriously and is potentially very significant. The man was seen rushing from the direction of the complex where the family were staying. He was heading down the hill towards the beach.” The route the man took goes past a supermarket 100 yards from the McCanns’ apartment and on towards the church and beach.
It’s believed the new witness, thought to be a Portuguese local, is one of a number of people who were interviewed by detectives last week.
The man seen on the evening is described as being white, about 5ft7in tall, of medium build, aged 35-40. He was wearing a long, dark jacket, beige trousers, dark shoes and his hair was cut short on top.
