Why We Know She Is Alive

Detectives hunting for Madeleine McCann are now 100 per cent certain she is alive and believe they are closing in on her kidnappers. Last night investigators were examining the testimony of a new witness who believes she saw Madeleine in central Portugal two days after she went missing on May 3.

The woman, who contacted a hotline run by private detective agency Metodo 3, saw a little blonde girl in a van with a man and a woman 90 miles from Praia da Luz.. Her evidence is being taken seriously. Francisco Marco, who heads the Spanish team hired by Kate and Gerry McCann, said last night: “We’re 100 per cent sure she is alive. We are very, very close to finding the kidnapper.”

The news coincides with a U-turn by Portuguese police, who now admit they think Madeleine was kidnapped, rather than killed accidentally by Kate McCann.

Tonight new video footage will be shown proving the McCanns could not have got rid of Madeleine on a trip to Spain in a Renault Scenic hire car they drove on a publicity journey on August 3. Portuguese police have always been suspicious about this trip to the small town of Huelva and say it would explain why traces of Madeleine’s DNA were discovered in the vehicle, which was not hired until 25 days after she went missing. But in a video diary, recorded by the McCanns’ friend John Corner, the couple are seen that day preparing for the trip to Spain by filling their boot with publicity posters. The film will be made public for the first time tonight when it is shown on Panorama on BBC1.

In the film the couple also tell how they have been plagued by guilt since leaving their children alone while they enjoyed dinner with friends at a nearby tapas bar. Kate is seen telling the camera: “There is not a day goes by that I’m not thinking, ‘Why did I think that was OK? Why did I think that was OK?’ I have to keep telling myself that I am a responsible parent. We were dining very close to the children and we were checking on them very, very regularly. We are very responsible parents and we love our children so much.”

Husband Gerry adds: “Clearly at the time we felt what we were doing was quite responsible. We talked earlier about how rare it is for a foreign child to be abducted and of course Praia da Luz is such a quiet place, it was the furthest thing from our minds.”

Last night, as the 40-strong Metodo 3 private investigation team examined the testimony given by the new witness, it appeared even the Portuguese police have changed their tune a little over the McCanns. A source within Metodo 3 – which has a 100 per cent success record in tracking down missing persons – said that the team were in a buoyant mood since the the new witness came forward.

She was able to pick out the blonde woman she saw from a series of photographs. The description of the male she saw also fitted that given by one of the Tapas Nine group of friends dining with the McCanns – Jane Tanner – of a man seen carrying a child away from the McCanns’ apartment at around 9.15pm on May 3.

Detectives from the agency are convinced that Madeleine was snatched to order by a team of at least three abductors who had watched the McCanns throughout their week-long holiday to identify a window of opportunity when they could strike. Francisco Marco, who heads the team in Spain, went on: “We believe the sighting is the breakthrough we’ve been waiting for. The witness was able to give a detailed description of the man and woman. She said she had seen a woman drive up to a man waiting for her in another car and hand him over a young child wrapped in a blanket. They showed her photographs, and she was able to pick out the woman with no hesitation. Detectives believe the kidnapper was helped by a third person who watched the apartment for days.” (Daily Express)