The Sun Headline; says: 'A TINY figure wearing pyjamas lies still and quiet in a man’s arms – in an image thought to show the abduction of Madeleine McCann. Parents Gerry and Kate hope the chilling picture – drawn from an eyewitness account and released last night – will bring them closer to the truth about their daughter. Swarthy, aged around 35 with black hair curling round his collar, the slim, 5ft 6in suspect was spotted hurrying away from the McCanns’ holiday apartment by Kate and Gerry’s friend Jane Tanner.
On the night of Maddie's disappearance in May, Jane, 36 – checking on her own daughter, who had been sick – thought seeing the man carrying the child was “strange”, but assumed he was the girl’s father. She returned to join the McCanns and other pals at a tapas bar in Praia da Luz, saying nothing.
The horror only dawned later, when her description of the girl’s pink and white pyjamas tallied with what Maddie had worn that night. Jane gave Portuguese cops a detailed description of the man, who had the tot wrapped in a blanket, but no e-fit was ever issued.
In desperation, the McCanns, both 39, called in the FBI-trained British forensic artist – who spent hours with Jane putting together a likeness.
Jane, from
Clarence Mitchell, the McCanns’ spokesman, said: “We hope this will go a long way to proving the independent eyewitness account that she was taken by someone and that the police’s focus on Kate and Gerry as potential suspects is wrong.
“We hope this is another element in the overall amount of information which will lead to them being eliminated from the inquiry in due course. We believe it does show Madeleine in his arms. The description of the pyjamas is accurate enough to believe that is the case. The forensic artist spent a long time with the eyewitness to make sure it was right.”