A Taxi driver claimed yesterday that Madeleine McCann was in his cab the night she vanished — with suspect Robert Murat. (The Sun Thursday 28th February 2008)
Antonio Cardoso, 67, insisted he took the little girl and four adults on a short journey to a hotel where they all switched to a Jeep with foreign plates. And he said of Murat, who was named by Portuguese police as the first suspect or “arguido” in the case: “I later recognised him on television. I am sure it was him."
Last night Maddie’s parents Kate and Gerry, both 39, were in shock over Cardoso’s claims but rejected them as “entirely wrong” because of timing inconsistencies.
In detail, he described how he ferried them for about two miles in silence to the Hotel Apolo in Vila Real de Santo António near Faro, the
And he said the girl, who sat on the lap of a man behind him, wore pink pyjamas and had a distinctive mark in her eye — just like Maddie.
He added: “She was awake but silent. She was just staring ahead with big owlish eyes. I noticed her eye because my son was born with a defect much the same. I saw her kind of twist her chin a few times in my rear-view mirror. I remember she was in pink pyjamas and wondered why they hadn’t dressed her.”
On reaching the hotel Cardoso said the group got out with their only piece of luggage, a red and black three-wheeled buggy, and switched to a dark blue Jeep. The cabbie noticed it had a yellow licence plate which was not Portuguese. Cardoso said the adults were all casually dressed and described the woman as a slim blonde.
He said the only thing any of them said on the trip was “How much please?” and that they paid four euros with a one euro tip.