Madeleine: She could be alive

A SHOPKEEPER who insists she saw Madeleine McCann days after her abduction said yesterday the little girl “could still be alive”.

SIGHTING Madeleine SIGHTING: Madeleine

Anna Stam says she is haunted by the face “of the angelic child with the big sad eyes” who came into her shop near Amsterdam’s red light district.

Ms Stam said: “I am convinced I spoke to Madeleine. She said her name was Maddie and her face had no emotion in it. The man and woman she was with acted like tourists and referred to her as La Petite.

“I gave a statement to Dutch police and it is terrible my information was not acted on by Portuguese authorities.

“I am sure that if my information had been acted upon at that time – as it should have been – Madeleine could have been rescued and she would still be alive and at home with her parents where she belongs.”

Ms Stam, a 41-year-old mother of one who runs a shop selling party items, said last night she was praying that Madeleine is still alive. She said the girl, who was also accompanied by two older children, was wearing a pink top with the words Little Divas on it. The child told her: “My name is Maddie, they took me from my holiday.”

A Dutch police report of the potentially crucial lead was sent to Portugal on June 18 last year but no action was taken. The McCanns are said to be appalled by this.

Ms Stam spoke out as a second Dutch woman said she also spotted Madeleine in Amsterdam last summer.

Hannie Wiechmann, 71, said the girl had Madeleine’s distinctive eye defect and appeared to have had her hair partially dyed. She told Dutch police, but they dismissed her claims without even taking any details. Ms Stam said the strange family came into her shop in early May last year shortly after Madeleine vanished in the Algarve. She is also angry that Portuguese police ignored her lead.

“They could have done something more at the time,” she said. “Now it may be too late to follow up any clue. I think the police have been neglectful.”

Throughout the 15 months since Madeleine vanished, the McCanns and their investigators were unaware of the sighting, which was finally revealed in the 20,000-page police report on the bungled investigation.

Ms Stam saw the English-speaking girl in her shop with a French woman and a “stern looking” man with a Mediterranean appearance.

She said the child was about four with brown hair, a pale complexion and huge green-brown eyes.

“I will always remember those big eyes looking up at me,” said Ms Stam. 

“It has upset me greatly to think I looked at a child who may have been kidnapped. At the time I was not aware of the significance of this little girl.

“But when Madeleine’s face flashed up on television about a month later I knew I had to tell the authorities. It was my duty.

“I saw the face and thought, Oh my God, that’s her. There was something about those striking eyes.”

In her statement, Ms Stam said of the visit to her shop: “What called my attention was the fact that she showed little emotion on her small face. The little girl stood before me and asked in English, ‘Do you know where my mummy is?’ I answered that her mother was a little further back in the shop and she replied, ‘She is not my mummy’.

“I asked her who the woman was and she said, ‘She is a stranger. She took me from my mummy.’

“Next, I asked the little girl what her name was and she said, ‘My name is Maggie’. At least, that’s what I thought she said. When I repeated it, the little girl said, ‘No, my name is Maddie’.

“I then asked her where she had last seen her mother and she answered, ‘They took me from my holiday’.”

The McCanns’ spokesman Clarence Mitchell said it was “tragic” that this information should only be released now.

I am convinced I spoke to Madeleine

Anna Stam

KATE BEGGED POLICE 'TO END TORTURE'

ANGUISHED Kate McCann wrote to a top Portuguese detective pleading for information about her missing daughter, it was revealed last night.

The 40-year-old doctor sent a letter to the head of the investigation describing her “torture” and begging for any information that could help her and her husband Gerry to find Madeleine.

But despite her heartbreaking appeal, Chief Inspector Paulo Rebelo failed to respond.

A member of the McCanns’ Portuguese legal team also wrote to Mr Rebelo a month later – and his letter was also ignored.

A copy of Kate’s letter, which was dated December 4, was among the 20,000 pages of case notes made public this week.

Kate took the step of writing directly to Mr Rebelo after he took over the investigation from Goncalo Amaral, who was sacked last year after leaking stories to the Portuguese press and criticising the British police.

A highly regarded detective, Mr Rebelo was drafted in by the head of the Portuguese police in the hope that he would take a more professional approach to the flawed investigation.

Kate told him that “Madeleine is the most precious thing in our life” and described the seven months since her disappearance as “the most difficult, sad and unbearable time that any parent could possibly imagine”.

She went on: “I am appealing to you to as a fellow human being, to work with us (if possible include us) and to remember that we are Madeleine’s parents and have needs.

“With regard to this latter point, I would be grateful if you were able to keep us informed to some degree as to how the investigation is going – what work is being done to help find our daughter, etc.”

Kate added: “I’m sure you will agree that this request is not unreasonable and is in fact humane. I am fairly familiar now with the workings of ‘judicial secrecy’ but even if we could have a little bit of information in the broadest of terms it would help.

“Lack of communication and a void of information, particularly as the parent of a missing child, is torture.”

She also said she was desperate to establish a better working relationship with the Policia Judiciaria.

Kate wrote: “This shouldn’t be about ‘finger-pointing blame’ nor should it be about differences in culture. 

“It should be about a beautiful, innocent little girl who is still missing. She is the victim in all of this.

“It would be good for Madeleine if we could all work together to help find the person(s) who took her.”

She ended by writing: “I would be very grateful if you could give some thought and consideration to my letter and look forward to your reply. I can only ask.” 

The McCanns, who became increasingly frustrated at the lack of information from detectives, returned home last September and communication with the Portuguese authorities dried up.

Despite Kate’s plea to Chief Inspector Rebelo, the couple heard nothing back.

The McCanns’ spokesman Clarence Mitchell said Mr Rebelo did not even meet the couple when he travelled to England in April to interview the friends who were with them on holiday when Madeleine went missing.

Mr Mitchell said: “Kate wanted to write the letter – she was probably going to write it in a more emotional way than perhaps Gerry would – but it was her idea.

“There finally was a very short response acknowledging the letter. She certainly didn’t get a personal response from Paulo Rebelo.”

'SHE WAS SNATCHED TO ORDER'

VICE squad detectives had intelligence that Madeleine was snatched to order by an international paedophile ring, it emerged last night.

A group based in Belgium was believed to have made an order for a young girl to be snatched just three days before Madeleine went missing.

Someone connected to the group took a photograph of Madeleine which was forwarded to them for approval, detectives claimed they were told in an anonymous tip-off.

The paedophiles stated that the girl was “suitable” and she was snatched just days later.

The details were revealed in an email in the case files released this week by the Portuguese authorities.

The email from vice officers in Scotland Yard was sent to police in Leicestershire who were investigating Madeleine’s disappearance.

It read: “Intelligence suggests that a paedophile ring in Belgium made an order for a young girl three days before Madeleine McCann was taken. Somebody connected to this group saw Maddie, took a photograph of her and sent it to Belgium.

“The purchaser agreed that the girl was suitable, and Maddie was taken.”

The McCanns have often spoken of their belief that Madeleine was snatched by someone who had been watching the family and had specifically targeted them. 

Spokesman Clarence Mitchell said last night: “God forbid she has fallen foul of any of these types.”

A friend of the McCanns said: “Trafficking into Belgium forms a very strong part of their investigations, as does trafficking into North Africa. They have looked into the fact someone was targeting the children and may well have been stealing to order.”

The email was sent on March 4 this year, and passed on to police in Portugal more than a month later, on April 21. It was forwarded the next day to Inspector Ricardo Paiva, who was one of three detectives coordinating the investigation.

On April 28 an urgent fax was sent to Interpol in Lisbon detailing the paedophile connection.

On May 23 Interpol said they were passing the information to their bureaux in London, Brussels, Otava in Finland and Wiesbaden in Germany.

Four days later Interpol in Lisbon contacted police in Portimao asking for any further information. But an undated fax returned to Interpol stated that they had passed on all the information they had. At a later date Paulo Rebelo, the head of the investigation, ordered that the information be placed in the police file. 

It is not known what more was done to trace the paedophile gang.

 

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