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Madeleine McCann police seek intruder who attacked girls at holiday homes Madeleine McCann police seek intruder who attacked girls at holiday homes
(about 1 hour later)
Detectives investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann are looking for a lone intruder who sexually abused five girls during break-ins at holiday homes. Police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann from a Portuguese holiday resort nearly seven years ago say a lone intruder sexually assaulted five girls between seven and 10 in the Algarve between 2004 and 2006.
The tanned, dark-haired man is suspected of breaking into 12 properties where British families were staying in the Algarve, Portugal, between 2004 and 2010. The four incidents – one involving two girls – were among 12 over six years up to 2010 being examined by officers in which a man entered holiday accommodation, mainly villas, and mostly occupied by British families.
Five girls aged between seven and 10 were sexually assaulted. In six of those incidents, the man, said to be dark-haired and tanned, sat on the victims' beds. In nine of the 12 incidents there was no evidence of forced entry or property taken. In three others there was "low-level" theft involving cash or phones. Police said he appeared to "have a very very, unhealthy interest" in young white girls.
in four incidents that took place between 2004 and 2006 – before Madeleine vanished in 2007. The man, said to be unshaven with unkempt hair, spoke English slowly with a foreign accent and kept calm when disturbed. Three victims suggested he had a distinctive smell, one involving aftershave, another tobacco while a third just described "a funny smell".
Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood said that tracing the man, said to have "an unhealthy interest in young white female children", was one of his priority lines of inquiry. However, no children were abducted.
His team has classed 38 people as "persons of interest" to the inquiry, and is sifting through details of 530 known sex offenders whose whereabouts they cannot account for. Detectives also said there had been an increase in "criminality" and burglary in Praia da Luz that peaked in April 2007, shortly before Madeleine's disappearance.
Of those, 59 are classed as high priority, and some of those are British. Scotland Yard also revealed it was looking at 38 "people of interest" in relation to Madeleine's disappearance, as well as trying to find out more about 530 known sex offenders across Europe.
British detectives are looking at the series of 12 break-ins, in six of which the man sat on or got into bed with young girls. Two of the incidents took place in Praia da Luz, where Madeleine was staying with her family when she disappeared. Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood, in charge of the hunt for Madeleine, accepted there were differences between these cases and that of Madeleine's disappearance but added that there was a possibility that Madeleine had not left her family's holiday apartment alive when she disappeared in May 2007.
The break-ins had previously been discounted by Portuguese investigators because they were spread over a wide geographical area and there were no apparent attempts at abduction. In most cases now being examined, the incidents happened between 2am and 5am, later than in the disappearance of Madeleine, then aged three, from a ground floor apartment at the Ocean Club complex in Praia da Luz while her parents had dinner with friends at a nearby restaurant.
Nine of the 12 incidents were reported to Portuguese police at the time they happened, and details of three of those became known to British investigators only after they made televised appeals last autumn. Redwood said the assumption that Madeleine had been alive "may not follow with all our thinking" on the case. "These offences are very serious and no one has been charged in connection with them. We also need to eliminate this man from our inquiries and ascertain whether these offences are linked to Madeleine's disappearance," he said.
Redwood said two of the families described the intruder wearing a distinctive burgundy-coloured long-sleeved top, and one family said that it had a white circle on the back. "If you have been a victim of a similar crime please come forward even if you reported the incident to police in Portugal, or anywhere else, please do not assume we have been made aware of it."
In nine of the break-ins nothing was taken, and in the remainder "low-level" items such as cash were stolen. He appealed for information and gave details of a distinctive burgundy long sleeve top the attacker was said to have worn during attacks in the resort areas of Vale de Parra and Praia da Gale in the occasions it was described as having a white circle on the back.
The man was described as talking English slowly, with a foreign accent, and remaining calm even when he was disturbed. The appeal will also be made via BBC's Crimewatch on Wednesday night.
"This is an offender who has got a very, very unhealthy interest in young, white, female children who he is attacking whilst they are on holiday in their beds," Mr Redwood said. Redwood said if names were put forward, his team would be able to eliminate them from inquiries, suggesting the police may have DNA evidence.
"While I completely accept that there are differences (between the break-ins and the McCann case), there is no abduction that we can see, but the assumption from that is that Madeleine McCann has been abducted. That may not necessarily follow with all our thinking about what may have become of Madeleine McCann. In the attacks, the suspect may have been in the villa or looking round the villa for some time before committing the offences or being disturbed either by a parent coming in, or the child waking up, say police. On two occasions the noise of a refuse collection lorry could be heard nearby.
"It is really critical for us to identify this offender and prove or disprove whether he was involved in Madeleine's disappearance." Of the 12 offences being investigated, four took place in Carvoeiro, six in the Vale da Parra, Praia da Gale district and two in Praia da Luz .
Redwood said that if names are put forward, his team would be able to eliminate suspects from their inquiry. This suggests that police have DNA on file. Detectives have previously suggested Madeleine may have been abducted in a planned operation that had included individuals reconnoitring the resort before hand.
His team had previously appealed for help identifying a man who was seen carrying a child towards the sea on the night that Madeleine, then aged three, vanished, as well as a group of men who were seen lurking near the holiday apartment where her family was staying. Scotland Yard last October issued efit images of a possible suspect with dark hair reportedly seen carrying a child with blond hair and possibly wearing pyjamas.
So far they have not been able to eliminate any of the men from their inquiry. One of these was made for private detectives hired by the McCann family in 2008.
The publication of the pictures on Crimewatch led to a huge response by the public and this man has still not been excluded from the police inquiry.
Efits of two fair-haired men seen near the McCanns' apartment were also released and police in the UK and Portugal have also been investigating break-ins around the resort, one of which occurred the same week a year before Madeleine disappeared and involved a man involving a man who entered a flat where young children were sleeping.
Fresh appeals are also made in Ireland, the Netherlands and Germany.
Scotland Yard has indicated its irritation with the slowness of the formal legal process that would allow its officers to work on the ground in Portugal. The Crown Prosecution Service has three so-called letters of request being considered by the country's legal system, among 30 from Britain on the case now being considered across Europe.
Deputy Assistant Commissioner Martin Hewitt, said: "I am frustrated the legal process is as slow as it is." But he insisted: "We are seeing an increase in the tempo of the investigation."
Police are asking members of the public with information to call them on 0800 0961011 within the UK. The number for non-UK residents is +44 207 1580 126.
Callers can also contact Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111.