"...if not there will be no progress". There has been an overwhelming response to last night’s appeal on BBC’s Crimewatch in the Madeleine McCann case.
The broadcast to the UK public included the release of a photofit of a man they need to trace, seen carrying a child in the direction of the Priaia da Luz beach at 10.10pm o the night of her disappearance.
Scotland Yard received more than 300 calls and over 170 emails after the appeal, including from Britons holidaying in Praia da Luz on the day Madeleine disappeared, May 3, 2007. Several of the calls gave the name of the man pictured, several callers mentioning the same name.
Having ruled out an earlier sighting of a man carrying a child, now identified as a father taking his daughter back from a crèche service, the police were able to move the timeline leading to Madeleine’s disappearance by a full 45 minutes.
In the Crimewatch programme’s update later in the evening, the senior policeman in charge of Operation Grange, Andy Redwood, said there had been an "overwhelming response."
Appeal to be run across Europe
Redwood is now off to Holland, then Germany to continue the appeal for information yet there are no plans to go to Portugal and no explanation as to why this is not a priority.
Photofits also were released of blonde-haired men seen hanging around the Ocean Club resort in the days leading up to Madeleine’s disappearance. As increase of burglaries in the area in the period up to May 3rd 2007, and suspect 'house to house' charity collectors gave Andy Redwood the confidence to say that the case bore all the hallmarks of a planned abduction, rather than a burglary gone wrong.
Kate and Gerry McCann appeared live on the Crimewatch programme, commenting, "It doesn't matter how much heartache we put ourselves through, so long as we get the result that we need."
Urging viewers to call the show, Madeleine's mother said, "please, please have the courage and confidence to come forward now, and share that information with us, and you could unlock this whole case, so please."
Gerry McCann said there has been cases recently in which abducted children had been found after long periods of time, "These cases can get solved, and I think that's what the public need to think about tonight, the new information, and really rack their brains and come forward, really."
“Chances are a long-shot” according to the editor of Crimewatch, Jo Mather, “but its remarkable how new nuggets of information come up after so long. The ability for police to rule people out is just as important as receiving information on possible culprits. There have been unhelpful calls but many very useful ones.”
Why no broadcast in Portugal?
The criminologist and child protection expert Mark Williams Thomas spoke on BBC Radio 4 the morning after the Crimewatch appeal. Thomas is a former police detective who has experience of working at the centre of high profile investigations involving children. He has followed the Madeleine McCann case from its early days and has visited Portugal.
Thomas said the Crimewatch appeal was useful, but why are there no plans for it to be shown in Portugal? Praia da Luz has a transient population but there are locals with information yet there has been a limited focus in Portugal on how the crime occurred.
“This now is about relationship building. There has been a strained relationship between the British and Portuguese police due to the media coverage and the fact it’s an international case. The Portuguese police need to show the Crimewatch appeal, set aside its pride and work together. The best chance is with the British and Portuguese police working together, even 20 or 30 years after crimes people still have information and will have told someone else. Portugal needs to open the case, if not there will be no progress.”
Portugal News readers have "lost interest" in the case
Paul Luckman, director of expat newspaper in English, the Portugal News, said in an interview with Sky News that the continued level of interest outside the country is "astounding."
"I don't think anyone can understand after six years how police based in England can find out what happened here. It doesn't really hang together," said Luckman.
As for his readers: "They are fed up with it. They've lost interest in the whole case."
