Response to Madeleine McCann case 'overwhelming'

Officers involved in the investigation of Madeleine’s disappearance suggested that it was a pre-planned abduction.

11:17 15 October 2013

After the police have released e-fits of a man, which they say they need to talk to in regards to Madeleine’s disappearance in 2007 in Portugal, the public response has been overwhelming.

Scotland Yard said that officers will now be making follow-ups on more than 300 phone calls and 170 emails that will hopefully provide clues about the man described in the e-fit.

Crimewatch editor Joe Mather said that the public response was better than expected as several British people who had been at the resort at the time made the calls. He added that “it is always significant” if different callers provided the same name.

DCI Redwood, the senior Metropolitan Police investigating officer, revealed that witnesses confirmed that they have seen a number of men in the area on the day the three-year-old disappeared. And there is one theory that the case was a pre-planned abduction. He added that they want to track down those men who were seen “lurking suspiciously” near the McCann’s apartment block.

DCI Redwood said: "Our focus in terms of understanding what happened on the night of 3 May has now given us a shift of emphasis.

 

"It takes us through to a position at 10pm when we see another man who is walking towards the ocean, close by to the apartment, with a young child in his arms."