LONDON: A television appeal about the 2007 disappearance of British girl Madeleine McCann in Portugal has triggered nearly 1,000 calls and e-mails, Scotland Yard said Tuesday.
Detectives published new electronic images of men they want to trace, plus a reworked timeline of events leading up to the three-year-old’s disappearance.
The appeal, based on two years of work raking over the case, was broadcast Monday on the BBC’s “Crimewatch” program.
“We have now had over 730 calls and 212 e-mails as a direct result of the specific lines of enquiry we issued,” said Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood, who is leading the investigation.
“Detectives are now trawling through and prioritizing that material. This will take time.
“We are extremely pleased with the response.” Officers are particularly keen to find one man seen carrying a young child in the popular Algarve beach resort of Praia da Luz on the night of May 3, 2007.
He was spotted around 10:00pm — the time Kate McCann discovered her eldest daughter was missing from their holiday apartment.
Police said the man was of “vital importance” in their quest to discover what happened to Madeleine, who vanished just a few days before her fourth birthday.
The British detectives now believe an earlier sighting of a man carrying a child in pyjamas is irrelevant.
The appeal was to be repeated in the Netherlands on Tuesday, in Germany on Wednesday, and in Ireland.
Redwood is traveling to the Netherlands and Germany to appear on the broadcasts there.
But the appeal is not being screened in Portugal, although it has received media coverage there.
“Crimewatch” editor Joe Mather told BBC radio: “It’s been a truly unprecedented response.
“There were lots of calls from British people who were in Praia da Luz around the time of Madeleine’s disappearance who’d never previously spoken to the Met (Scotland Yard).” Regarding the man police are keen to trace, he said the public came forward with “several different names but also several callers mentioned the same name for that man.”
“It is a long shot but it’s remarkable how often results are possible even several years down the line. There were genuinely useful calls.”
The new e-fits of the man whom police are especially keen to trace were based on descriptions from an Irish family. He was seen about 500 meters away from the McCanns’ apartment.
The child fitted Madeleine’s description and did not seem in distress.
The witnesses described the man as white, between 20 and 40 years old, with short brown hair, of medium build and height and clean-shaven. One image shows him with a fuller jaw than the other.
Police said one theory was that the abduction could have been planned, which would have involved reconnaissance.
The McCanns had been dining with friends in a tapas restaurant about 50 meters away.
They were also interested in tracing “one or two” fair-haired men who had been seen “lurking” around the apartment complex before Madeleine’s disappearance. Witnesses said the men were speaking German or Dutch.
Detectives also speculated that Madeleine may have disturbed a burglary, pointing to a sharp increase in local break-ins in the months leading up to the incident.
They were also looking at possible bogus door-to-door charity collectors operating in the area.
During “Crimewatch,” the McCanns — who launched a global media campaign to find their daughter — said they were still optimistic she could be traced.
“We’re feeling hopeful,” said father Gerry McCann. “These cases can get solved,” he said, citing instances where long-lost people have been found.
Scotland Yard is offering a reward of up to £20,000 ($32,000, 23,000 euros) for information leading to the prosecution of McCann’s abductor.
Portuguese authorities closed their investigation in 2008, but Scotland Yard spent two years reviewing the case at the British government’s request and opened their own probe in July this year.
The operation has interviewed more than 440 people and identified 41 “persons of interest.”
Appeal for missing McCann triggers flood of calls
Appeal for missing McCann triggers flood of calls
Thai and Cambodian leaders agree to renew a ceasefire after days of deadly clashes, Trump says
- “They have agreed to CEASE all shooting effective this evening,” Trump said
- Thai and Cambodian officials offered no immediate comment following Trump’s announcement
WASHINGTON: President Donald Trump said on Friday that Thai and Cambodian leaders have agreed to renew a truce after days of deadly clashes had threatened to undo a ceasefire the US administration had helped broker earlier this year.
Trump announced the agreement to restart the ceasefire in a social media posting following calls with Thai Prime Minister Anutin Charnvirakul and Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Manet.
“They have agreed to CEASE all shooting effective this evening, and go back to the original Peace Accord made with me, and them, with the help of the Great Prime Minister of Malaysia, Anwar Ibrahim,” Trump said in his Truth Social posting.
Thai and Cambodian officials offered no immediate comment following Trump’s announcement. Anutin, after speaking with Trump but before the US president’s social media posting, said he reiterated to Trump that Thailand’s position was to keep fighting until Cambodia no longer poses a threat to its sovereignty.
Trump, a Republican, said that Ibrahim played an important role in helping him push Thailand and Cambodia to once again agree to stop fighting.
“It is my Honor to work with Anutin and Hun in resolving what could have evolved into a major War between two otherwise wonderful and prosperous Countries!” Trump added.
The original ceasefire in July was brokered by Malaysia and pushed through by pressure from Trump, who threatened to withhold trade privileges unless Thailand and Cambodia agreed. It was formalized in more detail in October at a regional meeting in Malaysia that Trump attended.
Despite the deal, the two countries carried on a bitter propaganda war and minor cross-border violence continued.
The roots of the Thai-Cambodian border conflict lie in a history of enmity over competing territorial claims. These claims largely stem from a 1907 map created while Cambodia was under French colonial rule, which Thailand maintains is inaccurate. Tensions were exacerbated by a 1962 International Court of Justice ruling that awarded sovereignty to Cambodia, which still riles many Thais.
Thailand has deployed jet fighters to carry out airstrikes on what it says are military targets. Cambodia has deployed BM-21 rocket launchers with a range of 30-40 kilometers (19-25 miles).
According to data collected by public broadcaster ThaiPBS, at least six of the Thai soldiers who were killed were hit by rocket shrapnel.
The Thai army’s northeastern regional command said Thursday that some residential areas and homes near the border were damaged by BM-21 rocket launchers from Cambodian forces.
The Thai army also said it destroyed a tall crane atop a hill held by Cambodia where the centuries-old Preah Vihear temple is located, because it allegedly held electronic and optical devices used for military command and control purposes.
Trump has repeatedly made the exaggerated claim that he has helped solve eight conflicts, including the one between Thailand and Cambodia, since returning to office in January, as evidence of his negotiating prowess. And he’s not been shy about his desire to be recognized with a Nobel Peace Prize.
In an exchange with reporters on Wednesday, he expressed confidence that he could get the two sides back to a truce.
“Every once in a while,” Trump said, “one will flame up again and I have to put out that little flame.”
Another ceasefire that Trump takes credit for working out, between the Democratic Republic of Congo and Rwanda, is also under strain — just after the leaders of the African nations traveled to Washington to sign a peace deal.
A joint statement released by the International Contact Group for the Great Lakes expressed “profound concern” over the situation in Congo’s South Kivu region, where new deadly violence blamed on the Rwandan-backed M23 militia group has exploded in recent days.
The Great Lakes contact group — which includes Belgium, Britain, Denmark, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Sweden, Switzerland, the United States and the European Union — has urged all sides “to uphold their commitments” under the deal signed last week and “immediately de-escalate the situation.”
And Trump’s internationally endorsed plan to end the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza is still not finalized and in limbo, with sporadic fighting continuing while a critical second phase remains a work in progress.
