The archive below* covers the period end-of-May to early-September 2007. Most of the archive below refers to coverage specifically relating to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. In some cases other references are also included to sketch the “zeitgeist” at the time.
30 May 2007
‘We want Maddy to be found… yesterday’
31 May 2007
Are the McCanns playing it right?
Portuguese police consult clairvoyants
01 June 2007
04 June 2007
06 June 2007
McCanns forced to defend themselves
Mothers to name and shame absent fathers
07 June 2007
We’re good parents not suspects, say McCanns
How to spot a liar: tell it backwards
09 June 2007
‘Madeleine’ call made from Argentina phone
10 June 2007
Parents fear they must return without Maddy
…yesterday Mr McCann, a medical consultant from Rothley, in Leicestershire, said: ”The time has come for a contingency plan.” Seated next to his wife in the flat on the Algarve where they have been staying with their two-year-old twins, Amelie and Sean, Mr McCann said: ”We will not give up, but there will be a different way of doing it. I can see myself having to go back to the UK to meet with people, it is just more efficient to do things over there.
”It will be very, very hard. The last time I was back, I couldn’t even go into the house. I found it hard enough going to Rothley.” Mrs McCann admitted she would prefer to stay in Portugal. ”I feel very close to Madeleine here,” she said. ”She could actually be further away from here than she is from the UK but I feel emotionally close to her here. People have told me I could do the same, if not more, back in the UK, but I can’t face leaving here.”
The couple agreed, however, that they need a break. ”We can’t keep doing the same thing week after week. The coverage will dwindle away,” Mr McCann said.
11 June 2007
Maddy detective accused of beating suspect
13 June 2007
Letter claims Madeleine is ‘buried under rocks’
14 June 2007
McCanns blast newspaper over tip off
15 June 2007
Police abandon scrubland search for Madeleine
16 June 2007
Parents face total ban on smacking
The EU’s strength is its diversity
17 June 2007
19 June 2007
Fathers choose children over careers
20 June 2007
‘Irreplaceable’ Maddy photos stolen from father
21 June 2007
Five Madeleine McCann ‘sightings’ in Malta
22 June 2007
Madeleine balloons released in 50 countries
25 June 2007
Has EU integration gone too far?
Harry Potter and the ‘comfortable’ kiss
26 June 2007
UK ‘one of worst countries for social mobility’
27 June 2007
Doctors ‘make abortions easier’
28 June 2007
Madeleine police arrest two people in Spain
29 June 2007
Two quizzed on Madeleine ‘extortion bid’
30 June 2007
McCann ‘extortion’ couple in court
“Police began to investigate them after getting information that they had tried to contact Madeleine’s parents to collect a reward.”
01 July 2007
Glasgow attack: Police explode car at hospital
02 July 2007
Madeleine’s parents leave Algarve resort
03 July 2007
Screaming fans at Harry Potter premiere
07 July 2007
10 July 2007
Madeleine McCann suspect questioned again
11 July 2007
13 July 2007
Madeleine McCann friends confront suspect
16 July 2007
Harry Potter to help in search for Madeleine
18 July 2007
23 July 2007
Madeleine McCann’s father visits the US
01 August 2007
Mother’s plea: ‘Don’t give up hope’
02 August 2007
Do you trust the Metropolitan Police?
03 August 2007
Madeleine sighting being taken seriously
04 August 2007
DNA tests to check ‘sighting’ of Madeleine
05 August 2007
Madeleine McCann suspect’s house searched
06 August 2007
Tabloid Portuguese newspaper Diario de Noticias has claimed that police have intercepted emails and phone calls between the McCanns and their friends in recent weeks which “prove” the theory Madeleine was killed inside the apartment.The same paper claimed that it was specks of Madeleine’s blood found by British sniffer dogs this week inside her apartment bedroom.
However the samples have only just been sent to a laboratory in Birmingham for tests, which could take up to two weeks to process.Mrs Oldfield said: “They are throwing mud at us and we are not able to defend ourselves. It does not help to find Madeleine. We just have to hope the investigation progresses to a point where something concrete comes out of it.”She added that she still believed it was an abduction.
“There would only be a small window for somebody to do it (abduct Madeleine) but presumably if somebody had been watching our movements then it would have been possible,” she said.Mrs Oldfield was with her husband Matthew, a doctor, as part of a group of seven adults the McCanns were holidaying with.The others dining on May 3 were the McCanns, Jane Tanner, Russell O’Brien, David and Fiona Payne and another person who has not been named, but is thought to be the mother of one of those present.
Kate and Gerry McCann said regular visits were made to check on the children as they ate 100 yards away from them at a tapas restaurant on the Ocean Club complex.But the exact chronology of the night has never been revealed.Some reports have claimed there were “discrepancies” between the times the group members had given to police on what happened on the night she disappeared.Mrs Oldfield said this was not correct, adding: “When we gave a statement to police in Portugal we were told it is all confidential. We have stuck to that. We are all good citizens and have integrity.”
British police are continuing to carry out a review of evidence in Portugal and specialist sniffer dogs have been searching beaches and scrubland areas.
Meanwhile, Mr and Mrs McCann continued to campaign for Madeleine’s plight and wider issues of child protection.Mrs McCann, speaking on Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour, called for a Europe-wide “quick response” system to react to reports of child abductions.She said that abductions were more common than many parents realised.
Britain’s child protection measures, such as the sex offenders’ register and system of Criminal Record Bureau checks, should be enforced across the continent, she said.She added that the United States – which her husband visited a few weeks ago – seemed far ahead in its ability to respond to child kidnappings.Citing statistics from the Protect American’s Children organisation, Mrs McCann said that during 2002-03 there were 1,000 attempted child abductions in England and Wales. She said 100 children were successfully kidnapped by strangers.
“It’s really important that parents know these things and take extra care,” she said. “Systems need to be in place across Europe for a quick-response for children that have gone missing. All countries in Europe should have a sex offenders register and Criminal Bureau Checks in place.“It is important that the general public are informed about the scale of the problem. I was horrified of things that I have learned about since this happened.”
09 August 2007
Madeleine parents ‘should leave Portugal’
“People are thinking this is not a safe place to bring their children and have cancelled holidays here.”
Mr and Mrs McCann have declared repeatedly they do not want to return home without Madeleine and have stayed in Praia da Luz as the investigation continues. But family friends now fear they are being “hounded out”.
Mr and Mrs McCann today stopped using the creche at the Ocean Club, where they have dropped off twins Sean and Amelie to be looked after every day since the disappearance of Madeleine.They are said to be aware that it is now causing disruption to other families using the facility because of the increased presence of Portuguese media.
Mr McCann has also not updated his daily blog on the campaign website – www.findmadeleine.com.The family are said to want to keep a low profile “until the storm blows over”.
10 August 2007
Madeleine’s parents shouldn’t ‘over-protect’
Madeleine McCann’s mother: ‘Don’t bully us’
Yesterday some locals called for “those bloody McCanns” to leave Portugal and they were asked to remove their twins from a crêche after it was repeatedly surrounded by Portuguese journalists.In a frank interview last night, the couple hit back. Mrs McCann said: “It’s sticks and stones. We will never go through anything worse than being parted from Madeleine. We will not be leaving or be forced out. I am not prepared to be bullied into doing something that I don’t want to.
“This speculation and the actions of the Portuguese press has been hurtful, intrusive and disrespectful to our other two children. The press here have badly overstepped any reasonable line.”A frantic week of claim and counter-claim has followed revelations that British sniffer dogs had uncovered new evidence – including specks of blood, hairs and fibres – in the bedroom where Madeleine disappeared on May 3. The Portuguese press turned on the family and their friends, claiming that the three-year-old was killed inside the apartment.
Mr McCann said: “There has been a lot of speculation and clearly there has been a shift in the investigation. But we do not know of any new evidence to suggest that Madeleine is not alive.”The key thing is the lack of any evidence during the initial investigation of serious harm coming to her. That is what has given us hope.”
The couple are determined to remain in Praia da Luz as the investigation continues, but Mrs McCann admitted to feeling “trapped” by the current storm. On Tuesday, she could not get out of the Mark Warner Ocean Club crêche with her two-year-old twins, Sean and Amelie, because of a scrum of Portuguese journalists. They were asked yesterday to stop using it. Mr McCann said: “Mark Warner has been incredibly supportive of us throughout but they have come under a bit of pressure and we agreed not to go for a while. They offered us alternative arrangements.”
11 August 2007
Vigil for Madeleine after 100-day search
Police admit Madeleine McCann might be dead
‘Mass exodus’ of holidaymakers
12 August 2007
McCanns ‘heartened’ not to be suspects
Madeleine McCann search gets nasty
There is no denying that the McCanns’ relationship with the Portuguese press and police has become increasingly strained. Last week’s confrontation was just one more example of how the couple, who were swamped with sympathy by the townspeople of Praia da Luz in the early months of the hunt for their daughter, are now under attack from that same community….The all-too-sad truth is that the wealth of goodwill that once buoyed the McCanns is turning against them. It is an open secret in Praia da Luz that, while in public they never criticise the Portuguese police investigation, in private the couple have their doubts about the manner in which Guilhermino Encarnação is heading the inquiry.His blunders have been well documented and the McCanns prefer to deal with Luis Neves, the third detective involved in the case. Even Encarnação’s own officers joke that he “prefers long lunches to working”.
The harsh fact is that the public’s compassion is fickle. “People here are finding it all a little tiresome,” says Sheena Rawcliffe, the managing director of The Resident, the town’s English language weekly magazine.“Of course our hearts go out to them. But people are asking the blunt question: why did they leave the children alone? Why remain here? The McCanns need closure, but so, too, do the people of Luz. A backlash has begun and I believe it could get ugly before long.”Local business people continue to pay lip service to recognising the trauma suffered by the McCanns, but they point out that the sustained media eye on the resort is harming them. Hotels, restaurants and bars say takings are down and blame it on the negative image the town has.“The feeling is that they have outstayed their welcome,” one said. “Everyone here has contributed to the find Madeleine fund but it bothers us that it is not a charity. And that is because it is solely aimed at one child. Only when her case is resolved would the money go towards other missing children.”
The McCanns, of course, see things differently. “I am not sure I will ever be able to return to our Rothley home,” Kate admits. “I feel to leave Luz would be to abandon Madeleine. I can never, ever do that. “She insists she will not be bullied into leaving. But she must also be aware that the expatriate community has also become increasingly angry about the vilification of Robert Murat, the only suspect in the case.“The McCanns are attracting criticism because they refuse to divulge the exact details and timings of what happened on the night Madeleine disappeared.They are doing so because, under Portuguese law, such information would be prejudicial to the inquiry.But hasn’t the time now come for them to flout the law and clarify these details – in the hope that it somehow might help the investigation.Who is going to prosecute them for breaking a privacy law when their child’s welfare is at stake?”
15 August 2007
Madeleine sniffer dogs detect scent of body
17 August 2007
Madeleine McCann’s siblings told she is missing
18 August 2007
McCann twins told: Madeleine is missing
19 August 2007
Madeleine McCann parents to leave Portugal
20 August 2007
New suspect in Madeleine McCann case
The Public Prosecutor’s Office, which directs the police inquiry, signed a series of documents on Friday, ordering the PJ in Faro to put detectives on standby and authorising search warrants at locations that may be linked to the disappearance of Madeleine 109 days ago.
Staff from the Ocean Club complex, where Madeleine disappeared on May 3, will be also be re-interviewed today. A police source said: “We are re-interviewing several witnesses in order to clarify details that may be relevant to the new line of inquiry in light of facts we have found.”Pamela Fenn, 70, who lives in the apartment above where the McCanns were staying, and her niece, who is flying to Portugal from the UK, will be among those spoken to.Mrs Fenn has said that in the weeks leading up to Madeleine’s disappearance she scared off an intruder in her apartment.
There was no apparent sign of a break-in and it is thought the man may have had a key to let himself into the flat. She will be making a formal statement today at police headquarters in the city of Portimao. There was also another burglary in the complex a few weeks before in which police also suspected the intruder had a key.Mrs Fenn’s niece was staying with her aunt in the week that the McCanns were on holiday. She saw a suspicious-looking man hanging around the McCanns’ apartment about the time Madeleine vanished.
21 August 2007
Madeleine McCann’s parents told not to leave
22 August 2007
Complaints over Maddy ad rejected
24 August 2007
26 August 2007
McCanns call for media obsession to end
27 August 2007
McCanns frustrated over Madeleine inquiry
30 August 2007
31 August 2007
02 September 2007
03 September 2007
05 September 2007
06 September 2007
07 September 2007
08 September 2007
09 September 2007
10 September 2007
Madeleine McCann file to be handed over
Madeleine McCann’s family accuse police
McCanns receive hate mail
Legal implications of the McCann homecoming
Madeleine McCann chief detective sacked
*Sources
Madeleine McCann’s disappearance: A timeline – Sky News
Madeleine McCann disappearance timeline – The Telegraph
What happened on the day Madeleine disappeared? – The Guardian
When did Madeleine McCann go missing? The timeline of her disappearance – Daily Star
Madeleine McCann: A timeline of her disappearance – Cosmopolitan
Madeleine McCann disappearance: a timeline of events – Heart
Timeline changed in hunt for missing girl – rte
Timeline of events in Madeleine McCann disappearance ‘changed’, say UK police – Daily Motion
BLOGS/FORUMS:
Question about a detail (timelines)
SEARCHING FOR MADELEINE THE TIME LINE IN PICTURES
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