Police quiz parents' friends in Madeleine hunt

Published by webmaster for 24dash.com in Communities

Three close friends of Madeleine McCann's parents are among people being interviewed by police in Portugal today as part of the investigation, a friend said.

Detectives from the Policia Judiciaria (PJ) want to speak to Rachael Oldfield, Russell O'Brien and Fiona Payne to go over their accounts of the events of May 3, when Madeleine was abducted from her parents' holiday let in the Algarve.

The McCanns were having dinner with a group of friends from the UK in a tapas restaurant opposite the apartment in the village of Praia Da Luz when the four-year-old was snatched.

Police have already interviewed the party in detail including one woman, who has not been named, who saw a girl being carried away by a man in Praia Da Luz and now believes it was Madeleine.

A spokeswoman for the McCann family said that the three were due to be reinterviewed at the PJ headquarters in Portimao from around 11am today.

Meanwhile Robert Murat, the only official "arguido" or suspect in the case, was called back for a second day of questioning.

He was seen entering the PJ headquarters at around 10.30am today.

It is thought that among things he is being interviewed about is an e-mail which reportedly mentions "the missing English girl".

However Murat's interest in Madeleine's disappearance is well known.

He lives just a short walk from where she was snatched, has a daughter the same age and volunteered his services to help police investigating the case with translation.

Murat, 33, was thrown into the spotlight on May 14, 11 days after the four-year-old from Rothley, Leicestershire, was snatched.

Officers from the PJ swooped on Casa Liliana, the villa in which he lives with his mother Jenny, searching the villa extensively and taking several items away for analysis.

His girlfriend Michaela Walczuch and her estranged Portuguese husband Luis Antonio were also interviewed as witnesses and are among those also expected to be reinterviewed this week.

Chief Inspector Olegario Sousa said today that officers had scheduled a series of interviews throughout the week.

Among those also expected at the police station in Portimao today is Antonio Toscano, a freelance journalist who claims to have information on Madeleine's abductor.

He claims to have information that a French sex offender known as the "Frenchman" may have taken her on behalf of a paedophile network.

But Mr Sousa said: "We have checked all the information that he has provided to the PJ and have already said that it is a line which is not very strong, not consistent."

Speaking on behalf of Dr O'Brien, 36, and Dr Payne, 34, Mrs Oldfield, 36, said: "We are more than happy to help the police with their ongoing investigation.

"All of us want to do anything we can to help find Madeleine and reunite her with her loving parents.

"I know that Kate and Gerry are grateful to the Portuguese people for their prayers and tremendous support."

Copyright Press Association 2007

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