Madeleine’s family convinced she is safe and well
The home of a British man was being searched by police looking for the missing four-year-old who disappeared in Portugal on May 3.
The suspect, Robert Murat, was taken to a police station yesterday.
Portuguese police said that more than one person was being questioned but that no one had been formally arrested.
The Murat property is just 150 yards from the apartment where Madeleine’s family were staying, in the southern Portuguese resort of Praia Da Luz.
The house, known as Casa Liliana, was sealed off while men in white suits and masks began a search inside. They are believed to have drained the villa’s swimming pool.
Gerry McCann said that, until the family saw “concrete evidence to the contrary”, they continued to be convinced the four-year-old is “safe and being looked after”. His wife, Kate, also emphasised the couple had no intention of returning to Britain from Portugal in the immediate future.
Madeleine was snatched from her bed in a holiday apartment in the Portuguese village of Praia da Luz 12 days ago. Despite their ordeal, the McCanns said they had drawn strength from the “spiritual outpouring” they had received both in Portugal and around the world.
Speaking just outside the apartment where their daughter was abducted, Mr McCann stood beside his wife, who was holding Madeleine’s favourite cuddly toy. For the first time the couple took questions from the media. They were asked how they were coping and Mr McCann replied they had received help from travel trauma consultants, helping them to look forward and direct negative emotions out of their minds. He said the process was helping them channel everything into looking forward.
Ms McCann said: “I can’t even consider going home at the moment, absolutely can’t even let it enter my head.”
Thanking those who have supported them, Mr McCann said: “We have taken tremendous strength from the warmth and the spiritual outpouring that we have received here and all around the world.”
Mr McCann said: “There have been multiple offers of different forms of help, including financial pledges of people wishing to help Madeleine.”
He said the couple welcomed the offers, but that they had created a problem in knowing where best to channel the resources.
He said: “We have brought in our lawyers to help us decide how best to use these offers of support to help us find Madeleine.”
THE public could soon be able to make their own financial contribution to the search for missing Madeleine McCann.
The “fighting fund” is being set up with the help of lawyers assisting the four-year-old’s parents Gerry and Kate McCann.
International Family Law Group said details of how to make donations would be released within days. Rewards of £2.5 million (€3.6m) have so far been offered to anyone with information leading to the four-year-old’s safe return. Richard Branson, Wayne Rooney and JK Rowling have contributed.
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