Madeleine 'planned abduction' theory

Source BBC News@ tienganhvui.com

14 October 2013 Last updated at 16:40 ET

An image (right) showing how Madeleine might have looked aged nine

Police say one reading of Madeleine McCann's disappearance is that it has "all the hallmarks of a pre-planned abduction".

Scotland Yard detectives have been revealing their latest findings in the search for Madeleine McCann on BBC One's Crimewatch programme.

Earlier, detectives released two e-fits of a man seen carrying a child towards the beach on 3 May 2007.

That was the night Madeleine, three, disappeared in Praia da Luz, Portugal.

Detectives releasing the e-fit image said a family saw the man with a blond-haired child of three or four, possibly wearing pyjamas, heading away from the McCanns' holiday apartment.

The witnesses said the man was white, 20 to 40 years old and of medium build. He had short brown hair, was clean-shaven and of medium height, they added.

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Inquiry: Key dates

• 3 May 2007: Madeleine disappears from apartment at Ocean Club, Praia da Luz. Police notify border police and airports and hundreds join a search for her


• 15 May 2007: British-born Robert Murat is made an official suspect or "arguido"


• 26 May 2007: Police issue description of man seen carrying what could have been a child the night Madeleine went missing


• 7 Sept 2007: Detectives make Mr and Mrs McCann "arguidos"


• 19 March 2008: McCanns accept £550,000 libel damages from Express newspapers over allegations they were responsible for Madeleine's death


• 15 July 2008: Mr Murat settles for £600,000 in damages from UK newspapers which alleged he was involved in disappearance


• 21 July 2008: Portuguese shelve investigation and lift "arguido" status of the McCanns and Mr Murat


• 13 May 2011: UK PM David Cameron writes to McCanns announcing "new action" by Met Police


• 4 July 2013: The Met Police launch a formal investigation and say they are investigating 38 "persons of interest"


• 14 Oct 2013: Police reveal new details of the investigation on Crimewatch

Det Ch Insp Andy Redwood, the senior Metropolitan Police investigating officer, said he could be the man who took Madeleine from her parents' holiday home but there could be an innocent explanation.

The Portuguese police who were originally investigating Madeleine's disappearance shelved the investigation in 2008.

Scotland Yard began a review of the case in May 2011 and opened a formal investigation in July this year.

As a result, according to the police, the timeline and "accepted version of events" surrounding Madeleine's disappearance have significantly changed.

Det Ch Insp Redwood said he was now attaching more weight to the sighting of the man and the child at 10pm, which was later than the time it was previously believed Madeleine was taken.

Madeleine and her brother and sister were left in the apartment at 8.30pm while her parents dined with friends at a nearby restaurant. Her father, Gerry McCann, checked on them at 9.05pm and her mother, Kate, raised the alarm at 10pm.

Thursday 3 May 2007: Timeline

• 20:30 Kate and Gerry McCann leave their apartment to have dinner at a Tapas bar


• 21:05 Gerry McCann checks on Madeleine and her siblings


• 22:00 A man is seen carrying a child wearing pyjamas heading towards the ocean


• 22:00 Kate McCann raises the alarm that Madeleine has gone missing

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