'It WAS Maddie': Witness convinced girl in photo that Portuguese police kept secret was missing Madeleine

By
Arthur Martin
Last updated at 11:30 AM on 03rd March 2010


The woman who reported a possible sighting of Madeleine McCann in
New Zealand which was kept secret by Portuguese police said today she
'absolutely believes' it was the missing girl.Files have been released showing that Portuguese police dismissed dozens of potential sightings of Madeleine.
Leads from around the world - including the CCTV footage from New Zealand
of a child looking strikingly like the missing girl - were filed away
under the heading 'not relevant'.Information that police forces in the United States, Europe and North Africa considered important was also discarded.
None of the files was handed to private investigators working for Madeleine's parents, Gerry and Kate.


Enlarge

Lead: This CCTV image
of a girl strongly resembling Madeleine in a supermarket in New Zealand
was among the leads deemed 'not relevant' by Portugese police


Taryn Dryfhout was working on the tills at the Warehouse discount
store in Dunedin, New Zealand, when she saw the girl with a man, a
woman and a boy.

She said the girl 'looked just like" Madeleine and spoke with an English accent.
Ms Dryfhout told broadcaster TVNZ's ONE News: 'She told me that her name
was Hayley and was quite apprehensive... and sort of stammered over her
words when she was trying to think of her name. She was just very shy
and afraid.'
The shop worker said the adults with the children were 'a little bit suspicious' and added that the woman seemed to be in a
hurry to leave when she spoke to her.
Ms Dryfhout said it was disappointing that her possible sighting was not fully followed up.
She told the broadcaster: 'I absolutely believe it was her. I have no doubt in my mind'.
Mrs McCann, 41, said the disclosure of the secret files was heartbreaking and shocking.

Their existence came to light in a legal action brought by the
McCanns against Goncalo Amaral, the disgraced detective who was in
charge of the case.



Enlarge





No follow up: Another CCTV image showing the girl resembling Maddie in the New Zealand supermarket


They had wanted to stop him airing the slur that they had been involved in their daughter's disappearance.

The leads were all received and archived after Algarve police closed the case in July 2008.
Madeleine
was four when she vanished from the family's holiday apartment in Praia
da Luz in May 2007. Her parents were at a restaurant 80 yards away. They
now have a copy of the 2,000-page dossier which was published yesterday
on the order of a court in Portugal after an application by newspapers
including the Daily Mail. The McCanns are incensed that their private investigators were given no access to the sightings at the time.
Mrs McCann said: 'There are instances where information which we
think is very credible and worthy of information has not been actioned.
'We're gutted, it's absolutely shocking and difficult. Some of
the information handed in was very credible. It's heartbreaking to know
that it seems to end there.'
Mr McCann, also 41, was particularly angered at Inspector Ricardo
Paiva, who was responsible for collating any information about
Madeleine after the formal investigation ended. He said: 'Inspector Paiva believes Madeleine is dead. How can
he investigate thoroughly if he believes that? We know now there is a
lot of information just filed away - and that is not acceptable. Once
the file has been closed, what has actually been done? Next to
nothing.' The file contains a series of sightings which the McCanns would have expected to be fully investigated.
The astonishing CCTV footage from New Zealand shows a girl very like
Madeleine being led into a supermarket by a portly man in shorts -
seven months after her disappearance. The man's behaviour aroused the suspicions of a female security guard
in the shop in Dunedin on the South Island and she approached the girl
to establish she was British.
Although the girl said her name was 'Hailey', the security guard was convinced
the girl was Madeleine and reported the incident to police.
Interpol in Wellington then sent the images to police in Portugal who promptly deemed it 'not relevant'.
Read More on this story
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1254997/Madeleine-McCann-suspect-photo-files-kept-secret-Portuguese-police.html

i thought it was here when i saw it on tv this morning - y arent they following anything up!? :(

I wish they would find her