Standard: Portugal cabbie offers lead to Scotland Yard's Madeleine McCann investigation

http://www.standard.co.uk/news/uk/portugal-cabbie-offers-lead-to-scotland-yards-madeleine-mccann-investigation-8770358.html

Portugal cabbie offers lead to Scotland Yard's Madeleine McCann investigation
Hear my story, pleads driver ‘haunted’ by sighting

A taxi driver who says he could help solve the mystery of Madeleine McCann’s disappearance has urged Scotland Yard to investigate his claims.

Antonio Castela says he picked up three men, a woman and a girl who looked like the missing three-year-old near the Spanish border in the Algarve the night after she vanished.

He has previously claimed he told Portuguese detectives what he saw, but was not questioned, even though a lawyer for Maddy’s parents said he could provide vital clues.

The case was closed five years ago but Home Secretary Theresa May has sent an official request to Lisbon for permission for the Met to station officers in Portugal to begin a fresh investigation there. It is expected they could fly out within weeks.

Mr Castela, 73, said: “I want to tell them what I saw and assist in the investigation. I remember all the details. I would be very happy if the police re-open the investigation and if I could help in this case. This case has haunted me for a long time.” Maddy, from Leicestershire, vanished from the holiday flat rented by her doctor parents Kate and Gerry in Praia da Luz on the Algarve in May 2007. Mr Castela said he picked up the men, woman and child at 7.50pm, an hour’s drive away.

He took them two miles to the Hotel Apolo in his neighbourhood, Vila Real de Santo António, near Faro, where they got into a blue BMW and drove away. He said: “In 2007 I called police and told them what I had seen. Since then, no one from the police has spoken to me or showed interest in my story. No one came to collect my statement.”

He said he recalls Madeleine, in pink pyjamas, sitting on one of the men’s laps, and he noticed the “black spot” — a distinctive mark in her right eye. “I think my story may give a clue that has not been followed. I do not know what happened to Maddy, but I know that day, she was still alive in my cab.”

The Met has identified 38 potential suspects, including 12 Britons “of interest” who were in Portugal when Maddy vanished.

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Know what I think? I think Bad Elements in Portugal tried to ridicule this man's story by bringing it forward a day, because that suited their own agenda.

Anyone who has actually read the files knows there was another possible sighting of Madeleine in the area the day after she was abducted.

I bet the tick-tockers and Amaral supporters don't know about that, though.

Look at this reaction - and remember, this forker lives in the PDL area:

Re: Bingo!
Post fred Today

FFS!!!! He has already had his 5 minutes of fame, why doesn't he shut up!

Now, what normal, decent person would want someone who may have invaluable information about a missing child to 'shut up'?

Scared or something?

does he remember the time correctly, he's saying it was an hour's drive from PDL and it was at 7.50 which means she was taken at 6.50?

Had the McCann's even gone out for the night at that time?

Ten minutes to eight on the Third of May. This is how I read his original statement. Not possible of course. But he does say the night after Madeleine vanished which would have been the Fourth of May, and perfectly possible. So where did the discrepancy come from?
"The night she vanished." "The night AFTER she vanished." We have all seen that sort of messing with statements before.
I don't know why anyone would want to do that. I just know that they do.

rhodes wrote:does he remember the time correctly, he's saying it was an hour's drive from PDL and it was at 7.50 which means she was taken at 6.50?

Had the McCann's even gone out for the night at that time?

He say The night after she vanished, Rhodes. And now I think that someone has been messing with translations. Again.
Shit, I think I am going to spit.

Aha, now this is where it gets interesting, Rhodes. The original story put about was that he saw these people on the night of the third, which is of course, a total nonsense.

However, look at what he has been saying since the review started...


Antonio Castela says he picked up three men, a woman and a girl who looked like the missing three-year-old near the Spanish border in the Algarve the night after she vanished.

This, IMO, really does need to be looked at much more closely. Is he mistaken - or did he really see something, and his evidence spun and the waters muddied?

Especially as there is a statement in the police files from another woman which suggests Madeleine was seen in the area, alive, after she vanished. That doesn't seem to have been followed up properly, either.

Maybe it didn't suit someone?

Re: NOT AGAIN!!!!! - Portugal cabbie offers lead to Scotland Yard's Madeleine McCann investigation -Standard 16/8/13
Post jeanmonroe Today

I hope Antonio-castela-Cardoso dosen't confuse the Fallen Madonna from Rothley with the Fallen Madonna with zee Big Boobies by Van Klomp, in his efforts to 'help'!

Is that supposed to be an intelligent comment? If so, it's a sad failure - as woeful as that one who keeps shouting NEXT!    

already sent to those who are looking for Madeleine.

It's a loose end, and there has never been a satisfactory explanation for it.

As is the other possible sighting of Madeleine in the area after she went missing; from the files, it seems nothing was done to check that out.

Maybe didn't suit someone's agenda.

about:  

"it seems nothing was done to check that out.

Maybe didn't suit someone's agenda."

the true responsible for this is: gonçalo amaral.

Interesting to see the state the McCann-haters are getting in about this story. What's their problem? It might be something, might be nothing - either way, it and one or two other matters need checked out properly.

But they're acting like vampires faced with garlic; in short, they seem scared?

Re: Bingo!
Post  interested Today at 6:10 pm

Evening Standard accepting comments. I'm surprised they haven't deleted one from "kiko"......

....I'm certainly not repeating its ravings.

But isn't it amusing to see them at it again, pretending to be 'members of the public'?

Stephen D. Birch8 hours ago
PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION Avaaz "Digging for Madeleine Mc Cann"

      

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/317837/Madeleine-McCann-was-in-my-taxi-but-police-ignored-me


Madeleine McCann was in my taxi but police ignored me

A TAXI driver who claims he picked up Madeleine McCann the night after she vanished has accused Portuguese police of dismissing his evidence.

By: John Twomey
Published: Thu, May 3, 2012



Antonio Castela, 72, says he is ­certain the little girl in pink pyjamas travelling with four adults was three-year-old Madeleine.

Madeleine was wearing a pink T-shirt with the character Eeyore and white trousers with a small floral ­pattern when she was snatched.

The cabbie described how the girl in the taxi even had the same distinctive mark in her eye as Madeleine does.

He went to Portugal’s CID, the ­Policia Judiciaria, soon after discovering Madeleine had gone missing and gave a statement.

But Mr Castela said: “After I went to the police, I never heard anything from them again. They did not seem to take me seriously and never questioned me. They simply took down the details and that was it.

“I am amazed that it has been five years and nobody has ever asked me what I saw that night. I am absolutely certain it was her.”

Yesterday, the McCann family spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: “Mr Castela did absolutely the right thing at the time by reporting his sighting to the PJ.

“It is clearly deeply shocking that he now tells us he has not been ­interviewed once by a detective in five years. This is exactly the sort of thing that needs to be looked at in the ­investigative review now being carried out by the Metropolitan Police.” Mr Castela, a cab driver for 23 years, said he picked up the girl on the evening of May 4, 2007, in Monte Gordo in the Algarve. The spot was about an hour’s drive from Praia da Luz where Madeleine vanished the night before.

She was with three men and a woman and they were driven to the Hotel Apolo in Vila Real de Santo Antonio, near Faro. Once there, they got into a blue 4x4 and drove off.

Mr Castela said: “The little girl, who looked like Madeleine was sat on the lap of a man sitting in the back of the cab. I remember thinking it was odd because they did not speak a word during the entire journey apart from at the end when the man sat in the passenger seat said to me, ‘How much?’” He said the girl in his cab did not speak but was “staring ahead” as though she had been doped.

Isabel Duarte, the McCann family lawyer in Portugal, said the driver’s ­information is one of several leads which police there have not followed up. The McCanns are familiar with the cabbie’s claims but it is not clear if his testimony is among the 195 “investigative opportunities” ­identified by the Scotland Yard review team.

Operation Grange was launched in May last year after the McCanns appealed directly to David Cameron.

The 37-strong squad is sifting through 40,000 pieces of information.

Madeleine’s father Gerry said: “Probably for the first time in 4d years, information is coming in and it’s going to get through to officers who are actively pursuing the information.”

Last month detectives made inquiries in Nerja, southern Spain, after a tip-off from police in Portugal of a ­possible sighting of the girl.

Thanks, Max - this business of the dates really needs sorted out, doesn't it?

Either-

1. The taxi driver has got his dates muddled up.

or

2. He really did carry a child similar to Madeleine on the 4th. And not only was he ignored, his reports of the incident were deliberately altered to the day previously, to make a nonsense of his statement.

an earlier articles gives the date as 3rd May. The date really does need looking at to see which one is correct.


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-520929/Madeleine-police-come-Britain-interview-Tapas-Nine.html

And the only one words one of the men uttered at the end of the two and a half mile journey was "How Much?" in English when it was time to pay, Mr Castela told Jornal do Algarve in an exclusive interview.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-520929/Madeleine-police-come-Britain-interview-Tapas-Nine.html#ixzz2cBDKMsdY
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook

It only needs the word 'after' to be missed out of a line like, the night after Madeleine disappeared to change the whole meaning of his statement.

I really don't know what to make of it, especially when there is another witness statement specifically referring to the witness possibly having seen Madeleine after the 3rd which doesn't seem to have been properly investigated.

I think the fact that it is more than six years, and the portuguese haven't look into it is a disgrace.

No wonder the McCann's were always saying there were too many lose ends......they've known what the portuguese haven't bothered looking at which is why they wanted SY to do it.

Cover story tomorro:

about:

"there is another witness statement specifically referring to the witness possibly having seen Madeleine after the 3rd which doesn't seem to have been properly investigated..


"I think the fact that it is more than six years, and the portuguese haven't look into it is a disgrace.", due to a certain, sacked, liar, incompetent coordinator, whose true coordination was beers, shrimps, smears, lies, defamation, also to gain dirty fame and fortune at the expenses of innocents.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I agree with:

"the McCann's were always saying there were too many lose ends......they've known what the portuguese haven't bothered looking at which is why they wanted SY to do it.", that is why I sent it to Scotland Yard.

bb1 wrote:
Stephen D. Birch8 hours ago
PLEASE SIGN THE PETITION Avaaz "Digging for Madeleine Mc Cann"

      

His Petition is obscene.  For Christ's sake, he's talking about digging for a corpse. Has the man no shame?

hey birch, stop once and for all with your insanity, you stink, stop once and for all with your insane desire to become a celebrity, at the expenses of innocents, just to satisfy your ego, you need heavy therapy.

TROLL!!!!!! Jean's got her keyboard fired up in the hope of getting in a bit of hatespam:

Re: Bingo!
Post Not Born Yesterday Today

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/422662/Taxi-driver-tells-police-I-can-help-you-find-Madeleine-McCann

It was worth waiting for, wasn't it?!

No comments being allowed yet - maybe late

Yes, it must be at least a day since the armchair defectives have pretended to be members of the public.

Madeleine McCann news: Cabbie lead in search for lost British girl
17 Aug 2013 08:22
Antonio Castela claims he may have picked her up the night after she disappeared


A cabbie who claims he may have picked up Madeleine McCann the night after she disappeared hopes to meet British police in Portugal.

Antonio Castela, 73, said he took three men, a woman and a child in pink pyjamas who resembled Madeleine, then three, from close to the Spanish border to a hotel near Faro.

He said they then drove away in a blue 4x4.

Mr Castela claims the girl even had the same mark in her eye as Madeleine.

He said he told local police but never heard anything.

Scotland Yard officers could soon fly to Portugal after Home Secretary Theresa May applied for permission for them to be there.

Mr Castela said: "I want to tell them what I saw. I remember the details. It has haunted me for a long time."

Madeleine went missing in Praia da Luz on the Algarve in May 2007.

The Portuguese investigation is officially closed but Met officers want to speak to 38 suspects.



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