Danny Collins - Vanished. The Truth about the Disappearance of Madeline McCann

For Madeleine, and Jenny Klein

The maintenance of secrets acts like a psychic poison which alienates the possessor from the community

Carl Jung, 18751961

When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, Dear Watson, however improbable, must be the truth

Sherlock Holmes in The Sign of Four by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, 18591930

and shes gone with the Raggle, Taggle Gypsies O

18th-century English folk ballad

Extract from Hansard: 9 June 1992

W riting the history of an ongoing investigation is never easy but I have been helped tremendously by professional contacts made over the years in the police, press and television media of Portugal, Spain and the UK. In addition, as ever, assistance has been unstinting from Interpol at 200, Quai Charles de Gaulle in Lyon, France, whose hard-working functionaries supplied me with so much data on the procedures with regard to missing and stolen children within the European Union.

I also acknowledge the assistance provided by some of the more approachable residents of the enchanting resort of Praia da Luz, who were generous in helping me to recreate at a distance the drama and circumstances of that fateful night of 3 May 2007. Understandably, they have asked to remain anonymous, and so they shall.

Also, a word of thanks here to staff at Mark Warner Holidays, London, who were most helpful in providing plans of the resort and a breakdown of the childminding facilities available during that first week of May 2007. In addition, I should like to thank Agostinho da Cunha, Sid Brazier, La Jarrina, Ramn (El To) Mendoza and McCann spokesman Clarence Mitchell for their efforts on my behalf and Jim Viola of New Jersey, USA, for his dedicated struggle on behalf of missing persons everywhere. I include a whispered muito obrigado to those more simptico members of the Portuguese Guarda Nacional Republicana (GNR) and Judicial Police, who opened their minds to me regarding the progress of the investigation. Thank you, guys, for your expert observations and comments. Honour bound, I wont tell if you dont!

My thanks also goes to the ever-helpful staff at John Blake Publishing and especially to my on-the-ball book editors Clive Hebard and Steve Burdett, who are always on hand to soothe ruffled feathers and offer a healing word as deadlines approach.

Finally, as always, my love and gratitude goes to my wife Nikki, whose diligent and critical reading of the manuscript and womans insight into this tragic story during our long conversations, often lasting well into the balmy Spanish nights, have helped me write a better book than might have been. To each and every one of you, my grateful thanks.

T he true crime genre of writing must, by its very nature, take as its research material the heartbreak and misery that always relates to a crime, whether the source is the unfortunate victim or the relatives of those who have been snatched from life. As such, we writers may be seen to profit from those miseries, although, in keeping with my fellow scribes, I know that the unravelling of the story and the satisfaction of a completed and accurate account of the history often overcomes the desire for pecuniary gain. Not always, but often.

In the case of Madeleine McCann, the ultimate reward would be to see this engaging little child reunited with her parents and siblings before yet another anniversary of her disappearance passes. To assist in that end and in my belief that money should always follow mouth, 15 per cent of the royalties from this book will be donated to Madeleines Fund: Leaving No Stone Unturned. My publisher, John Blake Publishing of London, has also pledged a substantial donation to the Fund but theres always room for more from the public.

If you would like to help the Fund in its work or make a donation online, youll find details at www.findmadeleine.com The full objectives of the Fund are:

1. To secure the safe return to her family of Madeleine McCann, who was abducted in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on Thursday, 3 May 2007.

2. To procure that Madeleines abduction is thoroughly investigated and that her abductors, as well as those who played (or play) any part in assisting them are identified and brought to justice.

3. To provide support, including financial assistance, to Madeleines family.

4. If the above objects are fulfilled then the objects of the Fund shall be to pursue such purposes in similar cases arising in the United Kingdom, Portugal or elsewhere.

Postal donations can be made with cheques payable to Madeleines Fund: Leaving No Stone Unturned and sent to: Madeleines Fund: Leaving No Stone Unturned Limited, PO Box 53133, London E18 2YR or to NatWest, PO Box 113, Cavell House, 2A Charing Cross Road, London WC2H ONN. Sort Code: 604005, Account Number: 32130058

Internet banking donations from abroad to either:

IBAN: GB63 NWBK 6040 0532 1300 58

IBAN: GB63NWBK 6040 0532 1300 58

Sort Code: 604005

Account Number: 32130058

Iban bic: NWBKGB2L

All donations will be processed free of charge and your generosity is greatly appreciated.

Danny Collins

T he mystery most remembered by those who followed the news 30 years ago was that of Devon schoolgirl Genette Tate. Thirteen-year-old Genette disappeared in Aylesbeare, East Devon, as she went about her newspaper round on Saturday, 19 August 1978. One moment she was waving gaily to friends as she rounded a blind bend on her route; minutes later her bicycle and newspapers were discovered lying in the middle of the road. Her disappearance is one of the great mysteries of the Devon and Cornwall force and Detective Sergeant Bill McDonald, now in charge of the extensive case file, says the file will never be closed and the search for her abductor will always continue.

But what we the public now remember most about the case is a black-and-white photograph of a chubby, tousle-haired teenager directing a delightful toothy smile at the school photographer. There were no other photographs to show Genette playing with friends, Genette on holiday or Genette riding her bicycle. In those pre-digital days, the Box Brownie was a luxury and the black-and-white reel sent off for developing by the local chemist.

Now missing children come with their own portfolio. We all recall the photograph of bright-eyed Soham schoolgirls Holly Wells and Jessica Chapman posing in their David Beckham No. 7 Manchester United strip just two hours before they met their deaths at the hands of evil school caretaker Ian Huntley. And now we have Madeleine McCann, 2007 style: a whole gallery of photographs of the Lucy Atwell doll face with its impish grin, looking at the camera from beneath a sun hat on a sandy beach, riding a pony or looking up at us as she excitedly unwraps a Christmas present, helped by her siblings, twins Sean and Amelie.

Madeleine is a class act, the original cute little girl from a Spotlight casting directory, picked out to break our hearts in the Hollywood blockbuster still unfolding in the touristy Algarve resort of Praia da Luz. If not Spotlight, all the characters must be straight from Central Casting. There are Mum and Dad, the strong and silent heartthrob consultant Gerry and the cool and lissom Kate, beautiful in her grief but never red-eyed or blotchy. These two attractive thirty-somethings have become household names, veritable celebrities that knock the likes of Jade Goody and Shilpa Shetty far back into the wings.

Its the stuff of fantasy, with the frail mother victimised by a cruel and arrogant Chief Inspector of Police with a reputation for long lunches and throwing female suspects down stairs or at least looking the other way when it is done by his underlings.