Friday June 1, 2007

By David Piditch and Matt Drake in Praia da Luz

Portuguese detectives struggling to solve the abduction of Madeleine McCann have resorted to investigating visions and “sightings” of the youngster reported by psychics.

Officers in the Algarve have compiled two, three-inch thick dossiers containing e-mails and messages from clairvoyants who are convinced they know the location of the missing four-year-old girl.

The admission by the judicial police is set to attract further criticism over the handling of the month-long investigation.

Several psychics have suggested that the child was smuggled into Spain on the night she went missing.

Yesterday, the detective leading the hunt, Chief Inspector Olegario Sousa, said he could not rule out the possibility that Madeleine’s captor will make contact through encrypted messages giving coded details about where to find the
little girl.

Asked about the threat of attracting hoaxers, Mr Sousa replied: “If there are indications there is enough to follow, we will go. If there aren’t, we cannot do anything.”

If there are indications there is enough to follow, we will go. If there aren’t, we cannot do anything
Chief Inspector Olegario Sousa

Mr Sousa admitted that some of the descriptions were as vague as dreams about a man in a house with trees and a road.

However, he said he did not believe they had heard from Madeleine’s abductor yet.

A police spokesman confirmed the visions – which are reported every day – came from a mix of Portuguese and British sources.

The use of psychic investigators is a method that has been used many times before, including in famous cases such as the Yorkshire Ripper, the disappearance of teenager Milly Dowler and a missing girl in the US called Leah Freeman.

Madeleine’s parents Kate and Gerry McCann flew to Madrid last night on the latest leg of their campaign to find their daughter.

Heartbroken Kate told how the couple faced fresh torment every time they are forced to leave their two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie behind.

The 38-year-old GP said: “Leaving them is really hard. From a selfish point of view we would have liked to have had them with us as a comfort but I am sure it is not the best thing for them.” The Spanish visit comes exactly four weeks since Madeleine was snatched from her bed in a holiday complex at Praia da Luz.

The McCanns want to raise the issue of child abduction as well as appeal for information about their daughter.

The couple are planning visits to Berlin, Amsterdam and Morocco over the next week.

The cost of the travelling will be paid for by the Find Madeleine fund, which has so far raised £374,000.