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POLICE ERRORS

Witness ‘spotted Madeleine McCann in German-registered VW van three weeks after she vanished’

BRITISH cops alerted Portuguese detectives to a possible sighting of Madeleine McCann in a German-registered VW van three weeks after she disappeared.

Officers sent a memo marked “urgent” explaining how a witness believed they had spotted her at a named restaurant near Valencia, Spain.

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Missing Madeleine McCann was apparently spotted just three weeks after her disappearance
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Missing Madeleine McCann was apparently spotted just three weeks after her disappearanceCredit: PA:Press Association
The witness said that Madeleine left with a man in a VW with German plates
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The witness said that Madeleine left with a man in a VW with German platesCredit: EPA

The witness said she left with a man in a VW with German plates and asked for details of the owner.

Two weeks later, they asked again for the tip to be traced but archived files seen by The Sun on Sunday show no follow up.

German cops have seized the VW camper van that suspect, Christian B, 43, was living in two miles from Praia da Luz — where Madeleine went missing in 2007.

The files also contain a report by a witness who saw a “strange” man matching Christian B’s description loitering near apartment 5A two weeks before Madeleine was taken.

Another tourist reported seeing a suspicious man with a van of the type Christian B drove.

Madeleine McCann, who went missing on holiday with parents Gerry and Kate, was apparently spotted in a German VW
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Madeleine McCann, who went missing on holiday with parents Gerry and Kate, was apparently spotted in a German VWCredit: Lee Thompson - The Sun

Two restaurant workers revealed how a man was “hanging around” for days in the run-up to Madeleine vanishing.

British cops also sent another “urgent” request imploring the Portuguese to investigate two German paedophiles.

The findings, which come after we reviewed 25,000 pages of files into Madeleine’s disappearance, also show that Portuguese cops failed to secure the crime scene or set up roadblocks.

A man matching the description of Christian B was spotted several times before Madeleine went missing from the Ocean Club apartment in Praia da Luz
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A man matching the description of Christian B was spotted several times before Madeleine went missing from the Ocean Club apartment in Praia da LuzCredit: Solarpix
Praia da Luz in Algarve, Portugal, showing the location of the McCanns’ holiday flat and Christian B's house
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Praia da Luz in Algarve, Portugal, showing the location of the McCanns’ holiday flat and Christian B's house
The files also contain a report by a witness who saw a 'strange' man who matches Christian B’s description
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The files also contain a report by a witness who saw a 'strange' man who matches Christian B’s descriptionCredit: Bild
The findings come after we reviewed 25,000 pages of files into Madeleine’s disappearance
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The findings come after we reviewed 25,000 pages of files into Madeleine’s disappearanceCredit: EPA

Cops' TV appeal tip-off ignored

A BLUNDER by German cops let Madeleine McCann murder suspect Christian B dodge a probe as far back as 2013.

Police received a tipoff that the serial sex predator was involved in Madeleine’s disappearance after an appeal by British police on German TV.

A report was prepared for the Federal Criminal Police Office — Germany’s FBI equivalent — by local police in Braunschweig after the tip-off was received.


But nothing was done and the report ignored.
Scotland Yard had appealed to European tourists who might have been in Portugal when Madeleine vanished.


The appeal received more than 500 calls.

German paedo suspect ‘boasted to a friend in a pub about snatching Madeleine McCann’ while cops appeal for information on known rapist Christian B

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