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Tag: Scotland Yard

  • Madeleine McCann: Detectives to Interview Suspects, Key Witnesses

    Madeleine McCann was just three years old when she disappeared from a hotel room in Portugal back in 2007. Today–more than seven years later–detectives from Scotland Yard arrived back in Portugal to help Portuguese detectives interview both suspects and key witnesses in the little girl’s disappearance. Sources believe that some of those to be questioned include former employees at the Ocean Club in Praia da Luz, where the McCann family was staying while vacationing from England.

    Four people of interest–all men–will be interviewed by both police forces. It is said that each is attending the interrogation of his own free will. Three of the men are Portuguese and one is a Russian national.

    When Madeleine McCann disappeared in May of 2007 her parents–Kate and Gerry McCann–were dining at a nearby restaurant. They came under great scrutiny following their daughter’s disappearance, with many believing they were directly involved. The McCann’s are presently involved in a lawsuit against ex-police chief Goncalo Amaral. He wrote a book about the case and in it stated that Madeleine McCann was dead and that Kate and Gerry McCann lied about her disappearance. The case goes in front of a civil court on July 8th in Lisbon.

    Kate and Gerry McCann issued a statement regarding these new steps in the investigation of their daughter’s disappearance.

    “We are very pleased that significant activity has taken place in Praia da Luz over the last 8 days with police officers and support teams from the UK working closely with the Policia Judicial and the Guarda Nacional Republicana,” the statement on their website reads.

    Locals in Portugal have criticized this most recent facet of the Madeleine McCann investigation. Some tourists have, too.

    “The next three months are when the entire village earns its keep,” town mayor Victor Mata said in an interview with the BBC. “The timing couldn’t be worse. Summer essentially starts today. The people of Luz are not against the searches for Madeleine but seeing as it’s been seven years, they would have appreciated it if they could have started in a few months’ time.”

    A little girl has been missing for seven years and the key to her disappearance could lie with the people who are being questioned in the coming days. What a crass and heartless comment for the mayor of this town to make. It would seem the curiosity factor–as wrong as such a thing may be–would serve to draw even more people to the area.

    It would be a blessing for all involved–most especially for Kate and Gerry McCann–for information leading to the discovery of their daughter, or sadly even her remains, to result from these upcoming interviews. At the very least this poor family could lay their little girl to rest.

    Do you think Madeleine McCann is still alive?

    Image via Facebook

  • Madeleine McCann: Suspect Sketch Leads To Thousands Of Responses

    Madeleine McCann: Suspect Sketch Leads To Thousands Of Responses

    Madeleine McCann disappeared from a vacation resort in 2007, and because her parents never stopped trying to find her, the case has been reopened despite the passage of time in the hopes that someone saw something, anything, that might lead police to her captor. Now, a set of computer-generated images–based on witness descriptions–have been released to the public, and thousands of people have responded with phone calls and emails to investigators.

    Scotland Yard detectives have teamed up with police from Portugal–where Madeleine was last seen–for the past two years to comb through piles of evidence and witness testimony in order to build a new case, and say they definitely have new leads. Unfortunately, it will take time to go through it all, and the same can be said for the public response to the suspect images. The pictures are a composite of the same man, described by two different witnesses who say they saw him carrying a young blonde girl away from the area where Madeleine’s family was vacationing.

    “Detectives are now trawling through and prioritizing that material. This will take time,” Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood said.

    Investigators stress that this man–who is described as white, between the ages of 20 and 40 and possibly speaking with a German accent–may be completely innocent. However, they need to track him down in order to rule him out.

    “Whilst this man may or may not be the key to unlocking this investigation, tracing and speaking to him is of vital importance to us. We have witnesses placing him in the resort area around the time of Madeleine’s disappearance,” said Redwood. “This is far from our only line of inquiry and there will be e-fits released of other sightings as well, who we are equally keen to trace. These people were seen on the day of Madeleine’s disappearance and the days leading up to it.”

    Image: Metropolitan Police Dept./CNN

  • Madeleine McCann: New Theory Linked to Thefts

    Six years after Madeleine McCann went missing in Praia de Luz, Portugal, Scotland Yard has a new theory, according to the Daily Mail. They now think that Madeleine may have been taken after disturbing burglars at The Ocean Club, where they were staying. They have a theory that her disappearance could be connected to a series of thefts at The Ocean Club and elsewhere around Praia de Luz.

    Therefore, Scotland Yard said they would like to hear from anyone that was on vacation and was burgled around Praia de Luz prior to Madeleine’s disappearance. Any information would be helpful to the investigation into who took Madeleine.

    Detectives have also been collecting an extensive list of phone records for calls made and received in the area, in order to be able to tell who was around. As detectives continue to pour over these phone records, Scotland Yard has said anyone that was around Praia de Luz on May 3, 2007 could receive a phone call from them. From this new line of investigation, that has gone on for two years, came the information about the break-ins and also began the phone record blitz. The new inquiry has yielded 41 new “people of interest“.

    Because of these new findings, the Kate and Gerry McCann are going on T.V. with the new information to make another plea to the public for help in finding Madeleine. The McCanns will appear live in the studio during an episode of BBC Crimewatch on Monday next week, which will also feature a reconstruction. Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley, of the Metropolitan Police, described the program’s content as “substantially different. It’s not just a bland ‘can you help us’ appeal, there is some different material and a different understanding to be presented,” he said.

    Image via youtube

  • Madeleine McCann: Phone Records Yield New “People Of Interest”

    Madeleine McCann, who was just 3-years old when she disappeared from her parents’ apartment in Portugal in 2007, is now the subject of a new investigation that might involve a ring of pedophiles.

    McCann’s case was reopened earlier this year after detectives put together a new case based around all-new leads, and now police say they want to look into a massive database of phone records that might show who was new to the Praia da Luz area that weekend. Scotland Yard–working with Portuguese police–say they have about 41 leads from those records and for anyone who was vacationing in Praia da Luz in 2007 to expect a call from them.

    “This is not just a general trawl,” said Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood. “It’s a targeted attack on that data to see if it assists us to find out what happened to Madeleine McCann at that time.”

    More information about the new leads in the case are expected on October 14th, when Madeleine’s family and the lead investigators during a BBC Crimewatch appeal. Although Portuguese police ended their investigation into the case in 2008 after finding nothing but dead ends, Scotland Yard remained committed to the case and spent two years building up a new file before reopening the investigation formally in June of this year.

    “The Home Office remains committed to supporting the search for Madeleine McCann. We have agreed to provide the Metropolitan Police with the resources they need to investigate her disappearance,” a Scotland Yard spokesman said in a statement.

    Image via Thinkstock

  • The Death of Princess Diana; Police Begin New Inquiry

    She was a much beloved public figure who died violently 16 years ago. But was it a car accident or not? British investigators say they are looking into some new information about the death of Princess Diana.

    Born Lady Diana Francis Spencer, she became the Princess of Wales in 1981. Her wedding to Prince Charles was viewed by approximately 750 million people worldwide.

    In 1997, Princess Diana was killed in a car accident in Paris along with Dodi Al-Fayed, and her driver, Henri Paul. French investigators initially thought, at the time, Paul caused the car crash while driving drunk. Paul’s employer, Mohamed Al-Fayed was also Dodi’s father. He said the car accident had been planned and that Diana had been murdered by members of British military and the Duke of Edinburgh, the Queen of England’s husband. Just a year earlier, the Prince and Princess of Wales had divorced after a formal request by Elizabeth II. It was rumored the Queen asked the couple to divorce after Princess Diana aired “dirty laundry” during a television interview.

    A British inquest began in 2004 and continued for about four years afterward. Officials formally concurred with the earlier French inquiry and ruled Diana’s death an “unlawful killing” resulting from both Paul’s negligence and from crazed paparazzi that’d chased her into a roadway tunnel.

    Now, 16 years later, Scotland Yard says they’ve learned something new. They say although they won’t release details about the new information, the new inquiry comes under the purview of the “special crimes and operations command,” of the Metropolis Police Service. According to a report, the reexamination into the case was authorized by Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, the head the agency.

    The original report about Princess Diana’s death was extremely lengthy and detailed. Consisting of approximately 832 pages, it took 14 police officers nearly three years to complete. Operations Paget, not the Metropolis Police Service was name of the Metropolis police inquiry led by Lord Stevens of Kirkwhelpington.

  • Madeleine McCann Case Is Being Reopened

    Madeleine McCann Case Is Being Reopened

    Madeleine McCann wasn’t quite four years old when she vanished from her family’s rented vacation home in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in 2007. Her parents said they were out at dinner while Madeleine slept with her siblings; when they returned, she was gone without a trace. Now, after a review by the Scotland Yard that took two years, they say they have formally reopened the case and are hoping to find something, anything, that will point them in the direction of what happened to little Madeleine.

    The McCanns, Kate and Gerry, were considered prime suspects right after the disappearance but have since been cleared. The news of a new investigation comes on the heels of the shocking revelation in Cleveland earlier this year, when three women who have been missing for a decade were rescued from their captor’s home.

    “The Home Office remains committed to supporting the search for Madeleine McCann. We have agreed to provide the Metropolitan Police with the resources they need to investigate her disappearance,” a Scotland Yard spokesman said in a statement.

    The initial investigation, handled by Portuguese police, was widely criticized for not following through with potential leads. After the McCanns pleaded with UK officials to partner with them, it was decided that there is still enough evidence and “people of interest” that went overlooked to justify reopening–and funding–another look.

    Madeleine would have been ten in May, and her parents released a digitally-enhanced photo showing what she may look like now, hoping that anyone with any clues to her whereabouts will come forward.

  • UK Man Gets Prison Time For Hacking Facebook Account

    A 21 year old man from England was sentenced to 12 months in prison under the UK’s Computer Misuse Act 1990 for hacking into an American’s Facebook account on January 12, 2011. There doesn’t seem to be a relationship between the 2 individuals and the crime is just random.

    The FBI began looking into the case last year when they were contacted by the American victim. The investigation quickly led them to the United Kingdom, so they contacted Scotland Yard and the Metropolitan Police Central e-crime Unit (PCeU) tracked down the suspect. The Police Central e-Crime Unit is a national unit created to respond to the most serious incidents of cyber crime in the UK and forms part of the government’s response to cyber threats, under the National Cyber Security Program.

    “The PCeU are working to detect and bring before the courts those responsible for this type of offense. Today’s result should act as a deterrent to any individuals thinking of participating in this type of criminal activity,” a PCeU spokesperson said in a statement. “By taking swift action, PCeU officers were able to quickly detain Crosskey thereby preventing further disruption to the victim.”

    The Defendant, Gareth Crosskey, was arrested in his home in July 2011 and authorities seized his computer and a few other things. He was charged with and pled guilty to two charges: using a computer to gain unauthorized access to a program/data as well as performing unauthorized acts with intent to impair operation of, or prevent/hinder access to, a computer.

  • UK Police & FBI Conference Call Leaked By Anonymous

    Anonymous is at it again with their latest hacking escapade. This time they targeted the UK police and FBI.

    UK police and the FBI held a conference call last week concerning cyber security, especially focusing on Anonymous and LulzSec members. The email planning the conference call was intercepted by Anonymous and shared on the net.

    fbimail

    Naked Security confirms that the email titled “Anon-Lulz International Coordination Call” was sent to “over 40 law enforcement officers in the USA, UK, Ireland, Netherlands, France and Sweden.”

    Anonymous used the leaked email to get into the phone conference and record the entirety of it. The entire 16 minute conversation has been uploaded to YouTube, among other places.

    The conversation details the continued investigation into Anonymous and LulzSec. While most of the names of the hackers are censored, two hackers are explicitly named – Jake Davis (suspected of being the public face of Anonymous) and Ryan Clearly (who allegedly launched a DDoS attack on the Serious Organised Crime Agency’s Web site).

    The FBI and UK Police did finally confirm that their call was intercepted, but the damage was already done.

    Anonymous has, of course, been poking fun at the FBI since the hack was made clear:

    @AnonymousIRC
    AnonymousIRC    The #FBI might be curious how we’re able to continuously read their internal comms for some time now. #OpInfiltration 4 hours ago via LulzTweeter ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto

    We’ll continue to keep you up to date on the latest Anonymous escapades as they happen. They’re promising some “lulzy” stuff today.

    @YourAnonNews
    Anonymous    We’e getting reports that even more lulz are coming later today. TGIF! #FFF #Anonymous 2 hours ago via web ·  Reply ·  Retweet ·  Favorite · powered by @socialditto