Madeleine McCann

The parents of missing British girl Madeleine McCann were on Thursday returning to Portugal for a libel trial against a former policeman who investigated their daughter's disappearance, a spokesman said. Kate and Gerry McCann launched legal action against Goncalo Amaral for suggesting in the media that their daughter was dead and his "disgraceful thesis" they were somehow involved in her disappearance. The McCanns are planning to attend the opening of the trial in Lisbon on Friday against... Read Full Story

A BUSINESSMAN who pretended to be a secret agent has allegedly pocketed up to £300,000 from funds intended to pay investigators working on the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. Kevin Halligen, a British security consultant, was paid to find Madeleine but allegedly failed to pass the money on to the private detectives who did the work on his behalf. A friend of Kate and Gerry McCann, Madeleine’s parents, said they had become increasingly concerned about Halligen. “He had this sense of cloak... Read Full Story

http://www.mccannfiles.com/id232.html 05 December 2009, 07:40 Thanks to Astro for translation Lisboa, 05 Dec (Lusa) – On the 11th of December, the Civil Court of Lisbon starts the trial over the injunction that forbids the sale of the book "Maddie – The Truth About the Lie", about the disappearance of the child in 2007, written by Gonçalo Amaral. During the sessions scheduled for the 11th, the 14th and the 16th of December, at the 7th Section of the Civil Court of Lisbon, the former Polícia... Read Full Story

A private detective, who disappeared after being paid hundreds of thousands of pounds to search for Madeleine McCann, has been arrested in Oxford, media reports said on Wednesday. The man, identified by The Sun as Kevin Halligen, is also wanted by American authorities on unrelated fraud charges. Halligen, who runs a Washington-based private investigations company, was hired last year by the McCanns to search for their daughter Madeleine who went missing in Portugal in 2007, the paper said... Read Full Story

A businessman paid to help search for girl Madeleine McCann was arrested after a hotel manager recognised him as an alleged fraudster wanted by US authorities, police said Wednesday. Kevin Halligen, 48, was arrested Tuesday at a luxury hotel in Oxford where he had been staying for several months under an assumed name. He was arrested following an argument over his bill. The hotel's manager recalled his face from a newspaper report last weekend about the alleged fraud. The US Department of... Read Full Story

The security consultant who was arrested in Oxford late November and is accused of stealing $494,000 from the Madeleine McCann fund, may be extradited to the U.S. Kevin Halligen , 48, claimed to have high level security contacts in the U.S., who could provide him with satellite images of Praia da Luz on the Algarve in Portugal, the night Madeleine went missing. She vanished in May 2007, while her family was on vacation in the area. Instead, according to the Daily Mail , Halligen... Read Full Story

Goncalo Amaral will face a libel trial in Madeleine McCann case Wednesday December 2,2009 KATE and Gerry McCann will come face to face in a courtroom with the Portuguese policeman who accused them of being involved in the disappearance of their daughter Madeleine. Madeleine McCann 's parents will confront discredited former police chief Goncalo Amaral at a libel hearing next week where he will be accused of peddling distressing lies about them. Mr Amaral was in charge of the... Read Full Story

Mystery man: Kevin Halligen, the private eye whose company was employed by the McCanns, pictured with girlfriend Shirin Trachiotis in Washington, where in one month he spent more than £3,000 on dining out But The Mail on Sunday can reveal today that despite setting up a hotline for potential informants and witnesses, none of the hundreds of calls received by a call centre hired by Halligen, 48, was listened to by Oakley investigators - and Halligen also bragged to his colleagues that he... Read Full Story

British police on Tuesday released a new video imagining what missing girl Madeleine McCann would look like now, at age six, and urged Internet users to spread the pictures as widely as they can. The appeal was launched by the U.K. Child Exploitation and Online Protection Center. Detectives hope the video will "prick the conscience" of someone who may be close to the girl's abductor. The short film includes new images of how Madeleine might have changed more than two years after she... Read Full Story

Police Tuesday released an Internet video of Madeleine McCann, who disappeared two years ago in Portugal at the age of three, with tanned skin and darker hair which she might have if held captive in a warmer climate. The video shows a digital image of what Madeleine might look like now if she had darker skin and shoulder-length hair. Another image shows her with paler skin. The minute-long video, produced in seven languages, also contains film footage of Madeleine before she disappeared... Read Full Story