Hunt for Madeleine 'focuses on garage trio'
The search for missing Madeleine McCann has centred on a group of three – two men and a woman, it was disclosed today.
Portuguese reports said footage from a petrol station just outside Praia da Luz could now hold the key to the investigation.
It was confirmed yesterday by a source that officers from Portugal’s investigative Policia Judiciaria (PJ) had taken away CCTV footage from the Galp service station on the east-west motorway just outside the village.
It is believed a woman with a child matching Madeleine’s description had been at the service station and attracted the suspicions of staff.
But reports today, which have not been confirmed by police, said two men were also present.
Newspaper 24 Horas said the woman was in her 40s, blonde and appeared foreign.
The newspaper said the image had been passed to British police in a bid to identify her and said the footage had also been shown to those who gave witness statements to police to identify her.
Correio Da Manha said the CCTV footage included a car with a British number plate and claimed the number had already been circulated through Interpol. The newspaper said one major theory was that Madeleine had been kidnapped by one of the men with the complicity of a couple.
Meanwhile, 24 Horas also spoke of a report of a blonde woman seen near Madeleine’s bedroom on the night of her abduction.
It was confirmed today that a Portuguese man in the town of Sagres, near Praia da Luz, had reported a foreign man trying to take a photograph of his daughter.
The man challenged the stranger who made off in a car which, it was reported, he then photographed with his mobile phone.
The incident is understood to have happened before Madeleine’s disappearance and was reported to police on Monday.
The PJ has not commented on the reports. Its officers are expected to give a press conference later today but it is unclear how much information will be disclosed.
Madeleine has been missing for a week.
She was snatched as she slept in her parents holiday apartment in the village while the couple were dining nearby.
Today Mrs Kate McCann publicly prayed for her daughter’s return at a tearful ecumenical church service in the village church which is used by Catholics and Anglicans.
Later the couple are believed to have been spending time with police.
