Kate McCann's plea for news and 'snatch to order' plan found in files

Published on Wednesday 6 August 2008 22:16

KATE McCann wrote an emotional letter to Portuguese detectivesto end her "torture," police files revealed last night as it emerged intelligence had suggested Madeleine had been snatched "to order."

Three months after being named a suspect in the case, Mrs McCann, 40, wrote an impassioned letter to Paulo Rebelo, the head of the inquiry, calling for an end to "finger-pointing blame".

But she never received a reply – and the McCanns only learnt what police had done to look for Madeleine when their lawyers were given access to the case files last week.

News of the emotional letter came as it was revealed British police received intelligence suggesting Madeleine could have been snatched to order by a Belgian paedophile ring.

An anonymous source connected to the ring took a photograph of the little girl on holiday in Portugal and forwarded it to a "purchaser" in Belgium, according to information gathered by the Metropolitan Police.

The e-mail read: "Intelligence suggests that a paedophile ring in Belgium made an order for a young girl three days before Madeleine McCann was taken.

"Somebody connected to this group saw Maddie, took a photograph of her and sent it to Belgium. The purchaser agreed that the girl was suitable and Maddie was taken."

The information was forwarded to Portuguese detectives who passed it to Interpol. Two months later the inquiry was closed.

It also emerged that two police sniffer dogs picked up the same scent leading around the McCanns' apartment block after Madeleine went missing.

An aerial photograph shows that both animals followed identical routes from the front of apartment 5A in the Ocean Club resort in Praia da Luz.

However, experts concluded it was difficult to make a "precise evaluation" as to whether the dogs had definitely picked up Madeleine's scent.

The dossier also revealed that Portuguese detectives enlisted the FBI. Policia Judiciaria (PJ) officers asked the US law agency to compare a DNA sample from the missing girl with the body of a child washed ashore in Galveston, Texas, last November. She was later identified as two-year-old Riley Ann Sawyers.

Responding to the British police intelligence about the Belgian paedophile ring, the couple's spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: "Private investigators will be pursuing this line as an absolute priority to establish if it has been fully investigated and properly ruled out."

He confirmed the only response to Mrs McCann's letter was a formal notification that the letter would be added to the police file.

The note, dated 4 December, said the lack of communication between the police and the family was "torture" for her.

She wrote: "I am appealing to you as a fellow human being to work with us (if possible include us) and to remember that we are Madeleine's parents and have needs. With regard to this latter point, I would be grateful if you were able to keep us informed to some degree as to how the investigation is going – what work is being done to help find our daughter etc.

"I'm sure you will agree that this request is not unreasonable and is in fact humane."

The Portuguese prosecutors shelved the case and lifted the McCanns' arguido status on 21 July.