Madeleine McCann: German suspect ‘a scapegoat’ – claim

The German suspect in the Madeleine McCann case is just a ‘scapegoat’, the former Portuguese detective Goncalo Amaral claimed last year in a podcast made by Australian media.

Madeleine McCann went missing from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz on 3 May 2007, while her parents dined with friends at a tapas bar on the complex.

Her disappearance sparked a costly police operation and to date, around £11m has been spent on the case.

The German man who travelled around Portugal in a camper van is now the focus of Scotland Yard’s investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance 13 years ago.

Police believe the man, who is jail for a committing a sex crime, was in the area at the time of Madeleine’s disappearance. The suspect transferred a Jaguar car to someone else’s name the day after the girl disappeared.

“He is probably going to be the scapegoat,” Mr Amaral said in what was a rare interview with English media.

The Met Police has released photos of the campervan the German suspect was believed to have travelled around in, and two phone numbers used in a May 3, 2007 telephone call.

In 2008 Goncalo Amaral released The Truth of the Lie, a book documenting the police investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance.

The book suggested a theory that Madeleine had died in the apartment and that an abduction had been faked.

Mr and Mrs McCann, both doctors from Rothley, Leicestershire, have strenuously denied claims they were involved in the disappearance of Madeleine.