“The night we found her”

TV Interviews
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Kate and Gerry McCann have marked the third anniversary of the disappearance of Madeleine with an interview with “Las Mañanas de Cuatro” television in Spain.

Concha Garcia Campoy, presenter and director of “Las Mañanas de Cuatro” on Spanish television, spent the weekend with the McCanns in their home town of Rothley.

“The interview was taped over the weekend and will be broadcast from next Monday,” said an official of “Las Mañanas de Cuatro” adding that the case will be examined by several police officers, experts and journalists who were linked to the case.

According to an unconfirmed source, Gonçalo Amaral, former coordinator of the PJ who led the investigation into the disappearance of Maddie, will also be on the set.

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Press release

“There she was curled up against me. Then she took my engagement ring… She used to do this many times and put it… She put it as we read the story…. She is wonderful, what I can say.”

So Kate McCann recalls the last moments spent with her daughter. Next Monday marks the third anniversary of the disappearance of Madeleine. Three years in which her parents have not stopped looking for her.

“Las Mañanas de Cuatro” celebrates 750 programs on the air with an exclusive of worldwide interest. Concha Garcia Campoy has gone to Rothley (England) to interview the McCanns and know how is their day to day without Maddie.

Kate and Gerry have responded, without censorship, to all our questions. They talk about the doubts that still surround the case and their relationship with Gonçalo Amaral, the Portuguese policeman who was in charge of the investigation and who has always considered them suspects.

“In my mind it is very clear that a man took Madeleine and we have to find him to know where my daughter is. That the police don’t search for that man but suspect me and Gerry … That hurts me.“

Kate and Gerry McCann tell us each point of their version of what happened that night. They categorically denied they had medicated children (“It’s a shame that this was published. It has no basis. It’s a lie”) although they admit they could have made a mistake leaving them alone to go to dinner with a group of friends.

“The guilt will never leave us, we made a mistake and we repeated it several nights in a row … We never thought our children were in danger.”

They say that the have never hidden to Sean and Amelie, Maddie’s brother and sister; what happened.

“A psychologist told us to answer honestly all their questions … We explained to them about the kidnapping, saying that if we want something we should not take it if it belongs to others. And they understood it. As a robbery.“

Three years after the disappearance of Madeleine, the McCanns do not give up. They say they will continue to fight “the time it takes.” Currently, they are intending that the British police reopen the investigation.

We celebrate 750 mornings together … with new and interesting stories.
“Las Mañanas de Cuatro” – Transcript of McCann interview sections, from second programme, 04 May 2010
“Las Mañanas de Cuatro” – Transcript of McCann interview sections, from second programme
Gerry McCann: “…it wasn’t as bad as the night we found her.”Note: This transcript is taken direct from the video and is not a translation of the Spanish transcript (apart from the questions).

Due to the Spanish language dubbing, and the intrusive accompanying music, there are certain passages which are impossible to hear with clarity – on those ocassions the note [unclear] has been inserted.

By Nigel Moore

Interview, section 1:

Concha García Campoy: I’d like to ask you two or three questions about doubts in the investigation; I understand that this is a bit painful. It is said that you have not collaborated in a reconstruction of the facts, neither your friends.

Gerry McCann: Especially some of our friends, and how we had been treated, they did not feel that the proposed reconstruction, errr… would have any way gone to helping find Madeleine. No one wanted to do anything [unclear] among our friends [unclear]. To do anything it would have been a complete media circus.

Kate McCann: We also asked about the possibility of actors being used, which is obviously what we do in our reconstructions. I mean, certainly in the UK we have a programme called Crimewatch, which uses actors and I think [unclear]. Errm… it’s probably detrimental to ask people who have been through something traumatic to live it again.

CGC: Some tests in the apartment were collected, also in a car that you rented. Do you know something about the results of those tests?

GM: They essentially didn’t demonstrate anything and there were fragments of DNA, which, errr… the senior scientist said came from at least five different people. The report is absolutely clear on this, that none of that… nothing in there, was anything of anything and, errr… [unclear] has said there was blood but they’ve not identified it as blood.

CGC: Why do you think that the head of the investigation, Gonçalo Amaral, wants to prove that you are guilty?

GM: To be honest, I don’t even really want to talk about it because you can speculate about his motives. The important thing is that there is no evidence that Madeleine is dead and there’s certainly no evidence of any… our involvement in any way. What Mr Amaral’s done, and his record, I think speaks for itself.

Interview, section 2:

CGC: Do you want to reopen the investigation into the case of your daughter Madeleine?

KM: A little girl is still missing, you know, it’s not finished, you know. It’s… it’s almost like saying, ‘Oh well, we’ll see what we can find [unclear]’ you know.

GM: And I just think that’s unacceptable that, errm… the parents of a missing child are having to drive the investigation.

CGC: It made a great impression on me when, at one point, it was said that you had drugged the children, I suppose that that was one of the most serious accusations made against you?

KM: Well, again, that was a total lie. Errm… It’s quite disgraceful, actually that that was ever put into the media and I think it’s of interest that, errr… our doctor had never been contacted. I mean, it’s a lie. What… I mean, what can I say?

GM: You know, you can go over lots and lots of things; there were many things that were published. Some could have been made up; some could have come from the Internet. Other people who have gone through terrible tragedies and… and been through similar things. Journalism used to have [unclear], it’s now so driven by profit and sensationalism and the ability to print anything, no matter how damaging it is to people.

CGC: This is a question for both of you but especially for Kate. Were the interrogations of the Portuguese police particularly hard?

KM: The questioning was one of those situations that I would never have believed we’d have ever have been in. A man has taken Madeleine and we have to find him and we’ll find Madeleine. For people, including the police, to be not looking for that man, but looking at me and Gerry, then it might [unclear] Madeleine.

GM: Identifying that person is what we have to do at this stage but whoever took Madeleine is still out there, so other children are at risk. And how could we [unclear] at a time when we weren’t there, sort of thing. The leaks, smears and lies that were put in the media to try and, errr… convey, errr… an image that we were guilty of our own daughter’s disappearance, errm… was particularly hard but the m… it wasn’t as bad as the night we found her.
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