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97-458: Madeleine Beth McCann (born 12 May 2003) is a British missing person, who at the age of 3, disappeared from her bed in a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz , Lagos , Portugal, on the evening of 3 May 2007. The Daily Telegraph described her disappearance as "the most heavily reported missing-person case in modern history". Madeleine's whereabouts remain unknown, although German prosecutors believe she

194-531: A category B listed building . Over the years, the school has had renovation and additional blocks purposely built, known as the "new block" and "I.T. Wing". The new block also features new classrooms for English, religious education and modern languages. The school features over 20 purpose built I.T. rooms and also hosts three drama studios, complete with sound and lighting effects. It has several wood work and metal workshops as well as modern laboratories for physics, chemistry and biology. Nearly all classrooms within

291-468: A British homeowner looking for funds for a hostel or hospice in or near Espiche, and at 5:00   p.m two men approached another British tourist with a similar story. An "ugly" blond-haired man was seen on 2 May across the road from 5A, apparently watching it; he had also been seen on 29 April near the Ocean Club. On 30 April the granddaughter of 5A's former owners saw a blond-haired man leaning against

388-454: A bedroom next to the front door, which the McCanns kept locked. The bedroom had one waist-high window with curtains and a metal exterior shutter, the latter controlled by a cord inside the window; the McCanns kept the curtains and shutter closed throughout the holiday. The window overlooked a narrow walkway and residents' car park, which was separated from the street by a low wall. Madeleine slept in

485-552: A child toward the beach on the night Madeleine vanished. Shortly after this, Portuguese police reopened their inquiry. Operation Grange was scaled back in 2015, but the remaining detectives continued to pursue a small number of inquiries described in April 2017 as significant. In 2020, German authorities declared Christian Brückner their prime suspect for the abduction and murder of McCann, but charges have yet to be formalised. Madeleine's disappearance attracted sustained press coverage both in

582-461: A consultant cardiologist at Glenfield Hospital , Leicester. The McCanns met in 1993 in Glasgow and were married in 1998. Madeleine was born in 2003 and the twins, a boy and a girl, in 2005. The McCanns were on holiday with seven friends and eight children in all, including the McCanns' three. The nine adults dined together most evenings at 20:30 in the resort's tapas restaurant, as a result of which

679-529: A dance studio and a modern extensive fitness suite. These facilities are used by all pupils for physical education and are an addition to the swimming pool and gymnastics hall. In 2012, the school was selected as the Glasgow base for the Scottish Football Association 's Performance Schools, a system devised to support the development of the best young talented footballers across the country (there are seven such schools across Scotland). As of 2018,

776-557: A degree in medicine from the University of Dundee . She moved briefly into obstetrics and gynaecology , then anaesthetics, and finally general practice. Gerald Patrick McCann (born 1968 in Glasgow ) attended Holyrood R.C. Secondary School before graduating from the University of Glasgow with a BSc in physiology/sports science in 1989. In 1992, he qualified in medicine and in 2002 obtained his MD , also from Glasgow. Since 2005, he has been

873-436: A false abduction story. Particularly from August onwards, these suspicions developed into the theory that Madeleine had died in apartment 5A as a result of an accident—perhaps after being sedated to help her stay asleep—and that her parents had hidden her body for a month, before retrieving her and driving her to an unknown place in a car they had hired over three weeks after the disappearance. In 2010, Carlos Anjos, former head of

970-436: A floral pattern and cuffs on the legs, similar to Madeleine's. Tanner described the man as white, dark-haired, 5 ft 7 in (1.70 m) tall, of southern European or Mediterranean appearance, 35–40 years old, wearing gold or beige trousers and a dark jacket, and said he did not look like a tourist. According to Kate, Tanner passed the information to Portuguese police as soon as Madeleine was reported missing , but they did not pass

1067-453: A fourfold increase in burglaries between January and May 2007, including two in the McCanns' block in the seventeen days before the disappearance, during which burglars had entered through windows. Several witnesses reported men collecting for charity. On 20 April, a bedraggled-looking man asked a tourist in her apartment near 5A for money for an orphanage in nearby Espiche ; apparently there were no orphanages or similar in or near Espiche at

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1164-573: A plum-coloured top behaving suspiciously just outside it, information she said she passed to the police at the time. She also said she had seen a small brown rental car speeding toward the apartment, driving the wrong way down a one-way street. In statements to the PJ, witnesses described men behaving oddly near apartment 5A in the days before the disappearance and on the day itself. Scotland Yard came to believe that these men may have been engaged in reconnaissance for an abduction or burglary . There had been

1261-455: A population of 1,000, known as "Little Britain" because of the concentration of British homeowners and holidaymakers. They had booked through the British holiday company Mark Warner Ltd , and were placed in 5A Rua Dr Agostinho da Silva, an apartment owned by a retired teacher from Liverpool, one of several privately-owned properties the company rented. 5A was a two-bedroom ground-floor apartment in

1358-465: A search for her name on YouTube returned over 3,680 videos and seven million posts. Twelve days after Madeleine's disappearance, Robert Murat, a 34-year-old British-Portuguese property consultant, became the first arguido (suspect) in the case. Born in Hammersmith , West London , Murat lived in his mother's house, Casa Liliana , 150 yards (137 m) from apartment 5A in the direction in which

1455-450: A single bed next to the bedroom door, on the opposite side of the room from the window; the twins were in travel cots in the middle of the room. There was another single bed underneath the window. Thursday, 3 May 2007 was the penultimate day of the family's holiday. Over breakfast Madeleine asked: "Why didn't you come when [my brother] and I cried last night?" After the disappearance, her parents wondered whether this meant someone had entered

1552-412: A tennis lesson. The McCanns put the children to bed at around 19:00. Madeleine was left asleep in short-sleeved, pink-and-white Marks and Spencer 's Eeyore pyjamas, next to her comfort blanket and a soft toy, Cuddle Cat. At 20:30 the parents left 5A to dine with their friends in the Ocean Club's open-air tapas restaurant, located on the other side of the pool. 5A lay about 55 metres (180 ft) from

1649-609: A tourist, according to the Smiths, and had seemed uncomfortable carrying the child. E-fits based on the Smiths' testimony were first created in 2008 by Oakley International, private investigators hired by the McCanns, and were publicised in 2013 by Scotland Yard on the BBC programme Crimewatch . Kate had intended to check on the children at 21:30, but Matthew Oldfield, one of the Tapas Seven, offered to do it when he checked on his own children in

1746-412: A wall behind the apartments, and saw him again on 2 May near the tapas restaurant, looking at 5A. She described him as Caucasian , mid-30s, with short cropped hair, and "ugly" with spots. On or before the day of the disappearance, a man was seen staring at the McCanns' block, where a white van was parked. In the late afternoon of 3 May, a girl on the balcony of the apartment above 5A saw a man leave through

1843-510: Is an intermediate-size Blue Flag beach with two distinct zones: the white sand beach and rocky cliff zone, characteristic of the Algarve. While the waters are typically clean and transparent, its temperatures are variable, owing to the influence of the Atlantic currents. Demographically, the older parish of Luz was a small centre. By the 18th century, following the 1755 Lisbon earthquake , the region

1940-495: Is dead. Madeleine was on holiday from the United Kingdom with her parents Kate and Gerry McCann, her two-year-old twin siblings, and a group of family friends and their children. The McCann children had been left asleep at 20:30 in the ground-floor apartment while their parents dined with friends in a restaurant 55 metres (180 ft) away. The parents checked on the children throughout the evening, until Kate discovered Madeleine

2037-549: Is located near Crosshill railway station , Hampden Park , A728 and the new M74 motorway. Officially opened in 1936, the school's enrolment rapidly expanded amid the closure of several surrounding secondary schools in the city's south-side. To accommodate the surge in pupils attending Holyrood, the school underwent several refurbishments, most recently in the early 2000s which included the Holyrood Sports Centre. The school can accommodate more than 420 new 1st Year starts,

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2134-765: The Serious Organised Crime Agency (SOCA), the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre (CEOP), and the National Police Improvement Agency (NPIA). The PJ gave a British team a room in which to work, but apparently resented their presence. British police were used to feeding their data into HOLMES 2 (the Home Office Large Major Enquiry System); in Portugal, the information was collected in boxes. In addition

2231-455: The United Kingdom , Ireland , France and Germany , as well as residents of Portugal. The visitor to Luz encounters many façades with Manueline -era architectural motifs. There are many habitational structures that correspond to the estilo chão ("ground style") typical of the rural buildings that date back to the end of the 18th century. In the first half of the 19th century, many of

2328-414: The parcels around the parish seat. Much like many of the coastal communities of Portugal, Luz was susceptible to attacks by pirates from North Africa. Luz was frequently attacked by Moors, who plied the water of the Algarve, attacked small settlements, and pillaged the treasures of the churches and homes of its residents. The priest Vicente Benevides noted that the original image of Nossa Senhora da Luz

2425-401: The "qualifying examination". In 1971 the exam was abolished and all Scottish state schools became equal in terms of status, curriculum offered and examinations taken. In 2012, the school was the subject of a BBC television documentary series titled High School . In 2017, former pupil Joe McFadden visited Holyrood during his appearance on the BBC 's Strictly Come Dancing . The school

2522-679: The Atlantic Ocean, to the north by the civil parish of Barão de São João , to the east by Santa Maria and São Sebastião , and it is adjacent to the civil parish of Budens , in the municipality of Vila do Bispo . The parish includes three settlements (Luz, Espiche and Almádena ). The relief of the parish is marked by two mountainous areas, Montinhos da Luz (99 metres) and Montinhos do Burgau (68 metres), while four ravines flow from north to south: Ribeira do Vale de Barão, Ribeira de Almadena, Ribeira de Espiche and Ribeira da Luz. The beach in Praia da Luz

2619-438: The McCanns and friends every evening for the last four evenings of the holiday. The message said the group's children were asleep in the apartments. Kate believes the abductor may have seen the note. The McCanns and their friends left the restaurant roughly every half-hour to check on their children. Gerry carried out the first check on 5A at around 21:05. The children were asleep and all was well, except that he recalled having left

2716-484: The McCanns from the start because of the " media circus ". Gerry told Vanity Fair in 2008 that he had decided to "market" Madeleine to keep her in the public eye. To that end, a string of public relations consultants arrived in Praia da Luz, deeply resented by the local police, who saw the media attention as counterproductive. Alex Woolfall of the British PR firm Bell Pottinger , representing Mark Warner Ltd, dealt with

2813-510: The McCanns released age-progressed images of how she may have looked at age six, and in 2012 Scotland Yard commissioned one of her at age nine. Madeleine's parents are both physicians and practising Roman Catholics . Kate Marie McCann, née Healy (born 1968, Huyton , near Liverpool ) attended All Saints School in Anfield, then Notre Dame High School in Everton Valley, graduating in 1992 with

2910-420: The McCanns' block. At 23:00, after the disappearance, two blond-haired men were seen in a nearby street speaking in raised voices. When they realised they had been noticed, they reportedly lowered their voices and walked away. The first indication that the media were turning against the McCanns came on 6 June 2007, when a German journalist asked them during a Berlin press conference whether they were involved in

3007-642: The Moors from the Algarve, in the institutionalization of Christianity and the building of churches. During the Middle Ages, the parish was officially referred to as Nossa Senhora da Luz . King Manuel I , through his 1 June 1504 foral , recognized the importance of Lagos, in the Kingdom of the Algarve , for the quantity of fish catches at the time (primarily of tuna and sardine caught in Luz). Three factories eventually developed in

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3104-456: The Ocean Club night creche. Scotland Yard took photographs of the man wearing the same or similar clothes to the ones he was wearing on the night, and standing in a pose similar to the one Tanner reported. The pyjamas his daughter had been wearing also matched Tanner's report. Operation Grange's lead detective, Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood, said they were "almost certain" the Tanner sighting

3201-505: The PJ had less autonomy than police in the UK, often having to wait for magistrates ' decisions, which slowed things down. In an interview for Anthony Summers 's and Robbyn Swan 's book Looking for Madeleine (2014), Jim Gamble , head of CEOP at the time, said Portuguese police felt they were being condescended to, and that the British were acting as a "colonial power". A PJ officer acknowledged in 2010 that Portuguese police had been suspicious of

3298-534: The PJ in Portimão, became the inquiry's coordinator. It was widely acknowledged that mistakes were made during the so-called "golden hours" soon after the disappearance. Neither border nor marine police were given descriptions of Madeleine for many hours, and officers did not make house-to-house searches. According to Kate, roadblocks were first put in place at 10:00 the next morning. Police did not request motorway surveillance pictures of vehicles leaving Praia da Luz

3395-563: The Police Detectives Union in Portugal, told the BBC programme Panorama that most Portuguese investigators still believed Madeleine had died as a result of an accident in the apartment. Praia da Luz Historians Estácio da Veiga and José da Encarnação have proved that settlements of Luz have existed for millennia, and that many cultures have crossed the territory. At the end of the 19th century, various castros were discovered in

3492-587: The UK and internationally, reminiscent of the death of Diana, Princess of Wales , in 1997. Her parents were subjected to intense scrutiny and baseless allegations of involvement in her death, particularly in the tabloid press and on Twitter . In 2008 they and their travelling companions received damages and apologies from Express Newspapers , and in 2011 the McCanns testified before the Leveson Inquiry into British press misconduct, lending support to those arguing for tighter press regulation . Madeleine McCann

3589-428: The apartment next door to 5A. He noticed that the McCanns' children's bedroom door was wide open, but after hearing no noise, he left 5A without looking far enough into the bedroom to see whether Madeleine was there. He could not recall whether the bedroom window and its exterior shutter were open at this point. Early on in the investigation, Portuguese police accused Oldfield of involvement because he had volunteered to do

3686-489: The apartment. The PJ case file, released in 2008, showed that 5A lay empty for a month after the disappearance, then was let out to tourists before being sealed off in August 2007 for more forensic tests. A similar situation arose outside the apartment when a crowd gathered by the front door of 5A, including next to the children's bedroom window—through which an abductor may have entered or left—trampling on evidence. An officer dusted

3783-548: The approximate time of Madeleine's kidnapping . The Smiths saw the man at around 22:00 on Rua da Escola Primária, 500 yards (460 m) from the McCanns' apartment, walking away from the Ocean Club and towards Rua 25 de Abril and the beach. He was carrying a girl aged 3–4 years. She had blonde hair and pale skin, was wearing light-coloured pyjamas, and was barefoot. The man was mid-30s, 5 ft 7 in–5 ft 9 in (1.70–1.75 m), slim-to-normal build, with short brown hair, wearing cream or beige trousers. He did not look like

3880-597: The area of Serro Grande, that included various funerary tombs with galleries, dating to the Neolithic period. In these sites there were vestiges of Neolithic implements, artefacts from the Iron Age, and as a rock axe discovered in Espiche. The existence of human artifacts and shell mounds in the area suggest human presence before organized civilization. Remnants of a Roman spa are among the more important archaeological discoveries of

3977-425: The bedroom window's exterior shutter for fingerprints without wearing gloves or other protective clothing. In the United Kingdom it was agreed that Madeleine's home force, Leicestershire Police —led by Chief Constable Matt Baggott —would coordinate the British response, although it remained a Portuguese inquiry. A strategic coordinating group, or "gold" group , was put together, representing Leicestershire Police,

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4074-512: The biggest intake of any secondary school in Scotland. In 2019, Holyrood RC Secondary School was ranked the 82nd best performing school in Scotland by the Scottish Government : 43 per cent of pupils attained five or more awards at SCQF Level 6, the equivalent of Highers . The school was founded in 1936 and originally functioned as a senior secondary with entry dependent on a high mark in

4171-439: The check, suggesting to them that he had handed Madeleine to someone through the bedroom window. Kate made her own check of 5A at around 22:00. Scotland Yard stated in 2013 that Madeleine was probably taken moments before this. Kate recalled entering the apartment through the unlocked patio doors at the back and noticing that the children's bedroom door was wide open. When she tried to close the door, it slammed shut as though there

4268-441: The children's bedroom door slightly ajar, and now it stood almost wide open. He pulled it nearly closed again before returning to the restaurant. The sighting by Jane Tanner, one of the Tapas Seven, of a man carrying a child that night, became an important part of the early investigation. Tanner had left the restaurant just after 21:00 to check on her own daughter, passing Gerry on Rua Dr Francisco Gentil Martins on his way back to

4365-528: The children's bedroom. Her mother also noticed a large brown stain on Madeleine's pyjama top. The children spent the morning in the resort's Kids' Club, then the family lunched at their apartment before heading to the pool. Kate took the last known photograph of Madeleine at 2:29 that afternoon, sitting by the pool next to her father and two-year-old sister. The children returned to the Kids' Club, then at 18:00 their mother took them back to 5A, while their father went for

4462-528: The couple flew to Rome—in Sir Philip Green 's Learjet —to meet Pope Benedict XVI , a visit arranged by Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor , the Archbishop of Westminster . The following month balloons were let off in 300 cities around the world. By early June, journalists were voicing concerns: the "sheer professionalism of it ... troubled journalists", according to Matthew Parris . Placing Madeleine on

4559-518: The criminal police, the Polícia Judiciária (PJ), in nearby Portimão . Kate recounted that the PJ arrived just after 01:00. According to the PJ, they arrived within 10 minutes of being alerted. At 02:00 two patrol dogs were brought to the resort, and at 08:00 four search and rescue dogs . Police officers had their leave cancelled and started searching waterways, wells, caves, sewers, and ruins around Praia da Luz. Inspector Gonçalo Amaral , head of

4656-399: The curtains drawn, so they could let themselves in that way when checking on the children. There was a child-safety gate at the top of the steps from the patio and a low gate at the bottom, which led to the street. The resort's staff had left a note in a message book at the swimming-pool reception area, asking that the same table, which overlooked the apartments, be block-booked for 20:30 for

4753-539: The dedicated coach for the young players at Holyrood is Joe McBride . The school has established a close partnership with Mary's Meals , which saw former deputy head, Tony Begley, resign from his position to take up a new role as the education co-ordinator of this non-profitable charity. The school has also been at the forefront of fundraising for Malawi as well as Mary's Meals which involves under 30 pupils travelling to areas close to Blantyre, Malawi to reconstruct, renovate and build schools. A team of 36 young people

4850-528: The description to the media until 25 May. Madeleine's Fund hired a forensic artist to create an image of the man, which was released in October 2007. The sighting became important because it offered investigators a time frame for the abduction, but Scotland Yard came to view it as a red herring . In October 2013, they said that a British holidaymaker had been identified as the man Tanner had seen; he had been returning to his apartment after collecting his daughter from

4947-415: The disappearance, and Murat's arguido status was lifted on 21 July 2008 when the case was archived. In April 2008 he received £600,000 in out-of-court settlements for libel in what The Observer said was the largest number of separate libel actions brought in the UK by the same person in relation to one issue; his friends received £100,000 each. In July 2014, during Operation Grange, one of those friends

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5044-419: The disappearance, as did an Ocean Club nanny and two British holidaymakers. This would not have been surprising considering how close Murat lived to 5A, but he and his mother said he had been at home all evening. The McCann circle was clearly suspicious of Murat: one of the McCanns' supporters offered BBC reporter Richard Bilton "exclusive access to any new developments in the case" if Bilton would report back what

5141-512: The disappearance. On 30 June a 3,000-word article entitled "The Madeleine Case: A Pact of Silence" appeared in Sol , a Portuguese weekly, stating that the McCanns were suspects, highlighting alleged inconsistencies between their statements and implying that the Tanner sighting had been invented. The reporters had obtained the Tapas Sevens' mobile numbers and that of another witness, so it was apparent that

5238-496: The fifth block of a group of apartments known as Waterside Village, which lay on the perimeter of part of Mark Warner's Ocean Club resort. Matthew and Rachel Oldfield were next door in 5B, Jane Tanner and Russell O'Brien in 5D, and the Paynes and Dianne Webster on the first floor. Located on the corner of Rua Dr Agostinho da Silva and Rua Dr Francisco Gentil Martins, 5A was accessible to the public from two sides. Sliding glass patio doors in

5335-480: The front page of a British newspaper would sell up to 30,000 extra copies. She appeared on the cover of People magazine on 28 May 2007, on the front page of several British tabloids every day for almost six months, and as one of Sky News 's menu options: "UK News", "Madeleine", "World News". Between May 2007 and July 2008, the Portuguese tabloid Correio da Manhã published 384 articles about Madeleine. By June 2008

5432-400: The gate below, as though he had come out of a ground-floor apartment; what caught her attention was that he looked around before shutting the gate quietly, with both hands. At 14:30 two blond-haired men were seen on the balcony of 5C, an empty apartment two doors from 5A. At 16:00–17:00 a blond-haired man was seen near 5A. At 18:00 the same or another blond-haired man was seen in the stairwell of

5529-416: The inquiry had a leak. This and later articles in the Portuguese press, invariably followed up in the UK, made several allegations, based on no evidence, which would engulf the McCanns for years on social media . They included that the McCanns and Tapas Seven were " swingers ", that the McCanns had been sedating their children, and that the group had formed a "pact of silence" regarding what had happened on

5626-473: The inside window, controlled by pulling on a strap. Once rolled down, the slats locked in place outside the window and could be raised only by using the strap on the inside. Kate said the shutter and window were closed when Madeleine was put to bed, but open when she discovered Madeleine was missing. Gerry told the PJ that, when he was first alerted to the disappearance, he had lowered the shutter, then had gone outside and discovered that it could be raised only from

5723-409: The international public in 2007, when British tourist Madeleine McCann disappeared from a holiday flat (her whereabouts still remain unknown), as her parents ate at a nearby tapas restaurant. Luz is located in the southwest corner of the municipality of Lagos , and covers an area of 21.78 km . It is about 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) from the city of Lagos proper. It is bordered to the south by

5820-407: The investigation using private detectives until Scotland Yard opened its own inquiry, Operation Grange , in 2011. The senior investigating officer announced that he was treating the disappearance as "a criminal act by a stranger", most likely a planned abduction or burglary gone wrong. In 2013, Scotland Yard released e-fit images of men they wanted to trace, including one of a man seen carrying

5917-402: The living room at the back overlooked the Ocean Club's pool, tennis courts, tapas restaurant, and bar. The patio doors could be accessed via a public street, Rua Dr Francisco Gentil Martins, where a small gate and set of steps led to 5A's balcony and living room. 5A's front door was on the opposite side of the block from the Ocean Club, on Rua Dr Agostinho da Silva. The McCanns' children slept in

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6014-626: The man in the Tanner sighting had walked. He was named a suspect after a Sunday Mirror journalist told Portuguese police he had been asking about the case. The PJ had briefly signed Murat up as an official interpreter; he said he had wanted to help because he had a daughter in England around Madeleine's age. Three members of the Tapas Seven—Fiona Payne, Russell O'Brien, and Rachael Oldfield—said they had seen Murat outside apartment 5A shortly after

6111-418: The media dubbed the friends the "Tapas Seven". The report of one of the group, Jane Tanner, that she saw a man carry a child away from the resort 45 minutes before Madeleine was reported missing, became one of the most-discussed aspects of the case. (See "Tanner sighting" ) The McCanns arrived on 28 April 2007 for their seven-night spring break in Praia da Luz , a village in Portugal's Algarve region with

6208-509: The media for the first ten days, then the British government sent in press officers. This was apparently unprecedented. The first government press officer was Sheree Dodd, a former Daily Mirror journalist, who was followed by Clarence Mitchell, director of media monitoring for the Central Office of Information . When the government withdrew Mitchell, the McCanns hired Justine McGuinness, who

6305-458: The modern municipality. After the decline of the Pax Romana , the Algarve was visited by peoples from the lands of ancient Morocco . They established many of the fruit orchards that continue to exist in the foothills of Luz. Moorish rule in the Algarve resulted in assimilation of the indigenous cultures, transforming the region into a major economic power. Reconquista resulted in expulsion of

6402-573: The more official homes and buildings began to appear in the Algarvian Neo-baroque style. Meanwhile, the period was also marked by simple single-storey homes, covered in tiled roofs, typical of Luz. [REDACTED] Holyrood R.C. Secondary School Holyrood Secondary School is a Roman Catholic secondary school in the south-side of Glasgow , Scotland. It is notable for its comparatively large secondary school enrollment, having had over 2,000 pupils and 150 teaching staff. Holyrood

6499-411: The name Praia da Luz is actually a recent trend in the vernacular. Introduced by sunbathers, it was first recorded in 1928, and its use increased rapidly in the second half of the 20th century, with the tourist influx. Yet there still remains a distinction between the modern civil parish of Luz, and the medieval centre, which latter includes the historical village. Praia da Luz became more familiar to

6596-493: The night of the disappearance, or of the road between Lagos and Vila Real de Santo António on the Spanish border. Euroscut, the company that monitors the road, said they were not approached for information. It took Interpol five days to issue a global missing-person alert . Not everyone in the resort at the time was interviewed; holidaymakers later contacted the British police to say that no one had spoken to them. The crime scene

6693-459: The night of the disappearance. Much was made of apparent inconsistencies within and between the McCanns' and Tapas Seven's statements. The police had asked the group questions in Portuguese , and an interpreter had translated the replies. According to Kate, the statements were then typed up in Portuguese and verbally translated back into English for the interviewees to sign. Among the inconsistencies

6790-422: The old fishing village. Luz's beach and setting have attracted many visitors to the region, resulting in a shift from an economy based on fishing to one providing services for tourists. Along the beach, many of the canning plants were closed and replaced by windsurfing and diving schools, as well as discos, restaurants and shops tailored to the needs of the seasonal visitor. The once prominent casino closed, and

6887-445: The outside. Against this, Portuguese police said the shutter could not be raised from the outside without being forced, but there was no sign of forced entry ; they also said forcing the shutter open would have caused a lot of noise. The apparent discrepancies contributed to the view of the PJ that there had been no abduction. Kate's shout of "they've taken her" was viewed with suspicion, as though she had been trying to lend credence to

6984-471: The parents had left them unlocked to let themselves in.) There was also an inconsistency about whether the front door had been locked. Gerry told The Sunday Times in December 2007 that they had used the front door earlier in the week, but it was next to the children's bedroom, so they had started using the patio doors instead. The PJ also questioned why, when Kate discovered Madeleine was missing, she had run to

7081-436: The press pack was saying about Murat. Beginning on 15 May 2007, Murat's home was searched; the pool drained; his cars, computers, phones and video tapes examined; his garden searched using ground radar and sniffer dogs; and two of his associates questioned. In March 2008, one of those associates had his car set ablaze, with the word fala ("speak") sprayed in red on the pavement. There was nothing to link Murat or his friends to

7178-475: The region, the most recent developing in 1884, which served to conserve fish in olive oil, preceding the salting of sardine in the same fashion. These factories supported 100 workers, with the majority (60) women. Much later, another factory, in Espiche, was also constructed (but today only the ruins remain). Luz was also a major producer of figs (regularly exported to the fine sweets industry that developed), while wheat and barley were being cultivated in many of

7275-569: The resort activated its missing-child search protocol. Sixty staff and guests searched until 04:30, at first assuming that Madeleine had wandered off. One of them told Channel 4 's Dispatches that, from one end of Praia da Luz to the other, searchers calling Madeleine's name could be heard. Two officers from the gendarmerie , the Guarda Nacional Republicana (GNR), arrived at the resort at 23:10 from Lagos , 5 miles (8 km) away. At midnight, after briefly searching, they alerted

7372-445: The restaurant as the crow flies , but getting to the restaurant involved walking along a public street to reach the doors of the Ocean Club resort, then walking through the resort to the other side of the pool, a distance of about 82 metres (295 ft). The top of the apartment was visible from the tapas restaurant, but not the doors. The patio doors could be locked only from the inside, so the McCanns left them closed but unlocked, with

7469-468: The restaurant from his 21:05 check. He had stopped to chat to a British holidaymaker, but neither man recalled having seen Tanner. This puzzled the Portuguese police , given how narrow the street was, and led them to accuse Tanner of having invented the sighting. Tanner told the police that at around 21:15 she had noticed a man carrying a young child walk across the junction of Rua Dr Francisco Gentil Martins and Rua Dr Agostinho da Silva just ahead of her. He

7566-549: The school are fully equipped with smart boards and projectors. In 2001, Glasgow city council commissioned a modern sports centre to be built directly next to Holyrood, known as Holyrood Sports Centre. The school has exclusive access during the day to all the facilities, with the centre being open at night to the public. The sports centre features a full size synthetic floodlit pitch, three seven-a-side pitches, changing rooms, inside gym hall and shower accommodation. In addition, an open plan gym which can be split into two separate halls,

7663-400: The tapas restaurant leaving the twins alone in 5A, when she could have used her mobile phone or shouted to the group from 5A's rear balcony. Another issue was whether the exterior shutter over Madeleine's bedroom window could be opened from outside. According to journalist Danny Collins, the shutter was made of non-ferrous metal slats on a roller blind that was housed in a box at the top of

7760-450: The time. The witness described the man as pushy and intimidating. On 25 or 26 April, the tourist who rented apartment 5A before the McCanns found a man on his balcony who had entered via the steps from the street. Polite and clean-shaven, the visitor asked for money for an orphanage. On the day of the disappearance, 3 May, there were four charity collections by two men in the streets around 5A. At 4:00   p.m. two black-haired men approached

7857-413: Was a draught, which is when she saw that the bedroom window and its shutter were open. Madeleine's Cuddle Cat and blanket were still on the bed, but Madeleine was gone. After briefly searching the apartment, Kate ran back towards the restaurant, screaming, "Madeleine's gone! Someone's taken her!" At around 22:10, Gerry sent Matthew Oldfield to ask the resort's reception desk to call the police, and at 22:30

7954-515: Was born in Leicester and lived with her family in Rothley , Leicestershire . At her parents' request, she was made a ward of court in England shortly after the disappearance, which gave the court statutory powers to act on her behalf. Police described Madeleine as blonde-haired with blue-green eyes, a small brown spot on her left calf, and a distinctive dark strip on the iris of her right eye. In 2009

8051-469: Was chosen for 2013 after a successful five years of the project and planned to continue the work in Malawi, led by previous head teacher, Thomas McDonald. The school has so far raised in excess of £200,000 for Malawi. Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the 2020 Malawi, and subsequently 2021 Malawi projects had to be cancelled. The school has a roll of approximately 2,000 pupils and 150 teachers, making it one of

8148-527: Was decimated, and many of its residents abandoned the region. The development of the region only began in the second half of the 19th century. The census of 1893 indicated a population of fewer than 1,712 inhabitants. Luz is dominated by its beach, and extends as far as the cliffs of the southern coast, and part of the Algarvian Gold Coast ( Portuguese : Costa de Oiro ). During the Age of Discovery, fishing

8245-458: Was featured in an episode, as McFadden and his dance partner Katya Jones showcased a dance in front of the pupils. In 2020 Holyrood, along with all other Scottish schools, closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic . The SQA for the first time in 130 years cancelled all exams. The original school building, designed by the firm of John Burnet, Son & Dick , was built in 1936, and is now protected as

8342-427: Was formally constituted in 1673. The origins of the settlement date to the construction of a fortress in the area of Luz, and the presence of fishermen along the coast, especially after the establishment of an industry in the 15th and 16th centuries, when sardine fishing employed around 90 men. At the beginning of the 18th century, the parish of Luz was de-annexed from the main parish of Santa Maria . The use of

8439-465: Was later paid by Madeleine's Fund. The McCanns set up Madeleine's Fund: Leaving No Stone Unturned Ltd on 15 May 2007 to raise money and awareness; its website attracted 58 million hits in the first two days. Throughout May and June the couple's PR team arranged events to sustain media interest in the case, including a visit to the Portuguese city of Fátima as well as trips to Holland, Germany, Spain, and Morocco. On 30 May 2007, accompanied by reporters,

8536-546: Was missing at 22:00. Over the following weeks, particularly after misinterpreting a British DNA analysis , the Portuguese police came to believe that Madeleine had died in an accident in the apartment and her parents had covered it up. The McCanns were given arguido (suspect) status in September 2007, which was lifted when Portugal's attorney general archived the case in July 2008 for lack of evidence. Madeleine's parents continued

8633-425: Was not far from Madeleine's bedroom, heading east, away from the front of apartment 5A. In the early days of the investigation, the direction in which he was walking was thought to be important because he was moving toward the home of Robert Murat , the 33-year-old British-Portuguese man who lived near 5A, and who became the case's first suspect. The child in the man's arms was wearing light-coloured pink pyjamas with

8730-468: Was not related to the abduction. The rejection of the Tanner sighting as crucial to the timeline allowed investigators to focus on another sighting of a man carrying a child on the night of Madeleine's disappearance, this one reported to Portuguese police on 26 May 2007 by Martin and Mary Smith, who had been in Praia da Luz on holiday from Ireland. Scotland Yard concluded in 2013 that the Smith sighting offered

8827-442: Was not secured. Portuguese police took samples from Madeleine's bedroom, which were sent to three forensic labs. It was reported on 1 June 2007 that DNA from one "stranger" had been found, but around 20 people had entered apartment 5A before it was closed off, according to Chief Inspector Olegário de Sousa of the PJ. According to Kate, an officer placed tape across the doorway of the children's bedroom, but left at 03:00 without securing

8924-400: Was questioned again as a witness, this time by the PJ on behalf of Scotland Yard. In December that year Murat and his wife were questioned, also on behalf of Scotland Yard, along with eight others. In 2017 Murat's mother added her voice to those who had witnessed suspicious events around 5A that night: she told the BBC that she had driven past apartment 5A that night and had seen a young woman in

9021-506: Was replaced by a local primary school, before becoming the seat of the parish government and health centre. Similarly, many of the agricultural fields were purchased by developers, resulting in the building of many holiday villages, apartments, hotels and resorts. Many of the fishermen became employees of the hotel industry, while the cannery employees, welders and farmers began working in civil construction. The settlements of Luz have become holiday destinations for citizens primarily from

9118-414: Was reportedly headhunted for the job. When she left, Hanover Communications took over briefly, headed by Charles Lewington, formerly John Major 's private secretary. In September 2007, Brian Kennedy of Everest Windows stepped forward as a benefactor and offered to cover Mitchell's salary so that he could return. Mitchell resigned from his government position and started working for the McCanns full-time; he

9215-575: Was taken by the Moors in one of those raids. Forces loyal to the King discovered the image, and the King returned it to Luz, where he ordered the construction of a fortress to safeguard the image and protect the community. Within the fortress, a tower was constructed in 1624 and a wall was later added to circle the fortress, by the then Captain-General of the Kingdom of the Algarve, the Count of Pontével. The parish of Luz

9312-421: Was the spur that developed the settlements of Luz during the 13th and 14th centuries, progressing to whaling by the 16th century: it constitutes one of the more important economic poles of socio-economic development with the municipality of Lagos. Fishing, including octopus potting, was the predominant occupation in Praia da Luz until it was surpassed by tourism in the 1980s; the resort industry developed around

9409-450: Was whether the McCanns had entered the apartment by the front or back door when checking on the children. According to the PJ case file, Gerry stated during his first interview, on 4 May 2007, that the couple had entered 5A through the locked front door for his 21:05 and her 22:00 checks, and in a second interview, on 10 May, that he had entered through the unlocked patio doors at the back. (The patio doors could be unlocked only from inside, so

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