The artist impression's of 'Creepyman'

The picture immediately above, which accompanied the News of the World story, combines the sketch of Jane Tanner's 'abductor' with Gail Cooper's 'creepy' prowler.

It is supposed to show their similarities but, in actual fact, there is very little to suggest that this is the same man. The only tangible connection is that they were both drawn by the same artist, Melissa Little. Bearing that in mind, it is not surprising that the 'feel' of both sketches is the same.

Portuguese police have dismissed the sketch as having "no credibility". Officers have accused the McCanns of diverting attention away from themselves. Carlos Anjos, president of the Judicial Police Inspectors Union, said: "All sense has been completely lost."

Another police source said the picture was based on information "without any consistency", shows a man who could be one of "hundreds of people" and is "another diversionary manoeuvre".

More like the police than the police - new tactics in hunt for Madeleine, 21 January 2008

More like the police than the police - new tactics in hunt for Madeleine Scotsman

Published Date: 21 January 2008

Source: The Scotsman

Location: Scotland

By MARTYN McLAUGHLIN

McCanns employ rhetoric and methodology of authorities as they unveil drawing of suspect, writes Martyn McLaughlin

It had all the features of an official police press conference: a solemn appeal for sightings, delivered with detective-speak phrases such as "eliminating suspects in the investigation".

However, the man standing behind the lectern was not a senior policeman but a PR consultant hired by a family determined to find answers even if it means going it alone.

Eight months on from the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, the private-investigation team sanctioned by her parents is increasingly employing the rhetoric and methodology of the police.

Yesterday, in what Kate and Gerry McCann hope will spark a breakthrough, the couple's official spokesman released, for the first time, an image of a suspect to the media and public.

The distribution of the artist's impression, created by Melissa Little, an FBI-accredited police artist hired by the McCann team, spoke volumes not only about the family's resolve, but their frustration with the official investigation.

The language of Clarence Mitchell, the McCanns' public face, was unequivocal as he addressed the media from a lectern in a London hotel. "Who is he? Where is he? What, if any, is his connection to Madeleine's disappearance?" he said. "If he is innocent, we want him to come forward for his own sake so he can be ruled out. We believe this man could be linked to Madeleine's disappearance."

One former senior officer with Strathclyde Police suggested the family's approach was designed to keep public interest in the case buoyant, but said they may still have to rely on the resources of the police.

He said: "The language and the presentation that are being used imitate the police thanks to their PR people. They know that's a good way to catch the public's eye. It's an authoritative approach and it captures people's attention. I don't think there's any real policing expertise, though.

"I'd say it's highly unlikely they have anywhere near the resources of an active policing force. The parents don't know how to conduct an investigation and they're dependent on people they are hiring, who, in some cases, may not be best suited for the job. I think, as time goes on, it's unlikely they will find any new information on their own, outside of the chance someone will respond to this kind of public appeal."

In any case, it appears Mr Mitchell's tactics yesterday were borne largely out of dissatisfaction at the apparent impotency and silence of the Portuguese police, though he was careful not to cast aspersions: "We're not going to criticise the police in any form – they have got a difficult enough job. It seems drawings of this sort are not done as a matter of course in Portugal."

Nonetheless, the private investigation now appears to be regarded by the McCanns as their best hope of tracing their daughter. Having secured the image of the suspect, their team has now drawn up an action plan for how they want the investigation to proceed.

Firstly, they want a worldwide search, co-ordinated by a central phone number manned by their private-detective agency to identify and locate the man in the sketches. All information would be passed on to the Portuguese police.

Secondly, they want a full review of all police records and witness statements, including one taken from a 12-year-old girl who reported sightings of a strange man in the Portuguese resort in May last year.

Thirdly, Mr Mitchell called for complete cooperation between the Portuguese police, Interpol and the authorities in Spain, Morocco and Britain.

With tension between the McCanns and the Portuguese police still evident, the latter demand may not be straightforward. Worse still, they appear to be getting little return on the £50,000 a month being paid out to Metodo 3, the Barcelona-based private-detective agency.

'Disturbing' man is new suspect

The new suspect in the case of Madeleine McCann's disappearance was spotted by a holidaymaker three times walking around the complex where the four-year-old was last seen.

The sketch was based on an interview with Gail Cooper, a grandmother from Nottinghamshire, who originally gave a statement to police in May last year.

Mrs Cooper described seeing an olive-skinned man with collar-length scraggly hair acting suspiciously on a number of occasions.

On 20 April, Mrs Cooper said, she saw the man walking by himself in heavy rain on the deserted beach at Praia da Luz. Later the same afternoon, Mrs Cooper said she received a visit from the same man, whom she described as "disturbing".

Two days later, Mrs Cooper saw the same man hanging around a children's outing to the beach organised by the Mark Warner resort.

The full article contains 805 words and appears in The Scotsman newspaper.

Last Updated: 21 January 2008 12:03 AM

Witness reveals chilling clues about Maddie suspect, 20 January 2008

Witness reveals chilling clues about Maddie suspect News of the World

By Sara Nuwar

20/01/2008 (although currently shows 05/08/2008 online)

This is the man suspected of snatching four-year-old Maddie McCann.

It is the FIRST detailed likeness of a stalker thought to have kidnapped the toddler. And it's based on sensational new clues unearthed by the News of the World.

If you have any information about the man in this new picture contact the confidential phone line 0034 902 300 213 based in Spain now

As a massive new manhunt began last night a McCann family source said: "This is a stunning breakthrough.

A British woman who came face to face with the suspected Maddie McCann kidnapper revealed last night: "He made my blood run cold and gave me the creeps."

Granny Gail Cooper, 50, was staying just 600 YARDS from the McCann family's Portuguese holiday flat when she had THREE separate chilling encounters with the moustachioed mystery man.

After the News of the World probed her evidence further, McCann investigators analysed her detailed description.

It tied in uncannily with descriptions by family friend Jane Tanner of a man seen carrying a child in pink pyjamas from the resort of Praia da Luz the night Maddie vanished.

Based on Mrs Cooper's evidence an FBI-trained police artist produced the the FIRST detailed likenesses of the stalker—pictured above.

And last night, armed with the new pictures, detectives in Portugal and Britain were joined by Interpol in a desperate race to trace the suspect.

The man is 38 to 45, with sallow skin, lank dark hair, distinctive droopy moustache, large teeth and speaks broken English.

As the dramatic development raised the McCann family's hopes a source at the heart of the probe admitted: "This is a stunning breakthrough. We now have a manhunt. Where is this man now? We need to find him as soon as possible."

Over the last seven days Spanish private eyes Metodo 3 and the Find Madeleine campaign worked round the clock after the News of the World conducted a detailed review of the case. We studied all material in the public domain homing in on witness reports we felt had been overlooked.

When we spoke to Mrs Cooper at length it soon became clear vital clues were buried in her account of a "creepy man" loitering at the resort.

Two of her sightings were also witnessed by her husband. And we can also reveal that a NEW witness, a 12-year-old girl, has come forward to back up her story.

Mrs Cooper first spotted the man on the beach at Praia da Luz on April 20 at about 1pm when she went for lunch with friends at the Paraiso Restaurant.

She said: "He was wandering about on the beach alone even though it was pouring down with rain. There wasn't another soul about. I watched him for a few minutes before I went back to chatting to my friends."

Later that day, at around 4pm, Mrs Cooper was startled to find the stranger knocking on the front door of her holiday villa.

She said: "He must have seen my husband leaving because the bell rang only seconds later.

"He flashed what he said was an identity card but it could have been anything.

"He seemed really strange. It was a warm afternoon but he was wearing khaki trousers or joggers, a T-shirt and a bomber jacket. He said he was collecting for an orphanage in nearby Espiche that was caring for three children whose parents had recently been killed in an accident on the main coast road.

"It just didn't add up. Everyone would have known if there had been a tragedy like that.

"The man was rambling and becoming agitated. He really unnerved me even though my two grown-up daughters and two grandchildren were with me.

"I thought he was a conman trying to pull a fast one."

Mrs Cooper also said her eight-year-old grand-daughter had been playing on her own in the pool near the villa and was clearly visible from the road.

She added: "This man was very unpleasant and creepy. I'd put his age at 38 to 45. He was very scruffy and had a 70s-style black Mexican moustache.

"He wasn't Portuguese—I think he was North African, either Tunisian or Moroccan."

Mrs Cooper, a community healthcare co-ordinator from Newark, Notts, added: "In my job I have to assess people and make a judgement.

"My judgement is that this man was very suspicious and could have been the kidnapper everyone is searching for.

"I'd recognise him immediately if I saw him. His appearance has really stuck in my mind."

We can confirm the orphanage does NOT exist and that there is no evidence of the fatal car crash. Mrs Cooper saw the man a third time, two days later on April 22, as she lunched with her husband Jonathan at Bar Habana on the beach.

There was a children's outing there from the Mark Warner Ocean Club at the same time. The man was again alone and standing near the group of youngsters. Mrs Cooper said: "He looked odd and out of place."

When Madeleine arrived at the resort just a week later, the youngster went to the beach three days in a row with the children's club, including May 3, the day of her disappearance.

Although Mrs Cooper rang police on May 7 and gave a statement at her home on May 21 she heard no more. But it is now clear how important her account—and the facial likeness built from it—may be. On the night Madeleine vanished from the apartment while parents Kate and Gerry—both Leicestershire doctors—were dining at a nearby tapas restaurant, family friend Jane Tanner saw a man carrying a child away from the apartment on foot at 9.10pm.

Jane has now told the McCanns: "The man in the new suspect picture strongly resembles the person I saw on May 3rd."

The sketch by qualified police artist Melissa Little, bears an uncanny resemblance to an earlier picture, based on Jane Tanner's story.

Last night the McCanns' spokesman Clarence Mitchell said the new image had been passed to officers from the Leicestershire Constabulary, Portuguese police and Interpol. They hope the hunt will also be joined by forces in Spain and Morocco.

Metodo 3 believe the kidnapper may have had accomplices in Praia da Luz who helped spirit Madeleine away to the Moroccan hills.

If you have any information about the man in the new picture contact the confidential phone line 0034 902 300 213 based in Spain now. A specially-trained team will take your call in any language.

Mr Mitchell said: "We urgently need to know who this man is and where he is.

"For Madeleine's sake, we urge anyone with any information about him to come forward right away."

Four witnesses are claimed to support Mrs Cooper's sighting

The Daily Mail runs an online report (link) with the headline:

Four witnesses say they saw suspect pictured in new poster campaign

However, when you read the text of the article there is a subtle difference:

'Four key witnesses in the Madeleine McCann investigation could have seen the man shown in a new sketch of a potential suspect, it emerged yesterday.' and,

'...four witnesses may have seen the unidentified man - first on the night the three-year-old went missing, then later with named suspect Robert Murat, and finally in Morocco.'

So, what do these four witnesses say?

1) Jane Tanner - Is quoted as saying that she was "80 per cent sure" that the man depicted in this new artist's impression was the same man she saw carrying a child away from the McCanns' apartment .

"80 per cent sure" does not sound entirely convincing. But that is probably not surprising when we look back at the artist's impression of the man Tanner claims to have seen, who doesn't even have a face.

In November 2007, she admitted: "I simply don't know if I could identify again the man I saw that night." and "He had his face turned away from me, sort of sideways and it was very dark. I just didn't see it properly, I wish to God I had." (link to quotes)

2) Isabel Gonzalez - Who said she saw Madeleine with a Berber woman in Morocco, said the sketch looked "very similar" to a man she saw immediately after the sighting.

Again, not particularly convincing. Ms Gonzalez has never previously mentioned anyone resembling this description. She has detailed "an older woman in a Muslim headscarf" and a "European-looking" couple, who looked "completely out of place" in a small Portuguese town (later attempts were made to imply this was Murat and his girlfriend). But absolutely no description anywhere of a long haired, swarthy looking man with a very distinctive moustache.

3) Amanda Mills - 34, from Basildon, Essex, claimed to have spotted a man trying to break into a bedroom window at the Ocean Club in Praia da Luz a week before Madeleine disappeared from the complex. She is reported to have said there are "strong similarities" between the man she saw and the new sketch.

Again, this is the week before the McCanns arrived and could be connected to Gail Cooper's sighting. But nothing at all connects it with the man Jane Tanner allegedly saw or the week that the McCanns were there.

At the time, Ms Mills described seeing a ''scruffy, unshaven'' man. If she could remember with such clarity that he was unshaven then she would surely have remembered and remarked upon such a distinctive moustache, if this was the same man that Mrs Cooper saw. (link)

4) Charlotte Pennington - The report says 'Her description of a person she saw with Mr Murat also matches the man shown in the artist's impression.'

No quote from Ms Pennington so we must asume the newspaper is making the connection for her. It should also be remembered that Pennington did not describe a scruffy or unkempt man, nor did she describe a distinctive moustache and she placed his age at 27-35 years, whereas Mrs Cooper ages her man at 38-45 years.

In conclusion, it would appear that this is yet another report trying to make witness connections on tenuous or simply non-existent grounds.

What are the doubts that surround Gail Cooper's story?

1) The report claims that Gail Cooper spotted the man 3 times, which she apparently did, but 2 of those times were on the same day.

2) The sightings took place on 20 and 22 April 2007 - six days before the McCanns arrived.

3) Would a 'predator' announce himself in such a public way, by walking on the beach in the rain, knocking on doors and hanging around children on the beach?

4) Would such a 'predator' book himself in at a small holiday resort for two weeks, knowing he would almost certainly be seen on a fairly regular basis?

5) If this man was the 'predator', then why did he wait two weeks to abduct a child?

6) In contrast to the News of the World headline - which indicated that Mrs Cooper's blood ran cold when she saw him: "He made my blood run cold and gave me the creeps." - the Nottingham Evening Post (link) quotes Mrs Cooper as saying that her "blood ran cold" when she realised the mystery man could have been involved in Maddie's disappearance.

"It was quite a bit later. Even when I heard the news about a little girl going missing I still didn't draw the connection until I got talking to friends who had been with us," she told the Evening Post.

"When the penny finally dropped my blood ran cold."

So, are we to assume that the News of the World used the phrase to sensationalise and dramatise their story, when the man didn't actually make her blood run cold at the time - only when she thought he might be connected to Madeleine's disappearance?

7) In a live, local news interview at the Rothley War Memorial, on 21 January 2008, the reporter asked Mrs Cooper what this man had done to make her so suspicious.

She responded: 'Well, nothing really'.

Police say Cooper's 'Creepyman' is a local pig farmer

Joaquim Jose Marques/'Creepyman'

Daily Mail, 24 January 2008

Original text of article:

The man in the new image released by Kate and Gerry McCann as a possible suspect in Madeleine's disappearance has been found and is a local pig farmer who has now been ruled out of the case.

The man, who has been named as Joaquim Jose Marques, was discovered living five miles from the holiday resort in the Algarve but police say he is not connected to the case.

The discovery rules out reports that there was also an accomplice involved.

The farmer was originally contacted by Portugal's criminal investigation department 20 days after Madeleine vanished aged three. After the image was released this week, they got in touch with him again.

He was interviewed yesterday by Portuguese police and was ruled out of the hunt for Madeleine McCann's abductor.

The dishevelled looking worker lives close to a village called Pedragosa, which is about five miles from the resort of Praia da Luz.

Revised text following contact with Clarence Mitchell:

Officers hunting for missing Madeleine McCann believe they have tracked down a straggly-haired man depicted in an artist's drawing as a possible suspect - and ruled him out of the inquiry.

However the McCanns today claimed the pig farmer is NOT the man detectives are looking for and vowed the hunt would go on.

The man, who was today named as Joaquim Jose Marques, was discovered living five miles from the holiday resort in the Algarve but police say he is not connected to the case.

The discovery rules out reports that there was also an accomplice involved.

The farmer was originally contacted by Portugal's criminal investigation department 20 days after Madeleine vanished.

After the image was released this week, they got in touch with him again and he was interviewed by police and ruled out of the inquiry.

The dishevelled looking worker lives close to a village called Pedragosa, which is about five miles from the resort of Praia da Luz.

The McCanns' spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, said: "Our investigators have not been informed that the man we are seeking has been ruled out.

"We have no reason to believe he has been ruled out and our search for the man in our image is very much continuing.

"Our understanding is that the man reported to be linked to our image bears no resemblance. For instance, he has dreadlocks and Gail Cooper most definitely would have spotted those."

Note: The article was later re-written a third time to reveal that Marques had raped a British girl in Praia da Luz, in 1995:

Revealed: 'Madeleine photofit man was jailed for raping British girl' Daily Mail

Last updated at 15:34 25 January 2008

The man in the sketch of Madeleine McCann's alleged abductor has been identified as a pig farmer who raped a British tourist in the town where the three-year-old disappeared.

Joaquim Jose Marques raped his teenage victim while an accomplice targeted her friend, the Portuguese daily newspaper Diario de Noticias reported today.

Marques, who has a daughter of Madeleine's age, was sentenced to five years in jail in 1996 after being found guilty of the 1995 attack in Praia da Luz.

Just three weeks into the Madeleine investigation, which started in May last year, investigators ruled him out of any involvement in her disappearance.

Joaquim Jose Marques is the man in the sketch released by the McCanns - he was interviewed immediately after Maddy went missing and interviewed again yesterday before being ruled out of their enquiries

His unnamed accomplice was also convicted of rape in 1995, the Portuguese paper added.

The girls, both British and aged 17 and 18, were said to have been staying with a relative at the time.

Dreadlocked Marques, nicknamed Quim Ze, was also a known gun-runner and drug trafficker, the paper claimed.

He was linked to Madeleine's disappearance earlier this week after being identified from a new sketch of a man suspected of snatching her from her family's holiday flat in May last year.

They interviewed him for a second time earlier this week after Kate and Gerry released an artist's sketch of the scruffy stranger seen by a British tourist in and around Praia da Luz in the days before the abduction.

Portuguese police ruled him out of the abduction but the McCanns spokesman Clarence Mitchell said they did not believe the right man had been found and said the hunt for the man in the drawing continued.

The Daily Mail yesterday tracked Mr Marques to his ramshackle farm in Pedragosa, four miles from the Algarve resort where Madeleine disappeared.

He refused to speak about the international hunt for the man shown in the posters - which have been sent to Interpol and to Portugal, Spain and North Africa.

He screamed obscenities at callers to the isolated farm and then returned brandishing an ancient-looking rifle.

Standing among his pigs and surrounded by feral dogs, Mr Marques shouted: "Leave me alone, leave me alone... look at this face, is this the face in the picture?"

Mr and Mrs McCann, both 39, believe the sketch could show the man who took their daughter from their holiday apartment in Praia da Luz.

It was drawn by an FBI trained forensic artist based on descriptions by British tourist Gail Cooper, who told police how a "creepy man" came to her villa in Praia da Luz, asking for donations for a nearby orphanage, only days before Madeleine went missing.

Mrs Cooper, 50, of Newark, Nottinghamshire, said she saw the man three times, once when he was hanging around a children's beach outing.

Portuguese police have dismissed her sightings and the e-fit as having "no credibility" and say the McCanns are using them as a "diversion tactic".

They remain convinced Madeleine died last May 3 and that her parents were involved in her disappearance. Mr and Mrs McCann, of Rothley, are still official suspects in the case.

But the couple's private investigation agency Metodo 3 believe the sketch could show the abductor. Their hotline has received dozens of calls from those who think they have seen the man in the sketch.

A police source told the Portuguese newspaper Correio da Manha the image "could apply to many, many people," and said Mr Marques was not a suspect.

He said: "Contact with the individual was not in any shape or form an interrogation. It was just an informal contact to clear up any suspicions."

Neighbours described Mr Marques as a reclusive character who had moved to the isolated farm last year to live quietly with his British-born girlfriend and their daughter, who is three or four.

MADDIE: WE FIND WEIRDO SUSPECT – He comes out packing a gun, 25 January 2008

Marques brandishes an air rifle to keep reporters off his land

MADDIE: WE FIND WEIRDO SUSPECT – He comes out packing a gun Daily Star (article no longer available online)

EXCLUSIVE

The weirdo whose image is on a million posters in the Madeleine McCann hunt was traced by the Daily Star – and threatened to shoot our man with his rifle

The "creepy" prowler fingered in the hunt for Madeleine McCann was last night revealed as a penniless pig farmer ... with a gun.

Police are certain Joaquim Jose Marques is the suspicious stranger spotted lurking in Praia da Luz a fortnight before Madeleine vanished.

But when the Daily Star tracked him down yesterday at his crumbling farmhouse three miles from the Portuguese resort, he unleashed a pack of ferocious dogs.

Then he emerged with a rifle, screaming threats that he would open fire.

Marques became the centre of a global manhunt after Brit holidaymaker Gail Cooper described the character that made her "blood run cold" to an ex-FBI sketch artist who produced a vivid drawing of the man.

Maddie's parents Gerry and Kate, both 39, distributed a million posters of the image in a bid to trace him, so he could be quizzed over their daughter’s disappearance while they were on holiday at the resort.

But yesterday it was revealed that detectives had tracked him down just 20 days after the four-year-old vanished last May and found he had an alibi.

Police officers went back to see Marques this week after the McCanns issued their poster.

They also quizzed his British hairdresser girlfriend – with whom he has a three-year-old daughter – to check out his story. When the Daily Star went to his tumbledown hillside farm, it was apparent why police were quick to include him in their first round-up of suspects.

Marques flew into a rage at being linked to the Madeleine disappearance and set loose his dogs. Then, brandishing a garden hoe menacingly, he screamed abuse when asked to explain the police visit.

"Leave me alone, leave me alone," he yelled. "You are destroying my life. I have had the police here and they know it is not me. I want you off my land right now."

The swarthy farmer disappeared into an abandoned outbuilding and emerged toting a rifle above his head, screaming threats that he was about to shoot.

While his long hair, facial colouring and age – in his 30s – match the man in the drawing, he does not share his moustache or prominent teeth.

Holidaymaker Gail, 50, had told how she saw the mysterious man three times in Praia da Luz the week before the McCanns arrived, and he gave her the "creeps".

Last night the McCanns' private detectives from the Barcelona-based Metodo 3 agency were still trying to track down Marques to question him about the poster.

The couple's family spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: "As far as we are concerned the hunt for the man in the sketch continues.

"We are very grateful to anyone who comes forward with information and, even if it is not the man we are looking for, it enables us to rule individuals out."

But Portuguese police said Marques was not a suspect in the case, had not been arrested and has been eliminated from their inquiries.

A police source said: "At the time of the disappearance an individual who had been fingered as a suspect by a tourist in Luz was contacted.

"Immediately he was acquitted of any suspicions.

"This week another English citizen pointed to the individual.

"But after the man was once again contacted, it was quite clear he had no connection to the case."

Portuguese worker resembling Madeleine poster photofit questioned by RGP officers, 26 January 2008

Portuguese worker resembling Madeleine poster photofit questioned by RGP officers gibfocus

gibfocus - 26th January 2008
(2008-01-26 14:25:00 )

A Portuguese construction worker in Gibraltar was questioned by Royal Gibraltar Police on Thursday after he was reported to resemble the photofit of a man seen in the area of Praia da Luz before Madeleine McCann disappeared last year.

Local police have been in contact with Portuguese police according to local media reports.

The man was not arrested and was released on the same day.

Madeleine McCann suspect spotted 'spying on little boys', 26 January 2008

Madeleine McCann suspect spotted 'spying on little boys' Daily Mirror

Ryan Parry In Altura, Portugal

26/01/2008

A creepy stranger suspected of kidnapping Madeleine McCann was spotted speaking to two small boys on a beach days after stalking two women.

Five women holidaymakers - three British and two German - have seen the "strange and disturbed" man in Altura, close to the Portuguese-Spanish border, in the past two weeks.

One of the British witnesses noticed him on the beach on January 21 bending down to talk to the boys, aged about four or five.

Clearly worried, one of the youngsters started shaking his head mid-conversation. Then a woman ran out of a nearby villa, shouting in alarm. She scooped the children up and hurried them away.

Another of the British women told how she was followed round a supermarket by the prowler on January 16. The tourist, who is in her 30s and refused to be named, said: "I noticed he was following me.

''I thought I might be imagining it, so kept stopping. But he kept shadowing me. I was so nervous. It frightened the heck out of me.

"Eventually an assistant saw what was happening and shooed him away.

"But outside I saw him again, walking down towards the beach. I ran down a side street to avoid him but when I got to my hotel he was there again, hanging around. It made me really nervous."

The holidaymaker was horrified when an apparent sketch of the man appeared on TV and in the press. She said: "The likeness between him and the drawing is amazing. I'm sure it's the same man."

The following day the holidaymaker was walking with another British woman who opened a paper, saw the sketch and shouted: "I've seen him!

He was following me." She claimed that days earlier the stranger stalked her as she strolled along the beach.

Both women immediately told an English First Choice holiday rep about the sightings. The incident involving the boys then emerged.

The first woman said: "I started speaking to other people about it and came across two German women who said they'd seen this man on the beach as well, and had spoken to him.

"They said he spoke a bit of German and seemed very strange and disturbed."

The sketch was drawn up after Gail Cooper, 50, of Newark, Notts, gave a description of a man she saw acting strangely in Praia da Luz shortly before Madeleine, then three, went missing on May 3.

A Europe-wide hunt for the suspect was launched last week. The First Choice rep told police about the latest sightings when she returned to Britain.

A pig farmer quizzed over the sketch is a convicted rapist who attacked a teenage British tourist in Praia da Luz, it emerged yesterday.

Joaquim Marques was jailed for five years after the 1995 attack, the Portuguese newspaper Diario de Noticias reported.

An accomplice raped the victim's friend. The girls were aged 17 and 18.

Dreadlocked Marques - believed to be in his 30s - is also a gun-runner and drug trafficker, it was claimed.

But, shown his picture, Gail Cooper said: "That's not the man I saw."

Is this Maddie suspect?, 27 January 2008

'Creepyman'/Joaquim Agostinho

Is this Maddie suspect? News of the World

Exclusive: Astonishing lookalike found in hunt for missing Maddie

By Chris Tate & Neville Thurlbeck

A mystery loner who admits he bears an uncanny resemblance to an artist's drawing of a "creepy" suspect in the Maddie McCann kidnap hunt said : "It's not me in the picture."

But when eyewitness Gail Coop, who helped create the sketches, saw the scruffy man's photo she gasped: "Oh my God, that's so like him.

"He's the spitting image of the man I saw three times at the resort where Madeleine vanished.

"It's deeply shocking to see my drawing come to life. His cold, emotionless eyes sent a chill right through me."

The 50-year-old granny added: "I thought there'd be no doubt in my mind if I saw him again."

But when we tracked down the mystery man in our photo, Joaquim Agostinho, 42, who lives a 90-minute drive from the resort, said: "I did not kill Madeleine and I've never been to Praia da Luz.

"I cannot even drive. I accept that the drawing looks like me. All my friends have been laughing about it during the week saying how much it looks like me."

Astonishingly, despite the amazing resemblance, he revealed that police haven't bothered to question him.

Impossible

He said: "No, the police haven't spoken to me. But people have been following me and taking pictures of me today and I didn't know what it was all about.

"As I say, I don't drive a car so I couldn't possibly have done what people think. I did own a motorbike once but I lost it couple of years ago."

Agostinho lives alone in a small flat in Altura, 87 miles east of Praia, where Madeleine was kidnapped on May 3 last year.

He added: "I have no money. I earn a little bit by delivering newspapers to people and for that they pay me with a drink of beer."

As our snap of Agostinho shows, he has a droopy moustache, long, dark hair and prominent teeth, just like the man in the sketch.

Heathcare worker Gail helped an FBI-trained illustrator make a detailed image of the suspicious man she saw in the resort where she was staying — close to the McCanns' holiday apartment and at the time Maddie disappeared.

After the drawings sped around the globe, we photographed a man described as a "weird loner" in his home town, just an hour and a half's drive from Praia da Luz before talking to him.

On Saturday we found Aghostinho touring around the bars of his hometown. Unkempt and unshaven in a brown leather jacket and camouflage trousers, the six-footer drank a lunchtime coffee in one bar before moving on to a succession of others.

Later, laughing nervously and looking bewildered in front of Portuguese TV cameras, he held a press conference outside his favourite bar, the Snack Bar Aliha at 5pm.

Our investigations in the small seaside town revealed the man, in his mid-fifties, is a college dropout and one-time fisherman who now drifts aimlessly around its narrow streets.

One local told the News of the World: "He is single and lives alone somewhere in the warren of little streets near the church.

Problems

"At one time he was a very bright student, but had emotional problems and dropped out of education.

"Now he just wanders from bar to bar. Most people know him, he's not known as being any trouble."

The town is a popular tourist spot with Brits and Germans, just 20 minutes across an open border to the Spanish town of Heulva, where five-year-old girl Mari Luz Cortes vanished two weeks ago while on her way to buy crisps from a shop.

Although there is no evidence that Aghostinho has any connection with either disappearance, Gail urged Portuguese cops to question him.

Detectives have claimed pig farmer Joaquim Jose Marques, who wears his hair in dreadlocks, is the subject of her drawing and that he has already been eliminated from their search.

But last night Gail insisted: "I know with all my heart that Marques definitely was NOT the guy I saw three times in Praia de Luz.

"That man was not the guy in my drawing. But this new man is so much like him.

"I'm amazed the man in the photo is so similar to him. I'm sure the one with the dreadlocks is NOT him. This new man must be interviewed, if only because they need to rule him out of inquiries—and he might even be a vital new witness."

Gail saw the suspect she described three times wandering around the resort. He called at the villa where her grandchildren were playing in a pool, visible from the road, claiming he was collecting for an orphanage.

She said: "He didn't do anything, but I felt intimidated by his manner.

"I didn't give him any money and he went off on foot, but he must have had a vehicle somewhere."

Meanwhile, there was a bizarre new "sighting" of Madeleine reported last night—in Chile, South America.

An air-conditioning technician in Santiago told police he saw two adults with a young child at a museum in Vicuna five days ago.

He told officers: "I saw a child with a pair of adults, one of whom closely resembles the police portrait of the possible kidnapper recently released by private detectives hired by the McCanns.''

Joaquim Agostinho/'Creepyman'

McCann cops to quiz lookalike, 28 January 2008

McCann cops to quiz lookalike The Sun

By GARY O’SHEA
in Praia da Luz

Published: 28 Jan 2008

Detectives are to quiz a drifter who looks uncannily like a mystery suspect in Maddie McCann’s disappearance.

Joaquim Agostinho, 42, denies he is the creepy man depicted in a sketch issued by parents Kate and Gerry McCann.

But Metodo 3, the Spanish private investigators hired by the McCanns, are taking the possibility seriously.

The artist's impression was based on a description by tourist Gail Cooper of a man she saw lurking near kids in Praia da Luz, Portugal, before Maddie, four, disappeared.

A source close to Metodo 3 said: ''We are going to be talking to this man as a priority, to establish if he is the one Mrs Cooper saw.''

When shown a photo of Agostinho, Gail, 50, of Newark, Notts, gasped: ''He’s the spitting image of the man I saw three times at the resort. It’s deeply shocking to see my drawing come to life.''

Unkempt Agostinho lives on disability benefit in Altura, 87 miles east of Praia da Luz.

He said: ''People will claim the crazy guy is me — but I don't even know where that Praia da Luz place is.

''I've never been there. I can't even drive. I accept the drawing looks like me. But I did not kill Madeleine and the police haven’t spoken to me.''

I saw Maddie abductor - Donegal woman, 29 January 2008

I saw Maddie abductor - Donegal woman Derry Journal

Published Date: 29 January 2008

Source: Journal Tuesday Derry Edit

Location: Derry

By Staff reporter

A Donegal woman, who holidayed in Portugal last summer, says she saw the man believed to have abducted Maddie McCann.

The woman, who did not want to be named, was struck by the haunting picture that has appeared in the international media over the past week.

She says she recalls seeing a man matching the exact description while she was in the Club Alvorferias resort, in Alvor, close to Praia da Luz, where tot Maddie was snatched.

The woman has contacted the McCann family with the latest information. She said: "I e-mailed the Madeleine family helpline. I just wanted to give whatever information I had relating to what I had seen. I am not sure if it will be relevant or not but I suppose every bit helps."

The woman was on holiday with another adult and two children at the Club Alvorferias Apartments, Alvor, during the week from July 28 to August 4 last year.

She said: "On the Monday or Tuesday of July 30 to 3 of our stay at around lunchtime a man knocked at our door claiming to be collecting for an Aids Orphanage in Portugal. He resembled the man in the photofit picture in colouring, height and build.

Hair shorter

''However, his facial appearance was slightly different. His hair was a bit shorter and he did not have a heavy moustache. He had a goatee beard. His clothes were similar to that of the photofit and he was a bit dishevelled. He spoke good English with a heavy accent.''

She added: ''He carried a clipboard. He showed me ID which was attached to the clipboard, but told me not to look too closely as 'God did not give him a beautiful face'.

''I would have to agree with the lady who initially reported the matter in saying that there was definitely something about him which made me feel very uncomfortable and I gave him some money and got rid of him as quickly as possible.

''I did not see him around the area again for the remainder of our stay. I hope this is of use to you.''

Last Updated: 28 January 2008 3:33 PM