Madeleine McCann's mother had refused to answer 48 questions about missing daughter in 2007

Madeleine McCann's mother had refused to answer 48 questions about missing daughter in 2007

Netflix's documentary 'The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann' has restarted the conversation around the three-year-old British child, who mysteriously went missing from her apartment during a holiday in Portugal in 2007.

The young child was holidaying with her parents Kate and Gerry McCann in the country and disappeared from her bed in an apartment in the Algarve region of the country in May that year. Along with claims that the girl, who still hasn't been found, is still alive, the documentary has also brought back into focus the full transcript of the questions that Kate McCann was asked during the investigation in 2007. 

During the interview with Portuguese police, she answered just one question and invoked her right to remain silent in protest at being treated as a suspect.

Kate and Gerry McCann, the parents of the missing 4-year-old British girl Madeleine McCann, display a poster of their missing daughter during a press conference on June 6, 2007 in Berlin, Germany. Kate and her husband Gerry are in Berlin to spread the word in the search for their missing duaghter Madeleine who disappeared from their holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal on May 3, 2007.
Kate and Gerry McCann, the parents of the missing 4-year-old British girl Madeleine McCann, display a poster of their missing daughter during a press conference on June 6, 2007 in Berlin, Germany. Kate and her husband Gerry are in Berlin to spread the word in the search for their missing duaghter Madeleine who disappeared from their holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal on May 3, 2007.

The transcript has a list of 48 questions such as "Did you have any responsibility or intervention in your daughter’s disappearance?" and "Is it true sometimes you despaired at your children’s behavior and it left you feeling very uneasy?" along with other thorough queries asked by the Portuguese police at the time to Kate. The couple have been cleared of all charges by both the British and Portuguese police, who said they are no longer suspects.

Now 51 years old, both Kate and Gerry feel that this documentary wouldn't help the case in any way and have refused to take part in it. "Kate and Gerry and their wider family and friends were approached some months ago to participate in the documentary," confirmed family spokesman Clarence Mitchell in a statement to The Guardian. "Kate and Gerry didn’t ask for it and don’t see how it will help the search for Maddie on a practical level, so they chose not to engage."

In this handout photo, relased September 16, 2007 missing child Madeleine McCann smiles. The McCann family have returned from Portugal after local police questioned them on the disappearance of daughter Madeleine, who vanished from their hoiliday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on May 3, 2007. Portugal's public prosecutor is reviewing police papers detailing the Madeleine McCann inquiry.
In this handout photo, relased September 16, 2007 missing child Madeleine McCann smiles. The McCann family have returned from Portugal after local police questioned them on the disappearance of daughter Madeleine, who vanished from their hoiliday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on May 3, 2007. Portugal's public prosecutor is reviewing police papers detailing the Madeleine McCann inquiry.

The documentary also features Goncalo Amaral, the Portuguese detective who was in charge of the case in its initial stages. He reveals in the documentary that he still has doubts about the McCanns. The two have been in a legal battle since Amaral's 2008 book about the abduction. Called 'Maddie: A Verdade da Mentira' (Maddie: The Truth of the Lie)', the book claims that Madeline was never abducted but killed by an overdose by her parents who tried to cover it up as a kidnapping. In wake of the documentary that premiered on Netflix on March 15, the transcript of the interrogation, which was released to the public in 2008, has resurfaced and is raising many more questions.

The 48 questions that Kate McCann did not answer: 

1. On May 3, 2007, around 22:00, when you entered the apartment, what did you see? What did you do? Where did you look? What did you touch?

2. Did you search inside the master bedroom wardrobe?

In this handout artists impression from the UK's national police centre for protecting children - the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre, a likeness of what missing child Madeleine McCann would look like today is seen. Madeleine disappeared on May 3, 2007 while on holiday with her family in Portugal and would now be 6 years old.
In this handout artists impression from the UK's national police centre for protecting children - the Child Exploitation and Online Protection (CEOP) Centre, a likeness of what missing child Madeleine McCann would look like today is seen. Madeleine disappeared on May 3, 2007 while on holiday with her family in Portugal and would now be 6 years old.

3. (Shown two photographs of her bedroom wardrobe) Can you describe its contents?

4. Why was the curtain by the sofa near the side window tampered with? Did someone go behind the sofa?

5. How long did your search of the apartment take after you detected Madeleine’s disappearance?

6. Why did you say Madeleine had been abducted?

Former Policia Judiciaria (Crime Police) detective Goncalo Amaral holds a copy of his book entitled "Maddie: The Truth about the Lie" (Source: Joao Cortesao/AFP/Getty Images)
Former Policia Judiciaria (Crime Police) detective Goncalo Amaral holds a copy of his book entitled "Maddie: The Truth about the Lie" (Source: Joao Cortesao/AFP/Getty Images)

7. Assuming Madeleine was abducted, why did you leave the twins to go to the ‘Tapas’ and raise the alarm? The supposed abductor could still be in the apartment.

8. Why didn’t you ask the twins then what happened to their sister or why didn’t you ask them later on?

Kate McCann, the mother of missing British 4-year-old Madeleine McCann holds daughters' favourite cuddly toy before meeting with Spanish NGO's on June 1, 2007 at a hotel in Madrid, Spain. Kate and Gerry are in Madrid to spread the word in the search for their missing duaghter Madeleine who disappeared from their holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal on May 3, 2007.
Kate McCann, the mother of missing British 4-year-old Madeleine McCann holds daughters' favourite cuddly toy before meeting with Spanish NGO's on June 1, 2007 at a hotel in Madrid, Spain. Kate and Gerry are in Madrid to spread the word in the search for their missing duaghter Madeleine who disappeared from their holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal on May 3, 2007.

9. When you raised the alarm at the ‘Tapas’ what exactly did you say – what were your exact words?

10. What happened after you raised the alarm there?

11. Why did you go and warn your friends instead of shouting from the verandah?

12. Who contacted the authorities?

13. Who took place in the searches?

14. Did anyone outside the group learn of her disappearance in those following minutes?

15. Did any neighbor offer you help?

Kate McCann and Gerry McCann launch Kate McCann's new book' 'Madeleine' and answer questions from the press at the Queen Elizabeth II centre on May 12, 2011 in London, England. The book, written by Kate McCann, is a personal account of the disappearance of Madeleine and is hoped to kickstart the investigation into their missing daughter. Three year old Madeleine McCann went missing while on holiday with her parents in the Algarve region of Portugal in May 2007.
Kate McCann and Gerry McCann launch Kate McCann's new book' 'Madeleine' and answer questions from the press at the Queen Elizabeth II centre on May 12, 2011 in London, England. The book, written by Kate McCann, is a personal account of the disappearance of Madeleine and is hoped to kickstart the investigation into their missing daughter. Three year old Madeleine McCann went missing while on holiday with her parents in the Algarve region of Portugal in May 2007.

16. What does 'we let her down' mean?

17. Did Jane Tanner tell you that night she’d seen a man with a child?

18. How were the authorities contacted and which police force was alerted?

19. During the searches, with the police there, where did you search for Maddie, how and in what way?

20. Why did the twins not wake up during that search or when they were taken upstairs?

21. Who did you phone after the occurrence?

Kate and Gerry McCann leave their home today to take their children Amelie and Sean to a local play park on September 12, 2007 in Rothley, England. Portugal's public prosecutor is due to review police papers detailing the Madeleine McCann inquiry.
Kate and Gerry McCann leave their home today to take their children Amelie and Sean to a local play park on September 12, 2007 in Rothley, England. Portugal's public prosecutor is due to review police papers detailing the Madeleine McCann inquiry.

22. Did you call Sky News?

23. Did you know the danger of calling the media, because it could influence the abductor?

24. Did you ask for a priest?

25. By what means did you divulge Madeleine’s features, by photographs or by any other means?

26. Is it true that during the searches you remained seated on Maddie’s bed without moving?

27 What was your behavior that night?

28. Did you manage to sleep?

Kate and Gerry McCann the parents of missing four-year-old Madeleine McCann arrive back in the UK to East Midlands airport, after taking a flight from Faro airport on September 9, 2007 near Birmingham, England. The McCanns have been made formal suspects in the disappearance of their four-year-old daughter Madeleine, from the Praia da Luz, holiday apartment in the Algarve on May 3, 2007. No restrictions or bail conditions have been imposed on the couple as they return to the UK.
Kate and Gerry McCann the parents of missing four-year-old Madeleine McCann arrive back in the UK to East Midlands airport, after taking a flight from Faro airport on September 9, 2007 near Birmingham, England. The McCanns have been made formal suspects in the disappearance of their four-year-old daughter Madeleine, from the Praia da Luz, holiday apartment in the Algarve on May 3, 2007. No restrictions or bail conditions have been imposed on the couple as they return to the UK.

29. Before traveling to Portugal, did you make any comment about a foreboding or a bad feeling?

30. What was Madeleine’s behavior like?

31. Did Maddie suffer from any illness or take any medication?

32. What was Madeleine’s relationship like with her brother and sister?

33. What was Madeleine’s relationship like with her brother and sister, friends and school mates?

34. As for your professional life, in how many and which hospitals have you worked?

35. What is your medical specialty?

36. Have you ever done shift work in any emergency services or other services?

37. Did you work every day?

38. At a certain point, you stopped working. Why?

39. Are the twins difficult to get to sleep? Are they restless and does that cause you uneasiness?

40. Is it true sometimes you despaired at your children’s behavior and it left you feeling very uneasy?

41. Is it true that in England you even considered handing over Madeleine’s custody to a relative?

42. In England, did you medicate your children? What type of medication?

Phil McCann carries a picture of her missing niece Madeleine McCann as she visits Parliament on May 16, 2007 in London. Madeleine McCann disappeared from a holiday complex in Praia da Luz 13 days ago.
Phil McCann carries a picture of her missing niece Madeleine McCann as she visits Parliament on May 16, 2007 in London. Madeleine McCann disappeared from a holiday complex in Praia da Luz 13 days ago.

43. In the case files, you were shown canine forensic testing films. After watching them, did you say you couldn’t explain any more than you already had?

44. When the sniffer dog also marked human blood behind the sofa, did you say you couldn’t explain any more than you already had?

45. When the sniffer dog marked the scent of corpse coming from the vehicle you hired a month after the disappearance, did you say you couldn’t explain any more than you already had?

46. When human blood was marked in the boot of the vehicle, did you say you couldn’t explain any more than you already had?

47. When confronted with the results of Maddie’s DNA, carried out in a British lab, collected from behind the sofa and the boot of the vehicle, did you say you couldn’t explain any more than you already had?

48. Did you have any responsibility or intervention in your daughter’s disappearance?

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