Murat's girlfriend: I didn't take Madeleine

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The girlfriend of Madeleine McCann suspect Robert Murat has strenuously denied a claim she was spotted with the young child two days after she vanished, a friend said today.

A new witness has identified Michaela Walczuch as a woman seen with the missing girl in central Portugal about 100 miles from where she disappeared on May 3, a source said.

But family friend Tuck Price said any suggestion Ms Walczuch was involved in the case was "ridiculous", adding: "She would deny that 100 per cent."

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Michaela Walczuch: A witness says he saw her with Madeleine two days after she disappeared

German-born Ms Walczuch, 32, has already told Portuguese detectives exactly where she was on the evenings before and after Madeleine's disappearance, he said.

Mr Price went on: "Michaela has a daughter, she is a decent woman. She has answered all the police's questions, she has got alibis."

Robert Murat: Named as an 'arguido'

He added: "This has no effect on the search for Madeleine. The police have known Michaela's story from day one.

"She has been interviewed, the police have all her details, the police know every single aspect about her life."

Ms Walczuch is worried about the effect the allegation could have on her eight-year-old daughter and has complained to Portuguese police about journalists "stalking" her, Mr Price said.

It is now 200 days since Madeleine vanished from her family's holiday apartment in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz.

On May 14 Mr Murat became the first person to be named an arguido, or official suspect, in her disappearance.

At the same time police interviewed his girlfriend, Ms Walczuch, and her estranged Portuguese husband Luis Antonio.

The new witness came forward after Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry McCann hired Spanish private detective agency Metodo 3 to help find their daughter.

This witness claims to have seen the young girl in a car with a woman, identified from a photograph as Ms Walczuch, around Portugal's central coastal area on May 5, a source said.

McCann family spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: "We will not comment on any active line of the investigation other than to say we are encouraged that our investigators appear to be making progress.

"Kate and Gerry are not ruling anything in or out."

Mr Mitchell said the couple treated today as "just another day without Madeleine" and did not organise any special events to mark the 200-day anniversary.

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Video diary: The McCanns (above and below) in scenes to be shown on Panorama tonight

Over the weekend it emerged the new witness had told police he had seen Madeleine with a man and a woman in Portugal two days after her disappearance.

He said the couple were behaving suspiciously and appeared to be trying to hide the child from view.

The witness - whose identity is being kept secret - contacted the Spanish detective agency Metodo 3, which is working for Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry.

Detectives there are taking the report very seriously and have passed the details to police.

They are linking it to a sighting by the McCanns' friend Jane Tanner, who saw a man carrying a child away from the couple's apartment in Praia da Luz.

He is said to match the new witness's description of the man he saw.

The private detectives said the new sighting supported their belief that Madeleine is still alive and the McCanns were said to be "extremely encouraged".

Francisco Marco, the boss of Metodo 3 said: "We are 100 per cent sure she is alive. We are sure she was abducted. We are very, very close to finding the kidnapper."

Some details of the sighting will be revealed in a Panorama documentary on BBC 1 tonight.

It happened at an undisclosed location in central Portugal, about 100 miles from Praia da Luz.

The witness said he saw the woman in a van with the little girl. The man was standing nearby. Neither of them looked Portuguese, the witness said.

He is believed to have identified Miss Walczuch, 34, from photographs.

Her estranged husband Luis Antonio was also questioned.

The pair still live together in Lagos, about five miles from Praia da Luz, even though Miss Walczuch has been in a relationship with Mr Murat for almost two years.

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Still missing: It is now 200 days since Madeleine vanished

The British expat remains an official suspect but has always denied any involvement.

Miss Walczuch was unavailable for comment yesterday. Her flat was empty and she failed to answer phone calls.

She met Mr Murat when they worked together for a Lagos estate agent and they set up their own property business. Her husband, a gardener and pool cleaner, was said to have given his approval to the affair, but it was blamed for the breakdown of Mr Murat's 11-year marriage.

His wife Dawn returned to Britain with their daughter Sofia, four, when she discovered the relationship.

In a video diary to be shown in tonight's documentary, Gerry McCann speaks of his fears that an abductor had watched the family for days.

He said: "I've no doubt Madeleine was targeted and that makes us sick to the core to think that someone was watching us and our daughter. I think the true word is a predator."

Mr McCann said he believes he was watched when he went to check on Madeleine and the couple's two-year-old twins, then returned to the nearby restaurant where he and his wife were dining with friends.

The Portuguese newspaper 24 Horas reported yesterday that detectives now believe they abandoned the abduction theory too quickly in favour of investigating the McCanns when there was no "concrete data" to incriminate them.

• Panorama: The Mystery of Madeleine McCann, BBC 1 tonight at 9pm.

 

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