And it all kicks off.....

Introduction

It's the 28th April 2007 and Gerry McCann,a Cardiologist at Glenfield Hospital in Leicester, his wife Kate a part time GP,  their eldest little girl Madeleine, almost 4 years old, and her sibling twins board a plane at East Midlands Airport looking forward to a week in the sunshine on the Algarve in Portugal.   Travelling with them are Fiona Payne, a friend of Kates from their time as Anaesthetist Registrars at Leicester General ICU since 2000, her surgeon husband David and their two children, and Fiona's mother Dianne Webster.

On their arrival the party transfer to the Mark Warner Holiday Resort based in the small seaside village of Praia Da Luz, a few miles to the west of the old capital of Lagos where they meet up with the remainder of the party comprising Jane Tanner, her partner Russell O'Brien and their children, also doctors, and finally Matthew and Rachael Oldfield and their child, all of whom are friends of the Paynes. The holiday appears to unwind in an uneventful and relaxed manner until the 3rd of May when, in the course of just 12 hours a series of extraordinary events take place which sow the seeds to forever change the lives of all concerned and bring about fierce debate on the internet and elsewhere that has still has not abated over six years later.

According to the files of the Policia Judicaire, Madeleine McCann is last seen by an independent witness at around 5:30 in the afternoon of 3rd of May.  David Payne recalls seeing her and her siblings around 7:00 pm in their apartment with Kate, after which she is never seen again.  At around 10:00pm Kate checks on her children, left in the apartment while they dined, and discovers that Madeleine is missing. In the following pages you will come to understand both the events of the holiday and intervening years, and the reasons why this disappearance, above all others has become so contentious and all embracing.

Involved in this web of intrigue are Governments, political leaders, diplomats, Official Secrets denials of information, and some of the finest and most expensive legal minds in the world, not to mention millions of pounds of taxpayers money and Fund donations from the wealthiest in our society down to the pocket money of small children.

This blog seeks to take an objective look at both the mystery itself, and the quite sensational international fallout from Madeleine's disappearance and the subsequent, often bizarre consequences for the holiday group, later to become known as 'The Tapas 9', Chronicling events up to the Scotland Yard review commissioned by the current Prime Minister David Cameron and the imminent £1 million libel suit against Goncalo Amaral over his book 'The Truth Of The Lie', in particular his conclusion that Madeleine died in Apartment 5A sometime on the 3rd May 2007. 

I hope you will always keep in mind that widespread criticism, where it is discussed in the following days and weeks, reflects the views of persistent and vocal sceptics and will be presented as such in a 3rd party arm's length manner.  Often with legitimate justification it can be said the criticism levelled at various members of the Tapas 9 has been the result of their own deeds and words; a kind of infamy earned not bestowed.