45. The first detectives the McCanns employed were the highly controversial Spanish group, Metodo 3. Just before Christmas 2007, their boss, Francisco Marco, boasted his men were ‘closing in on Madeleine’s kidnappers’, promising ‘Madeleine will be home by Christmas’. These were lies.
Verdict - Misquoted and False.
Source - Media articles, Kate McCann's book
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As with most of the "facts" in their leaflets, this one comprises of several independent statements which must be addressed separately.
The MMRG do not state why they consider Metodo 3 to be "highly controversial" or provide any sources to justify the claim. According to media reports, the Portuguese Police described them as "small fry". Apart from this, it is true that Metodo 3 were the first firm of private investigators to be hired by the McCanns.
The McCanns hired private investigators out of desperation when they realised that the police were no longer looking for their daughter. Metodo 3 were the first firm of investigators that they hired. As private investigations are illegal during an ongoing police investigation in Portugal, the McCanns chose the Spanish company for the following reasons:-
Familiarity with local systems, culture and geography.
Because they had links to Spanish police who had connections with the Portuguese police.
In her book (Hardback pp 282-3), Kate McCann speaks highly of M3 saying that despite media claims, their fees were very low and that they genuinely cared about Madeleine's fate. Metodo 3 have also hit out at the media saying that the fees they had received had been grossly inflated by the press.
However, she stresses that although they went on to employ new teams, they maintain good relations with Metodo 3 today.
This is not only a misquotation but also a false claim.
Kate McCann describes Francisco Marco's interview as "unfortunate" in that it was "overly optimistic". This is what he said:-
Quote:
MARCO: I'm not saying well maybe - no, no, no. We are very, very close to find the kidnapper. |
The actual source of this cannot be found online, but quotations from the interview were reprinted by British newspapers:-
From the Daily Mail on 14 December 2007:-
Quote:
"God willing, I hope she'll be back with her parents before Christmas." |
Quote:
The boss of the Spanish detective agency hired by the McCanns has bizarrely boasted Maddie could be "home by Christmas". |
In ABC Spain, on 8 August 2008 reported that Francisco Marco hit out at media reports about his comments saying (translated by "Helena"):-
Quote:
"Método 3 assures that, contrary to what was published in the British press, nobody ever said that Maddie would be home by Christmas, but only expressed "the mere Christian desire" that "Hopefully she will be home by Christmas". |
As we do not know how close Metodo 3 were with their investigations, we cannot comment on the factuality of that claim. Investigators can be "close" without actually catching a criminal. However, the assertion that Metodo 3 were lying in their "promise" that Madeleine would be home by Christmas is ludicrous since no such promise was ever made.
Apart from the fact that the MMRG are unfairly attacking Metodo 3 for something which they did not actually say, it is unclear why this is being touted as a "fact" which the British media are not telling us, as we have just provided several media sources ourselves.