‘Foreign’ Madeleine McCann suspect crept through gate near Maddie’s apartment on day she vanished, Queen’s pal says
Key British witness Carole Tranmer has been back in the public spotlight after a man resembling her e-fit image was reported to be the new suspect police are hunting
A BRITISH pal of The Queen who saw a suspicious man lurking outside Maddie's apartment told cops he was foreign-looking and made her feel "strange", it has emerged.
Key British witness Carole Tranmer has been back in the public spotlight after a man resembling her e-fit image was reported to be the new suspect police are hunting.
Carole, who used to work at Windsor Castle, saw a prowler outside Maddie’s family’s apartment just hours before she disappeared 12 years ago in May 2007.
He resembles German serial killer Martin Ney, 48, who has been jailed for life for three child murders and 40 sex attacks.
There was growing speculation over the weekend that Ney was Portuguese cops’ new “person of interest” in the hunt for Maddie, but other reports suggest he is not the focus of their investigation.
Carole, 71, has been quizzed three times in the past by Portuguese and British officers about “the man acting suspiciously” at the Ocean Club in Portugal’s Praia da Luz.
She had been so concerned by his behaviour in trying to sneak through a gate she had contacted police.
'HE LOOKED VERY STRANGE'
In her police statement Carole, who was staying in the same block as Maddie’s family, said: “Looking down below the McCann flat I saw someone come out of the ground floor apartment closing the gate very carefully and quietly.
She told police: "He opened the gate from inside. He did not make any noise - it was what made me feel strange about it. He did this all very quietly, as if... you know, when a gate creaks... but he ensured that it did not make noise.
"It looked as though he was leaving, he closed it with both his hands, many times, closing it in silence and cautiously with both hands and he looked lastly this way downwards, first to this side.
"He was blonde, with a lot of hair, very short... But not like a footballer, do you know what I mean? A style close to shaven. Very short, blonde, the head was very sculptured. The shape of the head was very sculptured, more oval shaped.
"He was of average stature. I would say he was European but not Portuguese. He was not dark and, he was not short, but I would say that he looked Scandinavian, if you will, because he was very light and could have been British or Scandinavian."
Carole’s sighting is one of a dozen unresolved sightings of strangers in the popular resort. She was unavailable for comment at her home near London yesterday.
To help assess her reliability as a witness, police previously asked Carole about her relationship with the Royal Family.
She revealed she worked for the Royal Collection of art and that she knew the Queen personally and frequently encountered the Royal Family in private visits.
McCann spokesman Clarence Mitchell has said there was a “degree of credibility” to claims Ney could be linked.
Three-year-old Maddie vanished from her holiday bedroom while her parents were dining in a nearby tapas restaurant with pals.
Former GP Kate, 51, and heart doctor Gerry, 50, from Rothley, Leicestershire, cling onto a glimmer of hope their daughter could still be alive.
She would now be aged nearly 16.
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