Processos Vol III
Pages 766 – 767
Witness Statement
María de Fátima Rodrigues Bernardo
Date: 2007-05-09
Occupation: Cleaner
Place of work: OC
She comes to the process as a witness, expressing her intention of making a statement in order to clarify the facts being investigated.
She is a cleaner and has worked at the OC for 3 years.
Her working day begins at 10.00 with a break for lunch from 13.30 to 14.30 and finishes work at 18.00. She normally has Tuesday afternoons and Sundays off.
Regarding her place of work, she is responsible for cleaning the FIJI and DATE blocks, belonging to the Palm Bay group. These blocks are situated opposite the apartment block the girl disappeared from.
She says she heard about the events the day after the disappearance from her colleagues when she started work. When she began work the disappearance was constantly talked about but she did not hear or see anything that could be of interest to the investigation.
On the day of the events, after leaving work, she went as always to collect her 8 year old son from school in P da L and went home afterwards to be with her family, only leaving the following morning.
When asked if she saw anything strange in the apartments where she worked or in the surrounding area on the days preceding the disappearance, she said no.
She did not see anyone with strange behaviour.
Reads, ratifies, signs.
Processos Vol III
Pages 768 – 770
Witness Statement
Natália da Glória Soares Camacho
Date: 2007-05-09
Occupation: Cleaner
Place of Work: OC
She comes to the process as a witness. She has worked at the OC as a cleaner for 8 years.
Her working hours are from 10.00 to 18.00, Sunday is her day off. She also has Tuesday mornings off. On the days she works full time, her lunch break is from 13.30 to 14.30.
When asked, she says that her specific functions are to clean the apartments that are previously allocated to her, she cleans on her own.
When asked, she says that she cleans the apartments near to the Millenium restaurant, 12 apartments that make up the “Club Face”, an area of the resort composed of five blocks, with eleven apartments each.
When asked, she says that her daily routine – and that of her colleagues – is the following: at 10.00 she goes to the laundry next to the Tapas Bar where one of her superiors (Marina, Bernadette or Francisca) gives her the keys of the apartments to be cleaned.
After the morning shift she goes to the laundry again during lunchtime, that is where she and her colleagues eat their lunch.
After lunch she returns to her area of work.
At about 18.00 she returns to the laundry and gives the keys back to the superior in charge.
She says that the keys are kept in special safes for this purpose and when she returns the keys to her superiors they always check that all the keys are there.
During lunchtime, the keys are kept by the cleaners and are not deposited in the safes.
As far as she knows, the laundry only has one copy of each key, thinking that more keys corresponding to the apartments are kept in the reception.
She say that she has nothing relevant to add to the facts being investigated.
She says that she carried out her functions in an area far from the apartment where the McCann family was staying and for this reason never met the family or the girl. She does not remember having seen them in the surroundings areas or in the apartments she cleaned.
She did not see any strange individuals or movements in the days before the disappearance.
She says that there is a lot of movement in the resort and that it would not be easy to see if anything unusual was happening.
She says that on the day of the disappearance she went home after finishing work at 18.00.
She heard about the events on the morning of the 4th May when she arrived at work and was told by her superior.
She said that her superior, who already had photocopies of the girl’s photograph, asked the employees to check the apartments they were cleaning as well as the surrounding areas.
She checked but did not find anything relevant.
Reads, ratifies, signs.
Processos Vol III
Pages 771 – 772
Witness Statement
María Guiomar Mestre Fernandes
Date: 2007-05-09
Occupation: Cleaner
Place of Work: OC
She has worked as a cleaner at the OC for the last six years, part time until March 2006 when she began to work full time. She works from 10.00 to 13.30 and from 14.30 to 18.00 with Sundays off.
Her function is to clean the rooms and apartments which takes place on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. On Thursdays and Saturdays guests arrive and leave and she cleans the rooms and apartments that they move out of.
She cleans the rooms and apartments in the Club zone, lots 5 and 7, this cleaning is done by her alone.
That, in spite of this area being allocated to her, she sometimes is asked to help a colleague clean other rooms and apartments, especially on the days when guests arrive and leave.
In order to carry out the cleaning of rooms and apartments she needs the keys which are distributed by her superior, Marina. The distribution of the keys corresponds to the area that is allocated to each cleaner, and occurs at the beginning of each working day. After finishing work, the keys are returned to the superior.
She heard about the events on the following day 4th May from her superior. On that day her superior told her and her colleagues to search for the girl in the areas they were working.
On 3rd May she began work at 10.00, spending most of the day cleaning the apartments in the Club and at the end of the day she cleaned a room in the Garden zone, she thinks it was nº 26, finishing work at 18.00 and leaving the resort to go home.
She did not see anything abnormal on 3rd May or on the preceding days.
Has no further information.
Reads, ratifies, signs.
Processos Vol III
Pages 773 – 774
Witness Statement
María Noélia de Jesus do Nascimento
Date: 2007-05-09
Occupation: Cleaner
Place of Work: OC
She comes to the process as a witness. Has worked as a cleaner in the OC since 1997. She does cleaning and maintenance of the apartments. She works from 10.00 to 18.00, with Sundays and Tuesday afternoons off.
She has access to some of the resort apartments situated in the “Water side Villages” next to the beach.
When asked, she says she heard about Madeleine’s disappearance on the 4th May from a neighbour.
On the day of the disappearance she worked her normal hours.
She did not have any contact with the family prior to the disappearance.
She did not hear or see anything strange in the resort before the disappearance
She did not notice anyone strange or any unusual vehicle on the day of the disappearance.
With regard to her colleagues she does not know of anything that could raise any suspicion about the disappearance of the girl.
Reads, ratifies, signs.
Processos Vol III
Pages 775 – 777
Witness Statement
Dora Isabel Serafim da Silva
Date: 2007-05-09
Occupation: Cleaner
Place of Work: OC
She comes to the process as a witness. She has worked at the OC as a cleaner for six years. She works from 10.00 to 18.00 with Sundays and Tuesday afternoons off. Lunch break is from 13.30 to 14.30.
She cleans the apartments that are allocated to her and she works alone. She cleans the “cottage” buildings which are small houses with independent entrances. The are all in the Garden section and dispersed around the resort. There are 11 eleven cottages, none of them have a direct view of the apartment where the disappearance occurred.
When questioned, she says that her daily routine is the following: at 10.00 she goes to the laundry next to the Tapas area at which moment one of her superiors (Marina, Bernadette, Francisca) gives her the keys to the apartments she will clean.
After the morning shift she returns to the laundry where she and her colleagues have lunch. After lunch they go back to their working areas.
At 18.00 she returns to the laundry where she hands the keys over to her superior. She says the keys are kept in special safes and that the superior checks to see they are all there.
As far as she knows there is only one copy of the keys in the laundry, thinking there must be copies in the reception.
She did not see the McCann family or anything or anyone strange in the resort.
On the day of the events she was at home with her family, having left work at 18.00.
She heard about the events on the 4th May from her superior.
She said that her superior, who already had photocopies of the girl’s photograph asked her and her colleagues to check the apartments and surrounding areas. They were accompanied by officers from the GNR during the searches.
She worked in the following cottages that day: 17, 19, 20, 25, 29, 30, 40, 41, 42, 43 and 46.
She specifies that she checked and cleaned , 19, 25, 29, 30, 40, 43 and 46.
She did not find anything significant during the searches.
Reads, ratifies, signs.
Processos Vol III
Pages 778 – 779
Witness Statement
Mónica da Luz Louzeiro Dias Romao
Date: 2007-05-09
Occupation: Cleaner.
Place of Work: OC
Comes to the process as a witness.
She has worked as a cleaner in the OC for 6 years.
She works from 10.00 to 18.00, lunch break from 13.30 to 14.30 and has Sundays and Tuesday afternoons off.
She is responsible for cleaning block 2 of the OC and cottages 18 to 27 of the Garden group, to which the apartment the girl disappeared from belongs.
She said she heard about the events from colleagues the following day when she began work.
The disappearance was the subject of much conversation but she did not hear anything of use to the investigation.
She received instructions to search for the child in the tourist resort.
On the day of the events, after finishing work she went home, being given a lift by her colleague Guiomar. After dinner she went to bed and did not go out until the following morning.
She did not see anything unusual in the apartments she cleaned during the days preceding the events. Neither did she see any suspicious individuals.
Processos Vol III
Pages 781 – 782
Witness Statement
Deolinda Maria da Silva Cristino Norte
Date: 2007-05-09
Occupation: Cleaner.
Place of Work: OC
Comes to the process as a witness.
She has worked as a cleaner at the OC for 16 years. She works from 10.00 to 18.00 with a break for lunch from 13.30 to 14.30 and has Sundays and Tuesday afternoons off.
She cleans in the Waterside group quite far from the Garden area where the apartment the girl disappeared from is located.
She heard about the events the following day when she arrived at work.
The events were the subject of much discussion but she did not hear any comments that could be of interest to the investigation. She was told by her superior to search the resort to look for the girl.
She had no contact with the girl or her family.
On the day of the events she went home and did not leave until the following morning.
She did not see anything strange in the areas where she worked neither did she see any strange individuals.
Reads, ratifies, signs.
Processos Vol III
Pages 783 - 784
Witness Statement
Maria de Lurdes da Silva Santos Luz
Date: 2007-05-09
Occupation: Cleaner
She has worked at the OC as a cleaner for about a month, however she has worked at the OC before. She works from 10.00 to 13.00.
Her functions consist of cleaning the residence of Mr Robin, the OC manager, which is situated in Funchal, Lagos. She does not do any cleaning at the OC with the exception of the days when she takes his clothes for laundering at the OC on Wednesdays and Fridays.
She heard about the disappearance on Friday 4th May at about 10.00, having been informed by residents of Funchal, the news was later confirmed to her when she went to the OC
On 3rd May she went to the main OC reception having contacted the administrator, to pick up her cheque, before leaving the resort. This happened at about 15.00 – 16.00.
She has no information useful to the investigation.
Reads, ratifies, signs
Processos Vol III
Pages 780
Witness Statement (Handwritten)
Maria de Fátima Nunes Antonio
Date: 2007-05-09
Occupation: Cleaner
She comes to the process as a witness, has worked as a cleaner at the OC since 2005 (with intervals). In 2007 she began work at the OC on 2nd April. Her functions consist of removing linen and clothing from the apartments and cleaning them. She is part of the cleaning team that works in the Ocean Gardens, situated. quite far from where the events occurred.
She found out about the events on the following day. She knows no details about the disappearance, just what she has seen on the news. She has no knowledge of anything suspicious having happened. There have been robberies at the resort but no use of violence.
She has never heard of any other disappearance, rapes or sexual violence.
She thinks she could have seen the family like any other family or guest, but saw nothing strange.
Has nothing to add.
Reads, ratifies, signs.
Processos Vol III
Pages 697 – 699
Witness Statement
Sandra Maria Dos Santos Lourenco Murtinheira
Date: 2007-05-08
Occupation: Cleaner
Place of Work: OC
Comes to the process as a witness. She works in the ‘Luz Ocean Club’ (TOC) for a second time.
She was first contracted in 2006 and began work in April and finished in October. This year, 2007, she was contracted in March and will end in October or November.
Her functions include cleaning the pool areas of the TOC between 0900H—and 19H00, with the exceptions of Sundays and Mondays, which are her days off.
Regarding the facts in question, the witness states that she became aware of the disappearance the day after it had occurred.
When she got to work, she noticed the presence of the GNR and immediately thought that something had happened. She initially thought that there had been another break-in, given that in 2006, she heard of break-ins to the resort apartments.
Outside the reception, which allows access to the pool and the ‘Tapas’, she encountered a colleague who told her that a child had gone missing.
At the time, she does not remember speaking any more about it. Later however, she again heard talk of the disappearance as the news media began to appear at the resort.
The witness, in exercising her functions, began working in the pool areas in the LOC. Because she is asked, the witness states that she does not know which apartment the child’s parents occupied. She also has no idea who the parents were and could only associate these guests when she saw them on television.
Regarding the missing child, the witness believes that she may have seen her walking with one of the nannies. However, there are many families with children, and it is normal to see the children with their nannies carrying out their activities.
As already stated, as part of her functions, she often goes into the resort. She normally walks this route.
Questioned, the witness states that she is unaware of any strange behaviour or movements on behalf of the guests, or other individuals, in the LOC or immediate surroundings.
The zone is normally very quiet, even in the summer when there is more movement.
Questioned, states that she is not aware of any situation regarding crimes, or sexual assaults in the LOC.
She has no elements related to the facts that could help clarify the facts.
And nothing more was said…
Reads, ratifies, signs.
Processos Vol II
Pages 360 – 362
Witness Statement
Custodia María dos Reis Espada
Date: 2007 – 05 –07
Occupation: Cleaner
Place of Work: OC
Comes to the process as a witness. She has worked at the OC as a cleaner since the beginning of 2005. She works from 10.00 to 18.00 every day except for Sundays, her day off. On Tuesdays she works until 13.30. She has lunch between 13.30 and 14.30 or from 14.00 to 15.00 depending on her volume of work.
When questioned, she says that she does the general cleaning of the apartments that are allocated to her and that she works alone.
She says that for the past two years she has been in charge of cleaning the apartments near to the main reception of the resort, specifically the European, Coconut and Baccanear blocks.
When questioned, she says that her daily routine and that of her colleagues is the following: at 10.00 she goes to the laundry next to the Tapas Bar, where one of her superiors (Mariana, Bernadette or Francisca) gives her the keys corresponding to the apartments she has to clean.
After the morning shift she returns to the laundry where she and her colleagues have lunch.
After lunch she returns to the area she was working in.
At about 18.00 when she finishes work she returns to the laundry where she hands back the keys to her superior. She says that the keys are kept in special safes and that the superiors check they are complete.
The cleaners retain the keys during lunchtime.
As far as she knows there may be another copy of the keys at the reception.
The area where she works is far from the place of the events and she does not recall having seen the McCann family. She does not recall having seen them in the apartments where she works.
She did not see anything suspicious in the days before the disappearance.
At the time of the disappearance she was at home with her partner and children.
She heard of the events upon arriving at work on 4th May.
Her superior already had photocopies of the girl’s photograph and told them to search the areas where they worked. They were always accompanied by a GNR when they searched.
Reads, ratifies, signs.
Processos V1I
Pages 1843-1844
Witness Statement
Svetlana Malinka
Date. 2007.06.20
Profession: Cleaner
Place of work: Ocean Blue – Villa Management & Rental
She comes to the process as a witness.
She does not speak the Portuguese language and is assisted by a Russian language interpreter in this office.
The witness has been in Portugal since 1999, having continually resided in Praia da Luz, Lagos for about 5 or 6 months, she has worked for the firm Ocean Blue. Her work is carried out in the Praia da Luz zone, more specifically in the Ocean Club zone. This firm contracts the cleaning of some apartments close to the one from where the English child went missing. This apartment she cleans is in the same block, but is on the top floor. The witness cannot indicate the exact apartment.
She adds that she does not always clean in this area as there other workers who may do so. Their assignments are rotated.
The witness adds that the majority of persons who work in the zone, know that the apartment block occupied by the McCanns, located near the pool, is often occupied by non-owners.
The witness declares that she became aware of the disappearance of the girl via conversations with her colleagues. She became aware of the location of the disappearance two days after the facts.
She has nothing more to add regarding the disappearance of the minor Madeleine McCann. Having lived in the Praia da Luz zone for eight years, at no time has she been aware of abnormal situations. She characterises the zone as being very calm.
And nothing more was said.
Read, ratifies and signs.
Processos Vol II, Pages 392 to 394
STATEMENT FROM CLEANER OF 5 A
Maria Julia S. da Silva.
Upon being asked, she states that she is a cleaner and has been working as such for around 13 years with the company “THE OCEAN CLUB”. Her two daughters, FM and DI work with her in the same department.
Regarding her job, she points out that she is the person who is responsible for cleaning Block 5, more specifically apartments A, B, C, D, H, I, K, L, M and P, and also states that when the child disappeared only apartments A, B, D, G, H and K were occupied. She declares that she is the only employee who cleans these apartments, and has help when new customers arrive or leave. When preparing apartment A, where the Mc Cann family were to be installed, she says that she carried out the preparations with the help of her colleague DNA, on Saturday the 28th. She remembers that when preparing this apartment, she had just been notified that the apartment was to be occupied by 5 (five) people; she was unaware of children in the group. However, at the exact moment when she and her colleague DTNA were preparing the room, personnel from the company MARK WARNER entered the apartment and proceeded to place two children’s beds. It was at this moment that they learned that children would be sleeping in the apartment.
When questioned, she declares that the fact a third company placed the children’s beds inside the apartment is common. Also, she says that when the reservation of the apartments is in the hands of the MARKWARNER travel agency, it is this company that is responsible for placing the beds. On the other hand, when other travel agencies are involved, placing the children’s beds is carried out by “THE OCEAN CLUB” company itself.
With respect to her activities performed directly in the apartment, she declares that the last time she entered the apartment was on the Wednesday prior to the events, specifically on the 2nd of May, when she cleaned the apartment. When questioned, she declares that as opposed to what is established, on Thursday the 3rd and due to other chores, she did not have time to collect the garbage bags.
She remembers that when she entered Apartment A on the Wednesday, the parents were inside. After being duly authorized, she entered and carried out her work, because they were already on their way out. While she was in the apartment, there were no children there, and she supposed that they were in the creche. While performing her work, she remembers having noticed that the couple was sleeping in the room located opposite the entrance, where she confirmed the presence of a child’s bed (crib). The room gives onto an outdoor garden by means of a terrace, as it is on the ground floor,. In the room next to the entrance to the apartment there was a bed placed next to the wall (where she supposed the missing child slept), and also the second child’s bed (crib). All these beds were untidy at the time, meaning that they had been used. She also declares that in the room next to the entrance was another bed that had not been used.
On the following Friday, the day after the child disappeared, she states that due to police formalities, she did not clean apartment A.
When questioned, she declares that on the days prior to the events, she did not notice any strange element/object in the apartments she entered to clean that could have caught her attention and that could have been directly related to the disappearance.
Likewise, she declares that she did not notice any element/person behaving in a strange manner.
Finally, she declares that her work schedule begins at 1000 hours and ends at 1800 hours, after which time she returns to Lagos where she lives.
She has nothing further to say. After reading the document and finding it to be satisfactory, she signs it.
Cleaner 5a....
Maria Julia S da Silva