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Witness Statement
Amy Tierney
Date: 2007-05-06
Place: P da L
Occupation: Head of the Baby Club and Mini Club
Place of Work: Ocean Club
She comes to the process as a witness.
As she does not understand Portuguese and is of English
nationality she is assisted by the interpreter Robert Murat who
accompanies her during the questioning.
When asked, the witness confirms that she has been in Portugal
since the 18th March 2007 having come to Portugal to work in
this tourist resort.
She confirms that she works as head of the Baby Club and Mini
Club, the former being for children aged up to eleven months and
the latter for children aged between three and five.
She confirms that Madeleine is known by her as frequenting the
Mini Club, as she was aged almost four.
When questioned about Madeleine's behaviour, the witness says
that she is a shy girl but very intelligent for her age, she
tended to play with older children, the witness describes her
attitude and behaviour as perfectly normal.
The witness confirms that she also knows Madeleine's parents as
they would go to fetch her from the club, but she adds that it
was normally Madeleine's father who did this.
When questioned, the witness states that she has not noted
anything abnormal in the relation between the child and the
parents.
The hours of the club are from 09.00 to 12.30 and from 14.30 to
17.30, the club is closed on Sundays on that day it only offers
the dinner service.
When questioned, she says that if the guests wish so they can
request services from the "Staff" who would look after the
children from 19.30 to 23.30, however Madeleine's parents never
did this although the service is free.
She confirms that, on the night of the disappearance she was on
duty and immediately went to the bedroom to see if the girl was
hiding. She saw that the shutter was raised and that the window
was partially open. It was then that she began to look in the
wardrobes to see if the girl was hiding.
The first idea that occurred to her was that the girl could have
left by her own means, however after checking that the window
was open and the shutter raised she asked the parents whether
Madeleine's shoes were there, to which they replied that they
were, these facts led her to think that Madeleine could have
been taken by someone.
However there was a bed against the window, which could have
enabled the girl to climb up onto it and then up to the window,
the witness thinks it would not be possible as she would not be
able to open the shutters and even if she had done so she would
have fallen outside as the window is too high for a child of
that age to be able to descend without falling.
In reply to the question asked, she said that the back door (porta
das traseiras) that leads to the parking area was closed, but
she doesn't know whether the front door (porta da frente) was
locked as when she arrived both the parents and a female friend
of theirs whose name she does not know, were there and that is
why the door was open.
After having searched the apartment and verified that the girl
was not there, the outside searches were begun.
The witness confirms that the girl's father went to the
reception to call the police as soon as her disappearance was
noticed and that twenty minutes had passed. The GNR took 30 – 35
minutes to arrive.
She says that at no moment did she notice anyone behaving
strangely as concerns the children or anything that appeared at
all suspicious to her.
She adds that the staff looking after the children were eleven
employees, who worked in shifts regarding the hours from 19.30
to 23.30.
The witness remembers that upon entering the bedroom at the time
of the disappearance, she saw that the bed that the two babies
were sleeping (reparou que a cama que os dois bebes encontravam-se
a dormir) and she saw that the bedclothes of the bed near the
window were rumpled as if someone had been sitting there, that
the bedclothes of Madeleine's bed had been pushed back and that
on top of the bed was a small child's blanket and a cuddly toy.
She states that the distance between the apartment and the
restaurant where Madeleine's parents were was 30 seconds by foot
away but that there was no visual contact with the back window
of the bedroom where Madeleine was. From the restaurant just the
front window of the apartment could be seen.
The witness does not remember any element that could be useful
to the investigation.
No more is said.
Reads, ratifies and signs. |
