Testimony from John Elliot Hill
20 June 2007
Witness
Statement
Date: 2007/06/20
Time: 14H30
Place: Praia da Luz - Lagos :
Officer responsible: Carlos Dordonnat - Inspector
Name: JOHN ELLIOT HILL
- Profession: Manager
- Place of Work: Ocean Club - Praia da Luz - Lagos
- As the deponent does not speak Portuguese, he will
helped by the interpreter Sra. Lidia N. Employee of the
PJ.
With regard to the facts of the investigation.
Statements show that he knew of these facts by means of
a phone call from Lindsay, head of the child care
service, who told him about a female child staying at
the resort who had disappeared. This phone call was made
to the deponent's mobile phone at about 22.28 on
03-05-2007. About 5 minutes later the deponent presented
himself at the resort, because Lindsay had told him that
she had initiated the procedure for missing children
used by the company and the child had not been found.
Upon arriving at the scene he saw about 100 people,
employees, guests and residents searching the grounds,
the beach and adjoining areas calling out the child's
name.
Initially the deponent thought that the child had got
lost or disorientated, but as the searches did not
produce any results he became increasingly worried.
-
The deponent went to the main reception to see if the
authorities had been alerted, and fifteen minutes later
went to the apartment being used by the McCanns, where
he saw that both members of the couple were in a panic
and were shouting that the child had been taken. The
deponent thinks that the GNR arrived at the scene at
about 22.45, however in a conversation several weeks
later, he heard someone say, he doesn't remember whom,
that they had arrived at about 23.30, but as he was so
busy he declared that he had no notion of the passage of
time.
-
- Together with Lindsay the deponent occupied himself
with orienting the search operations, in the sense of
trying to determine that the same area was not searched
more than once, given that the search area was quite
extensive.
- ---
He has been employed by the Ocean Club since March 2006
and has no knowledge of any untoward situation involving
Ocean Club users or in the village itself, other than
some damage and minor thefts.
- When questioned he stated that the search operations
that he organised finished at about 04.30. Elements from
the PJ and GNR reinforcements with sniffer dogs were
still at the scene.
-
- He wishes to add that he does not know of any motive
that could have been the cause of the Madeleine's
disappearance.
- On the night of the disappearance he always saw the
McCanns together in the apartment they were occupying at
the time, with the exception of an episode when Gerry
went to the main 24 hour reception
- , with the purpose of speaking to a GNR officer, he is
not sure at what time this occurred, but it was
certainly before 24.00.
- . ---
- The deponent tried to print various photos that were
distributed in different sites as well as trying to
support the McCanns, although they did not need so much
support after about seven weeks the deponent remembers
when, in his personal opinion they were more capable in
terms of mental capacity to deal with the situation.
-
- No more was said. Signs statement together with the
interpreter.
