OFFICIAL INQUIRY FILES and DOCUMENTS
JOSE MARIA BATISA ROQUE STATEMENT

This information belongs to the Ministério Público in Portimão, Portugal.
It was released to the public on 4 August 2008 in accordance with Portuguese Law

G N R 17 OCT 2007

415 to 416 Witness statement of Jose Maria Batista Roque 2007.05.07

TRANSLATION BY INES

02-PROCESSO Vol II Pages 415 - 416
02_VOLUME_IIa_Page_415
02_VOLUME_IIa_Page_416

Witness Statement

Jose Maria Batista Roque
Date/Time: 2007/05/07 18H45
G.N.R. Military Personnel

Concerning the issue of the process said;
. In the sequence of facts, he was with the patrol of the GNR that went to the Ocean Club Gardens establishment (situated in Para da Luz) on night of May 03, 2007, with the goal of investigating the circumstances that surrounded the disappearance of a minor, of British nationality, that was installed there temporarily, together with the rest of her more direct family - knowing these to be, the respective parents, and two siblings, twins, minors, whose name do not need to be clarified;
. Clarifies that the occurrence in question was transmitted to the above referenced patrol via radio, at time when they were located in Odiaxere;
. The patrol of which he took part, and now as a witness, went immediately to the principal reception of the aforementioned establishment, where there was encountered the father of the missing child;
. Following, this patrol went to the residence where the family of said minor was staying in the 'Ocean Garden' together with the father;
. At reaching the location, the two elements that made up the patrol , the current witness and his colleague, Nelson Costas, proceeded into the interior of the apartment, with the goal of investigating the contours which eventually surrounded the disappearance of that minor;
. In this sentiment, the deponent states that they searched al the dependencies of the residence and all the pieces of furniture, in order to confirm the disappearance -- effectively confirming that that she was not in the interior;
. The questioned made, the deponent states that the access to interior of the residence was accessed through a principal door- this is, a wood door which is placed facing north;
. Inside, the deponent encountered the mother and two siblings of the missing minor;
. The deponent stats that he is unable to specify if that entrance door was found open or closed when he reached the apartment during which he was taking in the facts with the witness is now clarifying;
. In the sequence of confirming the facts of the effective disappearance of that minor, he states that this has been communicated prior, for the reason of helping the Policia Judiciara;
. Urged to reveal other details that may be considered relevant to the investigation, the deponent reveals that he has no other knowledge of any elements that may help contribute to that end;
. And nothing more said, having read the statement, finds it in conformity and signs it;
. The document is duly signed by me

Pedro Varanda, an Inspector with this Policia Judiciaria.

1348 to 1349 Witness statement of Jose Maria Batista Roque 2007.05.16
05-Processos Vol V Pages 1348-1349
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Witness Statement
Jose Maria Batista Roque

Date: 2007-05-16


Occupation: GNR Officer


He comes to the process for a second time, having made a previous statement giving details about the police intervention at the site of the events.

He has been a GNR officer since 1986, he currently works at the Lagos GNR post.

On 3rd May he was on duty at the events, he arrived at the OC at about 23.00 accompanied by Officer Costa. They were the first to arrive on the scene.

They went to the reception of the OC resort.

At that moment the girl's father arrived at the reception who informed them of the situation.

After hearing what had happened he went to the exact site the girl had disappeared from accompanied by his colleague, Nelson Costa, the girl's father, a woman acting as interpreter, whose surname was Ramos, and another individual, a friend of the girl's father, whose name he does not remember.

He never spoke directly to the father or with any other persons of foreign nationality, the questions were formulated to the interpreter who acted an intermediary in the dialogue.

He remembers that inside the apartment Madeleine had disappeared from was the mother and another foreign woman, whom he assumed to be a friend of the family.

When asked, he says he never saw Murat on any of the occasions he was at the site.

No more is said. Reads, ratifies, signs.
3281 to 3884 Witness statement of Jose Maria Batista Roque 2007.10.17
12-Processos, Vol 12 Pages 3281 - 3884
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Witness Statement

Date: 17-10-2007

Jose Maria Batista Roque
  09.00 HRS


He comes to the process as a witness. He is an officer with the Lagos GNR and has worked for the Guarda for 21 years.

He confirms the integrity of his previous statements.

As regards the facts on the night of 3rd May, when he was on patrol with his colleague Costa in Odiaxere, he received a radio communication from the central telling him to go to P da L, specifically to the reception of OC resort where the father of a girl who had disappeared was. When they were on their way to this place and had reached the zone of Valverde he received another communication saying that this was a very young girl and that her father had called again. They continued on their way, now with urgency, heading for the main reception of the resort.

When they arrived, they saw the girl's father, a friend whom he cannot describe, an OC employee and a translator who was also an OC employee, named Silvia Batista.

After hearing about the circumstances of the disappearance (from the father with the help of translation) at a determined moment he thinks it was the father who told the translator that it was an abduction, at least this is how it was translated. He then went to the apartment, accompanied by his colleague, the father and friend as well as the translator. When he arrived at the apartment he saw the mother there, who opened the wooden door, now referred to as the main door. When he entered, apart from the mother, there were three individuals, one female and two male, whom he cannot identify.

Then, while his colleague remained in the hall, and the others were in the living room, the witness went through the entire apartment. He opened all the cupboards in the bedrooms, living room and kitchen and checked under the beds and inside the washing machine. He did not see the fridge.


During the search he did not find anything strange apart from the bedclothes on Madeleine's bed, which were too tidy, it appeared that she had been picked up from or had left the bed with great care. There was a mark on the sheet that appeared to be made by a child's body.

After the search, he noticed a situation that seemed unusual to him, when at a determined moment, the girl's parents kneeled down on the floor of their bedroom and placed their heads on the bed, crying. He did not notice any comments or expression from them, just crying. He says that at the main reception the father also knelt down, placing his head on the floor and crying. He did not hear the father say anything.

He never heard the parents ask to see a priest.

After the search he told his colleague to wait by the door while he went to the area around the apartments and the Tapas Restaurant. Whilst he was doing this he noticed the presence of many local people who were searching for the girl.

Meanwhile the post commander arrived at the scene and he joined him in a vehicle and travelled around the whole resort. At about 02.30 after having been replaced by two colleagues, he left the scene as the police had already arrived.

When questioned about the windows in the bedroom, he only remembers that the window in the girl's bedroom was closed with the blind raised up the space of the width of a hand. He does not remember the existence of curtains. The father indicated, through the translator, alleging that when the disappearance was discovered, the windows and blinds were open.

He says there were two children in cots placed in Madeleine's room in a transversal position to the beds. The children never woke up, were in a ventral position, they did not even move during or after the search.


He found the parents to be nervous and anxious, he did not see any tears from either of them although they produced noises identical to crying. He did not feel that this was an abduction, although this was the line indicated by the father.


As regards the sofa next to the window, he thinks, but is not sure, that it was against the wall.

He also refers to a situation when he was searching outside, near the pool, that someone from the OC whom he cannot identify, passed him a mobile phone, as a British Consulate employee who spoke in Portuguese, wanted to talk to the authorities. Upon speaking to him, he told him that the investigation and subsequent actions were under the responsibility of the PJ.

He has nothing to add.

Reads, ratifies, signs.

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