The female police chief due to take charge of Scotland Yard's Madeleine McCann probe arrived in Portugal today as former suspect Robert Murat prepares to be questioned as a witness.
DCI Nicola Wall walked into Faro Police Station with outgoing Operation Grange boss Andy Redwood just before 9.30am for the start of the third day of interviews with nearly a dozen witnesses.
She smiled at waiting reporters as she arrived but declined to say anything.
Taking the reins: DCI Nicola Wall walked into Faro Police Station with outgoing Operation Grange boss Andy Redwood just before 9.30am for the start of the third day of interviews with nearly a dozen witnesses
This week's quizzes - requested by Scotland Yard (detectives pictured) - are the first since four men were questioned as arguidos at the start of July. They all protested their innocence
John Hill, former manager of the Ocean Club holiday resort Madeleine vanished from and his wife Donna are among three people expected to be questioned as witnesses today.
Mr Hill was alerted to Madeleine's May 3, 2007 disappearance by a child care service manager.
British police believe Madeleine (pictured) was killed during a bungled burglary, a theory their Portuguese counterparts who are conducting their own parallel investigation into Madeleine's disappearance have privately rubbished
An unnamed Portuguese national is also due to be heard.
Tomorrow former suspect Robert Murat, 41, will return to Faro Police Station to be quizzed over Madeleine McCann's disappearance.
His German-born wife Michaela Walczuch, 38, was questioned yesterday as a witness but police ran out of time to interview British expat Mr Murat.
The IT consultant was made a formal suspect or arguido days after Madeleine went missing before being cleared a year later.
Mr Murat, one of 11 men and women due to be questioned as witnesses this week, has said he is happy to cooperate with police.
This week's quizzes - requested by Scotland Yard - are the first since four men were questioned as arguidos at the start of July. They protested their innocence.
British police believe Madeleine was killed during a bungled burglary, a theory their Portuguese counterparts who are conducting their own parallel investigation into Madeleine's disappearance have privately rubbished.
Parts of the Praia da Luz resort where the youngster vanished were dug up in June at Scotland Yard's request in a grim search for her body - but failed to yield any clues.
DCI Wall, from the Met Police's Homicide and Major Crime Command Unit, will take charge of the British police investigation into Madeleine's disappearance from Andy Redwood on December 22 when he retires.
Let's hope and pray that DCI Wall can work well with the three powerful Portuguese women who recently inherited this case.
She has been with the Met Police for 26 years, nine as a DCI, and is married to a man who does contract work in the Middle East.
She oversaw the investigation into the murder of Tia Sharp, whose body was found in the loft of her grandmother's house in New Addington, south London, days after she went missing in August 2012.
Stuart Hazell, a former boyfriend of Tia's mum, was jailed for life at the Old Bailey in May last year after dramatically admitting murdering the youngster during his trial.
DCI Wall told Vogue in an interview published in April last year: 'No two jobs are the same.
'We could end up with the Tia Sharp jobs of this world. And then there are jobs that are equally as difficult as those, but that just somehow don't get that media spark.'
She attributed her low media profile in the magazine interview to the fact 'we solve cases so quickly nobody gets involved'.
Speaking of her marriage and personal life, she added: 'We don't have children.
'I have the greatest respect for women who balance both - because that's fantastic - but I don't have to. And I've got a house in Putney, and I have a really nice life.'
She also admitted to being a fan of TV policewoman Saga Noren, star of Scandinavian crime thriller The Bridge 'because she's quite feminine, very glamorous, very pretty and very capable, too'.
DCI Nicola Wall walked into Faro Police Station with outgoing Operation Grange boss Andy Redwood just before 9.30am for the start of the third day of interviews with nearly a dozen witnesses.
She smiled at waiting reporters as she arrived but declined to say anything.
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| Senior figures: DCIs Nicola Wall and Andy Redwood arrive at Faro's Police Station |
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| British Detectives arrive at Faro's Police Station for Operation Grange |
John Hill, former manager of the Ocean Club holiday resort Madeleine vanished from and his wife Donna are among three people expected to be questioned as witnesses today.
Mr Hill was alerted to Madeleine's May 3, 2007 disappearance by a child care service manager.
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| British police arrive in Portugal to quiz 11 in Madeleine hunt |
Tomorrow former suspect Robert Murat, 41, will return to Faro Police Station to be quizzed over Madeleine McCann's disappearance.
His German-born wife Michaela Walczuch, 38, was questioned yesterday as a witness but police ran out of time to interview British expat Mr Murat.
The IT consultant was made a formal suspect or arguido days after Madeleine went missing before being cleared a year later.
Mr Murat, one of 11 men and women due to be questioned as witnesses this week, has said he is happy to cooperate with police.
 |
| Robert Murat and wife Michaela Walczuch |
British police believe Madeleine was killed during a bungled burglary, a theory their Portuguese counterparts who are conducting their own parallel investigation into Madeleine's disappearance have privately rubbished.
Parts of the Praia da Luz resort where the youngster vanished were dug up in June at Scotland Yard's request in a grim search for her body - but failed to yield any clues.
 |
| Madeleine McCann was three years old when she disappeared from her holiday resort in Praia da Luz in May 2007 |
Let's hope and pray that DCI Wall can work well with the three powerful Portuguese women who recently inherited this case.
She has been with the Met Police for 26 years, nine as a DCI, and is married to a man who does contract work in the Middle East.
She oversaw the investigation into the murder of Tia Sharp, whose body was found in the loft of her grandmother's house in New Addington, south London, days after she went missing in August 2012.
Stuart Hazell, a former boyfriend of Tia's mum, was jailed for life at the Old Bailey in May last year after dramatically admitting murdering the youngster during his trial.
DCI Wall told Vogue in an interview published in April last year: 'No two jobs are the same.
'We could end up with the Tia Sharp jobs of this world. And then there are jobs that are equally as difficult as those, but that just somehow don't get that media spark.'
She attributed her low media profile in the magazine interview to the fact 'we solve cases so quickly nobody gets involved'.
Speaking of her marriage and personal life, she added: 'We don't have children.
'I have the greatest respect for women who balance both - because that's fantastic - but I don't have to. And I've got a house in Putney, and I have a really nice life.'
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| Sofia Helin as the emotionally dysfunctional Saga Noren in The Bridge |
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