Witness Statement
José María Batista Roque
Date: 17 – 10 - 2007
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 Ocean Club 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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