'I know who took Madeleine McCann'

Deathbed letter from paedophile suspect makes abduction clue claim
1 September 2010
Daily Mail


A paedophile suspected of being involved in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann 'confessed' to knowing what happened to the little girl on his deathbed, it has been claimed.

Raymond Hewlett wrote to his estranged son denying he played a part in the three-year-old’s abduction, but claimed he knew she had been ‘stolen to order’ by a gypsy gang.

Detectives working for Kate and Gerry McCann (pictured) are said to be 'extremely interested' in Hewlett's claims and are said to be preparing to interview his son Wayne about the letter

Detectives working for Kate and Gerry McCann (pictured) are said to be 'extremely interested' in Hewlett's claims and are said to be preparing to interview his son Wayne about the letter

But he vowed only to reveal where he was the night she went missing if he was paid thousands of pounds.

Kate and Gerry McCann’s private detectives refused the request.

Today his son Wayne claimed to the Sun that the letter was delivered to him by a mystery man a week after he died in April.

Wayne, who has had no contact with his father for 20 years, claimed his father insisted he had nothing to do with Madeleine’s disappearance – but that he knew who did.

He said: ‘He said a very good gipsy friend he knew in Portugal had got drunk and “let it out” that he had stolen Maddie to order as part of a gang.

‘My dad said this gang had been operating for a long time and had snatched children before for couples who couldn’t have children of their own.

‘Maddie had been targeted. They took photos of children and send them to the people they were acting for. And they said Yes or No.’

Private detectives working for the McCanns are said to be ‘extremely interested’ in the claims and are preparing to interview Wayne.

Wayne, 40, says he burned the letter because it ‘unnerved’ him so much.

The Sun reported they learned of the existence of the note through another source and confirmed they had not been approached by Wayne originally.

Madeleine went missing from The Ocean Club Hotel in Praia da Luz in the Portuguese Algarve while her parents dined at a restaurant on the resort.

Hewlett was living with his family on a campsite an hour’s drive away at the time.