Madeleine McCann police hunt 'woman in purple' seen outside holiday apartment

Madeleine McCann went missing in 2007 [REX/Shutterstock]

British police are thought to be hunting down a ‘woman in purple’ as the prime suspect in the case of missing toddler Madeleine McCann. 

The woman was spotted by Jenny Murat, now 79, on the evening that Maddie was snatched from her holiday apartment in Praia de Luz, Portugal, in 2007.

Murat explained that she saw the purple-clad woman staring at the apartment “intently”.

I saw the woman standing on the corner of the street,” she said.

“She caught my eye as she was dressed in purple-plum clothes.

“It struck me as strange. It’s so unusual for anyone, particularly a woman, to be standing alone on the street in our resort, just watching a building.”

Ms Murat was out late to buy a newspaper, and spotted the woman “standing on the street corner near a lamppost staring at the flat”.

Murat told the police what she had seen when it transpired that Madeleine was missing the next morning.

Last week, detectives said they are following a “significant” and “critical” lead in the case.

According to the Mirror, a police source said that this woman is a “hugely significant line of inquiry”, and that police are set to “move in” and arrest her.

Sources also told the paper that the mystery woman was in some way connected to a worker at the resort where the McCanns were staying.

The source added that the woman “is thought to hold the key to solving the entire case” after a “decade of dead ends”.

“I didn’t recognise her and don’t have a clue who she is,” Jenny added. “But it seems a bit suspicious. If she is important to the policy inquiry I hope they find her wherever she may be.

“Officers here never questioned me about her, I suppose they had other leads initially to follow up.

“All people want is for there to be a happy ending for that family. I hope after all this time there can be a resolution.”