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TAPAS BAR
FUNCT1ONARY 23 APRIL 08 |
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22 to 24 Witness statement
of Jeronimo Tomas Rodigues
Salcedo (former Ocean Club
worker) 2008.04.23
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TRANSLATION BY INES |
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05-CARTAS ROGATORIA 5
Page 22 to 24 |
LEICESTERSHIRE POLICE SQUAD
WITNESS TESTIMONY OF JERONIMO
RODRIGUES SALCEDAS
Occupation: Fitness Instructor
This statement, consisting of two
pages, each signed by me, is true to
the best of my knowledge and belief
and I make it knowing that, if it is
tendered in evidence, I shall be
liable to prosecution if I have
wilfully states in it anything I
know to be false or do not believe
to be true.
Date: Wednesday, 23 April 2008
Signature:
I am the above referenced person who
lives at the address previously
given to this police. I am a
Portuguese national and I am fluent
in Portuguese and Spanish. I have
lived in the U.K. with my parents
since 10 year of age. Since leaving
school, I have been employed in
various roles but have never
identified myself with any of them.
I still have various family in
Portugal and in the beginning of
2007, I was in the U.K. and
unemployed. I was contacted via
email by my cousin Miguel COLLEO (I
am not certain how his name is
pronounced) and he informed me that
he was working in the Algarve in
Portugal as a barman/waiter in the
Ocean Club resort in Praia da Luz,
Portugal. I always liked the idea of
working abroad and asked him if he
could find me work. He responded and
told me that he had found a position
for me in this same area in which he
worked.
I travelled from Bristol to Faro,
Portugal, on the 26th of March of
2007. From Faro I travelled directly
to Praia da Luz and lodged in an
apartment rented with Miguel.
Initially, his girlfriend also lived
with us but before the end of April
2007, she returned to South Africa.
The apartment was located close to
the beach but I do not remember the
address.
I began working as a functionary
at the Ocean Club on the 4th of
April 2007 and my charge was to
serve the bar and the Tapas Bar
tables. My hours were 16h00 to
24H00, five days per week and the
two days off were rotated weekly.
The other employees of the Tapas Bar
on my schedule were Ricardo, Ze and
Tiago?all of them Portuguese and
with little knowledge of the English
language. As a result of this, I was
frequently called to attend British
clients.
I remember being at work in the
Tapas the night of the
disappearance. I also remember the
group of adults that holidayed with
Madeleine, including the parents as
they were frequent Tapas Bar dinner
guests.
I would normally see them during the
day if I went to the complex for a
swim, or when they were going to get
their children for lunch in the zone
next to the Tapas. Nothing in their
behaviour called my attention. They
dined in the restaurant every night
from Sunday until Thursday when
Madeleine disappeared. The table was
booked then for 19H30 to 20H00. It
was nine adults in total, four
couples and an older woman who was
also with them. I always found them
educated, good clients. They
appeared to get along well amongst
each other and each time I served
the table they would comment on the
food. It was a happy group who would
often laugh during dinner. There was
a man who particularly stood out
from the rest of the group as she
spoke a lot and told many jokes. At
this time, I did not know who he
was, but later found out it was
Madeleine McCanns father.
Frequently, when I served the table
I noticed that one or two elements
of the group had left the
restaurant. I could not imagine
where they had gone to. After seeing
the news stories, I figured that
they had gone to check on their
children. On some occasions, I also
saw some infant monitors on the same
table but never related this to the
facts.
In relation to alcohol consumption,
it never appeared to me to be
excessive. The wine was included in
the dinner at Tapas and the
functionaries were very generous in
this respect. The permission was
approximately one bottler per person
. According to what I remember, and
relative to the consumption of
alcohol, there were seven bottles
between the nine adults. I believe
that on the first or second night
they dined in the Tapas, they drank
a bit more, perhaps eight or nine
bottles of wine. I believe that they
were also offered liquor this night,
as they had been such good clients.
The behaviour of the table did not
change the night in questions. If
anything, the group jested more than
usual but no one appeared drunk.
Generally, they left the Tapas at
23h30/midnight, at times together
and at other times in small groups.
On the night in which they drank
more than usual, they left a bit
later, perhaps towards 00h30-01h00.
I remember this detail because I was
supposed to finish work at 00H00 and
I wanted to go home. They always
left on good terms and always wished
the staff good night.
On the night Madeleine disappeared,
everything appeared normal. I
remember that when I took notice of
the disappearance, I had been in the
restaurant speaking with my two
colleagues?Ze and Ricardo who were
on break. I returned to the
restaurant and noticed that the
table of nine was empty with the
exception of the older woman. I went
over to the table and joked with
her: ?They've left you alone?? She
responded more of less with these
words: ?No, they went to see if the
little girl was there.? I responded
that I hoped they would find her
somewhere in the apartment. At
saying this, I saw the man. Who I
knew later to be Madeleines father,
running to the pool and to the
childrens play area in the Tapas
zone as if looking for someone. It
immediately hit me that after
talking to the older woman, that the
little girl had not been found. I
offered to alert the workers at the
Milenium Restaurant and the man
agreed. He then left again running
to continue searching. I believe
that this was between 21H30 and
22H00 but do not remember with
certainty.
I went to find Ze and Ricardo to
give them the news and to get their
help in searching for the missing
girl. I saw the head of the Milenium
Restaurant in the Tapas and asked
him to telephone the restaurant.
I ran out of the Tapas and noticed
that some of the childcare works of
the Mark Warner had begun to arrive.
At the point I left the Tapas I
heard a scream from a woman I did
not know. I do not know who
screamed, but I had never heard a
similar cry. I cannot even describe
it but thought it had come from the
child's mother. I went to the
reception with one of the child care
workers whose name I do not
remember. One of the employees
looked to be organizing the searches
and told us the name of the child.
We were sent to the beach zone and
looked in all the alleys and called
out the name of the child but did
not find her. Later, we returned to
the Tapas where we found John, the
Manager of Mark Warner. There were
many people now, perhaps 40
including the Mark Warner personnel.
We were divided into groups and Ewan
and Rob (both employed by Mark
Warner), my cousin, Miguel, and I
went in a Mark Warner vehicle to
search a beach zone which included a
construction site. Again, we did not
see any signs of the child and after
a telephone we returned to the
Tapas.
At this point more people were at
the location, including residents of
Praia da Luz. A man named Matt who
owned a club in the locale, seemed
to now be the operational front. A
big part of our group was sent to
the beach; we formed a sort of human
extension cord in our searches. We
finally returned to the Tapas around
04H00. We were sent home at the
time.
I do not know when the police were
called but the first time I saw them
was around 23h00-23h00 that night.
Since Madeleines disappearance, I
have seen her picture many times in
the media, but I cannot honestly
affirm that I remember seeing her in
person before the disappearance from
the Ocean Club. There were many
children and I never paid much
attention to any of them.
I stayed in Praia da Luz working in
the Tapas until the end of July
2007, at which time I returned to
the U.K.
This statement was made by me and is
true in accordance with my
understanding.
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