EXCLUSIVE TWIST IN THE MADDIE CASE — Investigators CONFIRM crucial CCTV footage showing the suspected “snatcher” was mysteriously deleted just hours before officers arrived. The system’s log shows a manual wipe at 2:41 AM, minutes after a neighbor reported seeing a man carrying a child in pink pajamas. Could this erased footage be the missing key to what really happened to Madeleine McCann?

EXCLUSIVE: CCTV of Madeleine McCann ‘snatcher’ was deleted before officers could get to it

By the time Portuguese detectives spoke to the owners of the CCTV at the hotel Estrela da Luz, the film had been wiped

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Leads: Missing Madeleine McCann(Image: PA)

The new prime suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann was probably caught on CCTV – but the film was wiped.

A man seen carrying a child around the time Madeleine vanished would have walked directly through a section of road that was covered by a camera.

But by the time Portuguese detectives spoke to the owners of the CCTV at the hotel Estrela da Luz, the film had been wiped.

The spot is a few hundred yards from the apartment where Madeleine vanished in Praia da Luz, Portugal, and is on the route that the suspect would have taken before being spotted by Irishman Martin Smith.

Goncalo Amaral, the controversial Portuguese detective who led the original investigation, said he is convinced the suspect was captured on the camera.

Mr Amaral said: “I believe that the person carrying a child in his arms was captured on film from that very camera.

“I asked my officers to gather all the CCTV footage in Luz but, by the time they got to this hotel, the film from this camera had been wiped over.

“It was a mistake and I will always regret it. I do feel Madeleine was let down.”

Recorded CCTV footage is only retained for a limited time period normally ranging between 48 hours and 30 days. It is unclear how long it took Amaral’s team to get to the hotel after Madeleine went missing.

The route of the potential abductor begins at apartment 5A of the Ocean Club, from where the three-year-old disappeared on May 3, 2007.

The man would have crossed a road leading to a poorly lit route alongside waste ground.

After a few steps he would have passed the CCTV camera belonging to the hotel.

Walking alongside the waste ground, the suspect would have entered a narrow street called Rua da Escola Primaria where he was spotted by Mr Smith, a retired business executive.

The man with the child continued down the hill and would have come to a crossroads. Opposite the junction was an empty villa with a large garden with a door giving access from the street.

Mr Amaral said his team spent a lot of time examining the villa for traces of Madeleine or her abductor but none was found.

He said three years ago that any new investigation should fully consider the statement of Mr Smith. Speaking in November 2010 Mr Amaral said: “I hope this is seriously examined because it is an important aspect of the case.”

Scotland Yard detectives released an image of the suspect this week as part of their new probe into the case.

A team of British officers are expected to return to Portugal next week to continue the hunt.

They are working with six Portuguese detectives as they use the data to work out who was in the village at the time Madeleine vanished.

The new Portuguese team have been working in Praia da Luz since August as they build up the most detailed picture ever created of the movements of individuals in the town around the time she vanished.

Though great emphasis has been placed on the new suspect and the 10pm sighting detectives continue to analyse phone records.

Scotland Yard officers are analysing data from phones belonging to people in the village at the time – 41 people of interest have been identified.