"MYSTERY" for ever? UNLESS......
The Complete Mystery of Madeleine McCann™ :: Madeleine Beth McCann :: Madeleine's 1st - 16th year anniversaries
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"MYSTERY" for ever? UNLESS......
http://www.mirror.co.uk/opinion/news-opinion/madeleine-mccann-disappearance-7-years-3490078
Madeleine McCann's disappearance could remain a mystery that's never solved - but one phone call could change that
May 03, 2014 07:55
By Richard Hartley-Parkinson
Peter Kirkham, a former Metropolitan Police detective has written exclusively for mirror.co.uk on the case
Madeleine McCann
Today marks the seventh anniversary since Madeleine McCann went missing from an apartment in Portugal where she was sleeping while her parents ate at a restaurant with friends nearby.
Peter Kirkham, a former Metropolitan Police detective, has written exclusively for mirror.co.uk saying that he believes the disappearance is likely to be a mystery that will never be solved.
It’s now seven years since Madeleine McCann disappeared in Praia da Luz.
Tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of hours of investigation have been carried out by the Portuguese police, the private investigators employed by the McCann family and detectives from Scotland Yard.
But what has the investigation achieved?
Although recent developments have given the impression that significant progress is now being made, analysis shows that remarkably little is known with any certainty.
This case is, in the language of detectives, most definitely a “sticker”.
As in any investigation, the police need to establish what happened and prove who did it. In this case, unusually, they are unable to do either.
Pretty much all that has been established for sure is that Madeleine went missing during the night, whilst staying with her family in the Portuguese holiday resort.
Although there are numerous theories as to what may have happened to her, no evidence has been found which conclusively proves or disproves any of them.
All, therefore, remain possible hypotheses which the investigators must keep in mind.
The investigation – and the extensive worldwide publicity – has failed to find any direct witness to what happened on the night of May 3 2007.
The nearest the police have got is two witnesses reporting that they saw a man carrying young children nearby.
One of those sightings has eventually been eliminated.
The other has only led to a description and an artist’s impression of a possible suspect.
No-one has yet identified them.
It has been suggested that the crime scene was not initially secured as well as it could have been and some physical trace evidence could have been lost.
Whether or not that is the case, we know there is no fingerprint or DNA sample from the scene from which a suspect can be identified.
Scotland Yard detectives have recently identified two other lines of enquiry.
The first involves tracing a number of people who mobile telephone records place in the area at the time and who have not previously come forward.
The second relates to a linked series of sexual assaults on young children in tourist apartments around Praia da Luz at the time.
The first of these may lead to new information from a new witness, but I think it unlikely.
The second is more promising.
One of the hypotheses is that Madeleine was taken away by someone for a sexual motive.
If a suspect for the series of offences can be identified and traced there is a possibility (but nothing more) that they may be connected with the disappearance of Madeleine.
The longer cases like this go on, the more unlikely it is that they will be solved.
But the police will continue to follow-up all viable lines of enquiry and, sooner or later, if there is some breakthrough evidence there to be found it will come to light.
But I think there is a distinct possibility that this case will turn out to be one of those real, genuine mysteries which is never solved.
That said, as time goes on there is one thing which becomes more likely and that is a call from someone who knows what happened and who has been keeping it secret all this time.
It may be an offender or someone close to them.
But the passage of time, especially with such a high-profile case, makes it ever more difficult to keep the secret.
If there is someone out there with such information, that call could come at any time and when it does it will break the case wide open.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
"But the passage of time, especially with such a high-profile case, makes it ever more difficult to keep the secret."
"If there is someone out there with such information, that call could come at any time and when it does it will break the case wide open."
BE AFRAID, VERY AFRAID!
KEEPING LOTS OF PEOPLE TO STAY SCHTUM, COSTS!
Madeleine McCann's disappearance could remain a mystery that's never solved - but one phone call could change that
May 03, 2014 07:55
By Richard Hartley-Parkinson
Peter Kirkham, a former Metropolitan Police detective has written exclusively for mirror.co.uk on the case
Madeleine McCann
Today marks the seventh anniversary since Madeleine McCann went missing from an apartment in Portugal where she was sleeping while her parents ate at a restaurant with friends nearby.
Peter Kirkham, a former Metropolitan Police detective, has written exclusively for mirror.co.uk saying that he believes the disappearance is likely to be a mystery that will never be solved.
It’s now seven years since Madeleine McCann disappeared in Praia da Luz.
Tens, if not hundreds, of thousands of hours of investigation have been carried out by the Portuguese police, the private investigators employed by the McCann family and detectives from Scotland Yard.
But what has the investigation achieved?
Although recent developments have given the impression that significant progress is now being made, analysis shows that remarkably little is known with any certainty.
This case is, in the language of detectives, most definitely a “sticker”.
As in any investigation, the police need to establish what happened and prove who did it. In this case, unusually, they are unable to do either.
Pretty much all that has been established for sure is that Madeleine went missing during the night, whilst staying with her family in the Portuguese holiday resort.
Although there are numerous theories as to what may have happened to her, no evidence has been found which conclusively proves or disproves any of them.
All, therefore, remain possible hypotheses which the investigators must keep in mind.
The investigation – and the extensive worldwide publicity – has failed to find any direct witness to what happened on the night of May 3 2007.
The nearest the police have got is two witnesses reporting that they saw a man carrying young children nearby.
One of those sightings has eventually been eliminated.
The other has only led to a description and an artist’s impression of a possible suspect.
No-one has yet identified them.
It has been suggested that the crime scene was not initially secured as well as it could have been and some physical trace evidence could have been lost.
Whether or not that is the case, we know there is no fingerprint or DNA sample from the scene from which a suspect can be identified.
Scotland Yard detectives have recently identified two other lines of enquiry.
The first involves tracing a number of people who mobile telephone records place in the area at the time and who have not previously come forward.
The second relates to a linked series of sexual assaults on young children in tourist apartments around Praia da Luz at the time.
The first of these may lead to new information from a new witness, but I think it unlikely.
The second is more promising.
One of the hypotheses is that Madeleine was taken away by someone for a sexual motive.
If a suspect for the series of offences can be identified and traced there is a possibility (but nothing more) that they may be connected with the disappearance of Madeleine.
The longer cases like this go on, the more unlikely it is that they will be solved.
But the police will continue to follow-up all viable lines of enquiry and, sooner or later, if there is some breakthrough evidence there to be found it will come to light.
But I think there is a distinct possibility that this case will turn out to be one of those real, genuine mysteries which is never solved.
That said, as time goes on there is one thing which becomes more likely and that is a call from someone who knows what happened and who has been keeping it secret all this time.
It may be an offender or someone close to them.
But the passage of time, especially with such a high-profile case, makes it ever more difficult to keep the secret.
If there is someone out there with such information, that call could come at any time and when it does it will break the case wide open.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
"But the passage of time, especially with such a high-profile case, makes it ever more difficult to keep the secret."
"If there is someone out there with such information, that call could come at any time and when it does it will break the case wide open."
BE AFRAID, VERY AFRAID!
KEEPING LOTS OF PEOPLE TO STAY SCHTUM, COSTS!
jeanmonroe- Posts : 5818
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Re: "MYSTERY" for ever? UNLESS......
"The other has only led to a description and an artist’s impression of a possible suspect."
(Smithman, presumeably)
WHOSE 'FACE' NOBODY HAS EVER SEEN!
What is the 'thought process' that goes into creating an artist's 'impression' (of an unseen 'suspect')
"Well, we'll give him short hair, stubbly beard growth, stinks, (good one!) er, um, 5' 6" or 5' 11" tall,? yeah 5' 11" sounds about right for a 'suspect' umm............"
(Smithman, presumeably)
WHOSE 'FACE' NOBODY HAS EVER SEEN!
What is the 'thought process' that goes into creating an artist's 'impression' (of an unseen 'suspect')
"Well, we'll give him short hair, stubbly beard growth, stinks, (good one!) er, um, 5' 6" or 5' 11" tall,? yeah 5' 11" sounds about right for a 'suspect' umm............"
jeanmonroe- Posts : 5818
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Re: "MYSTERY" for ever? UNLESS......
Notice how all McCann supporting detectives are "former" detectives, or at least nearing retirement.
Peter Kirkham left the Met in 2002. He was educated at the University of Leicester .
Peter Bleksley left the Met in 1999
They are portrayed in the media as really important people,top detectives with much credibility but how on earth would either of these know what was going at operation Grange, or at the official investigation in Portugal?
More to the point,
1. Why are they involved?
2. Why are they commenting on the case?, And
3. Who is paying them, at least for their input in the media?
Peter Kirkham left the Met in 2002. He was educated at the University of Leicester .
Peter Bleksley left the Met in 1999
They are portrayed in the media as really important people,top detectives with much credibility but how on earth would either of these know what was going at operation Grange, or at the official investigation in Portugal?
More to the point,
1. Why are they involved?
2. Why are they commenting on the case?, And
3. Who is paying them, at least for their input in the media?
Re: "MYSTERY" for ever? UNLESS......
sharonl wrote:Notice how all McCann supporting detectives are "former" detectives, or at least nearing retirement.
Peter Kirkham left the Met in 2002. He was educated at the University of Leicester .
Peter Bleksley left the Met in 1999
They are portrayed in the media as really important people,top detectives with much credibility but how on earth would either of these know what was going at operation Grange, or at the official investigation in Portugal?
More to the point,
1. Why are they involved?
2. Why are they commenting on the case?, And
3. Who is paying them, at least for their input in the media?
I think that's a very important point and one most of us on this forum can answer in unison.
____________________
Laurie Levenson, Quoted in the Guardian ........
"Never trust an eyewitness whose memory gets better over time"
Newintown- Posts : 1597
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Re: "MYSTERY" for ever? UNLESS......
I would like to see our former detective, PeterMac, write an article exclusively for the Mirror.
But they wouldn't publish it would they?
Funny that.
But they wouldn't publish it would they?
Funny that.
____________________
happychick- Posts : 405
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Re: "MYSTERY" for ever? UNLESS......
sharonl wrote:
1. Why are they involved?
2. Why are they commenting on the case?, And
3. Who is paying them, at least for their input in the media?
Peter Kirkham's not involved, regards questions 2-3, it says at the beginning of the article, the mirror paid him for the article.
margaret- Posts : 585
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Re: "MYSTERY" for ever? UNLESS......
"It has been suggested that the crime scene was not initially secured as well as it could have been and some physical trace evidence could have been lost"
Perhaps 'former Metropolitan Police detective' Kirkham could expound on this 'suggestion' by contrasting the PJ's action in securing the apartment as a crime scene within a few hours of the child's disappearance being reported to them with the case of Tia Sharpe, where the Met's finest took tea with her killer and assorted of her family members over a period of more than a week while her body lay in the loft above their heads and police dogs barked at the ceiling?
In that particular case it wasn't just 'some physical trace evidence' which was lost as the Met's failure to secure a crime scene led to this poor child's death being recorded as 'unascertained', causing it to remain a mystery unless or until her murderer reveals how he killed her.
While it may be highly unlikely that we'll ever know how Madeleine McCann died, it does not follow that her killers won't be brought to justice.
Perhaps 'former Metropolitan Police detective' Kirkham could expound on this 'suggestion' by contrasting the PJ's action in securing the apartment as a crime scene within a few hours of the child's disappearance being reported to them with the case of Tia Sharpe, where the Met's finest took tea with her killer and assorted of her family members over a period of more than a week while her body lay in the loft above their heads and police dogs barked at the ceiling?
In that particular case it wasn't just 'some physical trace evidence' which was lost as the Met's failure to secure a crime scene led to this poor child's death being recorded as 'unascertained', causing it to remain a mystery unless or until her murderer reveals how he killed her.
While it may be highly unlikely that we'll ever know how Madeleine McCann died, it does not follow that her killers won't be brought to justice.
ultimaThule- Posts : 3355
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"MYSTERY" for ever? UNLESS...
Yes I think mistakes are made in the heat of the moment from all crime scenes. The GNR turned up believed the wandering scenario, got suspicious called in the 'Tecs. When they arrived the world and his wife had paraded round 5a despite depositions from the main players that the great majority of them stood helplessly at the bottom of the patio steps. Also various players said they tested the shutters. How do you do that without gong near the apartment? Very strange depositions and very strange behaviour by all deponents concerned.ultimaThule wrote:"It has been suggested that the crime scene was not initially secured as well as it could have been and some physical trace evidence could have been lost"
Perhaps 'former Metropolitan Police detective' Kirkham could expound on this 'suggestion' by contrasting the PJ's action in securing the apartment as a crime scene within a few hours of the child's disappearance being reported to them with the case of Tia Sharpe, where the Met's finest took tea with her killer and assorted of her family members over a period of more than a week while her body lay in the loft above their heads and police dogs barked at the ceiling?
In that particular case it wasn't just 'some physical trace evidence' which was lost as the Met's failure to secure a crime scene led to this poor child's death being recorded as 'unascertained', causing it to remain a mystery unless or until her murderer reveals how he killed her.
While it may be highly unlikely that we'll ever know how Madeleine McCann died, it does not follow that her killers won't be brought to justice.
I always thought that the idea of having 'experts ' giving their views in the media was that we the unwashed masses would learn something useful from them as they are the experts and we are the amateurs. In this case I do think that the roles have become reversed. In fact in the age of the net these ' experts ' are being seen for what they are complete paid charlatans. PR reps are the epitome of these types.
Max Clifford used to be one I hear. I suspect there is another waiting in the wings to take over his list of clients. Personally, I blame the clients.
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The Complete Mystery of Madeleine McCann™ :: Madeleine Beth McCann :: Madeleine's 1st - 16th year anniversaries
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