3 Prime Suspects Identified

Hooray. A whole gang. That should make things easier.

Professional burglars, who left the passports, credit cards, camera, video, and everything of value, but panicked when they found three sleeping children, and took one . . .

This is getting more ludicrous by the hour.

So you're a gang robbing properties in the PdL.  One day you find the place crawling with Police and some story going round about a girl being abducted from an apartment.  Might you not be tempted to speak urgently to your confederates about what's going on and what it means for your "business"? 
 
On another point has anyone ever heard of an habitual burglar opportunistically snatching a child from a property during a burglary in Europe? I never have.  We are talking about another coincidence then - another one in a million coincidence.

Can't this paper be reported to trading standards or something for that pack of lies. It should be shut down for selling a product not fit for purpose.

I wonder what the names of the Detectives are who branded it a disgrace and if they are "real life serving Detectives" or just Dave and Pigeon Arthur?

God Bless Poor Maddie McCann - aged 3

PeterMac wrote:Hooray.  A whole gang.  That should make things easier.

Professional burglars, who left the passports, credit cards, camera, video, and everything of value, but panicked when they found three sleeping children, and took one . . .

This is getting more ludicrous by the hour.

Yeah............and then I woke up!

And there was `overthehill` defending the press a few days ago for not being biased.

So what member of clanmacann has emailed that little gem to the Mail?

So one of Andy Redwood`s team has told Stephen Wright that their team think the Portuguese police are a disgrace ..........  as if  !!!

Another dollop of regurgitated tosh.

And why didn't they take a child each as there were 3 burglars, why only take one? Jeez! They must think the public are stupid to believe this rubbish they churn out!  

How did a baby explain to his/her parents that two intruders (at least one being portugese) had attempted to commit burglary whilst they drank outside if the suspects had already fled?

I mean, really?!

TMH wrote:And why didn't they take a child each as there were 3 burglars, why only take one? Jeez! They must think the public are stupid to believe this rubbish they churn out!  

They couldn't take one each because one of them had to carry the corpse which they took with them ...ya know ...the one the dogs alerted to behind the sofa !

Andy Redwood must be livid that one of his team has `disgraced` their reputation by repeating such zenophobic rubbish to the press.

What a croak of sh*t, why don't they start with the knowns (parents and friends) and work from there. Now Mr McCann why exactly did you and your missus delete your call and text records on the night of your daughter going missing?

So 'smithman' was a burglar then?

So shouldn't be too long before one of the Smith's 'remembers' the stripey top and 'swag' bag he was carrying along with a child.

Is there a court case judgement in a libel case in Portugal very soon?

@woofer
I've tweeted them & asked if it's true. I won't get a reply but I honestly can't believe the Police are letting them get away with this and doing nothing.

So SY have finally discounted 'Tractorman' but we now have 'Burglarman'   

Some thoughts:

The only mention of "3 burglars" in the article was from "an informed source"

All mentions of burglars was preceeded by language like "it is believed" etc, and all the Op Grange related copy stuck to known info

The timing is very coincidental given that Kate & Gerry refused to speak in libel trial.

IMO this article is pure pink spin.

And not a mention of it in Sky press preview. Froth.

[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Updated version 3 mins ago.

Spot the difference!... I have neither the time nor the enthusiasm anymore 

Is it possible there are a few grains of truth in this article? Three prime suspects who made high numbers of calls to each other after MM disappeared...talk of arrests, properties being searched, families being spoken to, use of vehicles being looked into, highly sensitive diplomatic discussions taking place, British police needing to be based in Portugal.....wishful thinking??

Police identify three prime suspects for abduction of Madeleine McCann following analysis of mobile phone data

Data suggests a burglary gang was operating near time of disappearance
McCanns and their friends Suspects made an 'unusually high' number of calls hours after Maddie was reported missing
Police believe thieves carried out one raid in resort, disturbing a child
Portuguese police attached no significance to the break-in days before
British detectives described oversight as a 'disgrace'
'Main line of inquiry' suggests burglars panicked and kidnapped Maddie

ByStephen Wright
PUBLISHED: 22:31, 3 January 2014 | UPDATED: 23:45, 3 January 2014

Three prime suspects for the abduction of Madeleine McCann have been identified by Scotland Yard officers.
Analysis of mobile phone data suggests a burglary gang was operating very near to where she vanished in Portugal in May 2007.
The three men made an unusually high number of calls to each other in the hours after Madeleine was reported missing from her holiday flat in the Algarve.
Police believe the thieves, including at least one Portuguese man, had already carried out one raid in the resort of Praia da Luz, disturbing a child.
That child’s parents, who had been drinking outside the property, rushed inside to find the intruders had fled.
During their bungled investigation Portuguese police attached no significance to the break-in, which came a few days before Madeleine disappeared.
British detectives said this oversight was a ‘disgrace’.
Following the Yard phone breakthrough, informal discussions have taken place about arresting the three burglars and searching their homes and other sites.
It is believed background checks have taken place into their criminal history, their circle of friends and relatives and the vehicles they have used.
British detectives believe the burglars may have panicked after they woke Madeleine up by mistake and decided to take her away with them.
An informed source said: ‘After all the far-fetched theories about what may have happened to Madeleine, there may be a far more simple explanation: that a burglary went horribly wrong.
'It is the main line of inquiry for British police.’
But Scotland Yard’s hopes of early arrests have been thwarted by the reluctance of the Portuguese authorities to agree to a formal joint investigation.
Because none of the burglars is British, the Met cannot arrest them in Portugal and will need the full cooperation of local police to pursue the inquiry.
Behind the scenes, highly sensitive diplomatic discussions are taking place to resolve the issue so that British detectives can be based in Portugal. Home Secretary Theresa May is being briefed regularly.
'After all the far-fetched theories about what may have happened to Madeleine, there may be a far more simple explanation: that a burglary went horribly wrong.'
Yard detectives have dismissed the idea that a local man who died in a tractor accident four years ago was responsible for Madeleine’s disappearance.
Portuguese police regard the 40-year-old, a former employee at the Ocean Club holiday complex the McCanns stayed at, as their prime suspect.
Met officers disagree with their reasoning and are concentrating on the burglars.
The compelling mobile phone ‘cell site analysis’ – which has helped solve a number of major crimes – has strengthened suspicions about the gang.
A major appeal based on ‘substantive’ new information – including descriptions of possible suspects – was broadcast on the BBC1’s Crimewatch in October. Days before the appeal, senior detectives revealed mobile phone records may hold the key to solving the case.
Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood, who is leading the inquiry, said officers were examining data from thousands of mobiles thought to belong to people who were in Praia da Luz around the time of Madeleine’s disappearance.
Police are trying to identify the owner of each phone to build up a picture of exactly who was in the area.
More than 3,000 people live in Praia da Luz, while holidaymakers and seasonal workers visit from around the world. ‘This is not just a general trawl,’ said Mr Redwood. ‘It’s a targeted attack on that data to see if it assists us to find out what happened to Madeleine at that time.’
Mr Redwood said officers had been unable to identify, six years on, a large number of mobile phones, especially those bought on a pay-as-you-go basis.
The records also contain information on which numbers were dialled and when. It is thought some numbers might appear on police intelligence systems, or be linked to criminals.
According to Scotland Yard, the phone records were looked at by the Portuguese police investigation but in no detail. Scotland Yard announced it was launching an investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance in July – after spending two years reviewing the case under the codename Operation Grange.
Madeleine, whose parents Gerry and Kate live in Rothley, Leicestershire, was days away from her fourth birthday when she was abducted.
Earlier this week it emerged that the bill for the Yard’s probe has topped £6million. The total is now likely to exceed £10million, with £88,000 having gone on travel costs so far.

William, Bangkok, 53 minutes ago
And when the Portuguese police requested the phone records of the McCanns from the British police, the British police refused the request.

Santas Little Helper, Lapland, United Kingdom, 1 hour ago
She should never have been left in the first place.

Read more: [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

One burglar to the others:- Look what I found behind the sofa ( joke of poor taste!)

If SY are really following this burglary theory then there really is no hope, this is making a laughing stock of themselves IMO.

Three burglars disturbed MM and decided to take her with them? Well I seriously hope we're not paying anyone to come up with this rubbish.

One burglar, a possibility, although highly unlikely. Three burglars, two would have talked the other one out of it.

Much more likely that a burglar disturbed her and left the door open, MM went looking for her parents and fell down the steps.

Or, that three burglars fled the scene having come across a child who had had a fatal accident.

If the three of them had taken her, and why would they?, why the need for making phone calls to anyone?

Kate and Gerry McCann pose with an artist's impression of how their daughter might look at the age of nine last year, 2013.
(back to school boys, you are only a YEAR out with her age!)

CHARMING COMMENT FROM A MCCANN 'SUPPORTER'

Rightsaysmoi, Over the rainbow, Isle Of Man, 38 minutes ago
Boring comment " She should have never been left in the first place" so she was , get over it , now let's hope against hope some light comes out of this investigation.

YEAH, YOU ANTI'S 'GET OVER IT!'............... EVERYONE KNOWS YOU ALWAYS LEAVE YOUR THREE KIDS, ALL UNDER FOUR YEARS OLD, ALONE, IN UNLOCKED APARTMENTS ABROAD, OUT OF SIGHT, WHILE YOU GO OUT DRINKING WITH YOUR MATES.
GET OVER IT!

eta: Thankyou Rightsaysmoi for pointing out that Madeleine and the twins were indeed 'left all alone'

Wuggy, Ayrshire, 41 minutes ago
If the British Police are talking about far fetched theories then the ludicrous theory that a burglar or burglars panicked during a break-in and in their rush to get out decided to steal a 4 year old child is perhaps the most far fetched of all. Why do I get the impression that the Metropolitan Police are simply churning out theory after theory in an attempt to justify the huge sum of money being squandered in this 'investigation'.

STILL if, IF it rules out 'smithman' as a possible 'abductor' then the McCanns really don't have a scintilla of evidence to back their claim that an 'abduction' took place.

ONLY their 'say so'

Crecheman 'whooshed' Smithman 'whooshed'

Oh, oh..................NO 'abductor' seen by anyone!

It still doesn't explain the cadaverine found in the apartment, on cuddlecat, kate's clothes and a child's clothes or the hirecar.

No matter how they try to explain things away or introduce 'new suspects' the cadaverine and body fluids are the herd of elephants in the room

This story is tinted pink, what a crock.

There is still the little matter of THE BEDROOM DOOR.

This really is the story that keeps on giving. Tractorman is out. Welcome please "The Burglarmen". First of the groups to take the stage.  No evidence of course. Not a shred.  No motive. None.  But a great new lead story and a massive circulation boost.  

Just as the lawyers earned their cash last week, so this week the PR crew are earning theirs. Lead stories in sky and the DM combining the narrative: Nasty Portuguese court refusing to acknowledge their pain, when it is clear to all at SY that "The Burglermen" are the abductors.  

Did it come from SY?  Are Britain's finest really going down this road...?  Is this another whitewash candidate being tested on the great British public?  Or is it just PR?

Tangled Web wrote:So SY have finally discounted 'Tractorman' but we now have 'Burglarman'   

Have we had Bannerman yet - carrying a banner saying "I am an abductor"?   

littlepixie wrote:Can't this paper be reported to trading standards or something for that pack of lies. It should be shut down for selling a product not fit for purpose.

I wonder what the names of the Detectives are who branded it a disgrace and if they are "real life serving Detectives" or just Dave and Pigeon Arthur?

God Bless Poor Maddie McCann - aged 3

It's the McCanns who want to control the press. I am quite happy for them to publish nonsense as long as we can publish corrections to the nonsense.