The Complete Mystery of Madeleine McCann™
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The Complete Mystery of Madeleine McCann™
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Documented Evidence - Page 8 Mm11

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Documented Evidence

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Post by sandancer 20.11.19 17:48

" You know - a phrase of little meaning , used when trying to think of what to say next " 

In other words , concocting a story , not from memory ! 

I hope you didn't count the 1000 plus " err , errs " yourself Verdi ? 

Strong drink and headache tablet required ! 

Imagine Dr Payne giving a diagnosis , by the time he'd finished the patient would be terminal . 

Plus this was the rogatory , in English , no questions asked in Portuguese requiring a translator !     flag

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Post by Verdi 20.11.19 21:24

sandancer wrote:I hope you didn't count the 1000 plus " err , errs " yourself Verdi ?

Nah! Get's a bit confusing after eight fingers and two thumbs and I broke me abacus tanty .

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Post by Verdi 22.11.19 21:11

Gerry McCann's witness statement - 10th May 2007

That, on the first day, given that they arrived at lunch time, they ate [had eaten] only sandwiches both on the plane and in the bus during the journey from the airport to the OCEAN CLUB. After completing the check-in at the main reception, where they were taken by the mini-bus, that lasted until 15h00, they went to the apartment where they unpacked their bags, that taking until 16h45. Pointing out that after check-in they went with their bags to the apartment by resort mini-bus.

----- Subsequently, at 17h00, the whole group, including children, went to the TAPAS situated at the back of the apartments, next to the pool, to attend a welcoming committee arranged by MARK WARNER where they met with instructors in tennis and sailing and other resort employees, which ended at 18h30, glasses of sangria having been served to them.


madeleine by KATE MCCANN - published April 2011

The weather was pleasant enough, although there was a cool breeze. It was still April, after all. As I am one of those people who really feel the cold (‘Get a bit of meat on yerself!’ my hardy Scottish in-laws are always telling me), when Madeleine immediately wanted me to go swimming with her, I was not exactly keen. But she was so excited about the pool. I took one look at her eager little face and went off to put on my costume. The water was absolutely freezing, but Madeleine was straight in there, even if her voice disappeared for a second or two with the shock of it. ‘Come on, Mummy!’ she called when she’d got her breath back. I tentatively inched my way in. ‘The things you do for your kids!’ I remember commenting to a dad lying on a sun-lounger with his two sons nearby, watching us. I told Madeleine to count to three and steeled myself. It was worth it – it will always be worth it – just to see her delight. Even if it did take us both the best part of three hours to warm up afterwards.
We were still shivering when we went off to a ‘welcome’ meeting with the Mark Warner team, who outlined the facilities and events on offer.

...................

Now, call me pernickety but Kate McCann's version of the truth disclosed in April 2011, doesn't quite adhere to that of her husband's version of the truth declared under oath, on 10th May 2007 - only days after the claimed disappearance of their daughter.

Ms McCann repeated her version of the truth when interviewed and caught on camera.  It might only be a minor discrepancy but it opens doors to what else might have been misrepresented by the duo over the years.

A scene depicting the same scenario according to Ms McCann's version of the truth, was even featured during the Crimewatch 2013 Madeleine McCann Special reconstruction.

I'm sure, even though not allowed as evidence in a court of law, any well respected learned gentleman or woman would find this very interesting when building a case for the prosecution.

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Post by Verdi 26.11.19 15:11

To believe or not to believe .... that is the question! Jane Tanner shows extreme concern she/they are doubted.

Jane Tanner rogatory interview - April 2008

4078 “You can only say what you saw”.

Reply “But I did see it, you know, I think that is the. I’m sorry”.

4078 “It’s alright”.

Reply “But, you know, it’s just the frustration of not being believed on this, it’s”.
~~~

4078 “Is to go over again what you saw and not because we don’t believe you just because we need to go back through everything”.


Reply “Yeah, I know, yeah. But I just want, you know, obviously from my point of view, I really want to make sure that I am believed, because I am not lying on this, I’m really not, and I just think it’s important. And I think that’s my frustration as well, if I’ve not been believed up to this point, I should have been asked this months ago. You should have put, you know, interrogated me to find out if I am lying months ago, you know, not just think ‘Oh no, she’s made that up’ because somebody didn’t see me walk by, I just think that is the point I want to make and to live with that, knowing that’s not being taken into account, is hard. Anyway, but, so I just want to make that point”.
~~~

I think you saw my reaction earlier that you know, I’m telling the truth, you know there’s Kate and Gerry are telling the truth, there’s no way they are involved in any shape or form, you know we saw their reaction on the night, we saw their reaction afterwards, we see their reaction now, they’re not involved and the thing is, there’s somebody out there you know, Madeleine if she’s dead or alive whatever you know, maybe it is too late to find her but there’s somebody out there that’s done this and it’s not Kate and Gerry, it’s not us, you know they can do it again and that is the, you know they’re laughing their socks off, they’ve just got away with this scot free and you know, and I think it’s, the thing is, they are there, then it’s not us and that person is out there and you know, could do it again and as I say it might be, we obviously hope not but it could be too late for Madeleine but a lot of other kids out there that might not be too late for and it’s just and to sit and see, and I know, I can quite understand why that time and effort has to be put into looking down that route and but you know, I can’t say any more but it’s not, well it’s not us, it’s not Kate and Gerry and it’s something happened which to Madeleine that night and none of us are involved and you know, I just don’t know what else we can do to make them believe us and I think that’s the you know, and I think that’s the you know, I think that, and I don’t think there is anything else we could do to believe us but you know, we’re not (inaudible), we were normal people that made a really stupid decision because we were lulled into a false sense of security from previous holidays where baby listening was offered so I don’t know”.
~~~

4078 “You made that decision based on how things were at that time”?

Reply “Yeah exact, yeah I know, I know you can rationalise that in your head as much as you can but you know, but and now to make that worse, you know it’s always like and I can see that that should have almost been done straight away, that we were scrutinised and, and the fact that I’m not being believed but have they looked into my past, have they asked family, have they asked people I work with, have they asked friends if this is something I do all the time, am I some sort of fruit cake that makes stuff up and you know, they’ve only got to do that and they’ll find out that I’m not you know, I’m not the least likely person to, might not be Madeleine, I cannot say that it was Madeleine but you know, I saw somebody and I’ve no evidence to say it wasn’t so”.
~~~

4078 “But you have a sinking feeling inside that it was”?

Reply “Yeah and I, yeah and I just think you know, they just and you know at the end of the day, this person is still out there, somebody did this and it wasn’t Kate and Gerry and it wasn’t any of us you know, and it just, that is the worse thing, that person is out there, could do it again, he’s absolutely you know, they must be laughing their socks off, well not, you know they, so I think that’s you know, that’s all we can, and I think it’s just that frustration and as I say, I mean I can’t make them believe us and they might still not believe us but you know, like I say, so I’m just begging really that they believe us, I think it’s a”.
~~~

eyebrows





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Post by sandancer 26.11.19 22:15

The lady doth protest too much , methinks !

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Post by Verdi 26.11.19 23:49

I forgot the image..

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ooops sorry, wrong one..

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Post by Verdi 30.11.19 0:45

Calheta19 wrote:Russell O’Brien was the one who created a story about his daughter who seemed to be unwell. His timeline made it possible for him to bring the body of Madelineine to another spot towards the beach. He was the man seen by the Irish family around 9.45pm. Russell did hide the corps and returned to the Tapas bar. His testimony stinks. Jane tanner also knew what happened that evening. She took care of their daughter. She wasn’t sick. Her daughter was Russell’s alibi.

Later that night Gerry went to that spot and transported her body to Rua das Flores. I call it the Dutch connection, which has never been investigated.

You speak with great authority!

Do you have conclusive evidence to support your insistence, or is this only your strongly worded interpretation of documented evidence? I know this case can easily enflame passion.

NB: I realise it's a typographical error but in the interest of accuracy, the name is Madeleine.

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Post by Verdi 11.12.19 15:09

Mark Harrison MBE
National Search Adviser
Homicide, Missing Persons, Mass Fatality Disasters

23/07/2007

Madeleine McCann Search Decision Support Document

The reconnaissance undertaken and this report has been completed at the direct request and benefit of Guillhemino Encamacao the Algarve Regional Director of the Portuguese Judicial Police

Personal Profile

I am the National Adviser in relation to Search for all Police agencies within the United Kingdom for Missing persons, Abduction and Homicide. My role involves advising on searching for persons that are missing, abducted or murdered, using enhanced search techniques and technologies. I attend and review cases providing advice and support on search plans, strategies and resources. I have extensive national and international experience in such casework. I am a visiting Professor of Earth and Ocean Sciences at the University of Southampton.
In compiling this report I have driven and walked around the relevant areas of Praia Da Luz during the hours of darkness and then during daylight hours. I have conducted reconnaissance flights using the Civil defence helicopter. Consultation has been made with various colleagues and subject matter experts in the development of this report.

This report considers solely the possibility that Madeleine McCann has been murdered and her body is concealed within the areas previously searched by Police in Zone 1 around Praia Da Luz. Other scenarios or possibilities may on request be considered and be subject of a further report. I also make comment on the recent claims made by a [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]as to the whereabouts of the missing child.

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Initial Action
On Friday 20.07.2007 a request was made by the Portuguese Judicial Police to the NPIA for search advisory assistance. As a result of this the following terms of reference were produced.

Terms of reference to provide assistance to the Portuguese Judicial Police.

1. Assist the Judicial Police and GNR in assessing new or previous areas searched and give opinion on the best methods and assets to provide assurance as to the absence or presence of M McCann's concealed remains.
2. Act as a "critical friend" to the officer in charge of search planning and management and offer immediate and enduring peer review until case resolution or search suspension.
3. Assist in the development of framework models such as scenario based searching to aid homicide disposal searching.
4. Consider further opportunities or areas for search in order to locate M McCann as applicable to the latest intelligence and inform tion provided.
5. Where appropriate, provide independent and impartial advice on the enabling and disabling factors of specialist resources available either within Portugal or elsewhere in body detection.
6. To assist in decision support where requested by testing and challenging claims made by persons offering unorthodox search methods or devices to aid locating M McCann.
7. Where appropriate and requested, assist in advising on procedures to procure any non Portuguese specialist assets that are deemed to be relevant and useful.

Mr Krugel's Claims Regarding the Location of Madeleine McCann

A Mr Krugel, at the McCann's request, attended Praia Da Luz last week from South Africa alleging he could assist in locating Madeleine McCann. I have spoken with the Police officers that accompanied him and viewed the documentation Krugel has supplied to the PJ.
The limiting factor in coming to a view is that Krugel did not allow anyone to view the handheld device he had with him or observe him using it. He was unable to provide any validating scientific data or documents to support the claims he made or the device he alleged to have with him.
In short he would appear to claim he has uniquely developed a handheld device that can find a missing person alive or dead in any given terrain over any elapsed time period.

In debriefing the officers who accompanied Krugel it is possible to hypothesise what he may have been doing and using.

In consultation with a colleague Dr Wolfram Meier-Augenstein we feel he may have been attempting to give the impression he had developed and was using


Page 2226 :


a "Remote Laser based gas sensing device". However his claims regarding the distance of detection, up to 20km and the use of a hair sample are highly unlikely and would be a great innovation in the scientific world. Further provenance of this technique could be sought from Prof. Miles Padgett who is a Professor of optics in physics at the University of Glasgow (m.
[You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
tel +44 141 XXXXXXX)

One obvious challenge to the claims of the device capability is that if Krugel claims that by taking 3 separate location readings he is able to triangulate to an area then one would assume that as an area was identified further reading and triangulation inside that area could be conducted repeatedly until an "X marked the spot?
.
Of most concern is the poor quality of his report which merely shows a google earth image of an area to the east of Praia Da Luz and includes open scrub land, beach and sea. As Krugel was not prepared to allow the device to be viewed or provide any specification data of readings or equipment and the fact that no known device currently exists commercially or academically then I can only conclude that the information he has provided is likely to be of low value.

GNR Searches Conducted within 7 days of Madeleine McCann's Disappearance.

On Saturday 21.07.2007 I met with Major Luis Seqeuira, GNR Portimao who was the search coordinator for all search activity that was under taken in the physical search for Madeleine McCann.
Major Seqeuira has not benefited from any formal training or accreditation in the management of searching for missing persons. The search officers with the exception of the search and rescue team dispatched from Lisbon had not benefited from any formal training in search procedures. The teams available and deployed by Major Seqeuira were drawn from unit of the GNR, Civil Protection, Fire Brigade, Red Cross and Urban Police. Each team numbered
around 10 and between 80 to 100 personnel were involved in search activity.

The searches were based on a strategy of searching in "rescue and recovery mode? to locate the missing girl alive or if dead, not as a victim of crime. This search phase lasted for 7 days from the date M McCann went missing.

The search was split into 3 zones radiating out from Praia Da Luz in a northward direction. The first zone extended 3km to the EN125 road at Espiche. W?hin this zone, sectors were drawn using the natural boundaries that exist and included the entire village. Officers were briefed and debriefed before and after deployments and records of activity collected. Each sector was repeatedly searched on 3 separate occasions over the 7 days using officers conducting line searches and supported by air scenting dogs.

The next Zone 2 was extended out to a radius of 7km to the boundary of the N120 road at Bensafrim. As the sectors were larger and in order to support the line searches 2 GNR officers on motorcycles and 6 GNR officers on horse
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-back were deployed. These sectors were all searched on 2 separate occasions over the 7 day period.
The outer zone 3 was extended to 15km at Barragem de Odiaxere a dammed lake. This zone is in a mountainous region subject to flash forest fires.
Therefore Fire officers who routinely patrol and have local knowledge of the area were tasked to drive the tracks, visit empty properties to look for the missing girl. Additionally the fire brigade used a boat to visually inspect the surface water of the lake.

Re Visiting Previously Searched Areas.

In considering the two scenarios that Madeleine McCann has been murdered and her body disposed of by a person on foot or in a vehicle, I have reflected on the areas within zone 1 that have been previously searched or subject to forensic examination.

Mark Warner Creche at Praia Da Luz.

This is the location of the last confirmed sighting by a person independent of family members of Madeleine McCann. Although this location was within the original search area it may well benefit from a further search using enhanced detecting methods for human remains. This will depend on the size of any outside grounds and concealed areas inside the building.

McCann's Apartment.

The apartment in which the McCann's had stayed may present further
opportunities to search. The use of a specialist EVRD (Enhanced Victim
Recovery Dog) and CSI dog (human blood detecting dog) could potentially indicate on whether Madeline's blood is in the property or the scent of a dead body is present. In relation to the dead body scent if such a scent is indicated by the EVRD and no body is located it may suggest that a body has been in the property but removed. This search process could be repeated in all the apartments that were occupied by the friends holidaying with the McCann's.
Murat's House and Garden.

The property has been forensically examined to recover any surface trace evidence however the house and gardens may benefit from a fully invasive specialist search to preclude the presence of Madeleine McCann.
A method previously employed on similar cases has been to use the below assets.
Deploy the EVRD to search the house and garden to ensure Madeleine McCann's remains are not present. The dog may also indicate if a body has been stored in the recent past and then moved off the property, though this is not evidential merely intelligence.
Deploy the CSI dog to search the house to locate any human blood.
This will act in support of the forensic examination already completed.
An inhibiting factor will be on areas where Luminol has been used.


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Deploy geophysical instruments in the house and garden to detect any burial of a body or concealment in voids.

These specialists should be supported by physical search teams exploring and accessing all areas where concealment of a child's body could be made typically 0.5m.

Murat's Vehicles.

All vehicles Murat has had access to have been forensically examined to recover any surface trace evidence however they may all benefit from a full search by the EVRD and CSI dogs. They may be able to detect whether a dead body has been transported in one of the vehicles for intelligence purposes or detect human blood deposits that can be recovered and
examined in a laboratory for Madeleine McCann's blood.

Open Area to East of Praia Da Luz.

This open area between the village urban limits and the Boavista golf club to the east and includes a plateau on which sits a trig point and mobile phone mast.
This area has been previously searched by officers and dogs walking through the area to check for Madeleine McCann's visible remains. However considering the new scenario of Homicide and concealed deposition this area affords many opportunities to dispose of a body. Within this area there are old empty properties, wells, thick vegetation, pockets of soft sand and natural fissures in the cliffs. Whilst there is no intelligence she is buried or concealed in this land it would be a natural place an offender may choose dose to the Village using the least effort principle. A proportionate response may therefore be considered to conduct a search of this area using a team of Victim Recovery Dogs (VRD) that are specifically trained to located concealed human remains.
Prior to undertaking this task it would be beneficial to consult with a Forensic Anthropologist with knowledge of this region of Portugal to give opinion as to the likely state of any remains to be found. Further research could also be conducted with regards to the natural scavenging predators in the area.

An inhibiting factor is that since the disappearance of the child an old empty house adjacent to the Trig Point on the Rocha Negra has been demolished and all rubble removed, If she was concealed within this property the search would be unlikely to detect her now.

Praia Da Luz Beach and Shoreline.

The beach and shoreline are bounded by high cliffs and shallow waters. The beach has fine granular sand and provides easy digging. However the beach is extensively used by tourists and locals and af?rds minimal areas of cover from view for concealment. It may be considered appropriate to use the VRD dog team supported by geophysical GPR to sweep the beach. This would be


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a considerable time and cost undertaking and should be weighed in the absence of specific intelligence.

Search Duration.

If all the described assets were deployed it would be likely all assets would complete their searches within one week.

Costs.

Currently only costs for the EVRD and CSI are available.
The daily rate for this dog team is 1000 Euros. Flight travel costs for handler and dogs could be 2750 Euros. Veterinary costs: U.K. and Portugal to comply with Pet Passports scheme 450 Euros. Accommodation, subsistence and vehicle transportation would incur extra charge.
Costs for a VRD dog team to conduct the open area search are not available at the time of writing. Such a team could be sourced from several countries within Europe or USA that have this capability including the UK. However the UK is limited to those teams whose dogs have "pet passports" due to UK quarantine restrictions.

Costs for a geophysical search team to conduct the search of Murat's house and garden are not available at the time of writing. These could be sourced from a commercial surveying company, a university or military within Portugal. Alternatively enquires could be made within the UK.

Offshore.

The sea in general circumstances would be immediately attractive to an offender as an easy way of body disposal and so must be considered.
The searches of the coastline was conducted by the Maritime Police and Coastguard. They searched the sea for any body buoyant on the surface and checked the coves and caves.
It could be considered appropriate to conduct research into the tidal flows and movement of the sea in this region and hypothesise where a body may travel if entered at certain points. It has been observed the depth of the sea appears shallow at the relevant area of coastline and this may become an inhibiting factor for any offender wishing to dispose of a body in it.
Overall Summary.

This report has highlighted the extensive and professional efforts made by the Portuguese authorities regarding the search to locate Madeleine McCann alive. It has now begun to consider further opportunities to re search locations in order to address the possibility that she has been murdered and concealed nearby. This would be a proportionate and appropriate response given the elapsed time since her disappearance and previous experience in such similar cases. Should the investigators wish to discuss and develop the issues raised


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in this initial assessment I would be happy to do so. Should further advisory ?in country? support be required of the National Search Advisor following this initial assessment phase formal approval must be sought from the NPIA.


Page 2231 :

APPENDIX VICTIM RECOVERY DOGS & GPR

This section describes the training and abilities of victim recovery dogs (VRD), the enhanced victim recovery dog (EVRD) and Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR).

VICTIM RECOVERY DOGS

Search Asset Profile

Victim recovery dogs (VRDs) are also known as body or cadaver dogs. They are used in many countries to assist the police in locating concealed human remains. In the UK, police dogs are used that are trained and licensed to a national standard.

Pig carcasses are used to train the dogs in the UK as it is not legal to use human cadavers. This is an established training method and enables the dogs to successfully detect human remains in operational case work.

Enhanced training to produce a EVRD.

The training of a VRD provides an alert response using Ivan Pavlov's theory of producing a conditioned reflex, in this case barking, to the presence of detected decomposing human/pig flesh, bone, body fluid and blood. The dog will bark, whether or not it is able to get to the source of the scent. The benefit of this reflex is that the dog will respond whenever the target scent is present.
This enables the dog to be used in an investigative role, assisting experts in other fields, such as, geophysics.

An EVRD dog received additional training on human cadavers which were buried on land and submerged underwater. This took place in America and facilitated by the FBI at the University of Tennessee.

The scent detection threshold of the dog is greatly enhanced. In operational deployment and in training, the dog is successful in detecting human remains, body fluids and blood, to cellular levels that can be recovered by low copy
analysis at forensic laboratories.

The proven capability of the EVRD is to :

Search to locate very small samples of human remains, body fluids and blood in any environment or terrain.

Identify sub-surface depositions to a depth of approximately one metre below the surface of the ground, depending on the scent permeability of the ground.
This depth is increased substantially when the ground is 'vented' prior to deployment.
Page 2232

Locate and give an alert to cross contamination by a cadaver. This is particularly valuable when the dog is used to assist in searches where the discovery of a body has prompted the investigation. The dog may locate secondary deposition sites and any areas of contamination, e.g., items of vehicles used to transport the body.

The generation, storage and migration of natural gases and body scent.

Gases from decomposing human remains may be dissolved in groundwater depending on the pressure, temperature or concentration of other gases or minerals in water. Dissolved gases may be advected by groundwater, and only when the pressure is reduced and the solubility limit of the gas in groundwater exceeded, do they come out of solution and form a separate gaseous phase.

'Scent', (cocktail mixtures of gases), from organic decaying remains can move through bedrock by diffusion, which is relatively slow, but if the bedrock is fractured, (eg, by bedding planes, joints and faults), the diffusion rate is increased. Gas and scent from organic decaying remains also migrate through rocks via intergranular permeability or, more particularly, along discontinuities. The hydrostatic head imposed by groundwater flows may also influence gas/organic scent emissions.

Determination of the migration pathway of gas/body scent depends on the geological, geomorphological and hydrogeological conditions and an understanding of the victim deposition site. Factors such as the surface and
groundwater flow paths, drainage, topography, runoff, precipitation rates, permeability of the soil and bedrock and hydrogeological domains, location of seeps and springs need to be determined if gases/human remains migration
pathways are to be determined.

The age of the source does not affect the process of scent movement but it will effect the concentration, as will the rate of decomposition. Body scent may be transported by 'leachate plumes' to emerge at the ground surface.

Page 2233

Figure 61 : Schematic illustration to show the influence of groundwater flows and the migration of body scent, which may be carried away from the grave site, as a lecahate plume, to emerge on the flanks.

(Note (by me) : Diagram and explanatory indicators shown here but I cannot capture it as a screenshot)


Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR)

This consists of a radar antenna transmitting electromagnetic energy in pulse form at frequencies between 25 MHz and 1 GHz. The pulses are partially reflected by the sub-surface geological structures, picked up by a receiving antenna and plotted as a continuous two-way travel time record, which is displayed as a pseudo-geological record section. The vertical depth scale of this section can be calibrated from the measured two-way travel times of the reflected events either by the use of the appropriate velocity values of electromagnetic pulse through the ground.

The depth of penetration achieved by the radar pulse is a function of both it's frequency and the conductivity of the ground.


Page 2234

The equipment benefits in use by detecting anomalies in the ground and is particularly effective through sand and concrete. However it is limited in undulating terrain or areas where it is an anomaly rich environment such as a
wooded area.

This equipment whilst readily available in the Commercial Surveying Industry and University Geophysics Departments requires expert interpretation of the imagery for grave detection.



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Post by Verdi 11.12.19 15:12

Mark Harrison MBE
NationalSearch Adviser
Homidde, Missing Persons, Mass Fataliiy Disasters
Madeleine McCann Search

PD Luz Beach & Marine

Assessment

The reconnaissance undertaken and this report have been completed at the
direct request and benefit of Guillhermino Encarnacao the Algarve regional
director of the Portuguese Judicial Police.

Personal Profile

I am a serving police officer and the National Adviser in relation to Search for
Police agencies within the United Kingdom. My role involves advising on
searching for persons that are missing, abducted or murdered, using
enhanced search techniques and technologies. I attend and review cases
providing advice and support on search plans, strategies and resources. I
have extensive national and interactional experience in such casework and in
2004 was awarded an MBE for services to search. I am a visiting Professor of
Earth and Ocean Sciences at the University of Southampton.

Prologue

In compiling this report I have walked around the relevant areas of Praia Da
Luz during the hours of darkness and then during daylight hours of high and
low tide. I have concluded reconnaissance flights using the Civil defence
helicopter. On 30/7/07a full site assessment of beach dynamics and a
digability study was conducted by me along with Professors Alveirhino Dias
and Oscar Ferreira costa1 and marine dynamics experts. Additional
consultation has been made with Dr. Jorge Goncalves, a marine biologist.
These named experts all work at the FCMA (oceanographic centre) University
of Algarve.

Report Aim
'This report solely considers the smmh scenario that Madeline McCann
has been murdered and her body is concealed on the beach at PD Luz or
has been put into the sea from the shore.

The report considers the viability of burial on the beach and the likely
movement of a body if it entered the sea. It also considers the likely incident
of such a disposal choice and any local impact factors that make this a more
or less likely event with the aim to inform decisions on any searches.

Praia Da Luz Beach.
In simple terms the beach is in a natural inlet and bounded by cliffs.
The winds are generally from the west and create low energy waves of less
than 2m. This is significant regarding any body disposal scenario from the
shore as the wave energy is not sufficient to "take a body" out to sea. Instead
a body would most likely trave1 eastwards in a re circulating motion along the
shoreline until it was trapped by the rock outcrop to the east of the beach or
consumed by marine life. ti the entry point was the rock outcrop itself to the
east of the beach then the body would most likely continue in a re circulating
motion along the shoreline until it again encountered a bamer to its passage,
the most eastward of this would be 5km away at Ponta Da Piedade near
Lagos.


Sub Surface Burial on P D Luz Beach

For Body Disposal Purposes The Beach Can Be Separated And
Discussed Into 6 Areas.

Figure 2.The boulders in the rock falls are too large
to man handle. Vegetative growth suggests rock
falls have been in situ for some time. The low energy
wave action would not move any of the boulders. It
is possible a small child could be secreted amongst
the rocks in natural voids.

Figure 3.The cliff edge at the base of the beach is at
an angle that inhibits soil removal. The shale re fills
any hole dug and is unsuitable to achieve a burial.

Figure4.At the base of the cliff are wave cuts where
the bedrock has been eroded by wave action. Here
sand can be easily dug but after a few centimetres
the digger reaches the bed rock, preventing a
successful burial.

Figure 5.The beach cusps or berms are mounds of
sand made by wind action. These cusps form at the
limit of the tides reach and would only be recovered
in storm conditions. Digging on the cusps is easy but to achieve as
more than a few centimetres depth is very difficult to
the fine sand granules refill the hole


Figure 6.The dark sand in this image shows the
intertidal area. Here digging and burial could
possibly be achieved although it would be through a
mixture of grave1 and water. However any burial
would be quickly exposed by wave action and
ultimately taken into the sea.

Tidal Wave Data

Tidal data for the area of Praia Da Luz has been obtained from the buoy near
Faro. It collects data on wave height and diredion. However on 3* May 2007
the buoy malfunctioned and stopped collecting data for the month of May.
Data is available before and after this period and it could be inferred that
these results are consistent with the missing relevant period as there were no
exceptional storm events.

On the 2"d May 2007 the waves were of middle energy of a 2m height and a
easterly drift. When data was next collected on the 22"6May 2007 they were
now low energy waves of 0.5m to I'm with the same easterly winds.

Low tide on the night of the 3* May 2007 was at 2200hrs at 2m. The
maximum amount of beach would be accessible including the rocky outcrop.
High tide on the 4n May 2007 was at 0415hrs at 3.1 m. This would mean that
from 0200hrs onwards half the eastern part of the beach would be submerged
and so access to the rocky outcrop impossible on foot.

Therefore if someone deposited a body into the sea, on the night of M
McCann's disappearance, from the beach the optimum time window for full
access to the whole beach and rocky outcrop was between 2200hrs and
0200hrs. This time window would also be the optimum time for burial in the
sand, not withstanding the digability study limitations previously described.

The optimum time to throw a body from the top of the diff into the sea would
be between 0200hrs and 0400hrs as the sea would be at the cliffs edge.
Conversely this would not be the optimum time window for a beach burial.

Marine Life

In relation to a body disposal scenario crustations could begin eating within a
few hours if the body was not initially buoyant or trapped on the sea bed. If it
was buoyant then crustations would be joined by fish and crabs once the
decomposition process had begun.

Homicide Disposal Datasets

A limited search has been conducted of datasets that contain body disposal
data in homicide cases (CATCHEM, SCAS, FBI). Although this search was
limited due to the time constraints placed on this reports delivery an inference
can be gained from both the data sets and the authors own case work
experience. I have also consulted with NPIA and FBI colleagues to benefit
from their experiences.
The conclusion inferred is that beach burial is extremely rare. This should not
surprise us as to dig on a beach is a high risk activity requiring expending time
and energy when a more 'least effort" disposal is readily available, that is
directly into the sea. Of those limited cases that were found to be a beach
disposal the overwhelming majority were surface depositions with only one
recorded concealment using rocks on top of a 2 year old child (CATCHEM
Database)

Discussion

Where a homicide occurs and the sea is accessible and nearby then it would
become a natural disposal choice for an offender using the "least effort
principlen. The beach itself would appear to merely be the platform to facilitate
this. When this is considered in relation to the beach at Praia Da Luz there is
a reinforcement of this view due to the severe limiting and inhibiting factors to
achieve a beach burial there. If a burial was achieved there is a significant
likelihood, based on the tidal coverage of the entire beach, that a burial would
be exposed and or taken into the sea. If a body entered the sea it could
remain close to the shore travelling in an eastward direction until it returned to
shore or became trapped in the sub surface rocks.

The optimum time window, on the night of disappearance, to dispose of a
body into the sea from the shore would have been between 2200hrs and
0200hrs. The optimum time to dispose of a body into the sea from the top of
the cliffs would have been between 0200hrs and 041 Shrs.

Due to the normal high occupancy tourist activity on the beach and in the sea
it could be considered a body would self expose and be detected.

In conclusion there is no intelligence spe?ic to this case or generic datasets
that support a scenario of beach burial. Additionally the digability study and
coastal dynamics of the Praia Da Luz beach further limit this as a viable
scenario. However should further assurance be required I would suggest a
limited inspection around the rock falls at the base of the cliffs' on the beach
and the waters around the rocky outcrop to the east of the beach.

Should the investigators wish to discuss and develop the issues raised in this
assessment I would be happy to do so.



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Documented Evidence - Page 8 Empty Re: Documented Evidence

Post by Verdi 11.12.19 15:13

Mark Harrison MBE
National Search Adviser
Homicide, Missing Persons, Mass Fatality Disasters
 
 
OP TASK Madeleine McCann
 
Search Activity 1 – 8 August 2007
 
 
This document follows on from the author’s two previous search documents and provides a summary of the search activity undertaken by the Policia Judiciaria (PJ) in Praia da Luz, Portugal between 20-07-07 and 10-08-07 following the authors search review and submission of his decision support documents.
 
The authors search review terms of reference were set and agreed with the PJ Algarve regional Director Guilhermino Encarnacao, they were;
 
 
 
1. Assist the Judicial Police and GNR in assessing new or previous areas searched and give opinion on the best methods and assets to provide assurance as to the absence or presence of M McCann's concealed remains.
2. Act as a "critical friend" to the officer in charge of search planning and management and offer immediate and enduring peer review until case resolution or search suspension.
3. Assist in the development of framework models such as scenario based searching to aid homicide disposal searching.
4. Consider further opportunities or areas for search in order to locate M McCann as applicable to the latest intelligence and information provided.
5. Where appropriate, provide independent and impartial advice on the enabling and disabling factors of specialist resources available either within Portugal or elsewhere in body detection.
6. To assist in decision support where requested by testing and challenging claims made by persons offering unorthodox search methods or devices to aid locating M McCann.
7. Where appropriate and requested, assist in advising on procedures to procure any non Portuguese specialist assets that are deemed to be relevant and useful.
 
 
In complying with these terms I undertook a series of briefings and site visits. These were with GNR and PJ personnel who had been involved in the previous searches conducted the week following Madeleine McCann’s disappearance in Praia da Luz.
 
The output of this process of reconnaissance and review was a written document entitled “Madeleine McCann Search Decision Support Document” (see appendix 2) and submitted to the PJ with copies supplied to Leicestershire Police and NPIA on 23-07-07.
It recommended considering re searching:
 
- All accommodation occupied by the McCann family and their friends as well as any hired vehicles.
- The villa and garden occupied by Robert Murat and any vehicles he had access to.
- Areas of wasteland adjacent to Murat’s and the McCann’s apartment.
- Areas of the beach in Praia da Luz.
- A portion of the coastline east of Praia da Luz.
 
These recommendations were based on the fact that these areas had not been previously searched with the specific intent to locate Madeleine McCann’s concealed and deceased body and that the areas recommended afforded likely and obvious places to consider for concealment in such an investigation.
 
This document was discussed on 23-07-07 with the PJ Director, myself and the Leicestershire Police liaison officer DI Neil Holden who made relevant notes.
 
On 25-07-07 the PJ Director decided his officers would re-search some of the areas suggested within the report. He also decided the order of their priority. These were the accommodation the McCann’s and their friends have occupied in Praia da Luz, the villa and the grounds occupied by Robert Murat, wasteland that surrounds these locations and any known vehicles the suspect, the McCanns and their friends had access to when Madeleine disappeared.
 
On 26-07-07 the PJ Director requested I consider the beach and marine environment at Praia da Luz for re-search and compile a report. I held meetings with coastal dynamic experts from the University of the Algarve in the presence of PJ officers and submitted a report to the PJ on 31-07-07 entitles “NPIA OP TASK Search Doc Beach and Marine” (see appendix 3) with copies sent to Leicestershire Police and NPIA.
 
On 30-07-07 a meeting was held with the PJ Director, myself and Leicestershire Police liaison officer DI Alan Orchard, who made relevant notes, to discuss the beach and marine environment at Praia da Luz and set a timeline for the PJ to re-search areas.
 
The search process was then initiated and continued over the following eight days. Throughout and at all locations I acted as an observer and search adviser. The PJ appointed a Chief Inspector as a search manager who was present throughout. Additionally, separate PJ officers were appointed to record and map each search location and provide a contemporaneous video commentary of all search activity undertaken. This system of management and recording was based on my reports recommendation to ensure record accuracy, transparency and facilitate any future clarification of any search activity undertaken. It was also essential that the official management and recording of the search was conducted by the Portuguese Police themselves rather than by British officers without any powers and not conversant with Portuguese law and judicial processes.
 
The search process used personnel to physically, intrusively and invasively explore all areas of disturbance, voids and concealment within the areas searched. The search utilised dogs trained to locate human remains and human blood, ground penetrating radar to detect sub surface disturbance and concealment, clearance teams to remove concealing vegetation, endoscopes to search drains and voids and metal probes to search the ground. These teams were supported by experts in Forensic Anthropology for human bone identification and a professor in geophysics.
 
The timeline of these searches was as follows:
 
On 31-07-07 the PJ conducted canine searches with a search warrant at apartments in Praia da Luz that had been previously occupied by the McCanns and their friends.
 
On 01-08-07 the PJ and GNR assisted by a canine, conducted searches on the eastern beach and wasteland in Praia da Luz.
 
On 02-08-07 the PJ conducted a search warrant at a villa in Praia da Luz currently occupied by the McCann family.
 
Later the same day PJ officers conducted a screening procedure involving items removed from the McCann’s villa.
 
On 03-08-07 PJ and GNR officers were given instruction based on translated extracts from NPIA doctrine on search management and procedures. This focused on search procedures relating to buildings and vehicles.
 
On 04-08-07 and 05-08-07 a search warrant was executed at the villa and gardens belonging to the PJ suspect Robert Murat. This search involved both PJ and GNR personnel supported by civil defence, geophysical equipment operators and a canine handler.
 
On 06-08-07 ten vehicles were searched associated to the enquiry.
 
On 07-08-07 the western beach and remaining wasteland areas were searched using canine and GNR personnel.
 
On 08-08-07 the drains around the apartment block where Madeleine McCann disappeared from were subject to a visual inspection by PJ officers.
 
Summary
 
The aim of the search activity was to re-search known and relevant locations in the immediate vicinity of the place Madeleine McCann was last seen using solely a search scenario that she was deceased and her body had been concealed by a third party. No human remains were located during the searches undertaken.
 
During the searches two Police dogs were deployed and although it has been stated that no physical remains were located in the area these dogs did give indications in several areas. These areas have been subject to a separate forensic examination that is beyond the scope of this report and at the time of writing laboratory tests are being undertaken. The dogs’ handler has submitted a separate report regarding the performance of the dogs (see appendix 4). However, it must be stated any such indications without any physical evidence to support them can not have any evidential value, being unconfirmed indications. Additionally I consider no inference can be drawn as to whether a human cadaver has previously been in any location without other supporting physical evidence.
 
 
The searches described in this document were limited to certain locations. Therefore, it can not be said that the concealed remains of Madeleine McCann are not within the village of Praia da Luz. During the first week of her disappearance the GNR tasked personnel to search through the village for the scenario of Madeleine still being alive. This involved visiting dwellings and business premises and a physical search of the refuse bins. A full scale re-search of the village is not currently advised due to its speculative nature and resource implications. Should new information or intelligence identify a specific location then it would be recommended to re-search it adopting the similar model of reconnaissance followed by a search using several detecting methods as detailed in this report to provide a high assurance of detection for a concealed body.
 
At the conclusion of this initial process of “clearing the ground under your feet” I am satisfied a systematic review and search procedure has been conducted and accurately recorded by the PJ.
 
I am currently of the opinion on the available information and statistical datasets that if death has occurred, that it is possible that Madeleine McCann’s body has been disposed into the sea at Praia da Luz. (See my second report entitled “NPIA OP TASK Search Doc Beach and Marine”).
 
Should further advice or support be required regarding search activity then I would be happy to consider such a request.


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Documented Evidence - Page 8 Empty Re: Documented Evidence

Post by Verdi 11.12.19 15:20

From the GNR

To: The Coordinator of the Criminal Investigation

Portimao 3rd December 2007


Subject: Despatch of Report on the Searches carried out in
P da L


In accordance with your request mentioned above, we are sending the report on the searches carried out in P da L under the coordination of the GNR, with regard to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

With compliments.


Group Commander

Antonio Dias de Matos

Major



REPORT


Subject: Searches carried out in relation to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

I Situation.


1. On 3rd May at about 22.40 the Lagos GNR post was contacted by telephone and informed about the disappearance of an English girl, Madeleine McCann, aged 3, who was on holiday with her family at the OC, Block 5, apartment 5A, P da L, Lagos.


2. This situation immediately led to the deployment to P da L of members of the GNR emergency patrol, consisting of officers José Maria Batista Roque and Neslon Filipe Pacheco da Costa, who, at the moment the communication was received, were in the Odeaxere area and who immediately left for the OC, where they arrived at 23.00, with the aim of finding out about the situation.

3. The patrol found the situation to be somewhat strange as the way the child had disappeared was not clear as she had been sleeping inside the apartment with the twins, whilst her parents were out dining 50 metres away in the same resort, and therefore the officers contacted the GNR post commander at 23.17, to tell him that the parents were holding the hypothesis that the child had been abducted.

4. The commander of the Lagos post, Sargeant Antonio Henrique Conceicao Duarte immediately left for the site the girl had disappeared from, telling the officers to preserve the apartment, and arrived at 23.50 at the OC, where he was informed about the situation together with the patrol officers and where he saw that searches had already taken place, carried out by the girl's father and locals, but without any results.

5. On 4th May at 00.12 the Post Commander ordered that the GNR Post should contact the PJ in order to inform them of the events, considering that this could be a crime that was of their competence for investigation, also concluding that more means were needed at the scene to carry out searches to find the girl.

6. At 00.40, given the complexity of the situation that seemed to surround the disappearance, the GNR post commander requested reinforcements from two sniffer dog teams from the Portimao territorial group to help in the searches, considering the possibility that the girl could have left the apartment on foot and could be somewhere not very far from the OC resort.

7. At 01.00 after the group commander had been briefed about the situation, telephone contact was made with an official from the Queluz GNR school, with the aim of their releasing search and rescue dog teams, seeing as these are specially trained to find missing persons, which is not the case with the Portimao sniffer dogs, which are essentially patrol dogs.

II Development of Action

1. On 4th May, after having evaluated the situation surrounding the disappearance, the Lagos Post Commander ordered searches for the child to take place and contacted officers who were at home, forming a force of nine officers who searched during the night and early morning.

2. At 02.00 they arrived at P da L and began searching with the Portimao sniffer dog teams, the terrain searches were extended until the morning with the dogs and officers on the scene, as well as the night guard and local people who volunteered to help in the searches that took place throughout the night.

3. During this nocturnal period, the searches took place along the entire perimeter of the OC, in the urban area, plots of land and the nearest buildings, the officers searching all the place where there was a possibility the child might be, this area being extended later to include all of the beach zone.

4. At 08.00 three officers with 4 search and rescue dogs from Queluz arrived at the scene, these dogs immediately began to operate.

5. During the searches that began again on 4th May in the morning, 9 officers from the Lagos post were used as well as officers from the Rapid Intervention Force, who were sent to the beach to collaborate in the searches talking place there, and who were occupied in this task for the rest of the day.

6. At 11.00 the Commander of the Portimao Post went to the beach, having noted the concrete situation in which the disappearance had occurred, namely the fact that more than 12 hours had passed, without any positive sign from the searches that had taken place, felt it was urgent that the action commander should appear on the scene and he named the head of the Criminal Investigation Section, Major Sequiera as the Operation Commander, the latter arriving at the scene at about 15.00 on 4th May.

7. With the aim of organising more extended searches of the terrain, a meeting was organised at about 15.00 with all the civil protection competent entities, namely the President of the Lagos Municipal Chamber, the President of the Luz parish, the maritime authority and the district commander of search operations with the aim of their collaboration in the actions to be taken, the GNR being responsible for the coordination of the land searches and the Maritime authority would initiate specific searches within its area of competence.
8. It was understood that everything was prepared by these entities in the operation of searches that were designated for the area and great advantage would be gained from the knowledge of the terrain of the persons that would be used.

9. The CDOS was asked about the viability of using the SNBPC helicopter during the searches that would take place in the afternoon and it was defined that the helicopter would be used in the searches and would be in P da L at about 16.00.

10. Lines of action were established, from the organisation of the searches to be carried out and the definition of areas, according to their priority, using the different means considered adequate, by officers from the different security forces, by firemen and by civil protection officers.

11. At 16.00 searches using the helicopter were initiated, the helicopter was used for 90 minutes, covering the entire area from the coast line to the EN 125, between the limits of Atalaia and Ponta da Cama da Vaca, this being the limit of the area considered probable for the child to be found, according to the hypothesis that she had left the apartment where she was staying on foot.

12. During the helicopter search, the area previously referred to was covered, in phases, running from north to South, this method is quite efficient in open areas, where something that does not fit with the scenario being examined is easily identifiable, however in the areas being searched, given the quantity of buildings and garden areas present as well as the vegetation composed essentially of small and medium sized shrubs, the detection of a child is difficult, given her small size, whether she is immobile or has fallen in a position that does not reveal her physical contours or covered by vegetation.
13. Simultaneously the searches for the child continued, by means of the officers referred to previously, in all the areas surrounding the beach, and many local people were seen, who were looking for the child on their own initiative.

14. At 20.00 a new meeting was held with the entities involved, in the sense of making an evaluation of how the searches had been carried out up to that moment and given the absence of results, it was decided to continue them for the next days or until some result was achieved.

15. On the part of the GNR, as responsible organisation, not just for the searches on the ground, but also for the security of the perimeter surrounding the apartment the child disappeared from, it was agreed to maintain a force headed by an officer, considering that on the scene there was a concentrated number of national and foreign press teams and the site had also become a meeting point for people going through information about the case which needed to be gathered and passed on to the police.

16. Considering that the searches that had taken place with the help of the helicopter had not yielded any results, it was agreed to reinforce and extend the foot searches and reinforcement from the search and rescue dog team was requested, which arrived at P da L at 23.00 with 3 more sniffer teams for a total of six officers and eight specialised dogs.

17. During the nocturnal period, field searches were reduced, given the lack of visibility, searches were made by EPG officers with the search and rescue dogs which concentrated particularly on the urban area of P da L.

18. The commander of the Portimao Prosecutor Division, which provided the officers for the nocturnal period was asked for the search operation order, which took place, the officers of that search force being organised by attributing them an area, next to the coastline, surrounding P da L, based upon the knowledge these officers had of the area.

19. In the nocturnal period and for the duration of the search phase, officers from the Criminal Investigation Nucleus remained on the ground who made the first exploration of diverse information that emerged, which was then channelled to the PJ, these officers also covered the locations closest to P da L, working in a certain way as operation reserve command during that period.

20. During this phase, during the nocturnal period, sniffer teams from the Portimao Territorial Group that were directed essentially to carry out patrols and searches in the urban area of P da L.
21. Indications were given to the Commander of the Albufeira Traffic Division to send available patrol teams to the Lagos area with the aim of carrying out a reinforcement of circulation control from the A22 and EN125, with the aim of guaranteeing greater intensity of patrols and STOP actions on the access roads to the Algarve, under the responsibility of police officers from that unit.

22. On 5th May at 08.00 the second day of searching began and given the absence of results from the previous day, a first systemised search area was established, including the entire area south of the EN 125, Quatro Estradas/Atalaia and Almadena/Burgau being the limits, with an approximate area of 16 km2, which had already been covered on 4th May by the CDOS helicopter between 16.00 and 17.30 and by officers and members of other entities that collaborated in the searches.

23. This area, considered to be the close perimeter of the site of disappearance, was divided into 17 sectors, the search responsibility was given to the different teams that had been established for this purpose, during the morning and afternoon. The insistence upon searches in this close perimeter was justified by its being the most probable area where the girl would be found, still working on the basis of the theory that she could have the left the apartment where she was staying on foot.

24. Working from this perspective, the probability was that she would have walked south in the direction of Rua Francisco Gentil Martins, because of the fact that it was an area that she had passes several times on the way to the beach, because it was the zone with the best illumination and because the road sloped downwards. The probability of her having taken the route towards Rua Agostinho da Silva, either to the right or to the left, was considered to be relatively reduced, because of the fact that this area was darker and that the ground layout presents an ascending direction. In these theories, it was considered to be a remote probability that the girl would have walked north to the Rua 1 de Maio and the EN 537-1 that links P da L to the EN 125 (Espiche crossing), considering that she would have done this over 1.2 km and where there would have been a greater degree of certainty that she would have been seen by motorists travelling on the road in either direction, the latter never having been reported.

25. On 5th May, those directly involved in the operations that took place in P da L and the surrounding area were 6 officers from the EPG sniffer team (search and rescue team), all available officers from the Lagos territorial post (about 20 officers), reinforcements from the Portimao Territorial Division (10 officers), reinforcements from the Silves Territorial Division (10 officers), from Albufeira (10 officers), from the Portimao Command Group (15 officers - FIR and IC), from the Faro TG (4 officers), GIPS (6 officers), from the Portimao Prosecutors Division (5 officers) a number of Guarda officers who were maintained for the rest of the search days.

26. It is be to be noted that the Commander of the Lagos Territorial Post, given the seriousness of the situation, cancelled the leave of officers from the post for seven days following the girl's disappearance, considering that it was necessary to have officers with knowledge of the area, not only for the search teams but also for the security of the Operation Command and the apartment the girl had disappeared from.

27. Others who took part in the searches were officers from the Lagos Public Security Police, the Maritime Police within their area of responsibility (maritime public domain), officers from Municipal Civil Protection, volunteer firemen from Lagos and from the Portuguese Red Cross.
28. Six officers from the Algarve Canine Rescue team (ECRA) - a legally constituted association - joined in the searches by volunteering their help at the P da L Operations Post.

29. Each search team always had an officer responsible for contact with the Lagos GNR Territorial Post, this officer would be attributed the area that the team would search and would give a photocopy of the marked area to each of the officers showing the indications about the technical manner the searches should adopt, with the formation of search lines, there had to be a visual over view of the limits of each officer's area and they were told to observe all accessible sites, where it could be possible to hide a girl or a body and the residents should be asked whether they had any useful information.

30. At the end of each search period, the individuals responsible for each group, whether they were officers or civilians, would present themselves at the Command Post, with the purpose of reporting the way in which the searches had been carried out, whether the whole of the attributed area had been searched and if any pertinent information had been gathered.

31. An organised group of volunteers, mainly English residents from the area, were also integrated into the searches, who also had a Command Post contact member, this group was attributed sectors that had been previously searched by GNR officers.

32. At 11.00 a meeting took place in the Portimao DIC installations, attended by the Directors and coordinators from the PJ, the Group Commander and the officer whose signature appears below, in their capacity as responsible officers for the ground searches. The Guarda referred to the way the searches had been carried out, the feasibility of implementing STOP actions on the roads to Luz was discussed, the PJ not having any objection, considering that it could be useful to the investigation.

33. On this day, apart from the actions implemented by the Traffic Brigade on the furthest roads, STOP operations were carried out on the EN 125, in a discontinuous manner, to control the access routes to P da L and surrounding areas, with the aim of creating instability, given the possibility that the girl had been taken by someone within this perimeter and was aiming to take her from the area. With the help of patrols from the PTR, Aljezur and Odeceixe, STOP actions were also carried out on the EN 120, considering it to be a regional penetration road to the area of Costa Vicentina.

34. The Lagos Security Police also carried out a random control of vehicles, using the STOP actions especially at the EN 125 roundabout that gives access to the A22, these actions were continued over several days.

35. On 6th May at 08.00 the third day of searches began, continuing to make efforts in different sectors of the close perimeter, considering that this is an area with a high number of houses, that it was important to go through this area again, with the aim of contacting their owners, collecting information that could be useful in locating the missing girl. Effort was made that the teams did not repeat sectors they had searched previously, given that people have the tendency to search in the same way, thereby minimising situations of error in the execution of searches in the different sectors of this close perimeter.

36. On this day a second level of searching was begun, with them being extended to an intermediary perimeter, in a semi circle with the eastern limit in Lagos/ EN 120/ Bensafrim/ Barao de Sao Joao / Barao de Sao Miguel and Boca do Rio as the western limit, covering an are of almost 75 km2, divided in 17 sectors with a wider net than the area of the close perimeter, a mixture of searches was carried out in this area, using foot and motorised teams, especially the use of motorcycles, depending on the topography of the terrain. The need to extend the perimeter of the searches was due to the fact that no sign of the girl had been found during the previous two days in the areas that had been searched and from the third day the theory that the girl might have been taken by someone was considered and, in the face of this hypothesis, the search operation was given a new scenario, becoming the search for a girl 'alive or dead' (the second possibility being the most probable) who had been left somewhere by an abductor.

37. In the hypothesis that the girl had been taken by someone and taking into account the time that had passed before the Guarda was alerted, it would be possible that she had been transported to a distance quite far away, further than any of the search perimeters, however the lack of any information about what really could have happened, makes it necessary that the decision about how to direct the searches, should be based only on the typology of the crime eventually in question and on the profile of the aggressor of this kind of crime, who would normally leave the victim in a place not very far from where she had been taken and who would in most cases bury the child. Within the theory, searches were made using an all terrain vehicle of the area composed of the Mata Nacional do Barao de S. Joao.

38. On this day, 6th May, the same number of Guarda officers was deployed as on the previous day and was reinforced by 16 officers from the Evora Territorial Brigade who replaced officers from the Faro Territorial Post, the latter being used in STOP operations on the main access roads to Lagos. The remaining entities and search groups used the day before were maintained with the exception of the Red Cross which only participated on 5th May.

39. During the nocturnal period, as on the previous nights, about 18 officers were deployed, guaranteeing the functioning of the Control Post, security and the preservation of the site the child had disappeared from, the control of surrounding areas and the closest localities was continued, searching for suspicious movements, whether by people or vehicles, mainly using officers from the Criminal Investigation Nucleus.

40. On 7th May at 08.00 the fourth day of searching began, at that time there was no sign or positive result and so sectors of the perimeter continued to be searched, new examinations of the close perimeter were carried out by new teams and searches of the intermediate perimeter were continued, the means used being similar to those of the previous days.

41. On this day the perimeter of the searches was extended to Lagos in the north and to Vila do Bispo in the east, for an are of about 250 km2, these searches being carried out almost entirely with the use of vehicles, given the topography of the terrain and the vegetation, this was called the distant perimeter, with an average radius of 15 km from P da L, being divided in 14 search areas.

42. The same activity carried out on the previous nights took place, namely the deployment of officers from the criminal investigation nucleus, controlling any eventual suspicious movements in the areas surrounding P da L.

43. On the 8th May at 08.00 the fifth day of searching began, maintaining the theories of the previous days, in other words the lack of existence of any information to direct the searches to any specific area and searches were continued within the three perimeters with the same number of officers.

44. On this day the search operation was joined by forest fire fighting officers from the Terras do Infante Association, using three all terrain vehicles, who carried out searches using their own means in forest and rough terrain areas of the distant perimeter, using their exhaustive knowledge of these areas gleaned from their daily activities of preventing forest fires.

45. Given the number of days that had passed since the disappearance of Madeleine McCann it was considered appropriate to request help from the Lagos Voluntary Firemen who took part in the operations, and on this day carried out searches as the Bravura dam, situated to the north of Odeaxere, using their aquatic equipment, considering that a body that has fallen or been thrown into water tends to surface after 72 hours, this team searched all the branches of the dam using an outboard motor and found nothing suspicious.

46. Officers from the Lagos Aeroclub offered their help in flying over the search areas with the aim of collaborating in the ongoing operations, their offer was accepted by the Operations Commander and they were instructed to fly over the Intermediate perimeter, they used 4 ultra light planes, flying at low height and in a line formation, but found no information to report.

47. On 9th May at 08.00 the sixth day of searching began, continuing with the search sequences of the previous days using teams of officers from the different entities that had participated in the operation, searching in the three perimeters that had been defined, at this stage all the sectors had been covered at least once by different teams, using all terrain vehicles in the distant perimeter, motorcycles in the intermediate perimeter and foot and horse teams in the close and intermediate perimeters, as well as air searches, without any sign of the girl being found.

48. Given the status of the searches, the officer undersigned, as Operation Commander proposed to the Portimao Territorial Group Commander that the searches of the area should be concluded, considering that the efforts made until then, with an elevated number of human resources used had allowed for the searching of a vast area, especially due to actions of the search and rescue sniffer teams, which with a great physical and spirited skill, with the help of technical capacity, consolidated by years of accumulated experience in multiple scenarios, searched vast areas without detecting any sign leading to the girl's location.

49. On10th May at 08.00 the seventh day of searching began, different actions took place in the sequence of the previous days' searches, without yielding any positive results and at the end of the afternoon the searches were concluded and the participation of the entities that had carried out activities under the coordination of the Guarda was dispensed with, from that date onwards the Guarda only guaranteed the security and the preservation of the area surrounding the apartment the girl had disappeared from.

50. The search and rescue sniffer teams continued to carry out searches - as can be seen from the report in Annex B - until 18th May when they returned to the Queluz post.
 
III Conclusion

1. In parallel to the investigations carried out by the PJ and in strict collaboration with this entity, the GNR coordinated all the searches carried out in the areas surrounding the resort the girl disappeared from, gradually increasing the search perimeters, extending them to a radius of 15 km from P da L from 4th to 10th May.


2. Searches carried out in the Maritime Public Domain were the responsibility of the Maritime Authorities, who carried them out within the scope of their knowledge, technical experience and using their own means.


3. Given the operational scenario and taking into account the deployment of officers and the areas searched, at the end of the seventh day of operations it was decided that all possibility of finding the girl by means of searches of the area had been exhausted, no sign or information relevant to the investigation having been found.


4. Taking into account that during the searches carried out, care was taken to minimise the hypothesis of error, with the division of the area into sectors and searches undertaken by different teams, it is considered that if there is any possibility that the girl should be found in areas searched, her eventual location would lead to action from the ongoing criminal investigation.
Annexes

Annex A. Map showing Deployment of Officers and Teams.

Annex B. Report on the Sniffer Dog Search and Rescue Team

Annex C. Military letter with search area limits.


Portimao, 30th November 2007

Operation Commander

Luis Manuel Goncalves Sequeira

Major



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Post by Verdi 11.12.19 15:21

GNR Report

Subject: Report of Searches Related to the Disappearance of Madeleine McCann


Annex B. Report on the Sniffer Dog Search and Rescue Team


1. Methods used

The sniffer dog search and rescue team of the GNR was sent to Vila da Luz in the attempt of locating Madeleine McCann, aged four, of British nationality, who disappeared on the night of 3rd May, from apartment 5 A, Block 5 of the OC resort, the team was composed as follows:


Sargeant Silva - Dog: Timmy
Officer Cortez - Dog: Sacha
Officer Sousa - Dog: Kolly/Cookie
Officer Rosa - Dog: Oscar
Officer Martins - Dog: Fusco
Officer Fernandes - Dog: Rex/ Zarus


II Description

After arriving at the scene, the first three members of the team, the officers gathered some information from the girl's parents about the places they tended to frequent with the children during their stay in P da L up until now, the parents replied that the only areas that their daughter would frequent since their arrival, was Praia da Luz beach, always accompanied by babysitters and resort pool area, where there was also a playground.

After this, at about 08.00 the three search and rescue sniffer dog teams (Silva with Timmy, Cortez with Sacha and Sousa with Kolly and Cookie) who had arrived at the site, began searching, leaving the resort in the direction of the beach.

During the entire morning, searches were made of the beach and rocks, from Rocha Negra to the area of Ponta da Gaviota (an approximate area of 2 km). During the morning searches were also made of the areas surrounding Praia da Luz, with a radius of about 300 metres, as well as some abandoned houses, wells and plots of land inside P da L.

After an evaluation of the situation in the field, it was decided to request two more search and rescue sniffer dogs from the GNR Queluz station, given the extent of the terrain to be searched, whilst the hypothesis that the girl could have left the apartment on foot was not discarded.

During the afternoon of 4th May, more searches were carried out around Vila da Luz and were extended to a radius of approximately 600 metres, including the surroundings of the EN125 in the stretch closed to P da L.

At about 23.00 the extra teams that had been requested for reinforcement arrived (Officer Rosa with Oscar and Officer Martins with Fusco, both from the search and rescue unit and Officer Fernandes with Rex and Zarus from the tracking team).

After the officers had been updated about facts relating to the disappearance, they tried to reconstruct the route the girl might have taken with the two tracker dogs. For this purpose the dogs were given a blanket to sniff, provided by the parents, which had been used by Madeleine.

Beginning to follow the track using Rex, from the door of apartment 5 A (the place where the girl had been sleeping) he would always head in the direction of Block 4, leaving block 5 the dog would turn to the left, pass by a metal access door to a path existing between the apartments blocks to the leisure area (restaurant, pool and playground). Immediately another attempt at reconstruction was made using the dog Zarus, who, in general terms, ended up following the same route as Rex and having the same behaviour.

It is important to state that this tracking work was carried out in an urban area and more than 24 hours after the girl's disappearance and numerous persons had passed along the path the dogs were tracking. It should also be stated that the path the dogs followed within the resort was practically totally surrounded by walls and the concentration of odours was stronger as they were protected from the wind. The searches finished at about 01.30

On 5th May at about 08.00 after a briefing, two teams consisting of 3 dogs each accompanied by officers from Portimao, again carried out searches in the whole of the Vila da Luz area, with an approximate radius of 2 kilometres, paying special attention to the rocky areas, abandoned houses, wells, drains, road verges etc..including plots of land within P da L.

During part of the afternoon, searches were carried out in the Turiscampo camping site situated next to Espiche on the EN125 and in the Orbitur camping site next to Vila da Luz. This search operation had the objective of checking all the bungalows whose occupants had left on the day of the disappearance or on the following day as well as the adjacent areas.

During the day the searches were extended using the method of searching in file, accompanied by officers from Portimao, from the P da L area following the rocks up to Ponta da Cama da Vaca, taking in all of the northern zone to the EN125 as well as the village of Almadena, the Vale Verde zone and Quatro Estradas, some of the areas had already been searched more than once.

At about 22.00 all the vehicles parked in Vila da Luz parking spaced were checked.

On 6th May at about 08.00 and after another briefing from the Operational Command Post, it was decided that on that day they would again search all the plots of land with thick undergrowth within P da L, but that this time the search sections were divided amongst the teams. For this purpose the same teams of three dogs together with officers from Portimao who had been selected to help using the method of searching in file, carried out searches in all abandoned buildings, wells, rocks, verges of the EN125 and land surrounding P da L, in some cases reaching distances of 2 km.

On 7th May the same searches were continued, being extended to to the entire northern part of Almadena to the site of Espojeiro and the verges of the EN125 until the Boi valley.

At about 19.. the undersigned officer, accompanied by the Commander, Officer Silva, took part in a meetings with the PJ Directorate, being asked by the PJ about the viability of giving the girl's clothes to the dogs for the dogs to sniff again, and if by means of the odour inhaled, they would be able to mark an identical odour in one of the resort apartments even though its door was closed.

With regard to this task, Officer Silva referred to the fact that the time that had passed would be a crucial condition for the dogs' work in obtaining results and that the entirety of the human odours existing in the apartments and access paths could make the dogs' searches very difficult. However, in spite of not being a normal situation for tracking, it could be attempted, whilst the operation should be carried out as quickly as possible and not directed towards one but to all the apartments in the resort, it being appropriate for the handler not to know which apartment was chosen, so as not the be conditioned.

In this concrete situation, the objective would be for the dogs to carry out a discontinuous search, in other words, to sniff the girl's clothes and immediately search near to the apartments, checking to see if there was any change in the behaviour of the dogs.

At about 23.00 accompanied by a PJ inspector, the searches were begun. After Rex was given the girl's clothing to sniff, he began to search on the ground floor of block 5 and when he passed the door of apartment 5 A (the place the girl had disappeared from) according to his handler, officer Fernandes, the dog altered its behaviour, sniffing with greater intensity than he had done before. Apartment 5J of the same block was also checked as the dog had been more agitated than before as if there were a very strong strange odour there. It was stated that this apartment had been unoccupied for some time. Afterwards, the same kind of search was carried out using the dog Zarus which in general terms showed the same behaviour in the same places as Rex had done.

It was only when all the searches of the apartments in blocks 4 and 5 were complete, that the behaviour described above was registered. It is certain that this kind of work does not correspond to the area that these dogs were trained in, but given that these types of dogs manage to discriminate a specific odour from others, although it could be a remote possibility that they related the odour of the missing girl with a possible location where she could have been.

On 8th May during the morning four teams returned to search all the areas around Vila, following some indications from local people who had frequently gone to the GNR Command post saying they had seen something suspicious related to the disappearance but no sign of her presence was ever found.

During the afternoon searches along the verges of the EN125 were continued from Boi valley to Figueira and the whole northern part of Budens.

On the following days the strategy adopted was to continue to extend the perimeter of the searches to the villages of Barao de S Miguel and Burgau, Barao de S Joao, Bensafrim and Salema. Searches were carried out in all of these locations, as well as adjacent land, vegetation, abandoned houses, wells and main roads.

On 10th May at about 20.10, upon the request of the PJ, searches were carried out in all of the apartments belonging to blocks 4 and 5 of the OC, two tracker dogs and two search and rescue dogs being used for this operation, adopting the same methods as those used on 7th May, just that this time the apartments were all open and searched one by one, being accompanied by a representative from the resort, who had the keys to all the apartments (apart from those not under her administration) and also with the objective of helping with the searches. The collaboration of all the guests occupying the apartments at that time was requested for this purpose and those apartments that were found to be empty were opened by the administrator.

All the apartments were searched by the dogs and when they arrived at apartment 5 J they began to sniff with intensity at the entrance door. During this behaviour it was noted by the PJ officers that there must be some unusual odour, but which with all certainty did not have anything to do with the odour being searched for, but there must have been something strange inside.

After entering the apartment, it was observed that the dour came from close to the fridge, which was open and contained some rotting meat and vegetables.

During the searches carried out in the apartments no sign of the girl was found by the dogs.

On 11th May in the morning, the team went to Odiaxere to visit a forest near the Boavista golf course. The whole forest was searched using the in file method, including some abandoned houses, wells and rail track.

After lunch the team was told that the searches were concluded but that their presence in P da L would continue to be necessary according to the requirements of the PJ for any other situations that might occur.

On 15th May three search and rescue dogs returned to Lisbon (Officer Cortes with Sacha, Officer Rosa with Oscar and Officer Martins with Fusco) considering that there was no longer any need for them.


The other dogs and their handlers remained on site until 18th May when at about 19.00 they returned to Cino/EPG as their presence was no longer require in P da L, although it was determined that if their use were required in the future, they would return.
Signed
30 November 2007
Operation Commander
Major Sequeira



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Post by Verdi 12.12.19 0:33

Witness Statement

Date: 2007/11/14
Time: 10H30
Place: DIC Portimao

Name: YVONNE WARREN MARTIN

Profession: Social Services and Child Protection

She comes to the process as a witness and as she does not speak Portuguese she is accompanied by interpreter Filipa Maria da Conceição Silva who will translate all questions and answers into English.

The witness has given a previous statement to this police force regarding the facts in question. This took place on 13-06-2007 and led to the inquiry of the statement that was taken. The witness confirms the complete integrity of that statement, everything was fully reproduced for this file. The witness was also shown attached page showing the places of work where she carried out her professional activities as Social Services Manager for Child Protection, having also confirmed that these were the cities where she carried out her professional activities.

She states that in the course of her contact with Madeleine's parents, described in detail in her previous statements, Kate told her that the child had been taken by a couple. During the meeting they had, the details of which are contained in her previous statement, she did not have the opportunity to ask in depth about this question nor about any other.

With regards to the individual who was close to Madeleine's parents when she met them, and who was later identified as David Payne, she reaffirms that the same individual seems familiar, possibly as this same individual intervened in a situation related to a professional activity of the witness. She clarifies that neither on that occasion, nor now that time has passed, can she remember concretely the place or the situation in which she may have come to know David Payne, but that she continues to think that the same individual is familiar to her but cannot state the particular situation.

She adds that her hypothesis is that she may have come to know him professionally through work, potentially having been colleagues at work or have worked at the same place but she cannot be certain where she met him as she does not remember

She says that about two weeks after Madeleine's disappearance, when the police made an appeal for information about a man, carrying a child, who had been seen in the Luz zone, and whose clothing was described, she wrote an anonymous letter to the British police, telling them the following: : regarding the various details she observed during her contact with the McCanns it is her opinion that they could be in some way involved in the disappearance of Madeleine.

She first found them aggressive and their reaction after she showed Madeleine's parents her credentials, also seemed strange to her. Afterwards she was informed that there were no signs of a break-in in the apartment. Knowing that they are doctors she found it absolutely abnormal that they left their children alone at home. Associating all of this with her professional experience, which tells her that in 99.99 % of missing children cases, the parents or other family members are involved, she felt it was her duty to inform the police of this.

She did this anonymously because she did not want to be bothered by the media. But she also states that according to what she remembers, when she met with Madeleine's parents, David Payne, who was with them, was wearing a dark polo shirt, blue or black coloured, cream coloured long trousers, of linen or cotton, and dark shoes (sandal/slipper type without a back buckle/catch). In her opinion, this clothing matches perfectly with the clothing the Police described the man (carrying the child) to be wearing at the time. All these coincidences made the witness think that the parents and their friends could possibly be involved in the disappearance of the child.

She declares that one of her main aims when she wrote the anonymous letter was for the British police to check the paedophile or child abusers registers and whether David Payne was on that list.

No more was said. Reads, ratifies, signs.

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....................

I've said many times in the past, I think this witness should be viewed with extreme caution. For starters - why send the police an anonymous letter when you are a professional in child welfare?

The cream/beige/light coloured trousers haunt me.

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Post by Verdi 27.12.19 20:46

To: Ricard Paiva
From: DC 1756 Mike MARSHALL
Ref: David Payne
Date: October 24, 2007

Leicester Police Constabulary

Ricardo,

As requested, appended are the statements of Arul and Katherina Gaspar.

"I read carefully the written document/questionnaire provided by David Payne."
but was not able to extricate any other information besides what is already known. He declares that he saw Madeleine, for the last time, at 17H00 on 3/5/07 in the McCann apartment. Also present there were Kate and Gerry. He did not indicate the motive for being there or what he was doing. He also cannot indicate how long he stayed.

When asked with whom he was on the afternoon of May 3rd, he declares that this information was already offered to the police and cannot remember if anyone else was there.

He does not remember what he was wearing that afternoon.

He took part in the searches, having carried out most of them alone. He was at times accompanied by Matthew Oldfield.

He did not partake in the searches realized on the 4th of May, because, on this day, he spent to majority of time in the police headquarters.

For many questions, he does not give a complete response, affirming simply that he has already given this information to the Portuguese police in his declarations.

I examined once again the declarations of Fiona Payne. In her depositions, she states that she went to the McCann apartment, around 19H00, on the 3rd of May, together with Kate. She states afterwards that, 10 minutes later, the husband arrived; it is not clear which husband she refers to.

Her responses to the questions are vague. She continued to respond to questions with "they conform with my earlier deposition" or some similar statement.

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Post by Verdi 02.01.20 21:14

Processos Volume II

Pages 277-278

Witness Statement


Cecilia Paula Dias Firmino do Carmo

Date/Time: 2007/05/06 22H00


Occupation: Public Relations

Place of Work: Millenium restaurant, OC.

She confirms that she is an employee of the OC, having signed a seven month contract in April this year. She worked in the resort last year, with the same functions and for the same period of time.

She says that her job is to receive guests at the entrance to the Millenium restaurant and check whether they have to pay for breakfast or whether this is included in their package. She works from 07.00 to 12.00 from Tuesdays to Saturdays. She says that she only attends to guests at breakfast time except on Wednesdays when there is Barbecue Night at the restaurant and when she welcomes guests for dinner, working from 18.00 to 22.00.

When asked, she says that due to her work she knows most of the guests given that most of them visit the Millenium as it is the only restaurant that serves breakfast.

When asked, she says that she knows the parents, the siblings and Madeleine. She received them for breakfast on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, she does not know whether they went for breakfast on Sunday or Monday, as these were her days off.

She says that breakfast was served between 08.00 and 10.00 and that the McCanns would arrive between 08.00 and 09.00.

She says that the McCanns appeared to be a normal family and that the relation between the members of the family was very good. Madeleine appeared to be very attached to her father and was always clinging on to him. Given her public relations function she was always very nice to the guests and would get involved with the children, saying that Madeleine was very shy and did not respond to her. She says that the only contact she had with guests was at the entrance to the Millenium restaurant, she did not have a view of the tables or the Buffet area.

She heard about the disappearance on Friday morning 4th May from a colleague called Alice.

The resort is very calm, the witness only knows of a few minor thefts and is very surprised at the news. She has no information that could help locate Madeleine.

No more is said. Reads, ratifies, signs.

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Post by Verdi 13.01.20 0:07

The Truth of the Lie by Gonçalo Amaral: Chapter 3

ANNOUNCEMENT OF A DISAPPEARANCE: THE FIRST SEVENTY-TWO HOURS

On this evening, May 3rd 2007, I decide to dine at the Carvi Brasserie, in the centre of Portimão, before going home. I have been living for a year in this town, where I lead the Department of Criminal Investigation of the police judiciaire. In 1982, when I was 23 and I had just taken up this career, I had already gone there. There, I had made the acquaintance of someone who was to become my friend, Manuel João. Former local official and sporty, a charismatic person. He always lent a hand to members of the police judiciaire who went to the town for the purposes of an investigation. As an elected local official, he originated the creation of a police judiciaire department in Portimão. Thus, that evening, while savouring fruits de mer, we discuss the problems of Portuguese society.

It is midnight when I receive the news about the disappearance of a little four-year-old English girl. The police officer on call was informed about it by the National Guard of The Republic (GNR) At the time of her disappearance, the little girl was supposed to have been sleeping in an apartment while her parents were dining a hundred metres away. An inspector is sent to the scene immediately to establish the initial facts. A forensic expert assigned to security of the premises will join him. All precautions are taken to preserve possible clues and elements of evidence. I demand to be informed very regularly and, before going home, I call on the police on duty to check that all urgent measures are underway. The head of the Guard has already alerted the police authorities at Faro airport and the control post set up on the Guadiana* bridge.

(*The river on the frontier between Portugal and Spain.)

THE REPORTS LEAVE A LOT TO BE DESIRED

The examination of the premises by the investigator and the representative of the forensic police just after the announcement of the disappearance turns out to be quite unproductive. A concise report, where their observations are written up, is accompanied by numerous photographs taken inside and outside apartment 5A – which don’t give an account of, according to us, everything they could have observed. This error is explained by the absence of procedures in case of a child’s disappearance, notably concerning the actions to be taken when examining the scene.

Lots of people were already in place; however, nobody appeared in the photos. We don’t know, for example, how they were dressed. Such observations can turn out to be important later on. The report mentions that the twins were asleep in their bed, but there is no proof to confirm it; on the contrary, in the photographs, you can see empty cots, where only the mattresses remain – the sheets and blankets having been removed. Why have their beds been stripped? If the sheets had not been removed, traces of their presence could have been found there.

That evening, on arriving home, I see Inès, my younger daughter, who is sleeping close to my wife, Sofia. In silence, in the dim light of the bedroom, I sit on the edge of the bed. Outside, far from her mother’s warmth, a child of the same age is lost. Sofia wakes up and asks me what is happening. I tell her about Madeleine’s disappearance and instinctively, she holds our daughter tightly in her arms and makes room for me.

I make lots of phone calls and send a text message to the director of the Faro Department of Criminal Investigation (DIC): child, English, aged 4, disappeared from a Praia da Luz hotel. It’s sufficient. Reading the message, he will understand the gravity of the situation. Three years before, we had dealt with a similar case, a few kilometres from Praia da Luz. We had not been informed at the time of that disappearance, and we are convinced that if the investigation could have been started immediately we would have been able to discover some physical evidence. The police response is fundamental. The first 72 hours are essential.

FIRST INTERROGATIONS AND REQUESTS TO THE BRITISH POLICE FOR INFORMATION

Friday May 4th

This morning I am worried; something isn’t right in the account of the events: the little girl allegedly disappeared at 10pm while she was sleeping close to her brother and her sister. They were alone in the apartment because their parents were dining with friends. A system of checks had been put in place by the adults. Every 30 minutes according to some – every quarter of an hour according to others -, someone went to have a look at the children. It is Madeleine’s mother who realised she was gone and is immediately talking about abduction.

We need information about the parents and their friends, to know who they are, what they do, if they have problems in their country, if the children were victims of abuse, if the family, neighbours, friends could have noticed any suspicious behaviour, what are their jobs, if they work full-time, etc. Is any member of their family depressed or suffered from depression in the past? Do the couple maintain good relationships? Are they implicated in serious litigation? Do they have enemies? For what reason? So, I telephone Glen Powers, the English liaison officer in Portugal, inform him of events and request that he relay our requests for reports. We consider these to be of the greatest importance and await sensitive responses to guide our investigation.

While I am on the phone and my daughters are sleeping, Sofia makes breakfast for me. She is quiet and regards me with a questioning look, as if she suspects that from today, she won’t see much of me. It’s not the first time this has happened: she knew that I wouldn’t count my time in a case like this.

THE ORGANISATION OF THE INVESTIGATION

Since dawn, chief inspector Tavares de Almeida has been getting down to the job at the Department of Criminal Investigation in Portimão. He is following through with the first measures taken within the context of the investigation. At this time, he should have been going on holiday, but faced with the gravity of the case, he has decided to put it off until later. Neither the director of the Faro police judiciaire nor myself are going to have the time take our holidays anytime soon.

The disappearance of a child must be flagged up as widely as possible, on the national as well as on the international level. All Portguese police are already on alert, as well as Interpol. During the night, the National Guard, supported by the civilian population, has started to organise searches. They will be continued and widened tomorrow.

The search and examination of the scene were carried out in difficult conditions: when they arrived, the police were met with a large number of people coming and going – family, friends, resort employees, including dogs and members of the National Guard. The contamination of the premises risks bringing serious prejudice, as a consequence, to the investigation. We must ask ourselves if that contamination has been deliberate or not – it can make the search for clues particularly complicated. The Lisbon scenes of crime technicians come as reinforcements to start the examination of the residence, which is from now on empty.

On arrival at the Portimão Department of Criminal Investigation, I call in chief inspector Tavares de Almeida to take stock of the situation and take the measures that are necessary in the immediate future. After the searches undertaken in the surrounding area – dustbins, containers, sewers -, it is necessary to proceed with the interrogation of certain potential witnesses. The parents and their friends will be heard quickly. The first statements are of prime importance: memories are still vivid and crucial details could thus be obtained, which would risk being lost later. The witness statements of the restaurant employees, those from the day centre and the playgroup where Madeleine and the twins spent their day are also all important. The search for witnesses will be widened to all the tourists present, whose names must be submitted to the parents and friends. Perhaps they will recognise someone….The English police are involved: they are being asked to cross-check that list with their files in order to pick out individuals known to their services.

All of the video recordings from the tourist complex – hotels, banks, pharmacies, supermarkets and service stations -, including those from the CCTV cameras of two motorways – one leading to Lagos and one linking Lagos and Spain -, will be viewed. The Spanish customs service has been asked to increase vigilance at the two ports maintaining links with Morocco,Tarifa and Algeciras. The Algarvian coast, very popular with sailing enthusiasts, is bordered by a large number of marinas. Pleasure boats from every province berth here. Situated 120 nautical miles from the African continent, between the Mediterranean and the Atlantic, it is the most accessible coast for entering the continent of Europe. It attracts many yachtsmen, who appreciate the beauty of its beaches and its inlets, but it also attracts all sorts of traffickers.

– Make contact with the marinas and the maritime police; we must have access to video recordings as well as the registers of boats entering and leaving in the last few days.

– I am going to contact them and make sure they have started the sea searches.

In anticipation of the volume of information we are going to have to deal with, we decide to fit out a room dedicated to the investigation, our crisis unit.

THE INFORMATION SOUGHT IS SOMETIMES UNOBTAINABLE

We need reliable information. Apart from all the searches already undertaken, we must also examine the photos and films taken by the McCann family and their friends. From amongst the onlookers, these images could help to identify a suspicious-looking individual or someone whose attitude might be suspicious. Trivialised since the general use of computers, photography is a source of information which the investigators know not to neglect: each holiday-maker takes, in general, hundreds of photos. The McCanns and their friends who were in Vila da Luz make all of theirs available to the investigators, but none of those dating from the evening of the disappearance help us to understand what happened.
NO SIGN OF A BREAK-IN

At this stage of the investigation, the hypotheses are numerous, and each one must be considered. It is necessary to locate and identify all the paedophiles who live in or who have passed through the Algarve, in order to check that they were not in the proximity of Vila da Luz on the days preceding the disappearance.

The idea of a robbery gone wrong is not to be ruled out either. During the holidays, burglaries are not rare, and the police are not always informed, because hotels avoid spreading this kind of information. Even if the examination of apartment 5A reveals no trace of a break-in – contrary to what the parents insist and that Sky announced – we have to take stock of the petty crimes committed in the seaside resort and at the tourist complex. We are counting on the management of the hotel so that no incident of this nature remains hidden. Even if we don’t have much belief in the scenario of a burglar who enters the apartment for a burglary and leaves it with the child, dead or alive, this hypothesis, as ridiculous as it may be, must not be neglected.

FIRST MORNING OF THE INVESTIGATION;
AN ABDUCTION?

Still May 4th

When drawing up the report of the first observations, which must be forwarded to the district Judiciary Court of Lagos, we are undecided about the legal denomination of the events. Finally, we opt for “abduction??,” adding two question marks after the word to express our uncertainty. The decision was not taken lightly. That decision preserves the interests of the various opposing parties, those of the parents, those of the child, not to say those of the investigation itself.

The report by the team who conducted the analyses of the apartment records all observations carried out and statements gathered. It sets out the list of people present and potential witnesses. It also includes fingerprints taken as well as photographic documentation.

On reading this report, which was given to me on the morning of May 4th, I understand that there is no evidence sufficiently convincing to tip the investigation in one direction rather than another. There are many possible leads: voluntary disappearance – the child could have wakened and not seeing her parents, gone off to look for them; accidental death and concealing of a body; physical abuse causing death; murder by negligence or premeditated; an act of vengeance; taken hostage followed by a ransom demand; abducted by a paedophile; kidnap or murder committed by a burglar.

The hypothesis of abduction widens and complicates the investigations; it allows the mobilisation of means and resources that would have been difficult to obtain otherwise, such as the arrival of reinforcements, absolutely indispensable faced with the magnitude of the task, notably in the course of the first 72 hours. In a more calm climate, we could have got down to the search for evidence more effectively, allowing us to understand how that child disappeared, without worrying that suspicion might fall on the friends of the family.

THE VISITS BY THE CONSUL AND THE AMBASSADOR; INFORMATION IS TAKING A LONG TIME TO COME FROM GREAT BRITAIN

At ten in the morning, twelve hours after the disappearance, the British Consul to Portimão goes to the Department of Criminal Investigation. We inform him of the actions taken up to then and the next stages being considered. He doesn’t seem satisfied. Someone hears him on the telephone saying that the police judiciaire are doing nothing. Now, that’s strange! Why that untruth? What objective does he have in mind? Giving another dimension to the case? Perhaps, I don’t know a thing about it, but this is not the time for conjecture; we have to concentrate on our work, of finding the little girl.

We’re not getting any response from Great Britain. We’ve had no reports on the subject of the couple, their children and their friends, which doesn’t help us to tighten up the investigation. We would like, for example, to know if Madeleine was adopted by the couple, which would allow us to eliminate the hypothesis of parental abduction. If the information is not reaching us, it’s obviously reaching the British Ambassador. We are astonished by this prompt mobilisation of the English authorities. So, who are the McCanns? Who are their friends? We don’t need diplomatic intervention: what we would like, is answers to the questions sent to the British police authorities by Glen Power.
THE SEARCHES CONTINUE; THE ASTONISHING INVASION BY THE PRESS

The searches on the ground continue, with the help of a helicopter from Disaster Management. Interviews of holiday-makers and the resort’s employees multiply. We’re worried, aware that it’s a race against the clock: tomorrow, many tourists will be leaving the resort. As for the McCanns and their friends, who should also be leaving on this date, we are totally unaware of their plans. For the needs of the investigation, it is imperative that they stay put, but we have no legal means of preventing their departure. During the morning, the deputy director of the Faro police judiciaire joins us. Until the end of September, his life will be split between Faro and Portimão, where he will travel to every day. He asks how the searches are going and decides to go to Vila da Luz to check for himself the operations that have been set up. I go with him. When we arrive, we find that the media, Portuguese as well as English, are present en masse. It seems that the McCanns’ friends have reported Maddie’s disappearance to the press before informing the police about it. Another point which we must clarify.

TECHNICAL FAULTS

Inside the apartment, police forensic specialists proceed to lift finger and palmar prints, a job that is preferably carried out during daylight hours. Others look for traces of blood, samples of fibres and hair. We notice with dismay that one of the technicians, who is working on the outside of the McCann children’s bedroom window is not using the regulation suit, thus risking contaminating possible clues. These images of negligence start to circulate world-wide; this isn’t, however, the usual behaviour of police judiciaire technicians.

It’s obvious that no one has broken in and the lock has not been forced. No prints are lifted that are likely to belong to an unknown person, nor the slightest trace of gloves which could have been worn by a hypothetical abductor. In the middle of this desert of clues, two prints are perfectly easily found: the very distinct mark of a palm print on the balcony window at the rear of the apartment, and a clearly visible one of fingers on the window pane of Madeleine’s bedroom. The excellent quality of the palm print seemed suspicious to us. Later, analyses confirm our suspicions: it belonged to one of the officers who were present the previous night.

In Portugal, no protocol exists for coordinating the work of the different police services in the event of the worrying disappearance of a child, perhaps because until now this type of case has been rare. We have been fighting for several years for the creation of just such a resource. However, we don’t have to invent anything: it would be sufficient to adapt the protocols already existent in other countries more used to cases of this type – Great Britain, for example.

A SUSPECT WHO, VERY QUICKLY ISN’T; THE SEARCHES CONTINUE

While we continue to gather statements from resort employees, we are informed of the presence in the region of an individual suspected of abusing children. Of British nationality, he would frequent a pub situated 150 metres from Madeleine’s apartment. In 2005, sought by the police in his own country, he fled abroad and the English authorities had then lost track of him. But we discover that the pub in question doesn’t exist any more, and that the information that the man is in the area has no basis in fact. His step-father, contacted by the police, states that he is currently in Iraq, information later confirmed by the British police.

In the main street of Vila da Luz, there are open trenches because of improvement works. They leave the waste water mains exposed. On the night of May 3rd searches were conducted there, with the help of sniffer dogs from the National Guard of The Republic. (GNR) We’d like to proceed with another inspection, but the site foreman assures us that access to the mains is closed during the night and the workmen noticed nothing abnormal when starting work the next morning.

STATEMENTS FROM THE PARENTS AND FRIENDS; FIRST INCONSISTENCIES

Still May 4th

Madeleine’s parents and friends of the family go to the Department of Criminal Investigation to be interviewed. Their statements should help us to better understand the circumstances surrounding Madeleine’s disappearance. Each must be questioned at the same time, but separately, in order to avoid “contamination,” of the witness statements – which happens often when witnesses have the opportunity to exchange information. Sometimes an important detail is held in the memory, but can be lost after a conversation with another witness. This is the usual procedure. In this way, we can establish relevant cross checks, confirm or invalidate certain assertions. But that was not possible today, certain adults having stayed at the resort to look after the children.

We have to retrace their comings and goings very precisely as well as those of the children. What they did during the holiday, where they went…In possession of this information, we will attempt afterwards to collect photos and films taken by holiday-makers who were in the same places: we will succeed perhaps in pinpointing a detail that could be of significance. These same tourists might quite simply help us to better understand the way in which the group of friends was working.

The personality of the victim and of the parents has significance. We have to find out if they were threatened in the past, if they have enemies. We must consider the possibility of a mistake: the target may not have been Madeleine but another child of the group of friends. Therefore, they too must give answers to similar questions.

None of the adults possessing a vehicle, they never go very far and in general stay within the confines of the resort. Their knowledge of the surrounding area is limited and we assume that they limit themselves to the roads linking the beach and their apartments.

During the morning, only Madeleine’s father, Matthew Oldfield and Jane Tanner are interviewed. However, already contradictions and improbabilities are appearing from one to another of the statements, notably concerning access to the apartment.

An example: during the course of the evening, Jane encountered Gerald McCann and Jeremiah busy chatting in the street. At that time, Gerald was coming back from his apartment, where he had gone to make sure the children were sound asleep – which he confirmed in his statement. Jane asserts that she noticed a suspicious individual carrying a child in his arms – probably Madeleine, according to her – immediately after having passed the two men. Gerald and Jeremiah should also have seen her, but that was not the case.

The mother of the missing little girl, Kate Healy, and all the other members of the group, David Payne and his wife Fiona, Rachael Mampilly, Russell O’Brien and Diane Webster, are heard later. They might already be aware of the questions put to their friends and of their responses. In that case, there won’t be the element of surprise. The presence of an interpreter doesn’t make the interviews any easier either. The witnesses benefit from the translation time to prepare their responses.

Madeleine’s parents are insisting on the theory of abduction. They want to convince us of it at all costs. Gerald stresses that the front door was locked; Kate states that she entered the apartment through the rear sliding doors, which weren’t locked, and that the window was wide open with the shutters raised.

This theory does not hold water, which will be observed during other interviews. The only witness statement corroborating that assertion is Jane Tanner’s.

From now on it’s important to shed light on the contradictions raised in these first witness statements.

Here is the chronological sequence of visits to the apartment:

21.05: Gerald McCann (the children are fine);
21.10/21.15: Jane Tanner (states having observed the alleged abductor with a child in his arms);
21.30: Matthew Oldfield: (goes into the apartment, but doesn’t go into the bedroom. He only sees the twins);
22.00: Kate Healy (goes into the apartment, and finds that Madeleine has disappeared).

If, as Kate states, the window was open when she went into the apartment, how come Matthew didn’t notice? At the time when the latter went in, Jane had already seen the alleged abductor with the child. So, logically, if the crime had already been committed, the window should have been open.

Matthew says that the bedroom door was half open, Kate that it was wide open. It can be concluded that Madeleine was already no longer in the room – which Matthew should have noticed, if the other witness statements are to be believed.

Another inconsistency – unexpected – appears. When Kate refers to the individual who allegedly abducted her child, she has no information other than that given to her by Jane, since she, herself, did not see him. But, the description she gives of him differs from that of Jane Tanner. The latter – extremely sure of herself, and who will be interviewed on several occasions – portrays a man dressed in light-coloured trousers, with hair down to his collar. Kate refers to long hair and jeans.

Gerald tells the police that Jane described to him – after midnight, during the night of May 3rd to May 4th – this stranger she allegedly saw going up the road; his hair was brown, he was between 30 and 40 years old and he was wearing light-coloured trousers. The first police officers to arrive on the premises are convinced that the parents put forward the hypothesis of abduction because Jane had talked about this man with the child. In their report, Jane’s description is as follows: it was an individual dressed in light-coloured trousers and a dark shirt, he was 1.78m tall and was carrying a child, probably in pyjamas. She does not describe the pyjamas and doesn’t mention any other detail.

Later, during the course of the morning of May 4th, the father gives the same brief description and refers back to Jane for additional details. The latter appears at the offices of the police judiciaire in Portimão at 11.30am. This time, the description is very precise: the individual, aged between 35 and 40, was thin and 1.70m tall; his hair was dark brown, falling over his collar; he was wearing cream or beige trousers, probably linen, a sort of anorak – but not very thick – and black shoes, classic in style. He was walking hurriedly, with a child in his arms. He was warmly dressed, the reason she thought he was not a tourist. The child appeared to be asleep – she only saw the legs -, had bare feet and was dressed in pyjamas, which were obviously cotton, light-coloured, probably white or pale pink, with a pattern – flowers maybe, but she isn’t certain. Concerning the man, she states that she would recognise him from the back by his particular way of walking. The importance of this statement will be seen later.

Hardly fourteen hours have gone by since the child’s disappearance and already Jane’s version is known by many people. The father even referred to it during his statement, as can be seen above. Jane insists that she spoke solely to Gerald about this individual and then without going into details. It is only later that she related it all to the police.

Again, we notice an inconsistency. She was not aware, she says, of how Madeleine was dressed, which seems unlikely: on the night of the disappearance, Kate immediately gave a precise description of the clothes the little girl was wearing when she was put to bed.

Everybody knew they were looking for a little girl of nearly four, bare feet, dressed in light-coloured pyjamas on which there was a pink animal design. This description was relayed to all those who mobilised to find the child. How come Jane Tanner took no notice, she who, at that time, was the main witness in the case?
FIRST EYE WITNESS STATEMENTS; KATE HEALY’S SURPRISING REACTION

Madeleine’s parents are already back in Vila da Luz when we receive photos taken on an area of the motorway: you can make out the figure of a little girl, who looks like Madeleine, accompanied by a couple. These images come from a CCTV camera on the motorway linking Lagos to the Spanish border. The McCanns are asked to come to Portimão in order to proceed to an identification. It’s the end of the day. Kate Healy seems annoyed at coming back and made uncomfortable by the speed of the police car taking her. We are somewhat astonished by her reaction, as if she was not expecting to get her daughter back. The identification turns out negative.
POLICE REINFORCEMENTS

A team from the Central Crime Fighting Directorate (DCCB) arrives from Lisbon, accompanied by their director. I wasn’t informed of this decision, but I agree with it. The reinforcements are welcomed, because we must get on very quickly. The experience of these police officers in the field of abductions and the taking of hostages is a plus for the investigation and the ways they operate are largely superior to ours. In addition, their experts are the most qualified of the police judiciaire. From now on, two deputy national directors, assisted by the coordinator of the Portimão Department of Criminal Investigation, will direct the investigations. A few months later, chief inspector Tavares de Almeida was to share one of his convictions with me: if we had remained solely responsible for the investigation, we would have advanced more quickly.

In reality, I don’t know. I don’t think we can rewrite history with “if.” At that time the directorate of the police judiciaire had decided on it, and we had favourably welcomed the arrival of that team. It was about doing our best with these new participants and taking advantage of their ways of working. The motivations behind that decision, whatever they are don’t interest us in the slightest.
MISSING PERSONS POSTER IS ISSUED

In the afternoon, we ask the Public Minister for authorisation to issue a missing persons poster to the press. It is published on May 5th, accompanied by a photo of the child and telephone numbers. We, thus, hope to obtain new information. We are going to be inundated with witness statements of every kind: people who are persuaded that they can help us thanks to their psychic powers; others who have dreamed about Madeleine and believe they know where she is, and yet others who think they have seen her here or there…A great number of reports come to us, that we have to analyse and check out: none must be neglected, even if most of them, on the face of it, seem absurd. In the hypothesis of an abduction, we might imagine that the abductor has tried to modify the child’s appearance to more easily pass unnoticed. So, we create portraits of the little girl, modifying the colour and style of her hair.
THE WEAKNESSES IN JANE’S WITNESS STATEMENT

Friday May 4th, at 8pm, we criss-cross Praia da Luz to take note of the activity in the village at dinner time and to check the street lighting. We stay there until 10pm while the forensic team from the police laboratory get on with their investigation.

Certainly, today there are people who wouldn’t normally have been here: police officers and journalists. But, even so, it is noticeable that there is very little movement. The place where the abductor happened to be is dimly lit: how did Jane manage to describe him so accurately? Witnesses confirm that the streets were also deserted yesterday.

Why did the potential abductor choose to walk around like that, in the open, running the risk – in spite of the darkness – of being recognised by a passer-by? If he had planned the abduction, he would have taken the time to study, not only the habits of the family, but also the topography of the place. If he wasn’t from the village, he would probably have come by car, and he would have sought to conceal it in a dark corner. But the darkest area is situated in exactly the opposite direction to that indicated by Jane Tanner. Did she actually see that man going towards the east? Wouldn’t he rather be going towards the west? Leaving by car, he would inevitably have had to go towards the centre of the village, in which case, he would have to go either past the entrance to the restaurant where Madeleine’s parents were dining, or by the main road that leads to EN125*

(*The road running west out of the village towards Sagres and east towards Lagos.)

We walk around Vila da Luz, covering all the roads, trying to imagine the options that presented themselves to the abductor. Without a car, and not knowing the place, the safest approach to the village is the beach. In the few bars, restaurants and cafés open at this time of year, no one noticed anything at all strange during the evening of May 3rd, no suspicious behaviour, nothing out of the ordinary. Most of the establishments had closed at around 9pm.
DISCUSSION IN THE CRISIS ROOM

The crisis unit has been operating for several hours now, on the top floor of the building. Basing ourselves on the details gathered in the course of this first day, we are trying to understand the sequence of events. The original hypotheses are still valid: voluntary disappearance, abduction or death. Divergent opinions and heated discussions fire with enthusiasm. But we always finish by returning to an objective analysis of the facts to refocus the discussions.

We are opening the window to let the fresh air expel the smoke from countless cigarettes smoked during the meeting when, suddenly, someone poses a question that shouts out to all of us:

– Tell me then, what is this story about the raised shutters in the bedroom where Madeleine was sleeping – or not sleeping?

We have in mind the statements from Gerald McCann and Kate Healy.

When Gerald saw his daughter for the last time, at around 9.05pm, she was sleeping in the bedroom with the twins. He entered his apartment by the front door, using his key. No windows were open, but he cannot say if they were locked. On the other hand – everybody is in agreement in saying -, the patio door at the rear wasn’t locked.

Then, at 10pm, Madeleine’s mother goes in her turn into the bedroom, she sees the open window, the raised shutters and the curtains waving in the breeze. This scenario is highly improbable, since the shutters cannot be operated from the outside. Normally, that window is never opened, she says, but she can’t say either if it was locked. This vagueness perhaps serves the interests of the witnesses, but arouses the suspicions of the investigators.

Finally, we were able to conclude with certainty that the only opening that wasn’t locked was the patio door at the rear of the building, opening onto the area with the swimming pools and the Tapas restaurant, where the parents were dining.

You ask yourself why Gerald went into his apartment through the front door while the one at the back is closer to the restaurant and doesn’t need a key. The parents insist that it was visible from the restaurant and that no one could have walked in without being noticed.

But that’s false, as we were easily able to verify. At night, with the surrounding vegetation and the opaque plastic tarpaulin that protects the dining room of the restaurant, visibility is nil: anybody could have got into theMcCanns’ apartment without being noticed, particularly as most of the guests had their back to the apartment.

We understand their insistence. The parents need to affirm that the children were sleeping in complete safety, and they were looking out for their well-being. But, whatever the arguments, one thing is indisputable: Madeleine was not safe.

– Strange, all the same, this burglar who enters by the door and goes out through the window with a four-year-old child in his arms. It would have been easier to go back out by the same door.

– In fact, something isn’t right.
– Someone is hiding something…
– You could say they were sharing a secret.

Little by little, clearly because of tiredness, everyone starts speaking at once, words are confused. But, gradually, calm is restored, and the information gathered so far allows us to put forward several hypotheses.

It’s hard to understand how a potential abductor would have had the audacity to enter an apartment and abduct the child, knowing that the parents could burst in at any moment.
Either or: either the man was informed about the habits of the family, and in that case we would have to also suspect employees of the restaurant, or else he hung around in the vicinity for a while to study the lie of the land.
Only, if he had studied the lie of the land, he would have taken one and the same door for entering and leaving.
The parents say that the bedroom window was open and the front door was closed at the time they became aware of the disappearance.
And if they are not telling the truth?
Put yourself in their place: you are on holiday in a strange place which you don’t know; you leave three children under 4 to sleep alone; one of them disappears while you and your wife are quietly dining at the restaurant. You would take on the blame? You wouldn’t be afraid of the reaction from the local authorities?
OK, but if, in one way or another, the parents had something to do with the disappearance? They would inevitably have to invent a story, so logically, lie.
That’s not right, is it? Don’t forget you are dealing with well-educated people, nearly all doctors, the child’s father is a surgeon. What a ridiculous idea!
Right, if I understand you properly, you mean that family dramas are the reserve of the simple-minded and the underprivileged…
We must not put aside any hypothesis, even if it doesn’t really grab us, cuts in one of our colleagues, who was listening to our exchanges.
OK, but for the moment, we must not raise suspicions. They are totally unfounded in the current state of the investigation.
Apparently, it’s the examination of the window that might provide us with an answer. And the fingerprints?
In the process of being identified.
Are there copies of the front door key?
Yes, of course, they are used by employees responsible for cleaning and maintenance and kept in a safe.
Everybody has to be interviewed.
Yes. And have the English responded to our requests for reports? We have more and more need of them.
No, not yet, they are efficiently waiting to collect all the details before sending us a complete file.
Well, I hope they won’t leave us waiting much longer, Every hour counts.

Obviously, we don’t end up with any conclusion that night, ….Dawn is breaking already when we finish: the next stages have been decided upon and teams set up. Thus ends the first day of the investigation. Journalists are lurking around the offices of the police judiciaire and in the streets of Vila da Luz. News of the disappearance has spread like wildfire. The eyes of the world are riveted on the Algarve. Little by little the pressure mounts and we have the feeling that our lives will never be the same.

Saturday May 5th

The accommodation we are occupying in the town centre rapidly becomes overcrowded: we need more sheets and blankets. Beds are allocated; some investigators have to sleep on sofas, others on the floor. Astonishingly, in this place, however jam-packed, total silence reigns. We all need to rest. Our dreams are disturbed, our worries are multiplying. Thirty-four hours after Madeleine’s disappearance, we tackle our second day of the investigation. In this apartment of temporary refuge, it’s the morning bustle; we mustn’t lie around. In spite of the lack of sleep, no one shows any sign of fatigue: on the contrary, we are all in a hurry to getting back to work and impatiently wait our turn outside the bathroom.

Before going out, we check that there are no journalists in the area. In spite of their pugnacity, they were never able to find our hiding place. A stop for breakfast, and the day begins. Destination DIC (Department of Criminal Investigation.)

POLISH LEAD IN SAGRES

Hundreds of statements continue to be gathered in Vila da Luz. All the people of the area are interviewed: resort employees, tourists, play leaders from the crèches, residents. Most of them will be of no use to us, but none must be neglected.

From information from Sagres, we learn that an individual has been surprised on Mareta beach taking photos of several children and in particular of a little girl aged 4, blonde with blue eyes, who looks like Madeleine. It was the little girl’s father who noticed him. This 40 year-old man, wearing glasses, tells the investigators that the photographer tried to kidnap his daughter in the afternoon of April 26th in Sagres.

He allegedly then fled in a hired car with a woman in the passenger seat. The stranger did not look like a tourist; brown hair down to his collar, wearing cream-coloured trousers and jacket and shoes of a classic style. This report reminds us of the individual encountered by Jane Tanner in the streets of Vila da Luz on the evening of Madeleine’s disappearance.

Thanks to the father’s composure, he managed to take a photograph of the vehicle. It’s not very clear and does not allow us to make out the number plate, but we succeed, nonetheless, in finding the car. The car hire firm provides us with the identity of the driver. He is a forty-year-old Polish man, who is traveling with his wife. They arrived in Portugal on April 28th, from Berlin. At Faro airport, they hired a car and put up in an apartment in Budens, near Praia da Luz. Unfortunately, on May 5th, at 7am, they had already left, taking with them their camera and all the photos from their holiday. We ask the German police, through Interpol, to monitor them as soon as they arrive in Berlin. All the passengers are questioned, but no one has seen a child looking like Madeleine. In Berlin, the couple take the train to return to Poland. Thus, the Polish trail comes to an end. We would like to have seen their photos…but that proved impossible.

A lead is only valuable in as far as it is followed to the end, which was not the case with this one. We will realise that we shouldn’t have ruled it out so quickly, and that it is still a topic of interest.

MORE LEADS, STILL NO RESULTS

Other individuals were seen lurking around the apartment, acting suspiciously, shortly before the events. On May 2nd or 3rd, according to an English tourist, an individual in shabby clothing was staring fixedly in the direction of the apartment. He went off in a white van. Other witness statements go in the same direction. For each, we set in motion the research procedures which sometimes include the development of an Identikit picture.

On the outskirts of Lagos, in the direction of Aljezur, there is a Gypsy encampment. Of course, traveling people are no longer thought of as child-stealers. Nevertheless, it is important to make sure they have nothing to do with the case before they hit the road again. As soon as they are informed of our searches, they collaborate voluntarily and let the agents do their work and conduct a search of their tents and their cars. No one has seen little Madeleine in the area.

Throughout the day, numerous apartments are visited in the resort and neighbouring areas: the investigators search more than 400, without result.

QUALMS ABOUT INVESTIGATING THE McCANNS; THE THEORY OF ABDUCTION GAINS GROUND.

Someone puts forward the hypothesis according to which Madeleine would have died in her apartment, and that a member of the group would have removed her. It’s a possibility, but nothing so far, no evidence, happens to support that theory.

The McCanns are put up with David Payne. We want to search the accommodation of the family friends to try to pick up Madeleine’s clothes, especially those she was wearing on May 3rd at 5.35pm when she returned from the day centre with her mother and the twins. Evidently, this initiative is not widely supported. The British ambassador meets with the team directing the investigation. The political and the diplomatic seem to want to prevent us from freely doing our work.

– I’m sure this check is necessary.

– The clothes? Are you mad? if I understand you properly, you want to go into the apartment to take clothes to have them analysed?

– Yes. What’s the problem? It’s a perfectly normal procedure in cases like this.

– Of course, but with this media hype…I don’t think I have ever in my life seen so many journalists….And I didn’t come down in the last shower.

THE PJ’S DIFFICULTIES IN COMMUNICATING WITH THE MEDIA; THE PRO McCANN PRESS OFFICE.

From the start of the investigation, we ask for the presence of a press attaché to accompany us and take on communicating with the media. The Justice Minister fulfills this request. Very quickly, however, this decision is contested. The reaction of the press itself is feared and public opinion, which might interpret that presence with direct intervention in the investigation by the minister….Finally, the person retained is an investigator, who is not working on the case, speaks English and has some experience in this field. With hindsight, it can be said that it wasn’t a good decision. In fact, after the reading of our first press release and the parents’ press conferences, the press let fly.

We were convinced that the people directly involved in the investigation should remain distanced from the media whirlwind. We needed help: the police judiciaire would have to engage staff to dissect published articles, focusing on the analysis of press statements from the parents and their friends.But that didn’t happen. The media circus was in full swing: all the time, new articles, live TV, a growing number of journalists running around the streets of Vila da Luz.

It didn’t seem normal to us either that a couple whose child has just disappeared engages press attachés to deal with their relations with the media. It is not a question here of minimising the role of the means of communication and ignoring that a subject like this stirs up a lot of curiosity, but that constant preoccupation with the management of their communication by the parents, appeared to us, to say the least, astonishing.

TELEPHONE CALLS ON THE NIGHT OF THE DISAPPEARANCE.

The tracking of Portuguese and foreign paedophiles – the majority English – residing in the region or simply on holiday, continues to be checked. In spite of the kilometres covered, the interviews and the searches carried out, there is nothing concrete that leads us to suspect any of them.

The investigators continue to deal with the information collected. They look into all the statements, in particular those of the Ocean Club employees, and go through the lists of telephone calls that have been made available to them.

We must also check all communication via mobile phones during the night of May 3rd. It is possible that the abductor had used a mobile. We locate the relay antennae of various operators covering the sector in order to obtain the summary of calls and messages made or received that transited their antennae. Finally, the only suspicious communications are those involving Robert Murat, a person who is central to this case, who will later be placed under investigation.

The walls of the crisis unit are little by little covered in analytical charts, time-series charts, sketches, plans, task lists, photos and other important elements with, at the centre, the photo of Madeleine, to always remind us of the object of our mission.

LOG OF CALLS ON GERRY McCANN’S MOBILE PHONE DELETED

Between 11pm and 3 in the morning, all members of the investigation team meet in the crisis unit; in the same smoke filled atmosphere, we take stock of the situation. Some don’t agree with the police judiciaire’s press release and think that the information should not have been disclosed, even by way of official press releases. Others think it’s possible to interpret the visit by the British ambassador as a form of British government intervention, which may not be impartial. Is it usual for them to get involved with cases of this kind or is it specific to this case, and why? Only they hold the answer.

Until now, the results have hardly been conclusive. New means – in all other investigations, they would already have been put in place – must be deployed.

– Why not monitor and tap the phones of the parents and friends? Their statements are far from convincing. The story about the window is unsound, and Jane’s witness statement is not convincing either.

– In that way new details could be obtained.

– We have already discussed it. That would be ideal…Only, we have to get the judge to give us authorisation with the scant details we have at our disposal. And if the parents get wind of it, we risk having the sky fall on our heads.

– In a kidnapping case with a ransom demand, that procedure would be normal, at least for the monitoring of the parents’ phone calls.

– That’s for certain, but in our case, that comes back to practically accusing them. Further, we don’t even know if there’s been a crime.

– Yes, I am well aware, but I insist. This would allow them to be ruled out.

The questions raised are relevant. Telephone taps would also allow unfounded suspicions to be destroyed. In our legal system, that procedure is only used with the sole purpose of gathering evidence. At this stage of the investigation, it’s very tricky for us to express our doubts as to the sincerity of the parents and their friends.

On May 4th, the parents authorise us to check the phone calls logged on their mobile.

– Here’s a copy of the summary of calls.

– I only have that of the couple. We have yet to receive the summary from BTS (*)

– OK, what have we got?

– Do you see what I see?

– Yes, I think so: between April 27th and May 4th, Kate did not make any calls. Hum…

– None either, between 11.22am and 11.17pm on the night of the disappearance.

– Kate mustn’t like making telephone calls…

– For Gerald, there’s nothing before May 4th at exactly 12.15am

– What does that mean? They never made phone calls then?

– Wait, there’s something here. Look at the number at the top of the list.

– Yes, so?

– On her telephone, her husbands’ number is logged: she called him on May 3rd at 11.17pm, but on Gerald’s, nothing, no trace of that call!

– How can that be explained?

– It’s simple as anything: the list of calls has been deleted.

– Always the same old question: why?

Summing up: the first phone calls were exchanged one hour after the disappearance. It could be imagined that in that lapse of time, they were busy looking for their daughter. Nevertheless, it’s astonishing that they didn’t need to speak to each other at such a difficult time.

Later I learn that the English secret service had already placed the couple under telephone surveillance. If that’s true, the Portuguese police were never informed.

(* Base Transceiver Station of mobile phone operators)
THE POLISH TRAIL LEADS TO AN IMPASSE

Sunday May 6th

Meeting room. Seventy-two hours have gone by since the disappearance. We are going through a difficult time: in spite of the searches carried out on the ground and the considerable means deployed, we haven’t found Madeleine. The day gets off to a difficult start with bad news from Poland. From all accounts, the police badly interpreted our request for collaboration; all they did was approach the couple and verify that Madeleine was not with them, but didn’t seize either their photographic equipment or the photos taken during their holiday. Another lead that remains pending. Perhaps it would have led to the discovery of a paedophile ring.

We are seeking to piece together the couple’s itinerary, to find out if anyone noticed them in the vicinity of Praia da Luz, to establish any relationship between them and Maddie’s disappearance. We circulate a photo – which we obtained thanks to a surveillance camera in a Lisbon shopping mall – amongst holiday-makers, clients and employees of Praia da Luz restaurants. Fruitlessly. Nobody saw them.

On the other hand, employees of the restaurant they usually went to, in the Burgau-Budens area, remember them: the woman was usually in a bad mood, and both wore clothes totally inappropriate to the place and the time of year. The forensic police won’t be able to investigate their hire vehicle, which we managed to locate, because it has already been rented out again. All that’s left to us is to find the bin in which the cleaning team dumped the rubbish left in the vehicle. Analyses of the rubbish reveals nothing. Fortunately, no one else has yet occupied the apartment the couple stayed in – it’s low season. We go ahead with a thorough search, looking for evidence of a child’s presence: shoe prints, fingerprints or footprints. Nothing. We then gather various hair samples – doubtless coming from adults – and notice drops of blood on a kitchen unit. Nothing conclusive. It’s probably from an everyday domestic accident.

In the course of a meeting, I ask the director what follow-up to bring to this case, now that the person who took the photos knows he is being sought. The director gives a common sense response.

– It’s unfortunate, of course. However, they were never seen in Praia da Luz, much less close to the apartment….The father of the little girl in Sagres was wearing spectacles and we aren’t 100% sure of the accuracy of his description.

– Yes, but he took photos of the car. Yet again, it could quite well belong to someone else, but…

– If, in the course of the investigation, there are update details on this lead, we will request a rogatory letter and we will go to Poland to interview them and conduct a search of their apartment.

We doubt that a rogatory letter would be of any use to us. The way this lead was handled makes us think not, but we can’t hold it against the Polish police, who collaborated as well as they could.

We refocus our efforts on other leads. Information on more individuals behaving suspiciously continues to flood in.

IN THE REAL WORLD

“The child, [……….] shall, wherever possible, grow up in the care and under the responsibility of his parents, and, in any case, in an atmosphere of affection and of moral and material security;”

United Nations Declaration of The Rights of The Child, 1959

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Post by crusader 13.01.20 12:19

Thank you for reminding me of this Verdi
,The McCanns are put up with David Payne. We want to search the accommodation of the family friends to try to pick up Madeleine’s clothes, especially those she was wearing on May 3rd at 5.35pm when she returned from the day centre with her mother and the twins. Evidently, this initiative is not widely supported. The British ambassador meets with the team directing the investigation. The political and the diplomatic seem to want to prevent us from freely doing our work.

– I’m sure this check is necessary.

– The clothes? Are you mad? if I understand you properly, you want to go into the apartment to take clothes to have them analysed?

– Yes. What’s the problem? It’s a perfectly normal procedure in cases like this.

– Of course, but with this media hype…I don’t think I have ever in my life seen so many journalists….And I didn’t come down in the last shower.

According to laundry worker Vera Arez, statement in the PJ files, the Mccann's took a bag of washing to the Ocean Club laundry on the Saturday 5th May.
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Post by Verdi 13.01.20 12:36

Quite so! It's important to keep going back to the grass roots of this case, otherwise the tale collects debris over a period of time, as can be so often seen across mainstream and social media.

Folk easily forget or are guided by distorted versions, or even total invention, they read or watch on YouTube.

The truth - that's what CMOMM is all about.

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Post by Verdi 13.01.20 12:40

crusader wrote:According to laundry worker Vera Arez, statement in the PJ files, the Mccann's took a bag of washing to the Ocean Club laundry on the Saturday 5th May.

Witness statement

Vera Maria Mestre Fernandes Arez

Date: 2007/05/08

Occupation: Laundry Worker

Place of Work: Ocean Club

She has worked at the Ocean Club for six years with the function of cleaner in the rooms and apartments of Waterside Village and for the last 4 years her function is laundry worker. Her working hours are from 09.30 to 13.00 and from 14.30 to 18.00. The laundry, her place of work, is situated in the Ocean Club Gardens.

That as laundry worker her functions are to wash, dry all the linen from the rooms and apartments (sheets, towels and clothes from some of the clients) and from the Ocean Club restaurants (towels). All the laundry work takes place in the laundry where she works with three colleagues.

That she knows about the situation that occurred in the Ocean Club since 04/05/2007 at 09.30 as she was informed by a colleague from the laundry that a child had disappeared.

That she does not know the circumstances in which the girl disappeared only having heard about it in the press and from colleagues.

That she remembers that on Saturday 05/05/2007 having washed clothing belonging to the missing girl's family and she checked that it was children's and adult's clothing. This service was carried out by her colleague Silvia Cravinho. That on the next day Sunday it was her colleague Bernadete Calado who went to deliver the clothing directly to the missing girl's apartment.

That before that no clothing from the missing girl's family had been washed and after that date there was no other washing of clothes from the family.

That she never had any contact with the family or with the missing girl as she never leaves the laundry except to have lunch.

That she did not notice anything strange on 03/05/2007. She did not notice anything strange on the days preceding this date and does not have any information about the disappearance.

No more is said. Reads, ratifies and signs.

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Post by Verdi 14.02.20 15:30

I think, you know, people that pretty much the same as me you know it's a shock, you know ah because you're, you know, you're still not wanting to believe what, what the obvious is and you know so we, you know we, we went, you know went to the apartment err you know and I didn't actually enter too much into the room but I walked to the edge and you know there was, you know the twins were in their cots, err they were in you know parallel, there was you know I could see, you know I think they were much further into the room but you know I could see Madeleine's bed and then you know it was just like all hell broke loose.
David Payne rogatory interview - April 2008

I can't get my head around the twins allegedly being left alone (again) whilst Kate McCann rushed off to the Tapas area to raise the 'abducted' alarm and later, the story of the twins sleeping through the nocturnal rumpus back at apartment 5a - and of course, the story of Ms McCann checking the twins breathing.

Firstly, I would expect instinct to kick-in before anything else. Your three year old child is missing from her bed, where you last saw her, allegedly - before anything else you would move the twins to another location, asleep or not. Then, if sedated, would you leave them at the crime scene for the police to see on their arrival? Unless of course you wished the police to think your children had been sedated by an abductor. That thought would most certainly fit-in with Kate McCanns open display of concern but quite how she could be in two places at once, I'm at a loss to understand.

Was she in the children's bedroom with the twins? Was she her bedroom sprawled across the bed with her husband - praying? Was she in the living area with the twins and sitting next to Jane Tanner or whoever else? Was she prostrated by tragic circumstances on that night?

Meanwhile, Gerry McCann was said to be guarding the children's bedroom door to prevent anyone entering.

As with so much of this tragic case, there is only the word of the McCanns and their group of friends to guide us.

I've said many times I don't believe the twins were sedated by the parents or anyone else, I maintain the view that it was just a story to reinforce the stranger abduction theory.

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Post by Guest 14.02.20 18:27

A normal person, suggesting that their babies had been drugged by an 'abductor', would want to know what substance had been given, in what dosage, and the possible side effects. I don't understand why they were not overruled, and the twins immediately taken to hospital for tests.
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Post by Jill Havern 14.02.20 18:55

CaKeLoveR wrote:A normal person, suggesting that their babies had been drugged by an 'abductor', would want to know what substance had been given, in what dosage, and the possible side effects. I don't understand why they were not overruled, and the twins immediately taken to hospital for tests.
A normal person, after the dogs had alerted to blood and cadaverine, would want to know whose body they were alerting to.

But not the McCanns....no siree...they simply said they'd transported dirty nappies and had leaking, bloody meat in the boot.

By making excuses for it they actually acknowledged the presence of both substances in a vehicle hired after the...ahem...'abduction'.

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Post by Guest 14.02.20 19:42

Yes, I had forgotten how they messed up there. (Dirty nappies and leaking, bloody meat. Such hygiene. Their kitchen must be a delight.)
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Post by Verdi 14.02.20 21:35

Under the circumstances they couldn't really do anything but feebly acknowledge the dog alerts, could they.

After all, Professor McCann's attempts to discredit the expertise of specialist dogs went a bit haywire. I'd go so far as to say it backfired with a resounding bang whacky !!!


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Post by crusader 14.02.20 22:43

Dogs don't lie, They searched and found what they were trained to look for. I believe the dogs, I don't believe the Mccann's or the tapas lot.
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Post by momac 15.02.20 11:26

It's absolutely infuriating, to read of all the inconsistencies in ALL the testimonies, which were pointed out by Mr Amaral! Anywhere else, with less powerful friends, they would have been locked up, the whole pack of them!
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Post by Verdi 16.02.20 12:46

Date: July 31st 2007 - 8pm. Report:

Participants:

PJ: Tavares A. & Ricardo P. Inspectors
UK: Mark Harrison, Martin Grime (UK Forensic Canine P SM Expert),
Eddie & Keela (English Springers)
Silvia B. Manager of the Ocean Club complex.

On that date, inspections were conducted in the apartments occupied by members of the McCann family as well as the group who were with them at the time of Madeleine McCann's disappearance. It was only on that date that the apartment, identified as that of the parents, was empty allowing further investigation which was authorised by the respective occupants. Thus, at the appointed time, the search with the dogs began, covering the following apartments:

Apartment 5A:

From 8.30pm to 9.20pm, the dogs go through.
8.20pm: The cadaver dog, "marks," the couple's wardrobe area in the bedroom.
8.22pm: The cadaver dog, "marks" an area behind the sofa in the sitting room near the window overlooking the road.
From 8.47pm to 9.20pm, the blood detecting dog goes through.
8.10  The dog, "marks" an area of floor behind the sofa in the sitting room, near the window overlooking the road.

Apartment 5B: 9.24 to 9.27pm: The cadaver dog did not alert on anything.

Apartment 5D: 9.29 to 9.34pm: The cadaver dog did not alert on anything.

Apartment 5H : 9.35 to 9.38pm : The cadaver dog did not alert on anything.

Apartment 4G : 9.42 to 9.45pm : The cadaver dog did not alert on anything.

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It follows from this investigation that there are indications, in practice and in the facts, of the crime of murder such as defined in ArticleQI310 of the Penal Code.

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Post by Verdi 18.02.20 11:46

Jane Tanner's rogatory interview - April 2008

4078 “Okay. Up until this point then, Sunday evening this would be, had there been a kind of discussion between the group about child care or was it something that just sort of happened as you went along?”

Reply “Err…”

4078 “The reason I ask is because I’m aware that later on in the group people started to take it in turns to check other people’s children.”
Reply “Yeah.”

4078 “How did that come about?”

Reply “I think we just probably became more comfortable with the arrangements and it was sort of like a pop your head in if you, I think the first night I think we were all checking our own but as we became more comfortable with it, it was if one person was going back they would listen, listen you know at the door as well so, I don’t think, it wasn’t a, I don’t think it was a specific decision right now we all stopped, we’ll start checking on each other’s children, it was just a you know, you’re going back, you know, have a, have a listen as well.”

4078 “And was there any kind of set time that you started…”

Reply “Yeah we did try to do it every half an hour and I’d say out of everybody Kate and Gerry were the, the most strict on that, they were, we almost took them as the lead at times for when we, you know when we checked because they were definitely, you know were definitely every half an hour whereas we were the same, we probably did it at course, you know we probably do it because we tend to get to there at different times but err but you know I think it was more or less, more or less every, every half an hour.”
.....................

Strip this down to the bare bones and what do you have - eight adults 'bobbing up and down like this' all night. The attending waiter/s would have noticed such activity - surely?

If, big if, they were sort of checking each others children at frequent intervals, why was it also necessary for one of each couple to check? At some point, Jane Tanner was said to be flap-flipping about the streets in the vicinity of Gerry McCann who was having a natter, having just checked his three children - the same occasion when he gazed down upon his three year old daughter and thought how lucky he was to have such a beautiful child.


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Post by crusader 18.02.20 15:12

Yeah, yeah. Erm, but it worked really well and, you know, everybody was checking, had their own sort of, I mean, we didn't really formally discuss what everybody was doing, we just all felt it was fine to sort of operate our own baby listening service, I guess that's what we thought we were doing, what every MARK WARNER holiday we'd been on before did. Erm, tut, we didn't, Dave and I and my mum didn't because we, we brought our baby monitor, which worked, we'd tested it, it's a digital monitor so it's offering, erm, continuous monitoring of sound every second and it alarms if it loses contact or anything, so on the first day we'd sort of tried that by the, you know, by the Tapas Bar and it worked, so we didn't even go back and check our children, we took the monitor out, erm, and very much felt we were doing what we do at home really, you know, putting them to sleep and listen, if they cried we'd hear. Erm, the others had, you know, decided they were sort of going back every twenty minutes, erm, and checking on their own children. I think, on the whole, I wasn't really aware of people cross checking each other's children, although on the night and previous nights there would have been the odd occasion where somebody was, was, was going and saying 'Oh I've listened in at your door and your kids are fine' or 'I've checked on yours and they're fine', so there was a bit of that going on, but, on the whole, people checked their own children. Erm, and, again, on the actual night Madeleine was taken, that was, was very much different, I think, to, to previous nights, in that, there was probably more cross checking that night. Snipped from F Payne's rogatory interview.



Why was there more checking going on that night particularly I wonder?


What was going on around 9pm in particular.




R Obrien arrived at tapas around 9pm. M Oldfield  went to hurry Payne's and Gerry went to check on his children.


And if you include the Payne's arriving late, only Kate Jane & Rachael were at the tapas.
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Post by Guest 18.02.20 15:41

There should have been more investigation into the 'more checking on that particular night' . In highlighting their vigilance in caring for their children, because they are all wonderful parents, he has pointed out that the 'abductor' was more likely to get caught either entering or leaving the apartment than on any other night. Unnecessary detail again.
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