Trip to Huelva

Did the McCanns go to other towns in the surrounding area of Praia da Luz or if they only went to Huelva to hand out flyers why only Huelva? I haven't found any mention yet of other places they visited to do this. Also KM says in her book she accounted for the unusually high mileage on the hire car but I cannot find the explanation anywhere, could someone point me in the right direction?

p. 272 "The meticulous record of events in my journals enabled us to account for every journey we made in the Renault Scenic, taking us to within a few kilometres of the much-publicized ‘unexplained mystery mileage of the McCanns’ hire car’ which, of course, was not a mystery at all."

So no break down listings of each and every tripcovered to account for the mileage then - just a general swiping statement .
Fat lot of good that will do to convince people.

Surely the PJ can do their maths. One return trip to Huelva and back, plus several trips to the airport, and general get around in the vicinity do not add up to the mileage.

PeterMac wrote:p. 272 "The meticulous record of events in my journals enabled us to account for every journey we made in the Renault Scenic, taking us to within a few kilometres of the much-publicized ‘unexplained mystery mileage of the McCanns’ hire car’ which, of course, was not a mystery at all."

The need to explain mileage in a book about her daughter just goes to show the bewk was cooked - written to counter evidence.

As far as I know, this was the only trip they took to personally hand out leaflets and put up posters. All their other trips were all about press conferences and meetings with high level officials, etc.

It seems totally out of character...

The lady doth protest too much, methinks.
Hamlet Act 3, scene 2, 222–230

mexx wrote:As far as I know, this was the only trip they took to personally hand out leaflets and put up posters. All their other trips were all about press conferences and meetings with high level officials, etc.

It seems totally out of character...

The Huelva flyer distribution was just about image projection and managing - done just for show to make their official website looks good. It's all marketing and PR nothing to do with the a real search.

IF they were serious about flyers campaign there are many ways to get it done, including roping in local communities and churches in countries where they want the leaflets distributed. I am sure people won't mind doing a good deed of helping to distribution flyers for a good cause.

If fact what's stopping them from doing that even now, if they are serious about the search and claimed to want to engage public in their search. They still have plenty in the funds for that.

They should walk their talk.

According to their first years accounts they only spent £204 on postage. Not many flyers got out that way. Either it was coming out of a another part of their accounts or they intended to drive them or jet set them all over Europe and North Africa.

aiyoyo wrote:

mexx wrote:As far as I know, this was the only trip they took to personally hand out leaflets and put up posters. All their other trips were all about press conferences and meetings with high level officials, etc.

It seems totally out of character...

The Huelva flyer distribution was just about image projection and managing - done just for show to make their official website looks good. It's all marketing and PR nothing to do with the a real search.

IF they were serious about flyers campaign there are many ways to get it done, including roping in local communities and churches in countries where they want the leaflets distributed. I am sure people won't mind doing a good deed of helping to distribution flyers for a good cause.

If fact what's stopping them from doing that even now, if they are serious about the search and claimed to want to engage public in their search. They still have plenty in the funds for that.

They should walk their talk.

It's a very good point that you and other posters made: why was this the only occasion they distributed flyers. Although there is little evidence of that even in Huelva.
Re the high mileage. I am convinced that Maddie was buried by a third party at least a month earlier. In fact, if the PJ know from which date the car doors were left open overnight, we might have a date 'ante quem'. The Huelva trip imo was to pay their respects at the grave site. I - entirely my opinion! - would not be surprised if the ridiculous amount of money paid to Metodo 3 was for such services rendered. They would know the right places and people to use. More than enough on the clock to have gone to Huelva many times in that car.

The Huelva - very publicised - trip may also have been to keep family and friends on board. According to some, the catholic faith requires:
Prayer in church on the third day after a death. 3rd May - very publicly asked for church to pray.
Service for the deceased in church 11/12 days - much publicized church service in PdL on the 12th I think
Visit the grave after three months - should have been the 1st August, but they had the police in, so 2nd instead.
My conviction is that this was part of the story they told - death wasn't their fault but loss of job, home, twins etc. So they were forced to hide it, etc.
But at least they had observed all that was required by the RC. Not that they are religious, unless it suits the script.
This also neatly puts the crucial date at 30/4/07 .

Tigger, I also believe the 30th April is crucial. Any observant objective person reading the diaries ,creche records and book must notice that there is a glaring absence of detail about events that day, and two hours when Madeleine was unaccounted for.
I would have thought for a person so devoted to slavishly describing trivia and mundane routine on a holiday, the child's mother when writing about her beloved missing child, would surely have mentioned the break with routine evident on this day. Why is there no mention of what they were doing with their daughter that afternoon while she had out of creche time to spend alone with her parents who were usually busy at home devoting time to her twin siblings? Did either or both parent[s] take Maddie to the shops, the beach, for a special treat, time spent just with her....why is there no mention of this and why in a book which has if I recall correctly approx 15 pages about the holiday, does the mother mention only for this day a supermarket trip and the regular evening meal?
The silence speaks volumes.

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Does anyone have any info on Budens? This link is restricted and I am interested in searching this further

Can anyone also clarify or shed more light on the Catholic religious ritual of visiting the tomb of a deceased 3 months after they have passed away?

For lots other reasons, I think Maddie died on 28th April and looking at the mobile ping reports the mccanns were in Budens on 28th July

Gerry Pings
28th... 4 pings between 01:08 and 01:16
Gaps: 11:01 - 14:20 , 14:26 - 16:25
Trip to Budens area with gaps, consecutive;
16:25 PdL Centro
17:36 Budens
17:37 Budens
19:17 PdL Centro
Another gap later that evening : 20:33 - 22:31

---------------------------------------------
Kate Pings
28/7 First activation is en-route to Faro airport (09:04 at Paderne). Pinging airport 09:28 - 10:19. Back in Luz at 11:39
Gap: 12:07 - 14:07
Journey to the Burgau area, consecutive…
16:25 Luz Centro 2
17:57 Budens 1
18:26 Burgau 1
18:41 Luz 2 (x2)
20:04 Luz Centro 1 (x2)
20:08 Luz Centro 1 (x2)
20:10 Luz Centro 1
21:47 Luz Centro 2

Sat July 28

Sandy and Trish Cameron visiting (they left the next day July 29th to go back to the UK)

Quote:
Kate's Diary
SATURDAY, JULY 28: I got up at 7.30 after a late and disturbed night of sleep.
At around 16.20 we had a dip in the Jacuzzi. Sean and Amelie loved it. After tea I went to the small church. I was a little tearful.
It's really hard for me not to worry about the small things. I wonder does anyone brush her teeth? She looks so happy in that photo taken on that last day.
I know I'm repeating myself but I can't stop myself from saying how much I love you, Madeleine. I'll say it as many times as I need to. You're so, so special. XXXX

What prompts kate to think of the last photo on the 28th July?
Considering Maddie shared a toothbrush with the twins which is highly unhygienic with huge risk of catching infections, why is kate wondering if an abductor is brushing her teeth?

Quote:
Gerry's Blog
Quiet family day, as is often the case of a Saturday. It has become
blisteringly hot here over the last few days and we decided to take the kids down to the beach early morning. Even then it was hot and there was almost no breeze although the water is still very cold. Met a very nice Portuguese couple who offered us good wishes in trying to find Madeleine

the mobile phone pings do not suggest they went to the beach as at 09.04 en route to Faro Airport
And we have a mobile ping at Burgau at 18:26

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Compiling the details

We don't 'know' WHEN Madeleine's body was moved but we 'know' it WAS moved and according to Goncalo Amaral she had probably been held in a freezer and fluids leaked into the trunk of the car creating stains which would be difficult to clean, especially in the very hot weather.

Sometime in June and July (after they rented the car and when the dogs arrived) Madeleine was moved.

For most of the time, (with a couple of visits back to England) Sandy Cameron and Trish were staying with Gerry and Kate.

Sandy was driving the car and claims that 'STILL' in July, leading one to believe it was at the end of July, he bought some shopping and noticed blood leaking from the bag and, therefore, had to air the car out.

We know there was a neighbour (who was not interviewed officially) that saw the trunk left open all night for a period of time indicating there was probably an odour they were trying to get rid of.

This 'time' in my opinion is when they moved Madeleine's body (at least one of the times).

When comparing those details with their activities according to the 'pings' in late July, one had to wonder why there were some very 'odd' trips to the West of PdL.

Thursday July 26th Gerry visited Vila do Bispo (7 miles west of PdL) immediately upon returning from Washington (without stopping in PdL) spending 25 minutes around that area (extra to driving time)

Friday July 27th he visited Sagres in the evening (alone?)

Saturday, Kate went to Faro airport in the morning around 9am until 11.30 approx (according to pings) while Gerry claims 'they' took the children to the beach.

Between approx 11.30am until 2.00pm approx both their phones were turned off.

In Kates diary she claims to have had a dip in the jacuzzi with the twins at 4.20pm

At 4.25pm both Kates phone and Gerry's phone pings in PdL after Gerry switches on his phone.

They both went to Budens/Burgau by 5.30pm - 6.00pm, according to the pings, and were both back in PdL by Kate at 6.41pm, Gerry at 7.17pm.

Gerry's phone switched off approx 8.30pm - 10.30 pm.

Why did Kate claim, and was so sure their 'jacuzzi dip' was at 4.20pm, just before their phone pings (4.25pm) showed them leave PdL for Budens/Burgau?

Why did they 'suddenly' start visiting this area? (earlier on June 19th approx I believe).

Why did Gerry go straight to Budens after returning from Washington?

Why did Kate go to the airport when Gerry claims 'they' went to the beach and met a nice Portuguese couple?

Again...keep in mind this was all around the time the Scenic trunk was left open to 'air'.

Was this when Madeleine's body was moved?

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And we have this:
After this return to the antennae of Luz, only at 14:07:44 on 7th does one
observe a record outside that locality. That record occurs on the antenna
installed in the [parish] of Aljezur, municipal area of Aljezur, district of
Faro.

The records return to the antennae of Luz at 14:24:00.

Curiously, on this day only Russell and Matthew activate other antennae outside
Luz. The first activates the antenna referred to before, while the second
activates "Budens 1".

If on the one hand the movement of Matthew to Budens is
acceptable, then the trip of Russell to Aljezur in these first days so soon after
the disappearance is somewhat strange
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With gerrys comments marking the 100 day anniversary, this suggests that they do mark the 3 months Catholic religious thing and that Huelva is a red herring and they got the press involved to make seem more realistic but why go there on the 3rd...no idea. But maybe they could pass through Budens en route? I don't know the geographical locations on a map

More and more I feel that Burgau is key to the mystery.

Then entries in the diary are weird. "is someone brushing her teeth?' She was nearly four, surely she could brush her own teeth? I cannot see Kate doing that for her.
Re the date of the open car doors. I'm sure that the PJ know this and the statement by the neighbor (a lawyer I believe) is one of the withheld documents. Michael Wright in his rog. I think, mentioned the smell.
Although it is inadmissible evidence, their reaction to a very smelly car is strange. If I had a hire car which suddenly stank to high heaven, I'd take it to be valeted. They had plenty of money to do that by then and could have used the same excuse, rotting meat, nappies.

I also think there is a lot to be gained from the mobile phone usage - although perhaps the really interesting data would be gathered from the pay-as-you-go mobiles they had in Portugal records...

I found this a bit puzzling. Looking at the records for David Payne and Fiona Payne, they left Portugal at the end of May and both returned to PDL Friday 29 June - Monday 2 July. Then just Fiona came back Tuesday 10- Thursday 12 July for the confrontation with Robert Murat (on Wednesday 11 July).

This is explained as being a mistake -ie. They got the dates wrong and came over too early for the confrontation, realised their mistake, went home then just Fiona came back for the confrontation....

this might be the case but if it is a mistake of dates, you would think it would be maybe a week too early - ie come over for Weds 4 July confrontation..... or if it was a mistake of dates maybe they thought it was 1st not the 11th... but 1st is a Sunday so seems unlikely to think the confrontation would happen on a Sunday...

Given that Rachael and Russell were also taking part in the confrontation, you would expect there to be some communication between the group and therefore some realisation at an earlier point that they had booked flights and maybe accommodation for the wrong dates....

If it wasn't about getting dates wrong, it could possibly have been a visit to just see the Mccanns and see how they were doing - in which case, why not say that?

Or maybe they met up to discuss their plan of attack, or some other events were taking place over that weekend that they were part of...


Extract from the report on David Payne's phone records:

QUOTE: On 29 June, at 12:32: 10, records from this mobile phone reappear [resurge].
It would appear therefore that David Payne was absent from our country for 1 month and one week.
The reason for his return on this date are unknown, since there exist no records of investigation work assigned for that date, nor anything recorded in the case file documents which might clarify it. The confrontation in which his wife (Fiona Payne) was present was [only] carried out on 11 July.

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Extract from the records of Fiona Payne's phone:

QUOTE:
Such records from the phone identified
above pertaining to the witness occur at two distinct times:
- between 8:41:48 on 29 June and 8:06:25 on 2 July. and
- between 15:20:07 on 10 July and 10:50:11 on 12th of the same month.
That is, Fiona, by mistake of dates, came with her husband on the weekend of 29 June, for the confrontation with Robert Murat that was scheduled for 11 July, where there were also present Rachael Mampilly and Russel O'Brien, according what is recorded in the case documents, and what was repeated in the dailies CM (Correio da Manha), 24Horas and JN (Jornal de Noticias).
The Paynes returned to their native country, after detecting the possible error, Fiona coming back for a third stay in our country between 10 and 12 July.

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Some really interesting research being done here. Regards the female lawyer who witnessed the boot open a number of days and nights. Let's be clear, a bit of blood seeping out of a supermarket meat package would not necessitate this. Any S.I.O. worth his salt would have realised the significance of the evidence of the cadaver dog in relation to the renault and the lawyer's evidence. I feel sure he would have actioned a revisit to the witness with a view to pin down as best as possible when that boot was first left open. If he didn't spot the significance somebody would. They may not know the exact date but they must have a far better picture than us, probably within a week. Be nice to know wouldn't it...

jd wrote: Can anyone also clarify or shed more light on the Catholic religious ritual of visiting the tomb of a deceased 3 months after they have passed away?

JD, the only ritual I am aware of is the "Month's Mind" and it's a service one calendar month after the death. It's usually a mass followed by a visit to the grave if possible.

jd - But maybe they could pass through Budens en route? I don't know the geographical locations on a map

Burgau is about 4 km, 3 miles to the WEST of PdL, on the coast.
Budens is about 8 km, 6 miles to the WEST of PdL, about 2 km inland
So neither is on the route to anywhere.

have a look on maps.google.com

Looking at the official timeline for Huelva we have:

The timeline, according to The Sun, is as follows:
09:00 Leave Praia da Luz
12:15 Arrive Huelva (expected at 11:00am)
13:00 Distribute leaflets and posters at train station
13:30 Distribute leaflets and posters at cathedral
14:00 Distribute leaflets and posters at bus station
14:20 Leave to return to Praia da Luz

But the police have the phone ping records and a witness statement which tell a different timeline:

Phone records:
Ping Assumadas mast 0849
Ping Tavira mast 1345
Ping Luz 1438
Witness statement:
Saw Mccanns in car at traffic lights in Huelva 1120

This gives us a new timeline:

Leave luz 0749
Assumadas ping ( from Luz 84k 57 mins ) 0849
Arrive Huelva (from Assumadas 122k 1hr 20) 1010 (1110 local time - 1 hour diff between portugal and spain)
Sighting in Huelva 1120 (1020 portuguese time)
Leave Huelva latest 1245
Tavira ping (from Huelva 85k 1hr) 1345
Luz ping (from Tavira 115k 1hr 15) 1438 must have been speeding


So I would say given this they were in huelva early stayed maybe a few hours and were back in luz by mid afternoon - very different to how the media portrayed it.

Data is taken from the pj files narrative for Kate phone pings 3 august:


On 3rd the first record of the mobile phone of Kate on this day was made on the antenna "Assumadas 2" at 8:49:07 and the second was already on the antenna of the operator Optimus installed in the [parish] of Santa Maria, municipal area of Tavira at 13:45:45.

The subsequent records indicate the journey of return to Luz, where it activates the antenna, also of the operator Optimus, installed in the [parish] of Luz, of the Municipality of Lagos at 14:38:56.

On the route are activated the antennae installed in Tavira (Santiago), Santo Estevao, Estoi, Santa Barbara of Nexe, Loule (Sao Clemente), Ferreiras, Pera, Porches and Estombar, entering then into the coverage area of the antenna of Luz.

According to the news related by some organs of the written media on 4th, the McCann were on this day in Huelva as part of their campaign to locate Madeleine.



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To add to that: I think the witness saw them probably leaving town, or she said that she assumed they were on the way out.
The PJ have stated that the car was found to be in places not necessary for a visit to Huelva, or words to that effect.

These mobile pings are very interesting as they tell the truth. It feels that 'somewhere' en route to Huelva was the real reason for this trip. Need to think about this and do some more digging

Looking at the mobile pings, it seems there are many from Burgau/Budens for quite a few months. What is the interest there?

Molly wrote:

jd wrote: Can anyone also clarify or shed more light on the Catholic religious ritual of visiting the tomb of a deceased 3 months after they have passed away?

JD, the only ritual I am aware of is the "Month's Mind" and it's a service one calendar month after the death. It's usually a mass followed by a visit to the grave if possible.

Whats interesting is the Renault Scenic car they hired out was taken on May 27th (their first ping of the day on the 28th was at 10.05 which is later than 'normal'), followed by the trip to Rome 29th/30th and you can't have a bigger mass than meeting the Pope!

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McCann Case: Analysis of the phone calls reveals a clue SOSMaddie

Duarte Levy
16 December 2008
Thanks to 'AnnaEsse' for translation

Justine McGuinness and the Vascão river

Justine McGuiness, spokesperson for the McCanns who accompanied them in fleeing to England immediately after they were made arguidos, left various documents in the apartment that served as the couple's headquarters, including photographs, establishing a possible connection between Madeleine's disappearance and the banks of the river Vascão, near the Spanish border. Today, 19 months after Madeleine's disappearance, the trail left by Justine McGuiness resurfaces.

This picture is to give an indication of the general area, rather than define a specific spot

It is September 9th 2007, the day that Kate and Gerry take flight to England, four months after Madeleine McCann's disappearance that the PJ get their hands on a series of documents left in the Vista Mar villa, until then occupied by the couple, where photographs and even a sketch are found, indicating the detailed location of a place on the border between Alentejo and the Algarve, 20 km from Almodovar, crossed by the Vascão river. The PJ inspectors went into the house immediately after the McCanns left for the airport, thus taking advantage of the fact that the journalists were accompanying the couple.

The documents left there by the McCanns' spokesperson, Justine McGuiness, were found under a sofa. In addition to the identification of a clearly defined geographic area, were numerous inscriptions which the PJ have never succeeded in interpreting. According to sources close to the investigation, nothing was done in this direction and the PJ employees who allegedly regarded the documents as being the work of an esoteric group, did not even take the trouble to visit the place indicated, considering the lead as being of no value to the case.

The McCanns' spokesperson, who was with them throughout the time when they were constituted arguidos under Portuguese law, ended up being dismissed on her arrival in England, this in spite of the fact that she might prove to be one of the most embarrassing witnesses for the couple and the English authorities. The fact is that Justine McGuiness has never been questioned by the PJ and thus it is that the exact significance of the documents and photographs has never been explained.

In statements recorded recently in London, sources close to the former Liberal Party candidate and specialist in public relations, confirmed that Justine McGuiness was even allegedly the target of various pressures, notably in the legal field, meaning, for her, that she should keep quiet about everything she saw and heard during the time she worked for Kate and Gerry McCann.

What is certain is that the former spokesperson and her employers, the McCanns, were already at odds, particularly with Kate, on the day they left Portugal together and their "divorce" on arrival in England did not surprise anyone. Justine had always directed very harsh criticism towards Madeleine's mother, sometimes in the presence of journalists. And the poor relations between the two women were not limited to financial matters, on which Justine always demanded settlement for her work and for numerous extra hours spent with the couple, but also in meetings and dinners with journalists and representatives of the British authorities.

Today, all this might have been forgotten if it were not for the results of an investigation into records of the McCanns' telephone calls and of all the people who were in contact with them, an investigation led by journalists, in collaboration with former operatives of the information services.

Swansea again (this section translated by Joana Morais)

While investigating the calls received and made on the McCann's mobile phones during their stay in Portugal, the investigators found a report from inspector Paulo Dias of the PJ where it is confirmed that Kate received, on the 2nd of May, at around 11h21, a call from Swansea (UK) which, later, she would justify to the PJ as being a mistake. A sufficiently important "mistake" that Madeleine's mother guarded the register of this call in her mobile, in spite of having deleted all the details of other communications.

More interesting, the investigators - some Britons, used to dealing with sensitive cases - also found the register of a phone call made on the same day, after lunch, between a mobile phone in Praia da Luz and the same number in Swansea that had contacted Kate McCann. The mobile from which the call was made does not belong to either of the McCanns or to the group of friends who were accompanying them and, up to today, the Judiciary Police, despite several requests to the English authorities, has never been able to identify the owner of that mobile nor have they obtained from the English support or willingness so that they can question whomever it was regarding these calls.

Now, while cross-referencing the results obtained next to the mobile telecommunication operators in Portugal and in Spain with the reports of the Judiciary Police - in particular the excellent work of the inspector Paulo Dias - investigators and journalists found a new element worthy of interest: the mobile phone used in Praia da Luz to call the number in Swansea, who had contacted Kate on May 2, was used to make and receive calls in the area indicated in the documents and in the photographs that the McCann's spokeswoman left under the sofa on the day of the return to England.

According to the records now known, the mobile phone was used near the Ribeira do Vascão on several occasions, namely between the days 12th and 15th of May, 2007 but equally in June and July of the same year. Those phone calls were always made to England or to Praia da Luz, except for one, which was made to the British embassy in Lisbon.

The Vascão river is between (& up) PDL and Heulva. PeterMac, do you think it is possible to have had the time to have driven up there within the the suspected 'real' Heulva timeline?

Wonder if those documents were left accidentally on purpose?

Smokeandmirrors wrote:Wonder if those documents were left accidentally on purpose?

I rather hope not. Don't forget they left in a great hurry. Michael Wright cleaned and tidied the house for them. I had been under the impression he did that straight away, but clearly the PJ was there before him. Perhaps they did it whilst he was taking them to the airport?
Photographs show that both 5a and the villa aren't exactly tidy. Neither are the interiors in the UK, as videos show, either tidy or nicely furnished.

Besides, they had boxes of letters to ship as well. This post warrants another look at the move to the UK. Didn't somebody have to hire a large lorry to take everything to the UK?

tigger wrote:

Smokeandmirrors wrote:Wonder if those documents were left accidentally on purpose?

I rather hope not. Don't forget they left in a great hurry. Michael Wright cleaned and tidied the house for them. I had been under the impression he did that straight away, but clearly the PJ was there before him. Perhaps they did it whilst he was taking them to the airport?
Photographs show that both 5a and the villa aren't exactly tidy. Neither are the interiors in the UK, as videos show, either tidy or nicely furnished.

Besides, they had boxes of letters to ship as well. This post warrants another look at the move to the UK. Didn't somebody have to hire a large lorry to take everything to the UK?

What if Justine wanted the police to find them? Maybe she was trying to help the investigation.

The alleged sketch map will still be in the files somewhere. It will not have been thrown away.