Mirror - 7 questions that still need answering

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/madeleine-mccann-anniversary-7-questions-3482752

May 01, 2014 13:50 By Steve Robson
A new investigation has sparked fresh hope the case will finally be solved

Tomorrow marks seven years since the disappearance of Madeleine McCann - the biggest missing person's case in history.
The three-year-old is believed to have been abducted while on holiday with her parents Kate and Gerry McCann in the Portuguese resort Praia Da Luz.
Despite huge coverage of the case around the world, Maddy has never been found.
In 2011, Scotland Yard launched a new inquiry at the request of the Government called Operation Grange.
Led by DCI Andy Redwood, the investigation has led to the emergence of several new clues and suspects.
But as the seventh anniversary arrives, we look at seven questions about the case that still need answers:

1. Was the 'man carrying a child' really a red herring?
On the night Maddy went missing, one of the McCann's holiday companions said she saw a man carrying a child near the Ocean Club apartment block at around 9.15pm.
Jane Tanner said the child was barefoot and wearing light-coloured pink pyjamas with a floral pattern and cuffs on the legs, a description that matched the pyjamas Maddy had been wearing.
But Scotland Yard said last year they believe the man Ms Tanner saw was another British holidaymaker carrying his child.
Officers took photos of the man wearing similar clothes and standing in a similar posed.
DCI Redwood said his officers were "almost certain" that this sighting was not related to the abduction.

2. Was there a second man carrying a child?
Irish couple Martin and Mary Smith also reported seeing a man carrying a child on the night of the disappearance.
They gave a description to police and said they did not think he was a tourist.
They added that the man was walking towards the beach and the child looked to be uncomfortable at being carried.
A team of private detectives hired by Madeleine's Fund created an e-fit which was eventually released by Scotland Yard when they took over the investigation.

3. Exactly when was Maddy taken?
Gerry McCann went to check on Madeleine at around 9.05pm.
Kate McCann had intended to go back at 9.30pm but another of their travelling companions, Matthew Oldfield, offered to do it when he checked on his own children in the apartment next door.
He noticed that the door to the children's bedroom was wide open but after hearing no noise, left.
He did not see whether Maddy was in her bed.
When Kate went back to do her own check at 10pm - Madeleine was gone.
Scotland Yard believes Maddy was taken moments before, but a much longer window of opportunity remains.

4. Was Madeleine snatched after disturbing a burglary?
DCI Redwood said this is one of his lines of inquiry.
There had been a fourfold increase in burglaries in the area between January 2007 and the disappearance in May, including two incidents in the McCanns' block in the three weeks before the disappearance, during which intruders entered through apartment windows.

5. Did Maddy kidnapper die in a tractor accident?
Portuguese police reopened their own investigation into the disappearance in October last year.
Junkie and ex-jailbird Euclides Monteiro was suspected of having kidnapped Maddy after being disturbed as he broke into the family's apartment.
He had been sacked by the Ocean Club the year before but phone records placed him near the flats at the time Maddy vanished.
Menteiro, known as Toni, died aged 40 in a tractor accident four years ago.

6. Was Maddy taken by a serial paedophile?
In March, Scotland Yard revealed they believe a serial paedophile had targeted young British girls in the Algarve in the years before Maddy went missing.
After another appeal, detectives currently say they are aware of 18 break-ins from 2004.
They include a serious sexual assault on a ten-year-old girl in Praia Da Luz in 2005, just two years before Maddy was snatched.
Scotland Yard have made public appeals to try to trace a smelly “pot-bellied” paedophile intruder.
The suspect was described as a tanned, dark-haired man who spoke English slowly, with a foreign accent and possibly slurred speech, had unkempt hair, was unshaven, and smelt of stale aftershave.
So far more than 500 people have made contact with information.

7. Do Portuguese police hold the key to solving the case?
British detectives fear local Portuguese police could unwittingly be sitting on vital forensic evidence key to the case.
Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood said last month: "The fact we’ve now got an assault that is in the heart of Praia da Luz means we are even more interested in this as part of the inquiry. This offence takes us into the resort so it is very significant."
However, despite five of the new incidents being reported to local police at the time, these details were not passed on to the current UK investigation.
Mr Redwood expressed “major concerns” that local Portuguese police could hold the key to the mystery of Maddie’s disappearance but have failed to inform their national counterparts, the Policia Judiciaria.
He said: “If there is a breakdown in communication between local cops and the Policia Judiciaria there could be forensic material sitting in exhibit stores somewhere that we and the PJ are unaware of.”

Just 7 questions? There are another 48 that need answering first.

1. Was the 'man carrying a child' really a red herring? "Almost certain" is reiterated.


-----------------------
Ey up. Has the reinstatement of Tannerman begun? Did Redwood indeed make a mistake in finding Crecheman and focusing on Smithman, as mentioned elsewhere on here? Penny must've dropped when thousands of CW viewers rang him to advise it was Gerry a-roaming.

Sure I read somewhere in the last few days that Tannerman had made a reappearance on a Met release, or somewhere suchlike.

Oh so the public are allowed to answer these questions! The mirror want answering.

Why don't you look in Kate's book, she mentions break ins, how did she know?
(But there was no forced entry)
So much crime being reported on portuguese news but never heard of this.
And funny those English families went back to UK and didn't tell anyone?

So first Monteiro was the one who broke in, did he too attack English girls, or was it the pot bellied guy who broke in?

We were told portuguese and British police WERE working closely. And weren't they flying out there constantly?
So  the portuguese didn't forward info to SY? But they've been on it since 2011 and they were working together.
Meaning SY didn't see it in Kate's book either.

EXACTLY WHEN WAS SHE TAKEN?
Window of opportunity? Maybe When Tanner went back to the table and told nobody she'd seen a man with a child, forgot to warn the others. Then let them search instead of pointing which direction he went!

Innocent father red herring?
Well he should be questioned why it took him so long to remember He TOO was carrying a child barefoot.

Dee Coy wrote:1. Was the 'man carrying a child' really a red herring? "Almost certain" is reiterated.  


-----------------------
Ey up. Has the reinstatement of Tannerman begun? Did Redwood indeed make a mistake in finding Crecheman and focusing on Smithman, as mentioned elsewhere on here? Penny must've dropped when thousands of CW viewers rang him to advise it was Gerry a-roaming.

Sure I read somewhere in the last few days that Tannerman had made a reappearance on a Met release, or somewhere suchlike.

It was in the sky news report.

http://news.sky.com/story/1247676/madeleine-police-probe-five-new-assault-cases





Then came that "revelation" moment.




"But it was meeeeeeee!!"

whatliesbehindthesofa wrote:http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/madeleine-mccann-anniversary-7-questions-3482752

May 01, 2014 13:50 By Steve Robson
A new investigation has sparked fresh hope the case will finally be solved

Tomorrow marks seven years since the disappearance of Madeleine McCann - the biggest missing person's case in history.
The three-year-old is believed to have been abducted while on holiday with her parents Kate and Gerry McCann in the Portuguese resort Praia Da Luz.
Despite huge coverage of the case around the world, Maddy has never been found.
In 2011, Scotland Yard launched a new inquiry at the request of the Government called Operation Grange.
Led by DCI Andy Redwood, the investigation has led to the emergence of several new clues and suspects.
But as the seventh anniversary arrives, we look at seven questions about the case that still need answers:

1. Was the 'man carrying a child' really a red herring?
On the night Maddy went missing, one of the McCann's holiday companions said she saw a man carrying a child near the Ocean Club apartment block at around 9.15pm.
Jane Tanner said the child was barefoot and wearing light-coloured pink pyjamas with a floral pattern and cuffs on the legs, a description that matched the pyjamas Maddy had been wearing.
But Scotland Yard said last year they believe the man Ms Tanner saw was another British holidaymaker carrying his child.
Officers took photos of the man wearing similar clothes and standing in a similar posed.
DCI Redwood said his officers were "almost certain" that this sighting was not related to the abduction.

2. Was there a second man carrying a child?
Irish couple Martin and Mary Smith also reported seeing a man carrying a child on the night of the disappearance.
They gave a description to police and said they did not think he was a tourist.
They added that the man was walking towards the beach and the child looked to be uncomfortable at being carried.
A team of private detectives hired by Madeleine's Fund created an e-fit which was eventually released by Scotland Yard when they took over the investigation.

Thanks whatliesbehindthesofa for this.  Looks like a far more balanced article on the McCanns than we are used to.  Highlighted to show why I think this.

Also hasn't Redwood discounted Tannerman? So how can he be "almost certain" he is not involved? Hmm

Gillyspot wrote:

whatliesbehindthesofa wrote:http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/madeleine-mccann-anniversary-7-questions-3482752

May 01, 2014 13:50 By Steve Robson
A new investigation has sparked fresh hope the case will finally be solved

Tomorrow marks seven years since the disappearance of Madeleine McCann - the biggest missing person's case in history.
The three-year-old is believed to have been abducted while on holiday with her parents Kate and Gerry McCann in the Portuguese resort Praia Da Luz.
Despite huge coverage of the case around the world, Maddy has never been found.
In 2011, Scotland Yard launched a new inquiry at the request of the Government called Operation Grange.
Led by DCI Andy Redwood, the investigation has led to the emergence of several new clues and suspects.
But as the seventh anniversary arrives, we look at seven questions about the case that still need answers:

1. Was the 'man carrying a child' really a red herring?
On the night Maddy went missing, one of the McCann's holiday companions said she saw a man carrying a child near the Ocean Club apartment block at around 9.15pm.
Jane Tanner said the child was barefoot and wearing light-coloured pink pyjamas with a floral pattern and cuffs on the legs, a description that matched the pyjamas Maddy had been wearing.
But Scotland Yard said last year they believe the man Ms Tanner saw was another British holidaymaker carrying his child.
Officers took photos of the man wearing similar clothes and standing in a similar posed.
DCI Redwood said his officers were "almost certain" that this sighting was not related to the abduction.

2. Was there a second man carrying a child?
Irish couple Martin and Mary Smith also reported seeing a man carrying a child on the night of the disappearance.
They gave a description to police and said they did not think he was a tourist.
They added that the man was walking towards the beach and the child looked to be uncomfortable at being carried.
A team of private detectives hired by Madeleine's Fund created an e-fit which was eventually released by Scotland Yard when they took over the investigation.

Thanks whatliesbehindthesofa for this.  Looks like a far more balanced article on the McCanns than we are used to.  Highlighted to show why I think this.

Also hasn't Redwood discounted Tannerman? So how can he be "almost certain" he is not involved? Hmm

Yes Gillyspot - I also noticed those words that you highlighted. A very subtle change in reporting - or at least I hope so. I especially liked the 'e-fit which was eventually released by Scotland Yard'. They didn't have to include that but chose to...