"Maddie cops to start digging at resort"

PeterMac wrote:

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That looks photoshopped to me Peter. His head isn't sitting right on his shoulders...and it looks like his top half is wearing a suit.

No certainly not.  That is just the way the shadows fall.

Stop it.....my sides are splitting! 

This seems very signicant. Odd though. One minute Redwood and co aren't allowed to even interview anyone. Nect minutes they're barging in with lasers and industrial diggers. But if a body was found, could they suggest it was left by binman/ whoever- or would there be evidence such as drugs to implicate McCanns?

juliet wrote:This seems very signicant. Odd though. One minute Redwood and co aren't allowed to even interview anyone. Nect minutes they're barging in with lasers and industrial diggers. But if a body was found, could they suggest it was left by binman/ whoever- or would there be evidence such as drugs to implicate McCanns?

I don't think an abductor would bury close to the site like this 
This seems more the actions of someone hiding a body who couldn't leave the location iyswim.
DOn't think the guardian would have such an article unless some truth in it
They have been preparing the public for this all week

Well if it's SY who do the digging and they dig up part of the beach l will be optimistic. K and G would never like to admit Madeleine may be dead in that apartment because if people start being educated as to how long it takes for cadaver odour to develop which puts them firmly in the frame, and whoever heard of a murderer taking the body away with them?

The fact that they've admitted Maddie may be dead in the last few days and pinky not commenting speaks volumes.

And l had resigned myself to SY doing a whitewash these last few weeks. Game on again.

The UK police did a dig for Ben Needham in Kos.

This was done out of holiday season.

Ben's mother Kerry returned to Kos and an emotional interview was given.

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It was UK police, UK equipment and UK sniffer dogs. Nothing was found.

I'm of the mind this latest in the search for what happened to Madeleine is 'bollux media' (thank you Pat Brown for the 'company name') fed by bollux people who have something to hide or something to gain financially.

margaret wrote:Well if it's SY who do the digging and they dig up part of the beach l will be optimistic.  K and G would never like to admit Madeleine may be dead in that apartment because if people start being educated as to how long it takes for cadaver odour to develop which puts them firmly in the frame, and whoever heard of a murderer taking the body away with them?

The fact that they've admitted Maddie may be dead in the last few days and pinky not commenting speaks volumes.

And l had resigned myself to SY doing a whitewash these last few weeks. Game on again.

 Yes but the Guardian article states that the story came from the Mirror (so I am still sceptical) but it does carry more credibility.

I do agree that if there is truth in this story it is probably a game changer. As suggested already, specific locations will be intelligence or informer led.

Totally agree that the tone in the MSM and TM is quite different in the last week. I had gone from optimism to white wash, but I am hesitantly positive again.

Fingers crossed.

(IMO !)

A little ray of hope for justice.....perhaps?

I'm with others on here that this could be a piece placed in 'The Mirror' in panic response. At first reading one might think it is SY, but the devil is in the detail - and 'launching' an extensive dig - is a bit different possibly from actually Leading or Carrying out the extensive dig. No way could they get permission. No wonder Clarrie had no comment on this one. Therefore, could it be that the PJ are about to carry out this dig and the Mccanns, having been informed of this, are powerless to stop them. And as we have so far gleaned - the PJ & SY are not exactly besties at the moment, could it be then that SY are powerless too and are trying to show, the public here, that they are the ones initiating the dig. It  might explain the flurry of ridiculous stories and the rather haphazard Rothley commemoration - where I agree Kate's appearance - jeans??? was a rather strange choice for what was to be a very serious and emotional day. I'm not usually too hopeful lately....but this story, and the timing of it - I think actually does pose a lot more questions than whether it is just to sell more papers. Is that they have to report this story first before it becomes public knowledge. For sure it will hit twitterland like a bomb and then will be out there for all to see. Perhaps the MC's and their entourage are resigning themselves to whatever may come out of the PJ's next move. 

On another positive note - looking forward to Goncalo's justice!

Surely it's the PJ that will be doing the digging, not SY. But what's important,  if it's true, is that SY are keen to attach themselves to it. Not only does it show their belief that Maddie is dead, but it completely rules out an abductor. No abductor would take a body away (that had already been present for at least an hour and a half), and then bring it back to the resort to bury it.  It puts the t9 firmly in the frame. I can't believe they'd expect people to believe in a patsy so crazy he came back to the resort to bury the body. Is it a possibility that the body was stored in the scenic rather than transported somewhere?  To my mind Gerry's smirking and duping delight shows one of two things - either the body is in a hiding place so good it will never be found (bottom of the sea), or in a place so blindingly obvious he can laugh at people.

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The Guardian article states the Met is travelling to Portugal to "oversee" the digs. Quite different from the Mirror's assertion that they will launch and conduct the digs themselves.

If there is any truth in this, I believe it is the PJ who are digging or who have already dug and as usual it is the 'out of the loop' British 'end' of the investigation that are desperately running to catch up and clutch on to the PJ's coat tails as they whisk out of sight turning another corner not on the Met map.

But why? Gerry's confident "find the body and prove we killed her" tells me it can't be found. Gerry knows complete disposal has taken place with recovery not an option. So, cremation or disposal somewhere where recovery is impossible. (Personally I believe burial in vast marsh or bogland it the most simple and conclusive option.)

So, are they looking not for a body but for traces of where a body might have been?

nglfi wrote:Surely it's the PJ that will be doing the digging, not SY. But what's important,  if it's true, is that SY are keen to attach themselves to it. Not only does it show their belief that Maddie is dead, but it completely rules out an abductor. No abductor would take a body away (that had already been present for at least an hour and a half), and then bring it back to the resort to bury it.  It puts the t9 firmly in the frame. I can't believe they'd expect people to believe in a patsy so crazy he came back to the resort to bury the body. Is it a possibility that the body was stored in the scenic rather than transported somewhere?  To my mind Gerry's smirking and duping delight shows one of two things - either the body is in a hiding place so good it will never be found (bottom of the sea), or in a place so blindingly obvious he can laugh at people.

Your train of thoughts mirror mine. The other option is the blindingly obvious one - in the graveyard or church vaults with the rest of the dead, perhaps sharing a grave with another body. A masterstroke, because not only is this the one place the cadaver dogs are useless, short of exhuming the whole site, how will they pinpoint a corpse that has benn placed in another's grave? In a Catholic community already sick to the back teeth of the whole affair? Could it happen?

Dee Coy wrote:

nglfi wrote:Surely it's the PJ that will be doing the digging, not SY. But what's important,  if it's true, is that SY are keen to attach themselves to it. Not only does it show their belief that Maddie is dead, but it completely rules out an abductor. No abductor would take a body away (that had already been present for at least an hour and a half), and then bring it back to the resort to bury it.  It puts the t9 firmly in the frame. I can't believe they'd expect people to believe in a patsy so crazy he came back to the resort to bury the body. Is it a possibility that the body was stored in the scenic rather than transported somewhere?  To my mind Gerry's smirking and duping delight shows one of two things - either the body is in a hiding place so good it will never be found (bottom of the sea), or in a place so blindingly obvious he can laugh at people.

Your train of thoughts mirror mine. The other option is the blindingly obvious one - in the graveyard or church vaults with the rest of the dead, perhaps sharing a grave with another body. A masterstroke, because not only is this the one place the cadaver dogs are useless, short of exhuming the whole site, how will they pinpoint a corpse that has benn placed in another's grave? In a Catholic community already sick to the back teeth of the whole affair? Could it happen?

This has often gone through my mind, too. Where did the PJ dogs lose the scent of Madeleine, when they were used early on? Was it somewhere near the supermarket or the church?

If the body IS buried in the church, it won't be difficult to check. The grave would either have had to be a recent grave where the earth is still rather loose, or a newly dug grave. There can't be that many people buried over a short period of time ( sometime between January and the time the dogs discovered the scent of death in the hired car). My guess would be 3 to 4 at the most.

The above is pure speculation on my part, of course, but it's far more common that some of us care to admit. My mind goes back to the murder of that young girl, in December? 2013, where she was last seen at Didcot train station. If someone hadn't spotted someone dragging a trolley bag near a cemetery, I doubt if the young girl's body would ever have been found, as the murderer and his accomplice had buried her body in a freshly dug grave.

Haha yes it seems we posted at exactly the same time! I've also thought about the graveyard option,  and you're right it renders the dogs useless. Could the PJ really go round exhuming every grave to find her? It'd be an outrage but a necessary one, they'd have to be absolutely sure about it. The thing that confuses me is that the scenic was hired 3 weeks after the event, so where was the body in the meantime? Perhaps it's this temporary storage place they're looking for?

English search for Maddie's body in the Algarve
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5 May 2014 | Posted by [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]

Intention of Scotland Yard was reported on Sunday night by the English press.

The English police want to dig in Praia da Luz, in the Lagos area, to search for the body of Madeleine McCann, the British toddler who disappeared seven years ago.

The intention of Scotland Yard which was reported last night in the English press, will only be possible with the permission of the Portuguese authorities.

The British plan to use ground-radar equipment and send to Portugal a team of investigators specialized in the search of cadavers.

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nglfi wrote:Haha yes it seems we posted at exactly the same time! I've also thought about the graveyard option,  and you're right it renders the dogs useless. Could the PJ really go round exhuming every grave to find her? It'd be an outrage but a necessary one, they'd have to be absolutely sure about it. The thing that confuses me is that the scenic was hired 3 weeks after the event, so where was the body in the meantime? Perhaps it's this temporary storage place they're looking for?

I 've thought of the graveyard too but some time ago I read an article about a cadaver dog that did find remains, or the scent of remains, in a graveyard. IIRC cadaver dogs can differentiate between bodies that are embalmed and those that are not. The dog was correct in that case and it's findings were central to the subsequent murder trial. It's a long time since I read the story and can't remember all the details but will try and find it and post if I can.

Radar equipment can pick up soil anomalies in graves, as per the Moira Anderson case (though her body wasn`t there).

But I think the cemetery in PdL has raised tombs - well that`s looking at it from google maps.  There is a lady who is a member here that lives in PdL - hope she comes on here because she can confirm.

nglfi wrote:Haha yes it seems we posted at exactly the same time! I've also thought about the graveyard option,  and you're right it renders the dogs useless. Could the PJ really go round exhuming every grave to find her? It'd be an outrage but a necessary one, they'd have to be absolutely sure about it. The thing that confuses me is that the scenic was hired 3 weeks after the event, so where was the body in the meantime? Perhaps it's this temporary storage place they're looking for?

A permanent resting place in the chuch/graveyard would overlook the Scenic evidence unless the scent in the car was transposed from items that came from a body, e.g., clothes or the blue bag, perhaps. However, the smell was bad in the car, wasn't it, necessitating the permanence of the open boot, so my thoughts are that the body itself must have been present there at some point.

The other option is that the body was transported from elsewhere (freezer storage?) back to PDL - the McCanns concluding after weeks of searching for the perfect place that that place was, after all, the church or graveyard. I'm guessing Father Pacheco had gone by then and Father Hubbard was in situ.

The church could alternatively indeed have been (and is likely to have been) the temporary resting place while the final destination was found. If this is the case Gerry's smug "find the body and prove we killed her" still leads me to conclude the bogs as being one of the few options, although yes, weighted at the bottom of the sea would be another.

All awful speculation and opinion, as ever.

jeanmonroe wrote:I reckon that David Payne has now TOLD the Met team just WHAT the 'few things' he KNOWS and that he 'considers' are 'relevent and pertinent to establish the material truth' about a 3 years old child's 'disappearance'

Remember this?

"Gerry went out again at 4:00AM, 4th May 2007, with his friend David Payne"

DP ROG: David Payne says he did NOT partake in 'any searches' on 4th May 2007.

(oh yeah? what about the one with his mate Gerry at 4:00AM, just the two of them)

I think i remember a bit of 'over egging' about this 'search'

In Kate's bewk i think. Something like 'I asked Gerry to go out again'

Gerry McCann asked an GNR officer if the officer knew where a church was.

The devout catholics, the McCanns have been in PDL for SIX days and Gerry's trying to make out he dosen't know where the sea front, or any other, church is.

Date: 2007/05/16 Hours: 15h25m

Rui Segio Lopes Silva

Occupation: GNR Officer

He only had direct contact with the couple and their friends at about 04.00 when Gerry McCann approached the GNR group of which he was a member to ask whether there was a church close by. He replied to him in English, giving the directions to a nearby church.
----------------------------------------------------------------------

Surprise surprise!

"Kate and Gerry will not be going to Portugal but will be kept updated throughout"

BECAUSE, NOW THE PJ INVESTIGATION IS 'LIVE' THEY CAN BOTH BE ARGUIDOED THE INSTANT THEY SET FOOT ON PORTUGUESE SOIL!.

AND BE 'RE-QUESTIONED'

SOMETHING THE PJ WANTED TO DO, BEFORE THE MCCANNS 'DID A RUNNER'

F) From what was obtained until now, everything points out that the McCann, as self-defence, didn't want to deliver immediately and voluntarily the cadaver, existing a strong possibility that the same was transported from the initial place of deposition. This situation is susceptible to raise questions about the circumstances under which the death of the minor occurred.

So we suggest that the 'Autos' be sent to the EX.mo Sr. Procurador Geral da R'ublica [General Attorney], in order to:

G) NEW INTERROGATION OF THE AGUIDOS KATE AND GERRY MCCANN:

CONCLUSION
On the tenth of September, two thousand and seven

Chief Inspector

Tavares de Almeida

Thinking out loud.

What's the chances of the the result of the libel trial coming in the middle of all this (If there's any truth in it)?

Then you'll have the situation of the Portuguese saying 'Are you coming over or not? What are you scared of if you're innocent'

This morning on Newstalk Radio Pat Kenny, a leading current affairs broadcaster here in Ireland, interviewed Russell Myers from the Daily Mirror, about the proposal to start digging for Madeleine.

You can listen to this by googling Newstalk - Pat Kenny Show - Listen Back to today's show - Part I - it starts at 36 min.

I would be interested to hear what members think about this interview.

Thanks for this Enid. Will have a listen later. 

Just got this notification on FB: 

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What a horribly named page

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NOTICE : This morning at 10am, Stephen D. Birch received a registered letter containing papers from Portugals Ministerio da Justica in which both the state and Robert James Queriol Eveleigh Murat and Jenifer Na Murat are suing Stephen for tresspassing and the state is suing Stephen for unlawfully conducting an investigation under article 57 & 58 section 2,3 and 4 of the penal act... (In July 2012, Stephen entered Robert Murats property and discovered what he believes to be Madeleine McCann remains buried beneath Roberts Murats rear gravel driveway)

maebee wrote:Thanks for this Enid. Will have a listen later. 

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What a horribly named page

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NOTICE : This morning at 10am, Stephen D. Birch received a registered letter containing papers from Portugals Ministerio da Justica in which both the state and Robert James Queriol Eveleigh Murat and Jenifer Na Murat are suing Stephen for tresspassing and the state is suing Stephen for unlawfully conducting an investigation under article 57 & 58 section 2,3 and 4 of the penal act... (In July 2012, Stephen entered Robert Murats property and discovered what he believes to be Madeleine McCann remains buried beneath Roberts Murats rear gravel driveway)

Just listening Thank you

noddy100 wrote:

maebee wrote:Thanks for this Enid. Will have a listen later. 

Just got this notification on FB: 

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What a horribly named page

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NOTICE : This morning at 10am, Stephen D. Birch received a registered letter containing papers from Portugals Ministerio da Justica in which both the state and Robert James Queriol Eveleigh Murat and Jenifer Na Murat are suing Stephen for tresspassing and the state is suing Stephen for unlawfully conducting an investigation under article 57 & 58 section 2,3 and 4 of the penal act... (In July 2012, Stephen entered Robert Murats property and discovered what he believes to be Madeleine McCann remains buried beneath Roberts Murats rear gravel driveway)

Just listening Thank you

Seems to be saying going over old Portuguese facts 3 potential sites grasslands and beach and road
Using radar and magnetic imaging
Prime suspect Euclides more portuguese suspect than SY who think he is a burglar
Will start within 2 weeks
 Basically implying all sites should have been dug at the time and McCanns dismayed at this

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Bollux Media has just learned that DCI Andy Redwood is heading to Praia da Luz to dig up the town and countryside in an effort to find Madeleine who he recently admitted might be dead.

BM: Mr. Redwood, are you now convinced Maddie is no longer alive? That she isn't living happily with a family somewhere, gypsy or otherwise?

AR: ::snorts::Well, come on, we might be daft here at Scotland Yard but we never really believed the child was living the good life somewhere out there.

BM: And you no longer think she could be held in a sex ring?

AR: Well, I guess that could be a theory but we have to wrap this case up....it's been three years already and we have come up with squat...we gotta solve it somehow.

BM: That makes sense. So are you now following the evidence trail? The fact that the cadaver dogs hit in the apartment and in the McCanns hire car and that Madeleine must have died on May 3rd and been taken off and buried?

AR: Hell, no! Good Lord, what an insane idea! For three years we have ignored all the physical and behavioral evidence; we aren't going to start focusing on that now.

BM: Then why are you going to dig up Praia da Luz?


AR: Well, if we want to close this case in the near future, that child needs to be dead and buried. We would have to use the theory of a local pedophile and such a person wouldn't keep a child alive more than a few hours, so that would make Madeleine dead and buried nearby the fellow's house. So, we will focus on the area.

BM. Criminal Profiler Pat Brown has a theory that the cadaver dog evidence is valid and that would mean Maddie's body was moved from Praia da Luz to some other location by Gerry McCann. She believes Maddie might well be buried in an desolate area called Monte do Jose Mestre, the area just west of Praia da Luz where Gerry's phone pinged a number of times. In fact, she went to Portugal herself to analyze the case in person and she located this area right off the main road which is isolated enough to be able to bury a body without anyone noticing. She wrote a detailed description of her findings [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.].

AR: I don't care what that woman thinks: she's a nutter. We have no intention of reviewing the evidence like she did. We will not be visiting that location. We will just wander around Praia da Luz beaches and road shoulders with our radar machines.

BM: So, you aren't actually going to dig?

AR: Well, Gerry gave us his shovel, but I have heard the residents of Praia da Luz and those pesky local government officials aren't keen on us making a lot of holes in the area, so we may not have a chance to put it to use. We will just go through the motions of looking and then declare Maddie was probably dumped in the ocean.

BM: Okay, well, thanks, Mr. Redwood, for the update. I know you have said that Scotland Yard isn't going to give a running commentary on an open investigation or review or whatever it is, but we appreciate you giving us this interview and I am sure all the other British media outlets appreciate your openness in this matter as well.

AR: Most welcome.

This responsible and accurate report was brought to you by Bollux Media and

Criminal Profiler Pat Brown

May 5, 2014

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You HAVE to listen to this!

Part 1.

36:20 mins onwards (about 7 mins).

PK talking to Mirror journo in PDL.

It was the dead black tractor driver that 'done' it!

So much for the MET's 'team' pot bellied, stinky fella, 'suspect'

And ALL the 'arrests' they were/are about to make!

PK "when will the British investigating team start their digging?"

Journo: "i think we're looking at the next two weeks (from today 5th May 2014).....................best case scenario we're looking at two weeks for Met Police officers to be on the ground and start their excavation"

eta: I've 'recorded' it on my dictaphone thingy, can some techie manage to 'record' and post?

Thanks, in advance, if it's possible.

For me, it all belongs to whitewash!
McCanns have already announced that the Portuguese work too little with the British. Each message about the "digging" has a different meaning. In German-language newspapers all the info from the last two weeks are mixed. There are no Source citations. After two weeks, they will say, the Portuguese have hampered the resolution of the case.

Just listened to the Pat Kenny slot at
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Interviewing Russell Myers of the Daily Mirror.  Russell Myers a pro McCann obviously - casting accusations against the PJ and not seeming to believe Euclides Monteiro`s widow.  Said digging will commence in the next fortnight in 2 areas very close to apartment 5A, the beach, 2 areas of grassland and also said there was a road re-laid in 2007 that would be examined using latest ground radar technology.  Most definitely a follower of the McCann abduction story - though I wouldn`t say Pat Kenny was.

I have to say that I'm a little excited by this news. IMO SY would not go to PDL and randomly start digging up areas around the OC, especially at the start of the holiday season, just  for the hell of it, they could have done it much earlier.
I wonder if the Crimewatch appeal really did bring forward some new leads. There must have been outside help or perhaps someone in the McCann's inner circle has given new info. I thought Kate looked a bit rattled when she was interviewed by Fiona Bruce.

Smithman  was heading to the beach wasn't he!

Hicks wrote:I have to say that I'm a little excited by this news. IMO SY would not go to PDL and randomly start digging up areas around the OC, especially at the start of the holiday season, just  for the hell of it, they could have done it much earlier.
I wonder if the Crimewatch appeal really did bring forward some new leads. There must have been outside help or perhaps someone in the McCann's inner circle has given new info. I thought Kate looked a bit rattled when she was interviewed by Fiona Bruce.

Smithman  was heading to the beach wasn't he!

Yes, I think it is a major development too.  Digging is digging and there really isn't way it can be spun.  They can hardly say they are looking for a lost earring or a contact lens. As someone said earlier, the areas they are going to dig must have been specifically pointed out to them by someone, and it must be someone credible as obtaining permission to commence major landworks in a foreign country would not be easy to come by.

This is being reported as SY wanting to commence digging, but this doesn't make much sense to me.  Isn't it far more likely that the PJ would start digging? It could be that SY (the UK) are financing the dig and its being reported as their operation?  As Gerry pointed out the other day, from a cost perspective, the PJ would be better off working with SY.

Cristobell wrote:

Hicks wrote:I have to say that I'm a little excited by this news. IMO SY would not go to PDL and randomly start digging up areas around the OC, especially at the start of the holiday season, just  for the hell of it, they could have done it much earlier.
I wonder if the Crimewatch appeal really did bring forward some new leads. There must have been outside help or perhaps someone in the McCann's inner circle has given new info. I thought Kate looked a bit rattled when she was interviewed by Fiona Bruce.

Smithman  was heading to the beach wasn't he!

Yes, I think it is a major development too.  Digging is digging and there really isn't way it can be spun.  They can hardly say they are looking for a lost earring or a contact lens. As someone said earlier, the areas they are going to dig must have been specifically pointed out to them by someone, and it must be someone credible as obtaining permission to commence major landworks in a foreign country would not be easy to come by.

This is being reported as SY wanting to commence digging, but this doesn't make much sense to me.  Isn't it far more likely that the PJ would start digging? It could be that SY (the UK) are financing the dig and its being reported as their operation?  As Gerry pointed out the other day, from a cost perspective, the PJ would be better off working with SY.

Could they spin this and pin it on Tractorman?
I think they will although that doesn't explain why tractorman is PJ prime suspect but not SY's?

jeanmonroe wrote:

eta: I've 'recorded' it on my dictaphone thingy, can some techie manage to 'record' and post?

Thanks, in advance, if it's possible.

Thanks Enid for finding this, very interesting.

A quick transcript:


PAT KENNY: It is 7 years since 3 year old Madeleine McCann disappeared in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz. If she is alive she is a very different looking 10 year old but it looks as though the British investigating Police do not believe in such a likelihood because it is reported in today’s Mirror that they will be launching extensive digs around the resort in the hopes of recovering her body. The Mirror’s Russell Myers joins me now from Praia da Luz. Russell, good morning.

RUSSELL MYERS: Good morning Pat.

PAT KENNY: Now, The English police, the British police are they acting on any specific information?

RUSSELL MYERS: Well it seems that the investigation carried out by the Met police, Operation Grange which is going over a lot of the evidence that the Portuguese police had been examining since 2007. This isn’t actually new evidence that has been uncovered with the new investigation but it’s certainly a new revisiting of the old facts in case files from the Portuguese police.

PAT KENNY: Now, at the time there were searches I suppose in the believe that Madeleine may be still alive or if she had been killed that an opportunistic killer would dispose of her body somewhere adjacent to the scene of the abduction. Why were those searches not as thorough and as extensive as it would appear were needed at the time?

RUSSELL MYERS: I think this is been a problem with the Portuguese investigation in terms of how the British have seen how the Portuguese investigation was carried out in the first instance and I think to entirely satisfy themselves they want to go over old ground and to look at these excavation sites or potential sites that were earmarked in the first instance but potentially not carried out, so by British Police applying to Portuguese police to come out here and start excavating certain sites in and around Praia da Luz and the beach and the area where Madeleine went missing I think that they will try and find their own answers to questions that should have, you know, been answered a long time ago.

PAT KENNY: Now how much waste ground, how much potential is there for digging in places that people would not be normally visiting for example in Portugal a lot of the time fields are covered in orange tree plants and they would be tended regularly by the farmers, so what sort of areas are there to be explored?

RUSSELL MYERS: I think specifically they’re looking at 3 areas and this is what we are hearing in today’s story, looking 3 areas which are planned for major excavation. Now these were 2 areas very close to the apartment at the Ocean Club where Madeleine and her parents had been staying in 2007. There’s also an area of beach that has been actually reworked since 2004. Also there is two main areas of grassland very nearby and a road that has been relayed in 2007 very very soon after Madeleine went missing. So these are the areas that they want to revisit and essentially the British police think that Portuguese Police authorities hadn’t paid enough attention to these areas and that is why they want to go back to them.

PAT KENNY: Now, it is 7 years since she disappeared, technology moves on. Is there any specific equipment that is new that will aid them in their investigations?

RUSSELL MYERS: Certainly, I think that, you know that Metropolitan Police will employ a world renowned forensic expert with this investigation. I think they will be using radar equipment. We heard that there is a certain magnetic imaging device that they will use within these excavation techniques that will allow them to ............... map the area and search for human bones if they are indeed buried underground.

PAT KENNY: Now, what about the McCann family, Gerry and Kate McCann, are they dismayed by this, because this would be, if you like, an indication that the Met believe that Madeleine is definitely dead or do they continue to hope?

RUSSELL MYERS: Well, indeed, I mean Kate and Gerry have never given up hope that Madeleine is still alive. They’ve had a tireless campaign now for 7 years, where they were seen at the weekend at their local church in Leicestershire and you know, privately they are saying that although they would always prepare themselves for the worst in these events they still haven’t given up hope of finding Madeleine alive.

PAT KENNY: Now, there is a suspect who’s been named and he was a suspect in a number of attacks on people in the area from about 2004 on.

RUSSELL MYERS: Yes, this is a local guy called Euclides Monteiro and he was a former worker at the Ocean Club apartments where the McCanns had been staying. Now Euclides was actually killed in a tractor accident in 2009 but over the weekend it’s emerged that he was actually interviewed in 2008, a year before his death, relating to a spate of sex attacks on young British girls connected with a string of burglaries in the area. Portuguese police have always said, you know, recently that he is the main suspect, not only in the string of 18 sex attacks and burglaries across the Algarve but indeed that they believe that he is one of the main suspects in the Madeleine McCann investigation. From what we’re hearing I don’t think the Met Police really are going along with that line of enquiry. It seems that he may be a suspect connected to certain string of burglaries in the area but it still has yet to be seen whether he is actually the main suspect in Madeleine....

PAT KENNY: His widow has been spoken to by various journalists and her contention is that he was questioned yes, but there was never any DNA evidence to link him with any of these crimes, so in death I suppose you could say which you like you cannot libel the dead but the finger has been pointed at him, probably wrongly according to her.

RUSSELL MYERS: Well, essentially we will never know whether he was a, no one’s had a confession and it’s really his widow’s word against the police and until the police actually come out publicly and state that he is the main suspect in their investigation I think a lot is left to hearsay and of course his widow defends his name when he’s not here.

PAT KENNY: When will the British investigating team start their digging?

RUSSELL MYERS: Well I should think we’re looking at the next 2 weeks. Obviously, it’s a lengthy process in Portugal. The Met Police had to put in several letters asking to actually come over here. The problem with the Portuguese investigation is that they really wanted to be allowed to get on with their own ........ but obviously the McCanns have been very frustrated about the lack of movement within the investigation so I think best case scenario we’re looking at 2 weeks  for Met Police officers to be on the ground and start their excavation.

PAT KENNY: And the final question really relates to the Portuguese authorities in this regard. I mean they have the go ahead now to do it, but we’re coming into high season, holiday season, it’s probably the last thing that the Portuguese tourism authorities really want is British police scratching around looking for the body of a dead tourist child.

RUSSELL MYERS: Undoubtedly I think you’ll bring some unwanted attention back to the resort, it’s a  very picturesque, pretty resort at high season and I think the British police wanted to avoid that and that’s why several months ago they’ve been asking to carry out these digs and because the Portuguese authorities have really dragged their heels over it that they’re probably the ones to blame as to how long it’s actually taken.

PAT KENNY: Alright, well, Russell Myers of the Daily Mirror, thank you very much for joining us from Praia da Luz.

Woofer wrote:Just listened to the Pat Kenny slot at
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Interviewing Russell Myers of the Daily Mirror.  Russell Myers a pro McCann obviously - casting accusations against the PJ and not seeming to believe Euclides Monteiro`s widow.  Said digging will commence in the next fortnight in 2 areas very close to apartment 5A, the beach, 2 areas of grassland and also said there was a road re-laid in 2007 that would be examined using latest ground radar technology.  Most definitely a follower of the McCann abduction story - though I wouldn`t say Pat Kenny was.

I had to calm down after listening to this.

I was disappointed that Pat Kenny a very experienced journalist/presenter used the word 'abduction' rather than disappearance. He let Mr Myers get away with unsubstantiated comments about the lack of thoroughness of the Portuguese police from the start and then did not challenge him when he said the Portuguese police had been dragging their heels re permission to dig and now the main tourist season approached.

Anyone who would like to enlighten Mr Myers about the case can contact him at [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]