"Maddie cops to start digging at resort"

Enter Daniel Krugel - or should it be, re-enter Daniel Krugel. As if this whole business were not Kafka-esque enough for you, Dan the man has just appeared on Sky News, complete with Heath Robinson contraption and a hairbrush full of Madeleine's hair. Where oh where did they get so much hair when one was urgently sought from a Rothley pillow case?

La-la land doesn't cover this. As I was reeling from the grotesque deja-vu, Krugel was being a tease. He showed us a hair. He showed us a machine. He looked deadly earnest into the camera and said, 'Nah, I'm not telling you how this works.'

Bottom line is, it didn't work; but it would be terrible to burst his bubble. Funny to think of old Kate commissioning a body-finder so early on

Anyway, back to Sky. The shot changed to a large piece of scrubland. Enter 3 Portuguese police on horseback ambling through long grass like manana was a distant engagement eons off in the future. A little subliminal reminder that motor cars may not have reached this lawless hinterland as we speak.

Voice-over helpfully fills the incredulity gap, explaining that this Krugel enterprise had not been of interest to the MET previously, but now they are 're-visiting' it.

Have the MET lost their collective marbles on the world stage? Embarrassing isn't it?

I think the PJ have the right approach; sending the little boys down to play on the beach with their buckets and spades to calm febrile imaginations.

Incredible that Madeleine had her own hairbrush on holiday with her and yet shared a toothbrush with her siblings.
But where was the brush when the PJ needed DNA?

canada12 wrote:Interesting that the catamaran incident was supposed to have happened on the Thursday afternoon.
Perhaps it was a reconnaissance trip? To drop something (not Madeleine's body) into the water and see where the currents might take it? And Gerry and Kate's jogging trips thereafter, to the top of the cliff where they could see the entire beach area, were to see if what was dropped overboard ever washed up on the beaches and if so, where and when?
So that they might be able to judge what might happen if, eventually (not right away) they finally disposed of Madeleine's body in the water, months later.
Just a thought. In my opinion only.

Interesting line of thinking indeed Canada.

Maybe the 'Catamaran' subject needs a thread on it's own.

Do we know if GA at the time looked into any this? 

Who did the Catamaran belong to. Who paid to hire it. When was it took out and returned etc. Exact dates, times etc. Any eye witnesses apart from David Payne...

Are there any basic answers on this does anyone know...

Andrew77R wrote:

canada12 wrote:Interesting that the catamaran incident was supposed to have happened on the Thursday afternoon.
Perhaps it was a reconnaissance trip? To drop something (not Madeleine's body) into the water and see where the currents might take it? And Gerry and Kate's jogging trips thereafter, to the top of the cliff where they could see the entire beach area, were to see if what was dropped overboard ever washed up on the beaches and if so, where and when?
So that they might be able to judge what might happen if, eventually (not right away) they finally disposed of Madeleine's body in the water, months later.
Just a thought. In my opinion only.

Interesting line of thinking indeed Canada.

Maybe the 'Catamaran' subject needs a thread on it's own.

Do we know if GA at the time looked into any this? 

Who did the Catamaran belong to. Who paid to hire it. When was it took out and returned etc. Exact dates, times etc. Any eye witnesses apart from David Payne...

Are there any basic answers on this does anyone know...

Funny how parts of 'stories' overlap. Wasn't it Charlotte Pennington who reported seeing a man, in the dark, after Maddie had been abducted, putting a black package onto a boat at the beach, kicking it, before setting off..... anyone remember this.

Will David Copperfield be joining SY out there tomorrow?

Slightly different topic I have just been snapping SOCO at a local graveyard in my home town , where they are apparently looking for a local girl who disappeared  several years ago called Paige Chivers . the pics will be all over the nationals tomorrow .

For the record, I'm of the opinion this is all smoke and mirrors. I think the PJ have specific information and are looking elsewhere, not where the rogatories are suggesting. Remember the second Gulf War, when they managed the press by showing them oil slicks and other "noteworthy news stories", while elsewhere, the real war stuff was going on, out of media view.

In order for the PJ (and SY for that matter) to bring in better sniffer dogs than Eddie or Keela, or to have diggers or anything else, they need to have a reason, and those 3 or 4 or 5 plots of searchable land will do nicely. The sniffer dogs can go through the process, the ground radar can be deployed, the media can be handled. Meanwhile, elsewhere, a real search is going on, unobserved by prying eyes.

Kate and Gerry are not there. They cannot therefore monitor what is going on - they're reliant on the media and what SY tells them. If they have anyone on the ground in PDL who is spying for them, IMO these people are known to PJ and are being monitored and handled.

One other thing has occurred to me, and that's how ridiculous the tabloid stories sound - especially the ones who promised all kinds of high profile digging and things which would be greatly emotional to Kate and Gerry. In reality, there is nothing. And by getting Martin Brunt and other mainstream media on the ground in PDL and reporting this, they've shown the tabloids up to be full of garbage. And the recent warning from the Met is interesting. I wonder if anyone's watching to see who tries to disrupt the search by giving the tabloids more "sensational" stories.

bobbin wrote:

Newintown wrote:

Ayniia wrote:

Snifferdog wrote:
Could it be possible that the car alert was caused by contamination of items used in the mopping up operation? We know that apartment 5a was scrupulously cleaned. Perhaps these items used to clean up leaked their contents in the car, and were not actually fluids directly from Maddie's body. Imo and just purporting a theory.

I don't think that's possible, 5A was cleaned way before the car being rented and there was hairs /traces of body fluids in the booth of the car plus the odor . GA seems to have no doubts that the body was in that booth.

You seem to be questioning the work of the forensic team.  I'm sure forensic experts would be well able to tell the difference between a frozen cadaver and cleaning fluids.  There were signs that the body had been frozen and was thawing out, hence the ice falling out from the corner of the car onto the kerb (as mentioned in GA's papers).

I think we need to see the Portuguese 'original' here. I feel that the 'Kerb' is an incorrect translation and that the 'curba ?' mentioned is referring to going 'round a bend' (French la courbe) and something fell into that part of the boot, inside.

A kerb in Portuguese is more like 'footpath', so if someone can help with the original Portuguese, we can be sure if the forensic contamination was from something falling over in the boot and leaking, 'going round a bend', rather than becoming something which fell outside of the car. I can't see anywhere, where a kerb was inspected by the dogs.

Ayniia, can you help with this. Thanks.

ETA just adding a post from earlier on today, where the question of a 'kerb' might have arisen.

sar Today at 2:32 am
only just read GA's reference to the car, think he cites the rear right hand side as possible source for "material" leakage?  Didn't someone here recently notice GM's reluctance to place something in the boot / trunk of the car on a certain side in the "wearing gloves / not wearing gloves" video?   Furthermore, if some material did fall from the car onto the ground (could just be reading this wrongly) where is it, where was it analysed?  Did the word "curb" mean kerb as we understand it in English usage?  If so where was the kerb?

After asking my friend Google I found just two articles mentioning the booth fluids.
"CADÁVER FOI CONGELADO'

Correio da Manhã – O que é que na sua opinião aconteceu ao corpo?
Gonçalo Amaral – Tudo indiciava que o corpo, depois de estar num determinado local, foi movimentado de carro para outro, vinte e tal dias depois. Com os vestígios encontrados no carro, a menina teria de ter sido ali transportada.
CM – Como é que pode afirmar isso?
GA – Por aquele tipo de fluído, dizemos nós polícias, peritos, que conservado bagageira, com o calor que fazia na altura, parte do gelo derreteu. Numa curva, por exemplo, caiu alguma coisa do lado direito da mala, por cima da roda. Podem dizer que é especulação, mas é a única forma de explicar o que ali aconteceu."

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Translation
'Body was frozen '
CM -In your opinion what happened to the body?
GA - Everything pointed to the fact that the body, after being stored in one location, was moved by car, twenty some days later. From the evidence found in the car, she has to have been transported there.

CM -How can you be so sure of that?
GA- For that kind of fluid, we police and experts say that the corpse was frozen or preserved by cold and be placed in the trunk, with the heat some of the ice melted. In a curve, for example,something dropped over the right side wheel.
Can say is speculation, but it is the only way to explain what happened there. "

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" por debaixo do forro da bagageira fluidos biológicos"

Translation:
"under the booth fabric, biological fluids "(were found )

Sorry for the long quotes and for the OT but I wanted to reply to Bobbin request and I tried searching for an appropriate topic about the fluids but couldn't find one better. So feel free to move if necessary.
The only references I found about the fluids in the booth were the two above. In the first GA is explaining that, as I understand, something fell /dropped from the booth in a curve. As I understand it, a road curve /kerb as Bobbin said. That is very interesting because I've never read it before. I have no idea what basis GA used to reach that conclusion. Also it's unclear if by "something fell " he's talking about an object or a fluid leak. Maybe some other Portuguese members can help understanding better if I'm reading it wrong?
The other quote is about where the fluids were found because when the kerb was mentioned I was thinking it was referring to the inside of the booth place where the fluids were, but then I found the other quote and I understood they were two different things.

Tony Bennett wrote:

HelenMeg wrote:Everyone seems divided again as to whether this 'digging' expedition is part of a whitewash or based on pursuit of truth. I am well and truly on the fence. Seems such a farce yet there is something about AR's face...

Trying very hard - but not succeeding - to disguise his obvious insincerity?

Well, I look at Amaral's face I see honesty, sincerity, compassion.  It's in the eyes.

I look at Redwoods face and I see nothing.....a blank stare.  It's in the eyes.

Analysis of sites where Maddie might still be buried without a set date.

Searches to the homes of former Ocean Club employees in Praia da Luz were some of the steps requested by British police and rejected by the Portuguese authorities as unfounded.

by Marisa Rodrigues

The judge to whom the requests contained in the letters rogatory were sent did not consider valid the arguments used by Scotland Yard. The [English] detectives wanted the Judiciary Police (PJ) to do house searches to people [simply] because they worked at the resort at the time when Madeleine disappeared, which made them “persons of interest”.

Another treatment was given to the requests for searches and excavations, using dogs and a georadar as resources, which were accepted as JN disclosed yesterday. The Public Prosecutor from Portimão, which holds the responsibility of analysing the formal requests for judicial cooperation, gave the green light to these steps - a turning point in the British investigation with Scotland Yard assuming for the first time the hypothesis that Madeleine is dead.

The sites were chosen for being prone to the disposal of a body. JN knows that this is the key argument used by Scotland Yard to substantiate the request for searches. The places are near to the apartment where the McCann family was staying during their holidays, in the beach and in a road which at the time was undergoing repairs. Another of the requests is for a georadar to be used in order to analyse and drill the soil and two dogs which alert to the presence of cadavers. Resources that Scotland Yard wants to bring from the UK. In case a deformation on the ground is detected there is a green light to proceed with the excavations. This is a process that could drag on for some time if the relevant places to be excavated belong to private owners or to State-owned road operators.

The next step is to define the operational strategy and set the date of the proceedings, tasks which are incumbent on the South Directorate of the PJ, responsible for carrying out the steps authorized by the prosecutor. The National Directorate of the PJ has to decide if the British detectives and experts can closely follow the actions that will always be performed by the Portuguese inspectors since Scotland Yard has no authority to act in Portugal. JN found that such a request was addressed to the Attorney General's Office and communicated informally to the Judiciary Police but for it to be appreciated, it must be formalized with the National Director of the PJ, which has not happened yet.

Sniffer Dogs

Scotland Yard regards the dogs that they want to use in the searches as “better” than Eddie and Keela, the sniffer dogs who alerted to blood and cadaver odour in the McCanns car and apartment at the Ocean Club resort.

Joint Investigation

Scotland Yard and Madeleine's parents argue that the constitution of a joint investigation team would accelerate the discovery of Madeleine and have criticized the “excessive bureaucracy” of the letters rogatory*.

The logistics required to implement these new endeavours are costly. JN knows they will be supported by the UK, which has already spent around EUR 7 million with this investigation.

endgame wrote:I still cannot quite get my head round why, after almost 300 requests over several months, the Portuguese have apparently only agreed to this one. If they were aware that these or other areas of ground may produce some evidence then surely they themselves would have carried out some investigations over the last seven years - and probably did. If SY have independently produced fresh "evidence" sufficient to enthuse the Portuguese, where has this come from? If someone has coughed and told them where the body lies or has lain, I don't think even SY would be giving it this level of publicity and the PJ would be there with their diggers right now. Given the PJ line so far, it seems unlikely that they would agree to this exercise on the basis that it will eliminate some lines of enquiry. If that is their standard of justification then they may as well agree the other 277 requests.

As always, nothing adds up. It could of course be that they are simply taking the p**s. Knowing full well that there is nothing to be found, they are quite happy for SY to embarrass themselves by thrashing about in the stony ground of PdL whilst they get on with some proper policing.

The PJ might have a sense of humor. They must have thought: SY's excuse is time after after time using the excuse that people have to be ruled out at the cost severely trampeling their rights: this one is a safe one: let them plow 3 pieces of land: no harm no foul, and the owners might even be happy it saves them money. Of SY has to bring their own shovels and real equipment, and oh let them bring their own cadaver dogs so no one can ever claim they are unreliable.
Of course it will have no results, SY can claim to have gone far beyond the call of duty and PJ has a couple of interesting weeks.
If, in a couple of months SY starts targetting innocent people again PJ can toss them another piece of land, maybe on the way to the airport (remember the towel?) or to Huelva, or maybe even on the way to Fatima.

Showtime!

RIPM wrote:Senior Strategy Meeting

Operation Grange/Whitewash

We will bombard the PJ with requests to interview suspect burglars, bin men, swarthy men, men with funny accents, men with BO, scruffy hair, buck teeth, Ocean Club employees, and request hundreds of actions and searches to be carried out.

They will get fed up, refuse to agree to our spurious demands, then we can say we can progress no further due to Portuguese intransigence and have to wind it up.

Oh shit,........ they have dropped us right in it, they have agreed to request 277 digging in Luz and have made it public.

Redwood, you said they would never agree to any of our requests.

What are you going to do now?

Exactly! Showtime

Bit behind sorry, currently on pg40.

Couple of things : warning to the media, is this a "do not publish mccann bolloux" coz of course they're gonna try all the dirty tricks to spin it.  Secondly, someone mentioned maybe digs had already taken place.  Wasn't there a lot of police activity round the site of the pet crem last year?

Cristobell wrote:

margaret wrote:

Tony Bennett wrote:
I think I have said on many occasions that from Day One this Scotland Yard operation has been about shaping public perception, and never was a genuine enquiry into the facts.

But that doesn't make sense to me, because so far SY have ruled out Tannerman and bought the Smith sighting to the fore, mentioned Maddie may not have left the apartment alive and have requested digs in PDL.

They haven't appeared to have helped the McCanns!

None of this appears to help the McCanns, which is why I struggle with the whitewash theory.  The McCanns look terrible and the pathetic turn out for the anniversary vigil can't have done much to lift their spirits.  Their 'support' has clearly gone and even Clarence cannot put a positive spin on the forthcoming dig.  

I would imagine this dig in Portugal is their worst nightmare.  I believe the body of Madeleine is in PDL, Kate visits twice a year, she can't help herself - she even had a dream Madeleine was buried on a hill and shared it with the PJ.

The whitewash has nothing to do with the McCanns. What has to be achieved is to whitewash the behavior of all involved and implicated (politicians, diplomats, police, forensic scientists, judges). There is enough to cover up there. Maybe finally it starts to dawn the conning couple that they are being used and that their fate can change in a second because they are without any protection.

tiny wrote:taken from the letter.
                                 We do not want to undermine our prospects of providing Mr and Mrs McCann with answers in this tragic case.


 another bummer, I think I will stay on the whitewash side

Yep, I saw that yesterday too. Nothing has changed.

Andrew77R wrote:
Snipped;

And then I went down to the beach with Russell and we actually went sailing for part of the evening, erm, for part of the afternoon, 



Freudian slip. Did they actually go out to sea in the evening when it was quieter and darker?

If those 2 clowns did go a mile out in the sea then i'm pretty sure there would be a 3rd (Very experienced) person with them.

IMO of course.

They couldn't have taken the catamaran out on their own late at night IMO. These things are usually locked up, the company who owns them can't risk a drunken tourist taking them out and drowning.

Mirage wrote:

HelenMeg wrote:Just because Kate says she goes out there twice a year to walk the streets doesn't mean it is the truth.
Kate says and always has said what she wants us to believe.IMo.

I thought exactly the same HelenMeg.

The problem we face is one of credibility. At various stages we have been told outright lies, half truths and given misleading information by a huge mix of people. Leaving Team Mc aside for the moment,we are asked to climb a helluva credibility mountain vis-a-vis SY.

Here's a list:

New suspects announced then forgotten.
Arrests imminent announced then forgotten.
The Chief Constable needing to be 'reminded' what Operation Grange is investigating live on air
The Mcs announced in the clear from the start.
Rowley currently talking of providing answers for Mr and Mrs McCann
The PJ routinely demonised - from 2007 to the present day. Slowness/ILORs etc
Public comment heavily censored on newspaper boards
Media bias
Leveson accepting abduction
Cameron accepting abduction
Miliband accepting abduction
Long-standing misinformation from SY about co-operation with PJ
Plethora of confusing e-fits given out by AR to vast swathes of the population, here and in Europe
Reconstruction on CW erroneous, compounded by varied versions between UK's and other countries
PT denied broadcasting rights to CW, the very scene of the crime
No mention of the dogs' evidence at any point
No mention of well-known anomalies in the state of shutters/window.
Public censure from PJ on press leaks
Warning from PJ again on issue of excavation
Media giving the impression SY are in charge................

I'm certain everyone could add more.

One accolade goes to Lord Justice Tugendhat - a lone voice not accepting abduction on the Mcs' say-so

In toto, this is why it is right we continue to question everything.

One of my concerns is that PT is not economically sound, but - notwithstanding occasional doubts in the back of my mind - they seem determined to hold on to supremacy.

I do not imagine for one moment that they are going to dig that adjacent waste-ground for all the reasons PM and others have stated. After seven years, and severe disruption to the tourist trade in PdL already, that would be lunacy at the start of a new holiday season.

I have felt for a while that some excavation has been undertaken already and that certain material evidence uncovered. The whole thing will hang on where certain people may want to nail their colours in the end. Politics is like that.

What a great post, Mirage.

canada12 wrote:In order for the PJ (and SY for that matter) to bring in better sniffer dogs than Eddie or Keela, or to have diggers or anything else, they need to have a reason, and those 3 or 4 or 5 plots of searchable land will do nicely. The sniffer dogs can go through the process, the ground radar can be deployed, the media can be handled. Meanwhile, elsewhere, a real search is going on, unobserved by prying eyes.

The first place the dogs should go is back into 5A

I wonder if this the company that loaned the catamarans. They are based in PdL

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Mirage wrote:

I have felt for a while that some excavation has been undertaken already and that certain material evidence uncovered.

?? What makes you think that mirage?

Atomic Peanut wrote:

canada12 wrote:In order for the PJ (and SY for that matter) to bring in better sniffer dogs than Eddie or Keela, or to have diggers or anything else, they need to have a reason, and those 3 or 4 or 5 plots of searchable land will do nicely. The sniffer dogs can go through the process, the ground radar can be deployed, the media can be handled. Meanwhile, elsewhere, a real search is going on, unobserved by prying eyes.

The first place the dogs should go is back into 5A

I very much doubt the dogs would pick up a scent on a hard floor after seven years. The floor may even have been retiled since then and the flat has probably been redecorated and professionally cleaned.

Portia wrote:

jeanmonroe wrote:

MarleneP wrote:Ok, the body was stored in the Waste Ground. Smithman brought it down to the sea where someone was waiting with a boat.

A slightly different 'theory'

"ok, the 'body' was stored in the waste ground (JW?). DP and GM, 'went out again' at 4:00am, 4th May 2007, and brought it down to the sea where 'someone' was waiting with a boat"

BTW, Mr McCann dosen't mind me suggesting 'theories'

Weren't there two intrepid doctors who went out on a catamaran, one of which doctors apparently fell overboard and had to be rescued by his mate?

What, if a little bairn, duely weighted down, accompanied them on this almost fatal mission?

Yes, that fishy story is stuck in my mind too.

tasprin wrote:

Atomic Peanut wrote:

canada12 wrote:In order for the PJ (and SY for that matter) to bring in better sniffer dogs than Eddie or Keela, or to have diggers or anything else, they need to have a reason, and those 3 or 4 or 5 plots of searchable land will do nicely. The sniffer dogs can go through the process

The first place the dogs should go is back into 5A

I very much doubt the dogs would pick up a scent on a hard floor after seven years. The floor may even have been retiled since then and the flat has probably been redecorated and professionally cleaned.

It's worth a go. "No reaction" could just be because of the passage of time as you say. But a positive from another cadaver dog would confirm Eddie's
I would be surprised if dogs were deployed elsewhere but not at and around 5A, that has to be the starting point

Something niggling back of my brain.  The waste ground.  Back on 3A someone used to post in riddles, was there not mention of "gold evidence" (something like that)

A lost ring? GM wedding band maybe? Lost on the wasteland already recovered?

Shhh wrote:Something niggling back of my brain.  The waste ground.  Back on 3A someone used to post in riddles, was there not mention of "gold evidence" (something like that)

A lost ring? GM wedding band maybe? Lost on the wasteland already recovered?

Yes I remember that discussion. People were speculating about what the gold band could possibly be.
If it was a wedding band we'd need to see before and after pictures - were either Kate or Gerry wearing wedding rings in photos prior to their holiday in Portugal, and were they wearing rings in any photos after Madeleine disappeared?
Perhaps some other item of jewellery?

Atomic Peanut wrote:

tasprin wrote:

Atomic Peanut wrote:

canada12 wrote:In order for the PJ (and SY for that matter) to bring in better sniffer dogs than Eddie or Keela, or to have diggers or anything else, they need to have a reason, and those 3 or 4 or 5 plots of searchable land will do nicely. The sniffer dogs can go through the process

The first place the dogs should go is back into 5A

I very much doubt the dogs would pick up a scent on a hard floor after seven years. The floor may even have been retiled since then and the flat has probably been redecorated and professionally cleaned.

It's worth a go. "No reaction" could just be because of the passage of time as you say. But a positive from another cadaver dog would confirm Eddie's
I would be surprised if dogs were deployed elsewhere but not at and around 5A, that has to be the starting point

Yes, it is worth a try but if the dog's don't alert this time, instead of putting it down to the passage of time (which would be the most likely reason), it will be spun as, 'These new dogs are incredibly reliable, Eddie and Keela were wrong'.

Otp

canada12 wrote:

Shhh wrote:Something niggling back of my brain.  The waste ground.  Back on 3A someone used to post in riddles, was there not mention of "gold evidence" (something like that)

A lost ring? GM wedding band maybe? Lost on the wasteland already recovered?

Yes I remember that discussion. People were speculating about what the gold band could possibly be.
If it was a wedding band we'd need to see before and after pictures - were either Kate or Gerry wearing wedding rings in photos prior to their holiday in Portugal, and were they wearing rings in any photos after Madeleine disappeared?
Perhaps some other item of jewellery?

Or that the little girl was buried with a piece of her mums or dad's jewellery?

canada12 wrote:

Shhh wrote:Something niggling back of my brain.  The waste ground.  Back on 3A someone used to post in riddles, was there not mention of "gold evidence" (something like that)

A lost ring? GM wedding band maybe? Lost on the wasteland already recovered?

Yes I remember that discussion. People were speculating about what the gold band could possibly be.
If it was a wedding band we'd need to see before and after pictures - were either Kate or Gerry wearing wedding rings in photos prior to their holiday in Portugal, and were they wearing rings in any photos after Madeleine disappeared?
Perhaps some other item of jewellery?

Yes l remember too, the PJ allegedly had 'one piece of gold, something that was found where it wasn't supposed to be.'.... Something along those lines

Otp

canada12 wrote:

Shhh wrote:Something niggling back of my brain.  The waste ground.  Back on 3A someone used to post in riddles, was there not mention of "gold evidence" (something like that)

A lost ring? GM wedding band maybe? Lost on the wasteland already recovered?

Yes I remember that discussion. People were speculating about what the gold band could possibly be.
If it was a wedding band we'd need to see before and after pictures - were either Kate or Gerry wearing wedding rings in photos prior to their holiday in Portugal, and were they wearing rings in any photos after Madeleine disappeared?
Perhaps some other item of jewellery?

Or that the little girl was buried with a piece of her mums or dad's jewellery?

noddy100 wrote:Otp

canada12 wrote:

Shhh wrote:Something niggling back of my brain.  The waste ground.  Back on 3A someone used to post in riddles, was there not mention of "gold evidence" (something like that)

A lost ring? GM wedding band maybe? Lost on the wasteland already recovered?

Yes I remember that discussion. People were speculating about what the gold band could possibly be.
If it was a wedding band we'd need to see before and after pictures - were either Kate or Gerry wearing wedding rings in photos prior to their holiday in Portugal, and were they wearing rings in any photos after Madeleine disappeared?
Perhaps some other item of jewellery?

Or that the little girl was buried with a piece of her mums or dad's jewellery?

I thought this piece of gold had been found, and l didn't take it to actually be gold. Just some golden evidence - wonderful evidence if you like.