Madeleine McCann investigation

[lyndie]

I saw today that possible excavations are to start in the resort where MM went missing.

Does anyone think the progress The Met have made is astonishing given the length of time that has elapsed? I can't help but wonder what progress could have been made if they had been involved at the start.

I really hope that somehow they can find out what happened and give her family some sort of closure. I know the ins and outs of what happened and her parents leaving her have been discussed at length on MN but from a crime point of view I would be very interested to see if the Portugese police had done enough or not.

[MrsMaturin]

I cannot understand why 'excavations' haven't been made before.

[LineRunner]

Apparently (according the BBC) the Portuguese police will be in charge of any excavations and the Met will be observers.

[Sparklingbrook]

I am baffled by all this.

[lyndie]

So the Portugese police reopened the investigation then?

[Onesleeptillwembley]

I haven't seen any progress. Just more theories bandied about.

[MrsMaturin]

From what I've read it sounds like it will be a joint investigation but they won't be describing it as such My personal feeling is that the Portugese police couldn't investigate their way out of a paper bag but then again Scotland Yard has found brown paper to be inpenetratable at times so who knows. It is a very difficult case.

[lyndie]

I was under the impression they had done a fair bit with following up sightings on the night and ruling certain people out, and also looking at possible offenders who had been in the area at the time?

[Sheldonswhiteboard]

I don't think they have made much progress though- there seems to be a steady stream of individuals that are now suspects, then they seem to go off the radar, how long have they been investigating and how much have they spent? I'm not saying the Portuguese have been much better but I'm not that impressed with the Met either.

[lyndie]

Wikipedia says £4.7 million as of August last year which is a phenomenal amount.

[PacificDogwood]

Really? I really must pay more attention to the news

I am not sure what to hope for - that 'excavations' find something or not
That poor family. DS2 is the same age as MM and DH used to work with her dad.

[EverythingCounts]

I haven't been following developments lately but what I have seen suggests that checks have been made now that really should have been made at time time, but which have thrown up some leads - though most notably to someone now dead. I hope the excavations do lead to a body as I really can't imagine she is still alive, sadly.

[lyndie]

I worked with a cardiologist who was apparently one of his good friends. At the time they were encouraging people to take posters on holiday with them as they hoped to find her by keeping a high profile across Europe.

[Enjoyingmycoffee1981]

Oh please please please do not make this another thread full of speculation and Nancy Drew suppositions about something that must be so deeply and profoundly painful for the parents, that we couldn't possibly begin to grasp. Leave it alone.

[JodieGarberJacob]

It's amazing that 7 years have passed it's still so fresh in my mind. I can't imagine what it's like for her family. I just hope and pray that if it turns out she is no longer alive that it was over quickly for her.

[hackmum]

I agree with MrsMaturin. The ineptitude of the Portuguese police has been quite extraordinary. There were known paedophiles operating in the area and they didn't even bother investigating. They let the crime scene be contaminated, they didn't carry out a proper search of the area, etc etc etc.

Must be so heartbreaking for her parents to have to stand by while they watch the Portuguese police making a complete hash of it.

[SpottieDottie]

Me too Sparkling and like others have said, it's hard to know what to feel just as an outsider, it must be so hard for her parents.

[Sparklingbrook]

They are all I think of when I read anything about this now Spottie. Seven years with no answers. Just unimaginable.

[EffectiveCommunication]

I hope they find answers, it must have been a living nightmare all these years not knowing.

[SpottieDottie]

It must be unbearable, I mean to lose a child in any circumstances is terrible (been there, done that) but to not know what happened. I don't know how they can cope with it. I hope they don't find her body, that would be terrible if they could have at least found out years ago and not had to deal with it for so long. It's hard to put into words.

[Costacoffeeplease]

The Portuguese police did not make a hash of it - they were unable to proceed without the co-operation of the McCanns and their friends (doing a reconstruction/answering police questions) please do a bit of research before denigrating a whole country and their law enforcement

[MrsMaturin]

Did the Portugese police plan to conduct excavations near by or to follow up reported similar cases? My understanding is they did neither and anybody with any common sense (let alone Nancy Drew tendancies) would suggest that both might be useful steps when a young child vanishes.

[Costacoffeeplease]

It's strange that all these other supposed cases of intruders are completely unknown to both local residents and the local police - and why only British families, no Dutch, Portuguese, German, Spanish? Really strange that I have lived here 11 years, actually in one of the towns mentioned, work in the tourist industry - and have never heard of even one case

The Portuguese investigation is all available to read online - and in English

[lyndie]

I didn't know know that Costa, could you share what have you read?

I thought it was fairly well established that mistakes we're made on the night, such as not sealing the resort, contaminating the evidence in the flat etc.

[HoldOnHoldOnSoldier]

Costacoffeeplease I'm so glad someone else has said this.

The pj files are online and free to read, If people did read them there eyes would be very much opened to the case.

[Costacoffeeplease]

It is not possible to seal the resort - it is blocks of apartments in the centre of a village, not a closed, gated resort - I know the area well. A police investigation is never going to be 100% perfect - Tia Sharp for example - but I am so fed up of hearing the Portuguese people and police rubbished the way they are in the UK media - they do not deserve it

I am not going to go into detail of everything that happened, although I saw a lot of it at fairly close quarters, but there are plenty of resources online for anyone who wants to do some research, and I understand that mumsnet hq are very twitchy about this subject and do not encourage discussion, even of the facts of the case