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.

None of us know what happened.

Why is one possibilty a "conspiracy theory"?

Personally I would say "National police force conducts wilfully biased investigation."also sounds like a conspiracy theory. Why is it fair game to speculate on that, or to make dogmatic pronouncements based on no evidence?

@Sabrina. That sighting has not been ruled out. GM may have been ruled out but not the sighting.

It is suggested that the Smiths' sighting is very relevant indeed. The one that changed the whole time line, as per Crimewatch.

I really don't think you should be posting some of the stuff you are, unless it's deliberate.

70hours the theory that seems to have so many adherents concerns an accident and a cover up.

I want to extrapolate on my story on dd's broken wrist. Let's say dh and I moved on from tea to wine - and then let dd wander - and she fell in the pool and drowned - through lax parenting on our part. So we would then go on to bury her in the woods, then pop out for a spot of supper. And behave completely normally.

Rather than being hysterical, calling the paramedics, doing CPR type of stuff. A dead/dying child would surely trump your professional reputation?

That is what some people are suggesting has happened.

I really think the speculation has to stop.

That will get the thread pulled.

And behave completely normally.

That's what's ridiculous isn't it? How long could you maintain that, if at all?

And how many people would have to be complicit and never breathe a word?

I realise that Deux - the sighting is being treated by SY as the possible abduction/abductor. But can you tell me why the pj omits the rather important information that it cannot have been Gerry McCann?

I think they probably all weren't monitoring the children as carefully as they said they were - hence the difficulty in getting accurate time frames from everyone. I work with medics and I can totally see why they went into the mode they did - which might come across as very cerebral and unemotional to many people.
But I do think I would react quite similarly - accessing the situation and seeing what would be the best use of resources.
What I can't understand is their initial decision in the first place - I have 3 children of similar closeness in age and when they were wee and we went abroad I even locked the patio doors when we were in the room with them.
I don't for a minute think they were involved in her disappearance - it's ludicrous to think so, no way would they have not been found out by now.

Deux, I thought you like the PJ version of events?

@Sabrina. Are you being deliberately obtuse?

The documents I linked to in the PJ files are translated official documents gathered in the investigation, not a narrative analysis.

It's a bit like flicking through a lever arch file, no?

Good grief.

70hours- the point many of us are making is that it's perfectly possible to think the McCanns didn't 'do it' (whatever you mean by 'it'!) but to feel highly uncomfortable with many aspects of the case. I don't like the way they have conducted their PR campaign, I don't like the way they have slated the Portuguese police and bigged up the Met which seems driven by their desire to protect their reputations. I also feel very uncomfortable with the millions of pounds of public funds which have been poured into this case and the exposure it's been given, at the expense of thousands of other worthy causes. Particularly when there was a lack of cooperation between the McCanns and the police which could potentially have caused greater expense on the case in the long term.

Unfortunately there are a few posters on here who cannot make the mental leap required to see that having huge concens about the way this case has been handled by the mccanns does not necessarily mean we think they are directly responsible for their daughters disappearance.

Personally I don't believe they are (though of course I don't know any more than anyone else on here) What I do think is that they were driven from the outset to protect the image of themselves as parents which they wanted to project, they were keen to downplay any evidence which might show them in a negative light, and it is THIS which has made for a very skewed investigation and process.

What I can't understand is their initial decision in the first place

Kate McCann is on record as saying (hoping?) that people will learn from their mistake.

Let's hope that is true. At least it is a small positive.

It is pointless theorising why people would or wouldn't behave in a certain way - unless of course you want a thread pulled.
People's behaviour is irrelevant - the facts are the only basis you can go on - and the facts relating to the disappearance of Madeleine are not yet established.

seems driven by their desire to protect their reputations.

Or fear of neglect charges, social services investigation, losing custody of the twins?

I agree with you Porto and Fideline and anyone who thinks otherwise is IMHO bonkers !!!!! They were not involved - get a grip,people and leave this family alone - I don't give a flying fig how they spent any money I donated. They lost their child and at the moment they don't know if their child is still alive or not !! I cannot imagine their daily, weekly, monthly or yearly pain. !!!!!

@ portofino. I haven't expressed my view at all and been very careful not to, as I don't have one. My arse is on the fence.

Again, i came on this thread I was lead to beleive that the Portugese were bumbling idiots.

Cross posts there with googlenut. That is exactly the point I was getting at with timeframes. I think they were very reluctant to participate in a reconstruction, not because they were guilty of their daughters disappearance, but because they didn't like what a reconstruction would show about their behaviour .

You're being obtuse, I think, Deux. You linked to the pj files - it's full of conspiracy theories and misinformation implicating the McCanns. Including the fantastical batshit theory that the McCann's home in Leics should be searched for their daughter's body. Amongst many others.

Ah OK Janey but in some ways I still get them - and why would they want their flaws exposed to the world - I get that -

They lost their child and at the moment they don't know if their child is still alive or not !! I cannot imagine their daily, weekly, monthly or yearly pain. !!!!!

yes, compassion needed, whatever anyone thinks of the whole thing is irrelevant.

Where the fuck have I said I'm reporting you?

YY to compassion.

I can't begin to imagine what the McCanns have been through.

The PJ files do not implicate them they are just interviews.

The PJ "version" is people's statements. Their version of events. I don'y think it is common police practice in any country to add a note at the bottom saying " this statement is obviously bollocks because it is contradicted by other statements".

The statements were collected as part of the investigation, published as per Portuguese law. They don't have to have disclaimers stuck on them about how true they are, or how many times they've been contradicted. They are just part of the intelligence gathered.