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.

Nerf most Portuguese are just very tired of the whole thing - people took time off work unpaid to search for Madeleine and not only did they not get any thanks - the McCanns constantly put Portugal down and just in the last few days there have been people on twitter, with large numbers of followers, calling for a boycott of Portugal.

Most people feel sad and very hurt, the Portuguese people are very proud, very family and child orientated, and they feel betrayed.

I hope these latest developments bring resolution, but I don't know if too much time has passed, I hope not

Thanks Coffee. It must be hard feeling got at for not doing enough.

All adds another terrifying dimension it. I still couldn't understand the motive for it? And what the role of the British press has been?

Yes - when so much was done - Portugal is still a poor country, salaries are low (500€/month) but people still went out day after day, searching

Portugal didn't ask for this, it was visited upon them, and they got caught up in this whirlwind of media manipulation, leaks, suspicion - I would say they just want the truth with no 'spin' and for it all to go away

It's so bizarre the reporting. The first I heard was something like six am headlines on radio four with John hunphreys making brief mention of reports of a little girl going missing in Portugal. So must have made uk aware very quickly.

Sorry, Costa, who's using Twitter to try to rally interest in boycotting Portugal and what reason are they giving?

One of their party rung sky news as the police were being rung, if not slightly before (their stories/timing differ on this as well).

I don't think I should say here but a UK businesswoman was one

Sorry posted too soon - something like Portugal doesn't value British tourists - laughable really, but that's not the point

Blimey. And blimey again.

there was a thread on mn recently about boycotting Portugal iirc.

Interestingly the family have gone very quiet since SY took over the investigation - esp since there's been talk of excavations in Portugal. Perhaps because if she is e.g. found there then the abduction theory will be completely discredited and it was the only theory they were prepared to pursue - even make money from in terms of KM's book. If it transpires that she wandered then public opinion will likely turn, and for someone so in the public eye that will be catastrophic.

According to Kate's book she didn't wander it is not even a remote possibility And she was insulted that the Portuguese police even suggested it as thenwaynshe found the room showed 100% she was abducted. Window and shutters open which were very heavy and the patio doors closed as well as the gate outside. No child of her age and size would be so careful if they were wandering out in the dark.

I think it's unlikely she wandered - there was a stairgate at the top of the external stairs leading down from the balcony outside the living room and IIRC it was closed, then there was a gate onto the pavement, also closed

Luz is a small fairly quiet town, especially at this time of year, the McCanns and their friends stated that they didn't see anyone when doing their checks on the children - one even said she wanted her husband to do the checks as it was dark, quiet and creepy with no-one around - so for a 3 year old to manage to get herself out of the apartment, in a very quiet part of town, and to then have an opportunistic paedophile pass at the same time before someone who would have helped her, all seems very far fetched to me

I really dont understand the majority of mn's view on this one. Absolutlely everyone i know in real life shares the same opinion i do, that the pj files version of events sounds most likely (hope that doenst count as speculation as it is based on evidence). Not saying that it did happen that way, but i dont understand why people are more comfortable with the idea of an unknown paedo sneaking in and stealing a child for a sex ring, than there being some sort of accident. A covered up accident doesnt put my children at risk on holiday. An accident doesnt potentially mean a little girl has been sold into the sex trade and could be still alive, but after god knows what she would have lived through. That is what keeps bringing me to these threads.

Have the other members of the Tapas 9 been questioned under caution, or anything like that?

The other friends were re interviewed in the UK but inky after they had all met in a hotel to discuss their previous statements. I have never heard of this.

Only not inky

Sorry, another question. Why was the dogs 'evidence' discredited? From what i read, their strike rate is v high and they are in high demand around the world.

Is it possible they could detect death on KM from her work? Does it mean the clothes she wore on holiday were the same ones she wore when she was tending patients ir is it by transfer? I guess what I'm asking is, what is the science view on this?

Between the girl going missing and the police arriving they all got the timings of their checks written down ready for the police this included jane tanners sighting of a man carrying a child. But in her statement she said she didn't tell them about the man until the next day. I think these sort if anomalies should have been ironed out at the time.

At least one of each couple were doctors - no alerts were made in the other apartments

If cadaver scent could be transferred easily then surely all the clothes in the suitcase would have provided alerts, not just one or two

The dogs in question had 100% success rate and were insured for millions

Yes the dogs alerted to km trousers which she said was because she attended 6 deaths at work in the weeks preceding her holiday

There were two slightly different timelines prepared IIRC

why were the McCanns not charged with neglect or some such? Or even prosecuted in the UK?

Was that ever considered or was it a hot potato?

Deux I personally think the dogs evidence was ignored (I can't say anyone managed to discredit it) and kept quiet because it didn't fit in with the McCanns version (whichever version they were on then) of events they wanted to convey.