Madeleine McCann Missing-Praia Da Luz, Portugal 3/05/07 #1

[vms]

From The Times
September 21, 2007

First full account of Madeleine McCann's final hours revealed
Patrick Foster and Steve Bird in Praia da Luz

The first full account of Madeleine McCann’s final hours before she disappeared was offered tonight.

After months of speculation about whether Kate and Gerry McCann had an opportunity to kill their three-year-old daughter and hide her body, a source close to the couple attempted to explain what happened on May 3.

Under Portuguese law, the McCanns, who are both 39-year-old doctors, have been unable to counter allegations made by the Portuguese police.

Detectives believe that there are inconsistencies in their story when it is compared with the accounts of their seven friends who were on holiday with them in the Algarve.

Senior detectives have suggested that there was a six-hour period in which the movements of Madeleine and her parents are unclear. A photograph was taken of the child at 2.29pm at the pool of the Ocean Club resort and, according to police, it is unclear what happened from then until 8.30pm when Mrs McCann sat down to dinner at the tapas bar.

A Polícia Judiciária source said that the details of Mrs McCann’s afternoon was the focus of their inquiry.

The McCann family friend said: “Madeleine went to kids’ club in the afternoon, after the photograph was taken at the swimming pool. There are written records and witnesses.

“Madeleine was there while Kate and Gerry played tennis with the tennis professional and other witnesses. She had high tea at 5.30pm with staff at the kids’ club. She was picked up shortly before 6pm by Kate and Gerry.

“After that Kate and Gerry went home, got the kids ready for bed and got ready to go out for their meal.

“Kate was never alone with Madeleine that afternoon. There were always other witnesses present.” The source added: “These details were all given to detectives during police interviews, so they know what Kate and Gerry said happened that day.”

The latest account of what happened on May 3 emerged after a restaurant owner in the resort claimed to have seen the couple having tea their with their daughter.

The friend said that Mr McCann is convinced that later that evening he may have come within a few yards of his daughter’s abductor. It is claimed that he fears an intruder could have been hiding inside the family’s holiday apartment when he left the restaurant to go back and check on the children.

In the next few days detectives are expecting toxicology results that may establish whether Madeleine was given sedatives. Tests on hair and bodily fluids found in the McCanns’ hire car and apartment could establish whether she had ingested a large amount of drugs. As the Portuguese police case appears to be faltering, the source said: “The ball is back in the Policia Judiciaria’s court. They need to put up or shut up.

“We feel that the judge has said to the police that they need to go away and find some more evidence if we’re going to take it any further. They need to back up what they’re claiming, or stop.”

The Leicestershire Constabulary refused to disclose how many officers were working on the case in Britain, and how much the investigation had cost.A spokesman for the force said: “It is essential for Leicestershire Constabulary to adhere to the Portuguese judicial secrecy requirements.”

Link

[Rob]

High Tea and an accidental drugging?

I'm certainly jumping the gun, but I wonder if the theory is that Kate drugged Maddy's tea or whatever she was having in order to get her to go to sleep at bed time. Although 5:30 pm sounds a little early to be thinking about putting a child to bed.

just thinking out loud here.

[MuffyBee]

(snipped)
After months of speculation about whether Kate and Gerry McCann had an opportunity to kill their three-year-old daughter and hide her body, a source close to the couple attempted to explain what happened on May 3..
(snipped

This could be anybody with an opinion...imo opinion, of course.

[vms]

High Tea and an accidental drugging?

I'm certainly jumping the gun, but I wonder if the theory is that Kate drugged Maddy's tea or whatever she was having in order to get her to go to sleep at bed time. Although 5:30 pm sounds a little early to be thinking about putting a child to bed.

just thinking out loud here.

So confusing. Which account to believe? Madeleine had her dinner with staff at the kid's club at 5.30 p.m. and was picked up shortly before 6pm by Kate and Gerry or the whole family was with her between 5.00 - 5.45 p.m. at the Paraíso Restaurant?

[Anna]

High Tea and an accidental drugging?

I'm certainly jumping the gun, but I wonder if the theory is that Kate drugged Maddy's tea or whatever she was having in order to get her to go to sleep at bed time. Although 5:30 pm sounds a little early to be thinking about putting a child to bed.

just thinking out loud here.

I don't think that's the theory, Rob, because the twins are reported to not have awakened with all the police and searching by 60 people going on.  That leads to the speculation that they, too, may have been drugged for it is odd they didn't rouse with all the commotion.

The theory was at one time that the kids were likely drugged with cold meds before the parents left.  That would only take about thirty minutes to be fully absorbed into their systems, etc.

Further supported by rumors that Kate wrote in her diary that the kids were often "hysterical" and that Madeleine was hyperactive.  I think it may be thought that perhaps based on that, an overdose was administered coupled with the claim by person upstairs that Madeleine had cried for her daddy for ninety minutes the night before.

Sort of a composite of all those things leading to the drugging theory.

Since they were all physicians at the dinner party, perhaps this was also a common practice among that particular group? 

For everything the PLE says, the McCann professional spin machine says something opposite.  I don't have a clue who to believe on this.

Maybe neither.  Perhaps the truth is somewhere in the middle of all the tales being told by both sides.

jmo

.

[vms]

The First Post

September 21, 2007

Spinning for Maddie: the latest recruit

Why do the McCanns choose spin doctors not lawyers? And why so many? gibby zobel reports

This morning Clarence Mitchell will stand on the church steps in Rothley, Leicestershire, with Kate and Gerry McCann as their new official spokesman. He is the former Foreign Office spin doctor who helped the couple before and yesterday announced he was giving up his government job to act as their full-time advisor.


Link

[Anna]

That's a very good question and one that I would like to have the answer to.  Why so many spin doctors and why right from the start.

Makes me wonder if Kate really did call Skye news before the police.  I don't think this is normal to hire all these top of the line PR people and have to wonder why.  Don't think I have ever seen this done before.  Wassup with it?

And who is paying for all this and why?

.

[vms]

That's a very good question and one that I would like to have the answer to.  Why so many spin doctors and why right from the start.

Makes me wonder if Kate really did call Skye news before the police.  I don't think this is normal to hire all these top of the line PR people and have to wonder why.  Don't think I have ever seen this done before.  Wassup with it?

And who is paying for all this and why?

.

I really don't know, Anna, but I believe the resort brought them in immediately for damage control.
Who knows why only a few of these stories capture the world's attention? I can imagine as the interest grew, so did the number of reporters. It may have been unmanageable without representation. It worked well for a time too, no? They had lots of high profile individuals willing to get the message out.

I don't know, just trying to make sense of it and doing a horrible job at it. 

[SteveDinMD]

High Tea and an accidental drugging?

I'm certainly jumping the gun, but I wonder if the theory is that Kate drugged Maddy's tea or whatever she was having in order to get her to go to sleep at bed time. Although 5:30 pm sounds a little early to be thinking about putting a child to bed.

just thinking out loud here.

I don't think that's the theory, Rob, because the twins are reported to not have awakened with all the police and searching by 60 people going on.  That leads to the speculation that they, too, may have been drugged for it is odd they didn't rouse with all the commotion.

The theory was at one time that the kids were likely drugged with cold meds before the parents left.  That would only take about thirty minutes to be fully absorbed into their systems, etc.

Further supported by rumors that Kate wrote in her diary that the kids were often "hysterical" and that Madeleine was hyperactive.  I think it may be thought that perhaps based on that, an overdose was administered coupled with the claim by person upstairs that Madeleine had cried for her daddy for ninety minutes the night before.

Sort of a composite of all those things leading to the drugging theory.

Since they were all physicians at the dinner party, perhaps this was also a common practice among that particular group? 

For everything the PLE says, the McCann professional spin machine says something opposite.  I don't have a clue who to believe on this.

Maybe neither.  Perhaps the truth is somewhere in the middle of all the tales being told by both sides.

jmo

.

Anna:  

All of these "theories" of parental culpability are but fabrications spun from thin air.  No one should be completely above suspicion, but the facts on the ground and the conduct of the Portugese so-called investigation make it extremely unlikely that the McCanns had anything to do with their daugher's disappearance.  The most likely scenarios are these, listed in order of probability:

1)  Abduction by a resort worker -- They have nearly unlimited access and intimate local knowledge.  There have been recent reports of sexual assaults on children by Disney resort employees.  If it can happen at Disney, it can certainly happen in Portugal.  This is surely the most likely scenario, yet the police apparently didn't even bother to investigate it.  

2)  Abduction by a local resident -- Again, local residents have local knowledge invaluable to any would-be abductor, and might have been casing the property for an extended period in search of just such an opportunity.  Some locals might even have resort access through friends and/or relatives employed at the resort.  Again, with the exception of a handful of convenient foreigners, the police seem to have completely ignored this possibility.  

3)  Abduction by a tourist -- Another tourist visiting the resort, driven by pedophilic tendencies, might have been tempted to harm Madeline.  The temptation might have been especially strong if he was scheduled to depart in the next day or two.  If he could get the girl out of the apartment unseen, it would be unlikely for him to ever be apprehended.  He'd be far away by the time the police investigation ever got started.  What's more, he could escape with the girl's body hidden in his luggage.  Once more, there's no indication that the police investigated any tourists.  

4)  Abduction by another member of the McCann's party -- This I consider to be very unlikely, but not impossible, strictly speaking.  Various people on this blog have taken pains to point out that Madeline's parents were the last people known to have been with her.  This is FALSE!  Technically, the probable last person known to have been with Madeline was Dr. O'Brien.  It is he, himself, who claims that he never actually laid eyes on the girl, but only listened at her bedroom door.  While this might be true, it is completely unverifiable, so must be viewed with suspicion -- not with unfounded accusations, mind you, but with quiet skepticism.  If O'Brien had, indeed, harmed Madeline, this is precisely the lie he would be expected to tell in order to cast suspicion away from himself.  Were the twins drugged as alleged?  I don't know.  If so, who's to say that O'Brien didn't drug them to facilitate an assault on Madeline?  Who's to say that any other assailant didn't do the same, for that matter, but I digress.  Was O'Brien's room searched?  Were his movements closely monitored?  Did he have access to transportation?  The fact that he, like the McCanns was in a foreign land without local knowledge would tend to argue against his involvement, but he by no means has been definitively "cleared" from what I've read so far.  

5)  Madeline wandered off -- Continuing with low likelihood scenarios, this possibility hasn't been ruled out.  The child was unsupervised and ambulatory.  I imagine she was capable of opening the door.  Had she exited the apartment of her own accord, there are an almost endless number of possible misfortunes that could have befallen her.  In searching for Madeline, it remains unclear whether the police plotted the specific hazzards that a child might be vulnerable to.  Neither is it clear whether the police made any effort to establish what persons might have been within the girl's mobility radius by the time she was discovered missing.  

6)  Parental involvement -- The McCanns, by virtue of their circumstances, would seem to be poor candidates for child abuse in the first place.  There have also been neither any reported history nor external indication of mistreatment.  The window of opportunity for mischief was extremely narrow -- as little as three hours.  Furthermore, the McCanns were in a foreign land with no means of transportation, under close media and police surveillance.  How would they dispose of the remains?  Finally, the McCanns, themselves, took the initiative in publicizing the case.  Along with their early sounding of the alarm, this would be an especially poor tactic to pursue if they wished to avoid culpability if they were truly guilty of wrongdoing.  Though non-zero, I consider the likelihood of the McCann's involvment to be very close to zero.  The only thing that could change my mind at this point would be something on the order of direct admissions of guilt in intercepted corresponance.  

[vms]

Wow, amazing, SteveDinMD. Thank you for that.

Just one question...
Wasn't it Oldfield and not O'Brien who checked on the children?

[Tamikosmom]

From The Times
September 21, 2007

First full account of Madeleine McCann's final hours revealed
Patrick Foster and Steve Bird in Praia da Luz

The first full account of Madeleine McCann’s final hours before she disappeared was offered tonight.

After months of speculation about whether Kate and Gerry McCann had an opportunity to kill their three-year-old daughter and hide her body, a source close to the couple attempted to explain what happened on May 3.

Under Portuguese law, the McCanns, who are both 39-year-old doctors, have been unable to counter allegations made by the Portuguese police.

Detectives believe that there are inconsistencies in their story when it is compared with the accounts of their seven friends who were on holiday with them in the Algarve.

Senior detectives have suggested that there was a six-hour period in which the movements of Madeleine and her parents are unclear. A photograph was taken of the child at 2.29pm at the pool of the Ocean Club resort and, according to police, it is unclear what happened from then until 8.30pm when Mrs McCann sat down to dinner at the tapas bar.

A Polícia Judiciária source said that the details of Mrs McCann’s afternoon was the focus of their inquiry.

The McCann family friend said: “Madeleine went to kids’ club in the afternoon, after the photograph was taken at the swimming pool. There are written records and witnesses.

“Madeleine was there while Kate and Gerry played tennis with the tennis professional and other witnesses. She had high tea at 5.30pm with staff at the kids’ club. She was picked up shortly before 6pm by Kate and Gerry.

“After that Kate and Gerry went home, got the kids ready for bed and got ready to go out for their meal.

“Kate was never alone with Madeleine that afternoon. There were always other witnesses present.” The source added: “These details were all given to detectives during police interviews, so they know what Kate and Gerry said happened that day.”

The latest account of what happened on May 3 emerged after a restaurant owner in the resort claimed to have seen the couple having tea their with their daughter.

The friend said that Mr McCann is convinced that later that evening he may have come within a few yards of his daughter’s abductor. It is claimed that he fears an intruder could have been hiding inside the family’s holiday apartment when he left the restaurant to go back and check on the children.

In the next few days detectives are expecting toxicology results that may establish whether Madeleine was given sedatives. Tests on hair and bodily fluids found in the McCanns’ hire car and apartment could establish whether she had ingested a large amount of drugs. As the Portuguese police case appears to be faltering, the source said: “The ball is back in the Policia Judiciaria’s court. They need to put up or shut up.

“We feel that the judge has said to the police that they need to go away and find some more evidence if we’re going to take it any further. They need to back up what they’re claiming, or stop.”

The Leicestershire Constabulary refused to disclose how many officers were working on the case in Britain, and how much the investigation had cost.A spokesman for the force said: “It is essential for Leicestershire Constabulary to adhere to the Portuguese judicial secrecy requirements.”

Link

Hey vms ... Patrick Foster and Steve Bird have not named ONE of their sources for their article titled ... "First full account of Madeleine McCann's final hours revealed".   

I hope you had a good day.

Janet

[MuffyBee]

Police Chief Attacks Kate And Gerry
http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,91210-1285306,00.html
Updated: 22:55, Friday September 21, 2007
Kate and Gerry McCann have hindered the investigation into their daughter's disappearance, says the man in charge of the Portuguese police federation.

Carlos Anjos, head of Asfic, said future interrogation of the couple was effectively pointless because they would, as is their right, refuse to speak.

And he warned the investigation into Madeleine, who was three when she was reported missing, could end up taking a "very long time".

A spokesman for the McCanns dismissed claims they were using their right to silence to withhold co-operation with police.

Mr Anjos said a "difficult and complex case" was "made worse by [the parent's] attitude".

He also said Kate and Gerry had told the portuguese police they would be making no further statements towards the investigation.

Claims that the McCanns were hampering the Portuguese police's search for Madeleine were dismissed by the appointed spokesman for the couple, Clarence Mitchell.

Mr Mitchell said: "We are not prepared to comment on Mr Anjos's remarks but Kate and Gerry have always said they are willing to return to Portugal at any time to help the police with their investigations."

Mr Anjos also said police progress remained slow.

"This case is here for a long time because there is no apparent motive and it will be very difficult to prove if it was homicide if Madeleine's body is not found," he said.

Detectives in the Algarve are reportedly working on the theory that Kate McCann may have accidentally killed Madeleine and relied on her husband, Gerry, to help cover it up.

The couple have vehemently denied the allegation.

[vms]

Hey vms ... Patrick Foster and Steve Bird have not named ONE of their sources for their article titled ... "First full account of Madeleine McCann's final hours revealed".   

I hope you had a good day.

Janet

I know it, Janet, and here I thought it was just the American press that was so out of control. Seems to be universal. 

[SteveDinMD]

Wow, amazing, SteveDinMD. Thank you for that.

Just one question...
Wasn't it Oldfield and not O'Brien who checked on the children?

I frankly don't distinctly remember the man's name at this point.  It could have been Oldfield. 

[robots]

look, we dont know what happened YET

but my 2 cents are this,

any parents that leave 3 children alone in a room. whether locked or unlocked
is the most ridiculous, stupid, idiotic thing i can imagine.
all 3 children UNDER the age of 3 years old

in a different country and then to go out drinking.

i am speechless, this behavior tells me all kinds of things about how the parents handle all other situations.

LOUD and CLEAR

are the parents involved ..........my opinion YES

can i prove any thing.............NO

are the IDIOTS.........YES 

[Anna]

From prime suspects to hounded victims - how parents turned the media tide | Special reports | Guardian Unlimited


http://www.guardian.co.uk/crime/article/0,,2174560,00.html


The parents continue to work with these high profile PR people being financed by parties unknown at this point.

But it was the British government that had the troops on the ground, so to speak, from the very first day Madeleine was missing, making certain just the right public persona was presented by the McCanns.

Something about that I just don't like and just don't trust.

.

[Anna]

SteveinMD,
While I do agree that any one of those things could have happened, I might not agree on the order of probability and would tend to consider the parental involvement as rather higher up on the list than the last thing to be considered.

By parental involvement, I also include unintentional harm such as the drug overdose or an accident of some sort while in the presence of the parents or one of them.

[SteveDinMD]

SteveinMD,
While I do agree that any one of those things could have happened, I might not agree on the order of probability and would tend to consider the parental involvement as rather higher up on the list than the last thing to be considered.

By parental involvement, I also include unintentional harm such as the drug overdose or an accident of some sort while in the presence of the parents or one of them.

Anna: 

Think about it.  From the time Madeline was last seen in public until the time she was reported missing was a total of three hours.  Within that window, the parents would have to have both harmed the child AND covered up the crime -- which would include disposing of the remains -- while on unfamiliar terrain, without any means of transportation, and in a public venue surrounded by hundreds of potential witnesses.  Actually, they didn't even have three hours.  All would have had to have been done BEFORE they joined their friends for dinner.  Moreover, they would have had the benefit of the entire window ONLY if the sequence of events began the instant Madeline left public view.  The probability of THAT having been the case would be highest if the McCanns had INTENTIONALLY AND PREMEDITATEDLY killed their daughter.  If that were the case, I have to believe they would have chosen a better time and place to do the deed.  Going, then, on the assumption of an unintentional homicide, you have to allow for some time in order for the situation to develop and for the girl to actually expire, then add some additional time for the McCanns to decide on a course of action after getting over the initial shock of having their daughter die in their care.  What, then, is their widest reasonable window for action?  60 minutes?  90 minutes?  Even the Portugese police implicitly admit this isn't feasible by continuing to try to fit an accomplice into their scenario.  To add an accomplice, though, one must first answer this:  "Why would any particular third party render assistance?"  Without an answer to that question, the investigator is stuck with an unreasonable timeline and set of circumstances for parental suspects.  Add to this the McCann's actions in reporting and publicizing their daughter's disappearance -- which would have been contra-indicated for guilty parties -- and the intense police and media scrutiny that restricted their actions following, and you're left with an extremely low probability theory.  I personally rate it only slightly more likely than alien abduction.  From the Portugese perspective, though, this represents by far the most politically attractive alternative, so they've been pushing it to the exclusion of almost everything else.  Though they certainly WANT it to be true, the facts (as near as we're able to surmise what they are) don't lead to that conclusion. 

[vms]

Madeleine suspect Robert Murat \'cleared by police\'

Publisher:  Jon Land
Published: 22/09/2007 - 12:41:42 PM

Madeleine suspect Robert Murat told there is 'no case against him'

The man Portuguese police first suspected could be responsible for the disappearance of Madeleine McCann is to be cleared of any wrongdoing.

Robert Murat, who was declared an \'official suspect\' by detectives early on in the investigation, has been told there is no case against him, according to the respected Portuguese newspaper Sol.

<snipped>

http://www.24dash.com/printNews/7/27830.htm

[vms]

From prime suspects to hounded victims - how parents turned the media tide | Special reports | Guardian Unlimited


http://www.guardian.co.uk/crime/article/0,,2174560,00.html


The parents continue to work with these high profile PR people being financed by parties unknown at this point.

But it was the British government that had the troops on the ground, so to speak, from the very first day Madeleine was missing, making certain just the right public persona was presented by the McCanns.

Something about that I just don't like and just don't trust.

.

Thanks, Anna.

From the same article:

This week a senior Portuguese reporter, who has covered the case from the beginning, gave the first insights into the systematic way in which investigators passed on information to local journalists.

"A detective, not connected to the investigation, was appointed, who was told what he was allowed to say," the journalist told the Guardian. "He gave three or four off the record briefings in which he described details of the investigation [to a group of reporters]." The intention, he said, was to pass a message to the "British addicts" (the media), which had been critical of the investigation. "Here it is not done like that normally - police do not brief journalists."

Such briefings, added Carlos Anjos, chairman of the Union of Portuguese Detectives, were acts of self defence. "There was a temptation by detectives to use the Portuguese press as a means of counter-attacking," he said.