Probably there is no more difficult case to deal with than stranger abduction. Which is why it is so imperative to immediately check out the nearest and dearest to the child for elimination purposes, work out from there and all the while going through the usual suspects with a dose of salts.
There is no room for policeman's "gut instinct". Just hard legwork, preserving as much of the scene as possible and keeping an open mind while evaluating any evidence there is.
No-one understands the difficulties as well as another policeman.
Hogan-Howe defends police in MM investigation
2013
METROPOLITAN Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe has defended the way Portuguese police handled the initial investigation into the disappearance of MM
The country’s most senior officer said it would have been “very difficult” for officers in Praia da Luz to know if they were dealing with a serious crime immediately after she vanished.
He said: “I think sometimes these things at the beginning can be very difficult to deal with. You don’t know exactly if the child has just wandered off.
“I’m sure for them that must have been a challenge. Anybody can go back after two, three, five, six years and say ‘Why didn’t you do that?’ That’s easy in hindsight.”
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