I agree and I'm sorry but constant references to "if they hadn't left them alone this wouldn't have happened" just isn't true.
It could have happened even if they were in the next room sleeping.
Daniel vanDam taken when her brothers were in the next room and her father was down the hall, Stepahnie Crowe murdered in her own room while her family was home asleep, Jessica Lunsford abducted while her grandparents slept not 20 feet away and many other similar cases that have been reported of stranger abductions from their own rooms and in several cases of
rapes and murders by strangers while the
child was asleep in the same room as other children or their mother and nobody saw or heard anything. So to say unequvically that it wouldn't have happened just isn't true.
Yes they should have been with their kids instead of leaving them alone, but even if they had done that Maddie still could have been snatched.
I agree with Rino that the PD should have focused on locating the child first and foremost. Precious time was wasted by both the parents and the PD.
I don't think the parents killed their daughter though. First IMO there was no way to dispose of her body in the time it took for the police to arrive, nobody from the group was seen leaving in a car or on foot and the room and resort area were thouroughly searched that night. It was the surrounding area outside of the resort that did not begin to be searched until the next day.
The family stayed for 4 months after the kidnapping and if they really were guilty then why not run back to England BEFORE being labeled suspects? It's not like they were being forced to stay there...
For over 2 1/2 months all of the reports that came out were how cooperative the McCanns were and how they had been interviewed by the police for hours and hours. I think when police decide to shift focus off of looking for the child and start blaming the parents is when the parents decided they'd had enough of answering questions. Then poof about 2 months later the police label them suspects because they don't have anything and can't find anything. IMO it's a way for the police to take the focus off of their inability to crack the case and shift the negative attention to the parents. That is why someone inside was leaking negative information about things they thought they found. Propaganda about it being Maddies fluid and DNA found in the boot of the car, etc when they had no abiltiy to test it.
Hi Seeker,
I wanted to respond to your post because I am seeing some statements that are fundamentally inaccurate, IMO.
First, "I agree with Rino that the PD should have focused on locating the child first and foremost."
The timeline follows:
10h50 pm - First call to GNR Lagos precinct (Guarda Nacional Republicana, rural police);
The first call to Police Precinct of GNR (Portuguese Rural Police) in Lagos, reporting a missing child and asking for Police help was made at 10.50pm and a patrol was sent, arriving at Ocean Club 12/15 minutes later, according to Lieutenant-Colonel Costa Cabral, Head of Public Relations of GNR (email:
cg.rep5@gnr.pt - Tel: (+351) 213 217 046).
11h00/11h05 pm - A GNR patrol arrives at Ocean Club (two men);
11h15/11h20 pm - GNR patrol calls CID in Portimão, reporting a possible kidnapping
11.30 pm "Paul Moyes, 58, from Middlewich, Cheshire, was among those who helped to look for the missing child: At 11.30pm there was a knock on the door and there was a distressed gentleman saying that a child had been abducted and could we help with the search. Everybody got involved.
http://tinyurl.com/2sw44o
11h30/11h40 pm - A CID team leaves from Portimão to Praia da Luz
11h40/11h50 pm - The CID team arrives at Ocean Club
When the call was made to CID headquarters, in Portimão (20 miles from Praia da Luz), there was only a stand-by night shift of two CID officers. It's normal, at this time of the year (May...). Population in Algarve multiplies by ten, during summer time. So, Police (GNR, rural police; PSP, urban Police, CID and other emergency services, like paramedics, firemen, etc, etc) is reinforced only 2 weeks before the beginning of summer. The two CID officers called other colleagues that were on a "medium" stand by (at home, but ready to be called in an emergency) and a 4 men team (2 CID inspectors, 1 photographer and 1 expert in collecting digital fingerprints) was sent to Ocean Club, arriving there between 11h40 and 11h50 pm.
http://tinyurl.com/2xfobd
Others say: 00.00 am/midnight, police arrive "The police arrived at around midnight and by that stage we were already out looking. There were uniformed police, plain clothes and even off duty local officers who joined in."
0.10 police start operation and call PSP, PJ, Border and Immigration Services and Faro Airport.
"First IMO there was no way to dispose of her body in the time it took for the police to arrive."
I have to disagree. I have seen
numerous theories that allow for the time and means to have accomplished this. Especially if you allow for the block of time between 5:30PM (Maddie picked up from the creche) and 8:30PM (the time the McCanns arrived at the Tapas bar).
"The family stayed for 4 months after the kidnapping and if they really were guilty then why not run back to England BEFORE being labeled suspects? It's not like they were being forced to stay there..."
One reason to stay in PDL would be to keep close tabs on the Police and their investigation. Plus, the McCanns said on a number of occasions that they would not return to England without Madeleine. They would look even worse if they then returned without her. They would also look pretty suspicious if they refused to be interviewed by the PJ.
"Then poof about 2 months later the police label them suspects because they don't have anything and can't find anything. IMO it's a way for the police to take the focus off of their inability to crack the case and shift the negative attention to the parents."
What about:
1. In the Ocean Club Apartment
a) cadaver odour was detected by the English dogs behind a couch in the living room, close to a window that leads to the apartments back area
b) blood (a very small amount) on that windows curtains; the curtains and the wall were washed
c) collected fingerprints belong only to the couple and their friends; there are no fingerprints from Robert Murat, the cases first arguido
d) searches with dogs in the other apartments of the same block at the resort did not yield these results, only the McCanns
The cadaver odour that was detected by the dogs indicates that the parents were with Madeleine after her death, and therefore must know what happened. This because, as they say, they were in the apartment until dinner time, at 8.30 p.m. It takes at least two hours for a corpse to release odours that can be detected by the dogs
2. In the Renault Scenic car (rented by the McCanns on May 27)
a) cadaver odour was detected by the dogs
b) a very reduced sample of human fluid, in the car boot. After being analysed in Birmingham, this fluid registered, according to the PJs director, Alipio Ribeiro, results that do not allow a 100% correspondence with Maddies genetic profile
c) hair that is compatible with Maddies genetic profile; there is doubt about whether they landed there by transference
3. In the Vista Mar villa (rented by the McCanns)
a) cadaver odour, detected by the dogs on clothes that belong to Kate, and on the pink soft toy
b) an English book, normally used by police, that focuses on the different types of crimes, as well as on what clues should be looked for to identify its perpetrators
c) a bible, on Kates bedside table, open at the Old Testament, at the passage that tells the death of King Davids son (God punished David with the death of his son, in order to force him away from sin and to return onto the path of good)
d) Kates diary, in which she writes about daily difficulties, in dealing with her children
The cadaver odor especially. The McCanns themselves acknowledged that the dogs alerted as noted. They tried to explain the dogs alerts as "used nappies, rotting meat, etc." They also acknowledged the DNA found and explained that by saying that Amelie used Maddie's sandals and they were sweaty and the sweat (or urine from the "used nappies) explained the DNA found. Kate explained the cadaver odor on cuddle cat and her jeans by saying that she had attended to 6 dead patients prior to her trip. Because the McCanns acknowledged the findings I do not think it can be referred to as propaganda.
The Portuguese Police have forensics labs in Lisbon that are very sophisticated. The tests could have been carried out there. However, because the PJ was working so closely with British LE they agreed to have the tests performed at the FSS, one of the finest labs in the world. The British have been directly involved in all aspects of the case and the subsequent investigations. The dogs were provided by the British. It appears to me that the PJ have done everything possible to avoid any kind of improprieties.
Finally, while it is true that Maddie could have been abducted even if her parents had been present, by leaving her alone, in an unlocked apartment, on the ground floor, next to a street, in a foreign country they certainly made it much easier for an "abductor", and by the way, there is absolutely
no evidence of an abductor in Apartment 5A on May 3rd.
...leaving toddlers alone is just asking for trouble ...well that's my opinion anyways.
I don't think they're guilty and nobody is going to change my mind unless they find that baby's body and can prove that one of the parents killed her.