Amaral and the dogs

[Alfred R Jones]

Thanks Anna - and we have Amaral concluding in his Book of Lies:

5. The body, the existence  of which has been confirmed by the EVRD and CSI dogs but also by the results of the preliminary laboratory analyses, cannot be found.

The only part of the above statement that resembles reality is "The body...cannot be found".  The rest is mendacious hogwash.  And yet we have members of this forum who think this book is so wonderfully factual that it must be disseminated far and wide, the same people who complain bitterly about the accuracy of the Summers and Swan book!

[Brietta]

Do you have evidence that such algal blooms occurred in early May 2007? Or is it mere speculation on your part?
I love the quote "I read about it somewhere maybe the paper or forums". That is a stunner.

There is no evidence to the contrary ... just as there is no evidence of semen or urine contamination ... then if you don't look for something you won't find it, which probably could well be applied to Madeleine McCann.

[Alice Purjorick]

There is no evidence to the contrary ... just as there is no evidence of semen or urine contamination ... then if you don't look for something you won't find it, which probably could well be applied to Madeleine McCann.

I was only asking about the algal bloom. So you postulation is it must be there if there no evidence to suggest  it isn't there.
But blooms that are large enough to cause problems can be seen. So by extension if you can't see it it must be there.
I think I understand that.

[Alice Purjorick]

Interesting piece from an expert:-


Sept. 18 2007 6:11 PM

Can you trust a cadaver dog if there's no cadaver?


The parents of Madeleine McCann, the 4-year-old British girl who went missing in Portugal in May, were officially named suspects http://www.nbcnews.com/id/20637334/#.VVFW1pVFDIU
on Sept. 7 by Portuguese police. The change came after developments in the case, including sniffer dogs detecting the "smell of death" on Madeleine's Cuddle Cat toy and her mother's clothes. They did not, however, find a body.

 Can you trust a cadaver dog if there's no cadaver?

Torie Bosch is the editor of Future Tense, a project of Slate, the New America Foundation, and Arizona State that looks at the implications of new technologies. ……………………………….......................................................................
 

Not really—especially if a lot of time has elapsed since the body was removed from the scene. Cadaver dogs can find the remains of people who have been dead for years or even decades. But it's much harder for the dogs if the bulk of the remains are gone. In that case, they can pick up the scent from small amounts of body tissue, like a blood stain or nail clippings, or even from materials that came into contact with the tissue. But in the absence of an actual body, the smell of death will dissipate. There's speculation that Madeleine died on the night her parents reported her disappearance—which would mean that she passed away four months ago. It's not clear if a detectable scent could linger on her mother's clothes for all that time.

Researchers are trying to determine how long the scent lingers when the body is no longer present, but there are no conclusive results yet—it may be two weeks, or it may be longer. One former Scotland Yard dog handler talking about the McCann case hypothesized that the scent wouldn't last more than a month.

The dogs couldn't necessarily prove anything even if Madeleine's body had been in recent contact with her mother's clothes. Since they didn't turn up any actual remains, investigators had to rely on the "smell of death" itself, an odor that stems from the decomposition process. Without a body, they can't be certain that the animals didn't make a mistake. Cadaver dogs do mess up from time to time: The McCanns have sought out attorneys who convinced a judge in Wisconsin that certain dogs were accurate just 22 percent to 38 percent of the time. (The prosecution claimed a success rate of 60 percent to 69 percent.)

Cadaver dogs learn to spot the "smell of death" and find its source during the training process, which involves exposing them to either actual human remains—blood, teeth, bones—or pseudoscent, an artificial substance that re-creates the death odor. (One chemical company markets several pseudoscent formulas for training cadaver dogs—recently dead, post-decomposition, and drowning victim.) The dogs also learn to differentiate human remains from animal remains.

A dog's utility depends on the skill of its handler. Identifying false signals is an important part of working with a cadaver dog, and results should be backed up with forensic testing. When a dog gives a signal, such as barking or sitting down, to indicate that it has smelled a corpse, a handler can only say something along the lines of, "My dog is giving an indication consistent with human blood." He can't say definitively that, yes, a body was present, without further confirmation—in the form of a blood stain, for example.
………………………………..........................................................

Got a question about today's news? Ask the Explainer.

Explainer thanks Maria Claxton of the South Carolina Search and Rescue Dog Association, Larry Myers of the Auburn University College of Veterinary Medicine, and Andrew Rebmann of K9 Specialty Search Associates.
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2007/09/scent_of_a_dead_woman.html

It is interesting they quote Andy Rebmann as a source. He is an acknowledged expert along with Dr Deb Komar who worked with RCMP and Matthew Zarella who worked with the US Military in 2002 locating MIA's in Vietnam.
http://cadaverdog.com/Associates.html
[cf Rebmann & Zarella]

[mercury]

What might Eddie have alerted to; there is quite a choice.

Putrefaction of animal tissue produces cadaverine ~ it is present in urine and semen.

Cadaverine is related to putrescine both of which are produced by the breakdown of amino acids in living and dead organisms.
Cadaverine and putrescine are toxic in large doses.

Both cadaverine and putrecine are found in some microalgae found in fresh water and sea water.

It would appear that despite the coast of Portugal being on the Atlantic, Praia da Luz is not immune to the invasion of algae which is unsurprising when one considers the preponderance of green lichen on window cills.

For certain Eddie's nose would twitch if someone had discarding wet clothing, flip flops,towels which had been in contact with micralgae which had leached into grouting in the corner of a room.


Sea bathing banned at Praia da Luz
 Posted: Sun Sep 25, 2011 10:08 pm
I popped over to PdL this afternoon and found that there was a notice by the beach banning swimming in the sea with a reference to a Water Quality directive.

I was wondering if anybody knew any details.


Re: Sea bathing banned at Praia da Luz
 Posted: Mon Sep 26, 2011 12:34 am
Has it got something to do with this algae thats been found in the sea which is supposedly a danger to people, I read about it somewhere, maybe paper or forums.
Just found the link to it algarvedailynews.com/n...rous-algae

http://www.expatfocus.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=31721/

Don't you find it a bad coincidence (at the very least) that urine,semen or algae infected flip flops (now that's a first) were left in the only residence out of many inspected,  the one where a child went missing from?

[Anna]

Do you not find it also to be a coincidence, Mercury, that No blood traces (old or new) were found anywhere else either.
In all the years that this holiday complex has stood there...............No-one bled in that block except for 5A, where we know that several holiday makers bled?

[Anna]

It is interesting they quote Andy Rebmann as a source. He is an acknowledged expert along with Dr Deb Komar who worked with RCMP and Matthew Zarella who worked with the US Military in 2002 locating MIA's in Vietnam.
http://cadaverdog.com/Associates.html
[cf Rebmann & Zarella]

Thank you Alice, I will have a read of that, when I have more time.

[mercury]

Do you not find it also to be a coincidence, Mercury, that No blood traces (old or new) were found anywhere else either.
In all the years that this holiday complex has stood there...............No-one bled in that block except for 5A, where we know that several holiday makers bled?

No one can say that no one ever bled in any apartments ever since the hoiday complex was there. Blood can be cleaned away entirely.

The reason no blood was detected (if remnants were there) in the inspected apartments is because the blood dog was not sent in.

P.S. Who are the "several" holidaymakers who bled in 5A? And was their DNA matched to the samples collected? From the area the blood dog had signalled to?

[Anna]

No one can say that no one ever bled in any apartments ever since the hoiday complex was there. Blood can be cleaned away entirely.

The reason no blood was detected (even if remnants were there) in the inspected apartments is because the blood dog was not sent in.

P.S. Who are the "several" holidaymakers who bled in 5A? And was their DNA matched to the samples collected? From the area the blood dog had signalled to?

Eddie alerts to blood and apparently no amount of cleaning will remove the scent.

There is a thread that lists all the holidaymakers who bled in 5A. I will have a look and post a link.
I believe the DNA was checked ,but the samples taken from 5a were too small, coming from several people or inconclusive.
One DNA check from 5A was a semen stain on a bedcover, which turned out to belong to a 2 year old child(saliva)


ETA link
http://miscarriageofjustice.co/index.php?topic=3582.msg136981;topicseen#msg136981
You will have to wade through the posts I'm afraid.

[mercury]

Eddie alerts to blood and apparently no amount of cleaning will remove the scent.

There is a thread that lists all the holidaymakers who bled in 5A. I will have a look and post a link.
I believe the DNA was checked ,but the samples taken from 5a were too small, coming from several people or inconclusive.
One DNA check from 5A was a semen stain on a bedcover, which turned out to belong to a 2 year old child(saliva)

Sorry, but what is the point of using Keela then?

Thanks, look forward to reading said thread.

Not sure what point you are making regarding saliva stains.

[Anna]

Sorry, but what is the point of using Keela then?

Thanks, look forward to reading said thread.

Not sure what point you are making regarding saliva stains.

Keela only detects blood, therefore she is used for backup of Eddies alerts. If she alerts to the area that Eddie alerted to, then it must be blood.

Why I mentioned the saliva? probably just to show that the other holiday makers were checked for DNA and That was the only match.

[pegasus]

Don't you find it a bad coincidence (at the very least) that urine,semen or algae infected flip flops (now that's a first) were left in the only residence out of many inspected,  the one where a child went missing from?

Being surrounded by a lakeful of algae had no effect on this dog -
Working from a boat on a lake, cadaver dog Duke accurately located a body 15 feet underwater.
http://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2014/07/31/rescuers-searching-drowning-victim-lake-julian/13430441/

[mercury]

Keela only detects blood, therefore she is used for backup of Eddies alerts. If she alerts to the area that Eddie alerted to, then it must be blood.

Why I mentioned the saliva? probably just to show that the other holiday makers were checked for DNA and That was the only match.

Well Keela wasn't used as back up in any of the other apartments or villas inspected, as Eddie didn't alert at all, for either blood or cadaver scent.

Ok, thanks for explaining vis a vis saliva. IIRC police screened bedclothing, found a substance, and checked for DNA matches. That is nothing to do with "several" people who alledgedly bled in the apartment, leading the dogs to alert. I have read the FSS Lowe report, there is no reference in it to any previous holidaymakers, their blood, or DNA. (Except for the child whose saliva was DNA matched)

[mercury]

Being surrounded by a lakeful of algae had no effect on this dog -
Working from a boat on a lake, cadaver dog Duke accurately located a body 15 feet underwater.
http://www.citizen-times.com/story/news/local/2014/07/31/rescuers-searching-drowning-victim-lake-julian/13430441/

I am sure there must be an explanation for that anomaly

 

Thanks Pegasus.

[Alfred R Jones]

Well Keela wasn't used as back up in any of the other apartments or villas inspected, as Eddie didn't alert at all, for either blood or cadaver scent.

Ok, thanks for explaining vis a vis saliva. IIRC police screened bedclothing, found a substance, and checked for DNA matches. That is nothing to do with "several" people who alledgedly bled in the apartment, leading the dogs to alert. I have read the FSS Lowe report, there is no reference in it to any previous holidaymakers, their blood, or DNA. (Except for the child whose saliva was DNA matched)

Exactly, so back to the original question - don't you find it odd that there were no traces of blood anywhere at all except on McCann-related property?