Why not report the abduction at the Tapas Bar rather than Main Reception?

[icabodcrane]

Really ?

It  just doesn't sit right with me somehow

An English speaking ex-pat who can  understand the urgency of the situation offers to call the police  ...  surely the response would be be  "oh yes please, would you ?  we'd be very grateful"

I mean the more people contacting the police to make tham aware of just how urgent the matter was,  the better  ...  wouldn't you say ?

Rather than telling the lady upstairs that the police had already been called once,  and that was enough

If I was watching a video of the conversation I would be able to comment further.

As we have only the briefest intimations of what the whole conversation was like I have no idea whether statement by Gerry is the key to the cracking the entire disappearance or not.  I don't know in what tone it was said. Was there an inference in the way it was said that perhaps even though the call had been made then Mrs. Fenn was welcome to try herself or was it utterly dismissive?

I am afraid I have said this before tonight and will repeat it now. I am simply not interested in the kind of speculation you are hinting at here.  People can push as hard as they like but I will stick to facts.

I make of this precisely what I know. That is that Mrs. Fenn asked if she should call and Gerry said the Police had been called.

Anything further is guesswork.

I will leave you to the guessing while I stick to the facts.

Well,  here is something you don't  have  to 'speculate' on because it is fact

The next morning, before Gerry and Kate McCann had even set foot in Portimao police station,  the British press were carrying stories about the  'lack of urgency'  by  Portuguese police  ...  the same Portuguese police that Gerry had told Mrs Fenn not  to bother  calling

[gilet]

Really ?

It  just doesn't sit right with me somehow

An English speaking ex-pat who can  understand the urgency of the situation offers to call the police  ...  surely the response would be be  "oh yes please, would you ?  we'd be very grateful"

I mean the more people contacting the police to make tham aware of just how urgent the matter was,  the better  ...  wouldn't you say ?

Rather than telling the lady upstairs that the police had already been called once,  and that was enough

If I was watching a video of the conversation I would be able to comment further.

As we have only the briefest intimations of what the whole conversation was like I have no idea whether statement by Gerry is the key to the cracking the entire disappearance or not.  I don't know in what tone it was said. Was there an inference in the way it was said that perhaps even though the call had been made then Mrs. Fenn was welcome to try herself or was it utterly dismissive?

I am afraid I have said this before tonight and will repeat it now. I am simply not interested in the kind of speculation you are hinting at here.  People can push as hard as they like but I will stick to facts.

I make of this precisely what I know. That is that Mrs. Fenn asked if she should call and Gerry said the Police had been called.

Anything further is guesswork.

I will leave you to the guessing while I stick to the facts.

Well,  here is something you don't  have  to 'speculate' on because it is fact

The next morning, before Gerry and Kate McCann had even set foot in Portimao police station,  the British press were carrying stories about the  'lack of urgency'  by  Portuguese police  ...  the same Portuguese police that Gerry had told Mrs Fenn not  to bother  calling

Why are you now lying?

Gerry, as far as I am aware never told her NOT TO CALL THE POLICE. He simply indicated that they had already been called.

[icabodcrane]

Really ?

It  just doesn't sit right with me somehow

An English speaking ex-pat who can  understand the urgency of the situation offers to call the police  ...  surely the response would be be  "oh yes please, would you ?  we'd be very grateful"

I mean the more people contacting the police to make tham aware of just how urgent the matter was,  the better  ...  wouldn't you say ?

Rather than telling the lady upstairs that the police had already been called once,  and that was enough

If I was watching a video of the conversation I would be able to comment further.

As we have only the briefest intimations of what the whole conversation was like I have no idea whether statement by Gerry is the key to the cracking the entire disappearance or not.  I don't know in what tone it was said. Was there an inference in the way it was said that perhaps even though the call had been made then Mrs. Fenn was welcome to try herself or was it utterly dismissive?

I am afraid I have said this before tonight and will repeat it now. I am simply not interested in the kind of speculation you are hinting at here.  People can push as hard as they like but I will stick to facts.

I make of this precisely what I know. That is that Mrs. Fenn asked if she should call and Gerry said the Police had been called.

Anything further is guesswork.

I will leave you to the guessing while I stick to the facts.

Well,  here is something you don't  have  to 'speculate' on because it is fact

The next morning, before Gerry and Kate McCann had even set foot in Portimao police station,  the British press were carrying stories about the  'lack of urgency'  by  Portuguese police  ...  the same Portuguese police that Gerry had told Mrs Fenn not  to bother  calling

Why are you now lying?

Gerry, as far as I am aware never told her NOT TO CALL THE POLICE. He simply indicated that they had already been called.

Gerry McCann was offered the use of Mrs Fenn's phone to contact the police 

He refused the offer

That is the truth

[registrar]

Really ?

It  just doesn't sit right with me somehow

An English speaking ex-pat who can  understand the urgency of the situation offers to call the police  ...  surely the response would be be  "oh yes please, would you ?  we'd be very grateful"

I mean the more people contacting the police to make tham aware of just how urgent the matter was,  the better  ...  wouldn't you say ?

Rather than telling the lady upstairs that the police had already been called once,  and that was enough

If I was watching a video of the conversation I would be able to comment further.

As we have only the briefest intimations of what the whole conversation was like I have no idea whether statement by Gerry is the key to the cracking the entire disappearance or not.  I don't know in what tone it was said. Was there an inference in the way it was said that perhaps even though the call had been made then Mrs. Fenn was welcome to try herself or was it utterly dismissive?

I am afraid I have said this before tonight and will repeat it now. I am simply not interested in the kind of speculation you are hinting at here.  People can push as hard as they like but I will stick to facts.

I make of this precisely what I know. That is that Mrs. Fenn asked if she should call and Gerry said the Police had been called.

Anything further is guesswork.

I will leave you to the guessing while I stick to the facts.

Well,  here is something you don't  have  to 'speculate' on because it is fact

The next morning, before Gerry and Kate McCann had even set foot in Portimao police station,  the British press were carrying stories about the  'lack of urgency'  by  Portuguese police  ...  the same Portuguese police that Gerry had told Mrs Fenn not  to bother  calling

Why are you now lying?

Gerry, as far as I am aware never told her NOT TO CALL THE POLICE. He simply indicated that they had already been called.

Gerry McCann was offered the use of Mrs Fenn's phone to contact the police 

He refused the offer

That is the truth

Now that's a bit of news

which has totally escaped this poster

share more please

[icabodcrane]

Now that's a bit of news

which has totally escaped this poster

share more please

Mrs Fenn's police statement 20 August 2007

At that moment she offered Gerry help, saying he could use her phone to call the authorities, to which he replied that this had already been done. It was just after 22.30

[Admin]

Kate writes in her book that their friends were running too and fro to the tapas bar pleading with the staff to telephone the police and this was in addition to the requests made to the main reception.

[registrar]

Mrs Fenn's police statement 20 August 2007

At that moment she offered Gerry help, saying he could use her phone to call the authorities, to which he replied that this had already been done. It was just after 22.30

Thanks icabodcrane

now you prompted my memory, that is how I recall this too

Suppose (and no disrespect intended) Mrs. Fenn, of advanced age would not have assumed that virtually anyone in 2007 would be in the possession of a mobile phone? (And we know by the various pings/blips/clicks etc that the McCann party DID have mobile phones and used them extensively that night) - as did Murat and Malinka

Triangulation's your uncle.

And thus Mrs. Fenn may have offered the use of her landline phone

Plausible (and making the lady even more likeable)

[Admin]

Off topic waffle removed.  This is NOT the Mark Warner appreciation thread. 

[gilet]

Mrs Fenn's police statement 20 August 2007

At that moment she offered Gerry help, saying he could use her phone to call the authorities, to which he replied that this had already been done. It was just after 22.30

So - did Gerry say "Thanks for the offer but the police have just been called"

OR

"No, I refuse your kind offer" ?


Which is most likely in your view?

The former.

[Mrs. B]

So, it's very clear then, Gerry McCann declined Mrs. Fenn's offer to call the police from her phone as he was convinced that it already had been done.

[amaraltheofficeboy]

So, it's very clear then, Gerry McCann declined Mrs. Fenn's offer to call the police from her phone as he was convinced that it already had been done.

as he said in his reply

doh

[AnneGuedes]

Mrs Fenn seems to have thought that English wasn't a problem. As a resident she likely knew that anglophones were answered in English, as in all touristic parts of the planet. We'll never know whether she was aware of the European Emergency Nb..
In the Paraiso of PDL, I asked some information to a waiter in Portuguese, he was puzzled, I repeated and he answered.. in English !

[Mrs. B]

That's not the case at all afaik, & also, if you already think police has been called, there is no need to call them again, unless you feel that too much time has passed & you need to make a second call to remind them.

[gilet]

Mrs Fenn seems to have thought that English wasn't a problem. As a resident she likely knew that anglophones were answered in English, as in all touristic parts of the planet. We'll never know whether she was aware of the European Emergency Nb..
In the Paraiso of PDL, I asked some information to a waiter in Portuguese, he was puzzled, I repeated and he answered.. in English !

Are you on another planet?

Are you seriously suggesting that English speakers are invariably answered in English wherever they are and whoever they are speaking to.

I have previously offered statistical evidence that people do not know of the European emergency number even when resident in Europe, never mind as tourists.

And in your anecdote about the waiter having to have something repeated to him, you offer a perfect explanation as to why the McCanns would absolutely choose to go to Reception where they could be assured that the person they dealt with spoke English. If the waiter had to have your request repeated to him, the McCanns would be aware having dined their that this was a possibility and would avoid the need for such time wasting. Imagine how difficult explaining that your child has gone missing would be. Have some empathy with these people and realise that English speakers gravitate to English speakers especially if they know their language skills are not great.

[Eleanor]

No official phone numbers here are ever answered in English.  You have to wait while they find someone, often without success.