Amaral and the dogs

[Mr Gray]

I haven't read it either. What people forget is that it was proposing his hypothesis. The work done by the PJ was procedure; searching, investigating sightings etc. Obviously policemen have thoughts or suspicions about what happened, but they still have to investigate all possibilities.

Amaral did not propose any hypothesis...he stated categorically that Maddie died in the apartmnet

[ferryman]

according to Harrisons  Maddie was murdered......do you think he was referring to her parents....

Amaral misunderstood the dog's alerts...simple...no lies. Furthermore having heard what Grime has said re the dog's he has not retracted his statement

Not quite right, and the distinction is crucial.

Harrison was handed a brief by the PJ to investigate that Madeleine was murdered and did so.

Harrison himself never formed any firm conclusion about what happened to Madeleine.

[Mr Gray]

Not quite right, and the distinction is crucial.

Harrison was handed a brief by the PJ to investigate that Madeleine was murdered and did so.

Harrison himself never formed any firm conclusion about what happened to Madeleine.

Thank you

[ferryman]

Interesting theory. What I find incredulous is the notion that he stashed the body, called the world's media and then picked the body up a few weeks later and took it to another location, because this is what it would involve. Would take some balls and how would you know the body was hidden well enough for all that time whilst huge searches were taking place? I imagine there are many ways to conceal a body effectively such as weighing it down with stones and submerging in water and retrieving later. I've often felt quite suspicious of Amaral's involvement tbh concerning the dogs and his history... we are all guessing here though imo and one day perhaps we find out the truth. That's my main area of interest here to see this puzzle finally solved. Don't really care who did it as whoever did deserves to be punished. I think the McCanns should be given the benefit of the doubt given the information at hand otherwise of course they would be charged... and without the dog alerts there would be not much to debate imo.

Very fair post.

[mercury]

No, of course it wouldn't.

But it did shape the advice that he gave to the PJ ...

I disagree. British experts would have given the same advice to anyone. Search the last place a child was seen, any suspects and famly residences and surroundng areas with as many resources as they are able to. After three months British police wold have turned it into a murder enquiry long time before anyway.

[Alfred R Jones]

Interesting theory. What I find incredulous is the notion that he stashed the body, called the world's media and then picked the body up a few weeks later and took it to another location, because this is what it would involve. Would take some balls and how would you know the body was hidden well enough for all that time whilst huge searches were taking place? I imagine there are many ways to conceal a body effectively such as weighing it down with stones and submerging in water and retrieving later. I've often felt quite suspicious of Amaral's involvement tbh concerning the dogs and his history... we are all guessing here though imo and one day perhaps we find out the truth. That's my main area of interest here to see this puzzle finally solved. Don't really care who did it as whoever did deserves to be punished. I think the McCanns should be given the benefit of the doubt given the information at hand otherwise of course they would be charged... and without the dog alerts there would be not much to debate imo.

[Mr Gray]

I disagree. British experts would have given the same advice to anyone. Search the last place a child was seen, any suspects and famly residences and surroundng areas with as many resources as they are able to. After three months British police wold have turned it into a murder enquiry long time before anyway.

I think most would agree with all that...and a murder enquiry rules out amaral's conclusions

[ferryman]

I disagree. British experts would have given the same advice to anyone. Search the last place a child was seen, any suspects and famly residences and surroundng areas with as many resources as they are able to. After three months British police wold have turned it into a murder enquiry long time before anyway.

This is the terms of reference that heads up each of Harrison's 3 reports:

Terms of reference to provide assistance to the Portuguese Judicial Police.

1. Assist the Judicial Police and GNR in assessing new or previous areas searched and give opinion on the best methods and assets to provide assurance as to the absence or presence of M McCann's concealed remains.
2. Act as a "critical friend" to the officer in charge of search planning and management and offer immediate and enduring peer review until case resolution or search suspension.
3. Assist in the development of framework models such as scenario based searching to aid homicide disposal searching.
4. Consider further opportunities or areas for search in order to locate M McCann as applicable to the latest intelligence and inform tion provided.
5. Where appropriate, provide independent and impartial advice on the enabling and disabling factors of specialist resources available either within Portugal or elsewhere in body detection.
6. To assist in decision support where requested by testing and challenging claims made by persons offering unorthodox search methods or devices to aid locating M McCann.
7. Where appropriate and requested, assist in advising on procedures to procure any non Portuguese specialist assets that are deemed to be relevant and useful.

[mercury]

I don't see anything odd at all there Ferryman. But if you do, that's your opinion. (Which you're not making particularly clear). My orignal post stands. Mark Harrison's description of what the dog alerts could mean was very clear. He made no mention whatsoever about them possibly meanng "everday" normal substances you would find in any home.

But since we seem to be going round and round the Mulberry Bush, I shall leave it there.

[Mr Gray]

This is the terms of reference that heads up each of Harrison's 3 reports:

Terms of reference to provide assistance to the Portuguese Judicial Police.

1. Assist the Judicial Police and GNR in assessing new or previous areas searched and give opinion on the best methods and assets to provide assurance as to the absence or presence of M McCann's concealed remains.
2. Act as a "critical friend" to the officer in charge of search planning and management and offer immediate and enduring peer review until case resolution or search suspension.
3. Assist in the development of framework models such as scenario based searching to aid homicide disposal searching.
4. Consider further opportunities or areas for search in order to locate M McCann as applicable to the latest intelligence and inform tion provided.
5. Where appropriate, provide independent and impartial advice on the enabling and disabling factors of specialist resources available either within Portugal or elsewhere in body detection.
6. To assist in decision support where requested by testing and challenging claims made by persons offering unorthodox search methods or devices to aid locating M McCann.
7. Where appropriate and requested, assist in advising on procedures to procure any non Portuguese specialist assets that are deemed to be relevant and useful.

eddie was brought in to find concealed remains....

[ferryman]

Harrison expressed his own opinion in the penultimate sentence and paragraph of his final report:

I am currently of the opinion on the available information and statistical datasets that if death has occurred, that it is possible that Madeleine McCann’s body has been disposed into the sea at Praia da Luz. (See my second report entitled “NPIA OP TASK Search Doc Beach and Marine”).

Undecided, I think it would be fair to say ...

[mercury]

eddie was brought in to find concealed remains....

You got that right, almost. What it actually means is, well, what it says, absence or presence of (concealed) remains

[G-Unit]

Amaral did not propose any hypothesis...he stated categorically that Maddie died in the apartmnet

That was his conclusion, he thought he had proved his hypothesis using the evidence.

[Mr Gray]

That was his conclusion, he thought he had proved his hypothesis using the evidence.

I see you now say he thought he had proved.....so you accept he was wrong.....he proved nothing

[Brietta]

Interesting theory. What I find incredulous is the notion that he stashed the body, called the world's media and then picked the body up a few weeks later and took it to another location, because this is what it would involve. Would take some balls and how would you know the body was hidden well enough for all that time whilst huge searches were taking place? I imagine there are many ways to conceal a body effectively such as weighing it down with stones and submerging in water and retrieving later. I've often felt quite suspicious of Amaral's involvement tbh concerning the dogs and his history... we are all guessing here though imo and one day perhaps we find out the truth. That's my main area of interest here to see this puzzle finally solved. Don't really care who did it as whoever did deserves to be punished. I think the McCanns should be given the benefit of the doubt given the information at hand otherwise of course they would be charged... and without the dog alerts there would be not much to debate imo.

The notion of a stranger having the capability to stash a body well enough for searchers who knew the area well, professionals, their dogs and scavengers not to come across is a highly unlikely one.

I think Mr Amaral knew that the dogs proved nothing … which led to his haste to have the Drs McCann declared arguidos just a couple of days before the change in the law which would have required that proof was presented to allow such a step.
He was gambling all that one of them, preferably Dr Kate McCann would crack and confess.