So what actual searching was there?

[Lace]

Your post is predictable.

Real parents would have searched

Quote - REAL parents would have searched unquote.

They searched the area,  they searched the apartment,  they searched around the apartment,  they searched the routes that they had taken with Madeleine that holiday.

It was a foreign country not their local neighbourhood.

They did what NORMAL parents would have done,  they waited for the police to arrive.

All this 'they didn't search'  is ridiculous,   they didn't know the area,  they only knew where they had been that week,  they searched everywhere they had been that week.

[Lace]

The police advised the public searching for April Jones that they should stop searching for her.   They didn't want anyone to come upon April,  the police are trained for this.

Apart from the trauma of finding a dead child,   they need to keep the area free from contamination,   they don't want people tramping around the site where the body is found.

Notice they advised the PUBLIC not to search,  they didn't want them to find April let alone the parents.  The parents were not in the search parties.

[pathfinder73]

I don't agree that the police would find anything suspicious in the parents of any missing child going out looking for their daughter at any time during the hours immediately after her disappearance.   Whether it was dark or light would have no relevance imo.

You don't live in the real world then when they were all alone and former suspects in this case.

[Benice]

The best way of making a difference was to be seen in and around the area on a regular basis garnering support from those locals on the ground who know the area and might be able to provide help. Regular meetings with the local police encouraging them in the official search would also have gone a long way to helping the search. This would have become the norm instead of the side show we get every time they new show their faces.

And speaking of Portuguese, have either parent made any attempt to become adequate in the language given they are so intelligent and all?  As Madeleine disappeared in Portugal I would have thought learning the language would be a no brainer??


Depends what you mean by searching.  I don't think the odd visit to the local church counts somehow.

Perhaps as a mod you should remember to make it clear it is only your opinion you are expressing and not facts.

I ask again - how could they speak to any members of the public about this case without breaking the secrecy laws?

You can have no idea what Kate did on her numerous visits to PdL.  How do you know that she didn't search?   Please back up your claim that she only made a few odd visits to church during those visits.

They may well have picked up a smattering of Portuguese - as I presume Kerry Needham may well have picked up a bit of Greek along the way during the last 23 years.      To suggest that learning the language is imperative -  as if it's something which can be done in an afternoon almost - is preposterous IMO.     And so is the idea that they they should decide to have regular meetings with the PJ to 'encourage' them in the official search.    Apart from the fact that they would have no power to arrange that -  how insulting to the police to suggest they even needed encouragement in the first place - to do their job.

AIMHO

[Benice]

You don't live in the real world then when they were all alone and former suspects in this case.

No - I just don't live in conspiracy land.

Neither do I dissect every word spoken in this case.  Kate said it was light when they went out to search.  It was dawn - and probably not completely light when they left and still a bit murky -  but not completely dark.   So what?

Anyone who thinks she should have gone into precise detail and given chapter and verse on the EXACT level of light which existed when they went out to search at dawn is taking nitpicking to a whole new level IMO.

[pathfinder73]

No - I just don't live in conspiracy land.

Neither do I dissect every word spoken in this case.  Kate said it was light when they went out to search.  It was dawn - and probably not completely light when they left and still a bit murky -  but not completely dark.   So what?

Anyone who thinks she should have gone into precise detail and given chapter and verse on the EXACT level of light which existed when they went out to search at dawn is taking nitpicking to a whole new level IMO.

So what? They said they were alone. Nobody else was out searching at the time. If you think police trust people who don't answer their questions then you're in for a rude awakening.

[faithlilly]

I'm not sure I understand the criticism of the parents here. A 3 year old had been missing all night & there was not a single officer left on the scene to liaise with?

Not true as Kate makes clear in her book. A police officer I believe also saw Kate and Gerry 'searching' at dawn.

[Benice]

So what? They said they were alone. Nobody else was out searching at the time. If you think police trust people who don't answer their questions then you're in for a rude awakening.

What questions didn't they answer regarding their own dawn search?

They were alone during their own search as they saw no-one else searching - probably because everyone else who had been searching had long since gone home to bed.      Kate was not claiming  no-one else searched  -she was describing how she felt at that particular time (when they saw no-one else searching for the whole time they were out)  - which was completely alone and in despair.

[faithlilly]

Quote - REAL parents would have searched unquote.

They searched the area,  they searched the apartment,  they searched around the apartment,  they searched the routes that they had taken with Madeleine that holiday.

It was a foreign country not their local neighbourhood.

They did what NORMAL parents would have done,  they waited for the police to arrive.

All this 'they didn't search'  is ridiculous,   they didn't know the area,  they only knew where they had been that week,  they searched everywhere they had been that week.

Why didn't they search in the direction of Tanner's sighting ?

[G-Unit]

What questions didn't they answer regarding their own dawn search?

They were alone during their own search as they saw no-one else searching - probably because everyone else who had been searching had long since gone home to bed.      Kate was not claiming  no-one else searched  -she was describing how she felt at that particular time (when they saw no-one else searching for the whole time they were out)  - which was completely alone and in despair.

I assume they searched between 6am and 7am or thereabouts. At the same time, Kate's phone was very busy, mostly texting. The last time her phone was used previous to this was 4.55am;

6.02.08 am Mum mob calls Kate (0 seconds) SMS

6.04.11 am Kate calls Mum mob (0 seconds) SMS

6.05.29 am Kate calls Amanda home (7.02 minutes)

6.08.17 am Jon Corner calls Kate (0 seconds) SMS

6.18.17 am Kate calls Jon Corner (0 seconds) SMS

6.34.53 am ... calls Kate (0 seconds) SMS

6.35.23 am Kate calls ... (0 seconds) SMS

6.39.38 am Kate calls Jon Corner (0 seconds) SMS

6.47.42 am Jon Corner calls Kate (0 seconds) SMS

6.47.54 am Jon Corner calls Kate (0 seconds) SMS

6.48.05 am Jon Corner calls Kate (0 seconds) SMS

6.59.12 am Jon Corner calls Kate (0 seconds) SMS

6.59.44 am Kate calls Jon Corner (0 seconds) SMS

07.00 am GNR Officer P. J. F. N. saw the McCann couple at about 07.00 alone in the street next to the site where they were stationed.

7.06.06 am Sue and Brian Healy call Gerry (01 seconds) SMS

7.09.04 am John McCann calls Gerry (3.26 minutes)

7.15.19 am Gerry calls Angela Morado UK Consulate (4.51 minutes)

7.23.20 am ... calls Gerry (5.53 minutes)

7.41.14 am Jill mob calls Kate (3.30 minutes)

[ShiningInLuz]

The McCanns had both the Ocean Club and the Mark Warner managers at their disposal who were both very familiar with the police regime in the area.  It's not as if they were helpless and alone with no one to turn to.

Mark Warner bought the Ocean Club before Madeleine disappeared.  See second statement of George Robin Crossland.  That fact, IMO, is key in the disappearance.

The McCanns had been told the PJ would turn up again around 9.  (Book?).  If that is accurate, asking for an update when it appears the bods in charge are not working on the case makes little sense.

I, personally, would not have been nipping off to Portimão on the off-chance.

However, I would have been knocking on doors in the direction taken by Tannerman.  Jez got a very early morning call to see if he could verify Tanner, and I'd have been out in the East trying to find out if anyone else had seen a man + child.

As it happens, I would also have ensured the sniffer dogs deployed that night searched east of 5A re Tannerman/Madeleine.  There is nothing in the files to suggest this happened.

[ShiningInLuz]

...

I ask again - how could they speak to any members of the public about this case without breaking the secrecy laws?

...

I'm in Portugal and I can discuss this case with anyone I choose - that is my right.  The McCanns were in the same position until they were made arguidos.

What I cannot do, unfortunately, is investigate, as that is illegal.  Which is a great shame, as asking a few simple questions here are there would progress the case faster than SY seems to be doing.

[ferryman]

I'm in Portugal and I can discuss this case with anyone I choose - that is my right. The McCanns were in the same position until they were made arguidos.

What I cannot do, unfortunately, is investigate, as that is illegal.  Which is a great shame, as asking a few simple questions here are there would progress the case faster than SY seems to be doing.

What I underline is not true.

The investigation was under judicial secrecy from the point the PJ were convinced Madeleine was the victim of crime (unknown). 

[stephen25000]

Quote - REAL parents would have searched unquote.

They searched the area,  they searched the apartment,  they searched around the apartment,  they searched the routes that they had taken with Madeleine that holiday.

It was a foreign country not their local neighbourhood.

They did what NORMAL parents would have done,  they waited for the police to arrive.

All this 'they didn't search'  is ridiculous,   they didn't know the area,  they only knew where they had been that week,  they searched everywhere they had been that week.

Good parents would never have placed their children in such a situation in the first place.

Next, their physical searching was minimal.

[Lace]

Why didn't they search in the direction of Tanner's sighting ?

Didn't anyone look along that road?

it would have done no good knocking on doors as if someone who had Madeleine would say 'yes I have her'.

When Kerry Needham knocked on doors looking for Ben,  because of the language barrier they slammed the door in her face because they didn't know what she wanted.