So what actual searching was there?

[pegasus]

(snip) ...p.s. the sofa wouldn't be up against the wall if the child was there.

Yes it is a straightback sofa therefore certainly IMO no-one was behind it when PJ arrived.
But before PJ arrived why did someone push it back all the way to the wall?

[pegasus]

There was another very different case in the news today of incomplete search, and of a volume far smaller than an apartment, luckily child was ok. What I see in the apartment PJ photos are many places not fully searched.

[Alfred R Jones]

The two key words in that quote are "a bit" therefore
Sofa position at time of apparent disappearance = small gap between it and wall probably just enough for curtains to open and close..
Sofa position when PJ arrive = completely against wall, zero gap, trapping curtains.
Therefore someone moved the sofa during the panicked search of the apartment.
But who?

How do you know the position of the sofa at the time Madeleine disappeared?

[pegasus]

How do you know the position of the sofa at the time Madeleine disappeared?

Because after the playing cards went behind it it was moved back "a bit" (see statement 7 Sept 2007)
Not "all the way against the wall".
The statement says it was moved back "a bit".
Therefore during the dinner that evening, the sofa was still a little away from the wall.
Probably about 6 inches IMO - just enough gap to allow the curtains to be opened and closed.

[pegasus]

Another thing - in a panicked search - yes open a cupboard door - that makes sense - but why shut it again?

[Brietta]

Another thing - in a panicked search - yes open a cupboard door - that makes sense - but why shut it again?

Why not?

[pegasus]

Why not?

Shutting a door is a waste of time which does nothing to help the urgent search Brietta
"... fling a cupboard open and just have a look and just shut the door and in a vain desperate hope that she might have been in the wardrobe ..."

[pathfinder73]

Tell that to Gerry.

I remember going into Kate and Gerry's err bedroom with Gerry and he'd perhaps you know fling a cupboard open and just have a look and, ah you know and just shut the door and you know in a vein, desperate hope that she might have been err you know in, in the wardrobe or something, and then he, you know flung him, flung himself on the floor and just you know kicking the floor and just with, you know, she's gone, she's gone, err and then as I say, I, I, after that I can't really say exactly, you know. We kept meeting up at stages in the evening to, to try and appraise the situation and you know what shall we do, err.' (DP)

Eddie's first alert was in that bedroom.

[misty]

One of the 2 GNR officers first at the scene

http://www.mccannfiles.com/id258.html

Pages 3281 - 3284

 

Witness Statement

 

José María Batista Roque

 

Date: 17 – 10 - 2007
"snipped"
Then, while his colleague remained in the hall, and the others were in the living room, the witness went through the entire apartment. He opened all the cupboards in the bedrooms, living room and kitchen and checked under the beds and inside the washing machine. He did not see the fridge.

 

During the search he did not find anything strange apart from the bedclothes on Madeleine's bed, which were too tidy, it appeared that she had been picked up from or had left the bed with great care. There was a mark on the sheet that appeared to be made by a child's body.

[Alfred R Jones]

Because after the playing cards went behind it it was moved back "a bit" (see statement 7 Sept 2007)
Not "all the way against the wall".
The statement says it was moved back "a bit".
Therefore during the dinner that evening, the sofa was still a little away from the wall.
Probably about 6 inches IMO - just enough gap to allow the curtains to be opened and closed.

playing cards?

[Brietta]

Shutting a door is a waste of time which does nothing to help the urgent search Brietta
"... fling a cupboard open and just have a look and just shut the door and in a vain desperate hope that she might have been in the wardrobe ..."

In a confined space it is sensible to close a cupboard door which opens outwards and which has been opened to allow the interior to be searched.

Imo it would only be appropriate to leave a door open if preserving a crime scene.

[Benice]

One of the 2 GNR officers first at the scene

http://www.mccannfiles.com/id258.html

Pages 3281 - 3284

 

Witness Statement

 

José María Batista Roque

 

Date: 17 – 10 - 2007

"snipped"
Then, while his colleague remained in the hall, and the others were in the living room, the witness went through the entire apartment. He opened all the cupboards in the bedrooms, living room and kitchen and checked under the beds and inside the washing machine. He did not see the fridge.

 

During the search he did not find anything strange apart from the bedclothes on Madeleine's bed, which were too tidy, it appeared that she had been picked up from or had left the bed with great care. There was a mark on the sheet that appeared to be made by a child's body.

Is that date correct? 

From memory so I could be wrong, but didn't two GNR officers give statements that were virtually word for word the same?

How could that happen?

[Lace]

Because after the playing cards went behind it it was moved back "a bit" (see statement 7 Sept 2007)
Not "all the way against the wall".
The statement says it was moved back "a bit".
Therefore during the dinner that evening, the sofa was still a little away from the wall.
Probably about 6 inches IMO - just enough gap to allow the curtains to be opened and closed.

In my opinion not even room for a child to fall behind the sofa.

[G-Unit]

Tell that to Gerry.

I remember going into Kate and Gerry's err bedroom with Gerry and he'd perhaps you know fling a cupboard open and just have a look and, ah you know and just shut the door and you know in a vein, desperate hope that she might have been err you know in, in the wardrobe or something, and then he, you know flung him, flung himself on the floor and just you know kicking the floor and just with, you know, she's gone, she's gone, err and then as I say, I, I, after that I can't really say exactly, you know. We kept meeting up at stages in the evening to, to try and appraise the situation and you know what shall we do, err.' (DP)

Eddie's first alert was in that bedroom.

The parents said they knew immediately that Madeleine had been abducted. Nevertheless umpteen people searched the flat. Gerald seemed fixated on that wardrobe for some reason. Did Madeleine have a habit of hiding in her parent's wardrobes, I wonder?

[misty]

The parents said they knew immediately that Madeleine had been abducted. Nevertheless umpteen people searched the flat. Gerald seemed fixated on that wardrobe for some reason. Did Madeleine have a habit of hiding in her parent's wardrobes, I wonder?

A wardrobe is a common place for a child to hide in, as any parent who  plays "hide & seek" with their child would know.