Witnesses are pretty unreliable.
In my opinion, the JT sighting was nothing more than a potential sighting - not a certain fact; it was not corroborated by other witnesses.
In addition, there is a question mark over whether the person in the alleged JT sighting could have broken into the apartment (raising the shutters without being heard by GMcC and JW), removed MBM from the apartment and navigated the car park in the time available after GMcC left the apartment and the time JT made the sighting.
A reconstruction would have helped clarify this point.
This does not mean the JT sighting should be ignored, but treating it as something more than a potential sighting to be eliminated could have prevented other sightings, such as the Smith sighting, being reported.
In my view, as soon as possible, there should have been a simple media appeal for any sighting of a child being carried in Luz around 9 to 11pm that evening.
That media appeal should have encouraged anyone who may have been carrying a child to come forward for elimination purposes.
In my view an impression that the JT sighting was, in fact, the abductor was to be avoided, because it may have discouraged people coming forward for elimination purposes and/or reporting sightings.
AIMHO
A prize winning dog about the size of a three year old child is reported missing from a ground floor apartment. A man is seen walking briskly away from the scene carrying a bundle.
The dog owner returns to find the dog missing and the window open. Think about it ... also think about the documented reluctance of the Policia Judiciaria to release any information at all ... not even that which might have assisted the investigation in finding Madeleine.
Praia da Luz was a hive of media activity after Madeleine's disappearance ... I believe Hugo Beaty's featured as a busy hub for journalists. It is only recently that I discovered that Hugo Beaty's is situated in the Estrela da Luz holiday complex where the Smith family were holidaying in their apartment.
Your suggestion that "... as soon as possible, there should have been a simple media appeal for any sighting of a child being carried in Luz around 9 to 11pm that evening." might very well have had an effect on jogging their memory of that event just a little bit sooner.
It has to be remembered that Jane Tanner reported her sighting to the police at the earliest opportunity ... and it is easy to make the assumption as I did, that the Smiths did likewise ... they did not.
Their sighting was not reported until a fortnight after the event.
Had the police alerted the public, along the lines you suggest, by holding a press conference asking for information I think it possible the Smiths would have responded, but as we are continually reminded, that is not how the PJ operates.
Your post has illustrated an occasion when that 'Judicial Secrecy' was a definite obstacle to finding Madeleine.
