A child abducted yet nobody thought to phone the police immediately?

[sadie]

At 2242 (first radio call) the patrol are in Odiaxere.
At 2251 (second radio call) the patrol is already passing through Valverde (outskirts of PDL).
They responded fast.
Snappy and excellent I would call it.
They drove 12km in a quarter the time it took some foreign peeps to not pull a mobile out their pocket.

Sorry to disagree again, but I measure 9 KM not 12 KM Odiaxere to Valverde in 9 minutes.

I also thought that I read that Matt had gone about 5 to 10 minutes after the alarm was raised.  Lets be generous to you and say 9 minutes.  So they drove 9 Km (approx 5.6 miles) in the time that it took Matt to raise the alarm at the Reception?   

That's pretty fair, imo. for Matt. 

Not a quarter of the time tho, Pegasus, but the same time unless i have made a big  mistake.


The GNR averaged over 60mph 60kph; which equates to about 37 mph despite there being lots of islands to negotiate.  That is fairly good even on a quiet N 125 which was mainly dual cariageway


Pity OC were so late apparantly informing the police.


ETA:  amended to correct speed, which I had made an error on.

[Anna]

Yes Dianne first then Fiona from their statements.

"However, she states that KATE had repeatedly commented that, on arriving at the bedroom, she had found the the window of the room, with its shutter, both open. Yet, she [DW] did not notice, while at the entrance to the room, if the window was or was not open.
- However, she wants to stress that immediately afterwards, she went outside the apartment in order to ascertain whether she would be able to raise the shutters by hand from the outside, and found it was impossible for her. (DW)

"And by that point Kate was already saying that the, what she'd found when she'd gone back, which was that the, she'd found the window open and the shutter open and she was convinced at that point that somebody had taken, taken Madeleine and that's what she was telling me and I was like 'They can't have done. I've already said earlier the shutters were very heavy.
I didn't actually open the shutter in that room, we went, I went to the front of the house and I was trying to lift the shutter at the, at the back, just to prove whether, you know, whether it could have been opened and whether Madeleine could have opened it from the inside'.

00.50.31
 1485
 'And''
 
 Reply
 'I mean, it was fairly obviously, I think, that that wasn't what had happened and what could have happened'(FP)

Gerry tried the shutters too.

Volume IV, pages 891-903

Witness statement of Gerald Patrick McCann, on the 10th of May 2007, at 3.20 p.m.
Location: CID Portimão

      The deponent ran into the apartment accompanied by the rest of the group who, at the time, were seated at the table. When he arrived at the bedroom he first noticed that the door was completely open, the window was also open to one side, the shutters almost fully raised, the curtains drawn back, MADELEINE's bed was empty but the twins continued sleeping in their cots. He clarifies that according to what KATE told him, that was the scenario that she found when she entered the apartment.

Then he closed the shutters, made his way to the outside and tried to open them, which he managed to do, much to his surprise given that he thought that that was only possible from the inside. They continued with searches outside, around the various apartment blocks, the deponent having asked MATHEW to go to the secondary reception in order to communicate the fact to the local police, since he had no doubt that his daughter had been abducted. He refutes, peremptorily, the possibility that MADELEINE could have left the apartment by her own means.
http://themaddiecasefiles.com/post524.html#p524

[pegasus]

Sorry to disagree again, but I measure 9 KM not 12 KM Odiaxere to Valverde in 9 minutes.

I also thought that I read that Matt had gone about 5 to 10 minutes after the alarm was raised.  Lets be generous to you and say 9 minutes.  So they drove 9 Km (approx 5.6 miles) in the time that it took Matt to raise the alarm at the Reception?   

That's pretty fair, imo. for Matt. 

Not a quarter of the time tho, Pegasus, but the same time unless i have made a big  mistake.


The GNR averaged over 60mph despite there being lots of islands to negotiate.  That is pretty good even on a quiet N 125 which was mainly dual cariageway


Pity OC were so late apparantly informing the police.

The GNR patrol did the 12km from Odiaxere to PDL (OC reception on Rua Direita) in 10 minutes or less.
Average speed 72km/h (45 mph) or more.
After the alarm at 2200 there was about 40 minutes while no-one called the police, followed by a very speedy 10 minute response by the GNR.

[pegasus]

IIRC the first GNR patrol checked the shutters too (I think this is from one of the documentaries not the files, sorry don't have link)

[Brietta]

IIRC the first GNR patrol checked the shutters too (I think this is from one of the documentaries not the files, sorry don't have link)

I can find no specific reference that the GNR officers physically checked the shutters; I think it possible that they correctly thought an observation without contact was appropriate; although there is no doubt that they searched the house and the outer areas in an effort to find the missing child.

They have been castigated for being 'careless' in their search of the apartment, opening cupboards etc. and perhaps destroying evidence in the process but imo the Portimao forensic team managed to do that without the assistance of the GNR.

I think the proof that they checked the back area lies in the unfortunate print left on one of the patio doors.

                                              \\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\

When questioned about the windows in the bedroom, he only remembers that the window in the girl's bedroom was closed with the blind raised up the space of the width of a hand. He does not remember the existence of curtains. The father indicated, through the translator, alleging that when the disappearance was discovered, the windows and blinds were open.
José María Batista Roque
 Date: 17 – 10 – 2007

When questioned about the bedroom windows, he only remembers that blinds of the window of the girl’s bedroom were not totally closed. He does not remember about the existence of curtains or whether the window itself was closed.
Nelson Filipe Pacheco da Costa
Date/Time: 2007/05/07 18H45

When questioned he replies that he remembers that the blinds of the window of the child’s room were open, but inclined (the lower part, at about a hand’s width). He does not remember if the window was open or what the state of the curtains was.
Antonio Henrique da Conceição Duarte
Date: 2007/05/16
 

[pegasus]

@brietta I think I heard that the first GNR patrol "checked the shutters", in an interview with a staff member in one of the documentary videos maybe panorama or dispatches or cuttingedge I will try to find it again.

[Luz]

The GNR patrol did the 12km from Odiaxere to PDL (OC reception on Rua Direita) in 10 minutes or less.
Average speed 72km/h (45 mph) or more.
After the alarm at 2200 there was about 40 minutes while no-one called the police, followed by a very speedy 10 minute response by the GNR.

You get a call in the GNR dispatch at 22:41 (length?), you check which team is closer, you call them and they arrive at 23:15.

Not so bad is it?

[John]

You get a call in the GNR dispatch at 22:41 (length?), you check which team is closer, you call them and they arrive at 23:15.

Not so bad is it?

If only someone, anyone, had phoned 112 ...IMMEDIATELY!

[Benice]

If only someone, anyone, had phoned 112 ...IMMEDIATELY!

IIRC it was after around 5/10 mins that Gerry asked for the police to be called.   As far as he and the others knew that had been done at reception.   As it turns out it would appear that may not have been the case.

IMO it would not be a normal reaction to call the police IMMEDIATELY.   If your child disappeared from view in a supermarket, do you immediately whip out your mobile and dial 999 or do you run around looking for your child first?    It would only be when your child was not found that the police would be called - and it is absolutely credible IMO that that could be 5 or 10 mins after your child disappeared. 

As someone who has travelled abroad several times, I had no idea that 112 was the emergency no. to ring -  until I read it on this forum.

[Brietta]

If only someone, anyone, had phoned 112 ...IMMEDIATELY!

Just as a matter of interest, what would have happened to an International Emergency Call made by an English speaker in Portugal.

Do the operatives have (English\German\Dutch\ Russian\ Finnish\ Japanese etc.) translators immediately to hand to deal with the emergency?

In an emergency situation abroad ... if there was no-one with a command of English present I would dial 112 ... however were there a National who speaks English present, I would ask them to do so on my behalf ... particularly if that was a holiday complex or an hotel.

I have now learned that it would be advisable to stand over that person and ensure that the phone call was made as soon as requested ... no-one could have foreseen that Reception would fail to make a call to the police about a missing child as soon as it was reported.

[John]

Just as a matter of interest, what would have happened to an International Emergency Call made by an English speaker in Portugal.

Do the operatives have (English\German\Dutch\ Russian\ Finnish\ Japanese etc.) translators immediately to hand to deal with the emergency?

In an emergency situation abroad ... if there was no-one with a command of English present I would dial 112 ... however were there a National who speaks English present, I would ask them to do so on my behalf ... particularly if that was a holiday complex or an hotel.

I have now learned that it would be advisable to stand over that person and ensure that the phone call was made as soon as requested ... no-one could have foreseen that Reception would fail to make a call to the police about a missing child as soon as it was reported.

The emergency control room can call on help from a variety of agencies if they are experiencing translation difficulties.  As English was the most common foreign language on the Algarve there would not have been any difficulty.  In any event, several staff offered to phone the police but were politely told it wasn't necessary.

I do agree about main reception, they were quite pathetic in the circumstances.

[Brietta]

The emergency control room can call on help from a variety of agencies if they are experiencing translation difficulties.  As English was the most common foreign language on the Algarve there would not have been any difficulty.  In any event, several staff offered to phone the police but were politely told it wasn't necessary.

I do agree about main reception, they were quite pathetic in the circumstances.

I believe offers were declined because it was thought the emergency call had already been made.

[DCI]

Sylvia Baptista was called at 10.30pm by Robin Crossland. I find it really odd how much she was involved in all this.
Seems like she was Head of maintenance, key holder, detective, translator and in on all the searches by Grime.

What police force would have a woman off the streets working on a police case, like this?  &%&£(+

[pegasus]

Sylvia Baptista was called at 10.30pm by Robin Crossland. I find it really odd how much she was involved in all this.
Seems like she was Head of maintenance, key holder, detective, translator and in on all the searches by Grime.

What police force would have a woman off the streets working on a police case, like this?  &%&£(+

She was not present when Eddie searched Casa Liliana, nor when Eddie searched Casa Vista Do Mar.
She was present only at those searches for which she provided the keys.
Also remember 5A 5B 5D 5H and 4G were possibly all occupied by other tourists on the day Eddie searched them, and their possesions were in those apartments. So she was probably involved in notifying and co-ordinating with those (up to five) tourist families and minimising the disruption to them.
 

[Benice]

Sylvia Baptista was called at 10.30pm by Robin Crossland. I find it really odd how much she was involved in all this.
Seems like she was Head of maintenance, key holder, detective, translator and in on all the searches by Grime.

What police force would have a woman off the streets working on a police case, like this?  &%&£(+

I've always thought that was odd.  As a keyholder -   I can understand her going along to open doors - but IIRC she was also allowed to go into the apartments during the search.    Why?

This is the lady who also claimed to have seen Robert Murat on the 3rd - but failed to turn up at the 'confrontation meeting which was later arranged.    AFAIK no reason was ever given.

She has always been a bit of an 'enigma' to me.