Woe is me that an obvious starting point was passed over.
It goes without saying that if movements in PdL had been given more focus and the beginnings of a trail had been established, the need for looking simultaneously in a hundred different directions would have been obviated.
Giving a long list of places where sightings were looked into makes it seem on the face of it that much work was being done.
In reality, it was because of the dearth of leads from source that so many diverse options had to be visited.
A waste of precious resources and precious time - and a situation that remains today.
Are you sure that another police would have arbitrarily ignored the sightings ?
Do you work for the police ?
Are you sure that another police force would have found normal the way Tannerman was carrying the child, exposing it to the cold wind ?
Are you sure that, finding it normal, they would have checked all fathers of the creche, neglecting resident fathers in PDL don't use the creche ?
Is it normal in the places you've been living in to see a warmly dressed father carry a child in pyjamas and barefoot, in 13°C with wind, chatting with a friend, half a mile ?
In Portugal even poor people use a blanket.
Ms Tanner knew, hence her feeling of guilt, that it was not normal, that a father would hardly do that.
At least Smithman had the little girl against him, warming her.