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

[sadie]

That is the strangest comment I have seen in here. Someone thinks she may have seen an abductor but doesn't bother telling the frantic parents so as not to upset them. Good grief.

Jane Tanner was expecting the police at any moment.  As far as the Tapas group were concerned MO had alerted at 10.10 to reception ... to call the police.

She did the right thing waiting for the police to arrive rather than perhaps  unecessarily worrying the parents.  What could the parents do about it anyway if their child had been abducted ?

The reception or the police let them all down, with such a long wait.  Jane did exactly the right thing

[Silkywhiskers]

Jane Tanner was expecting the police at any moment.  As far as the Tapas group were concerned MO had alerted at 10.10 to reception ... to call the police.

She did the right thing waiting for the police to arrive rather than perhaps  unecessarily worrying the parents. What could the parents do about it anyway if their child had been abducted ?

The reception or the police let them all down, with such a long wait.  Jane did exactly the right thing

Ummm......SEARCH?????

 

[sadie]

Ummm......SEARCH?????

 

Search for an abducted child.  Are you real?

[John]

Jane Tanner was expecting the police at any moment.  As far as the Tapas group were concerned MO had alerted at 10.10 to reception ... to call the police.

She did the right thing waiting for the police to arrive rather than perhaps  unecessarily worrying the parents.  What could the parents do about it anyway if their child had been abducted ?

The reception or the police let them all down, with such a long wait.  Jane did exactly the right thing

Matthew was far too easily fobbed off!   He should have stood his ground and insisted the police were contacted instead of running all over PdL like a scalded cat.

[Benice]

Matthew was far too easily fobbed off!   He should have stood his ground and insisted the police were contacted instead of running all over PdL like a scalded cat.

In hindsight Matthew might well agree with you John - but no-one knows for sure how they will react to massive shock - they only think they do IMO.

[icabodcrane]

Jane Tanner was expecting the police at any moment.  As far as the Tapas group were concerned MO had alerted at 10.10 to reception ... to call the police.

She did the right thing waiting for the police to arrive rather than perhaps  unecessarily worrying the parents.  What could the parents do about it anyway if their child had been abducted ?

The reception or the police let them all down, with such a long wait.  Jane did exactly the right thing

"As far as the group were concerned MO had alerted at 10.10 to reception  ...  to call the police"

Why  were they  ?  ...  why  'as far as they were concerned'  was it  assumed  ''  that Matthew Olfield had arranged for reception to call the police at 10.10pm ? 

I mean he  (   Oldfield  )  KNEW  that reception had not called the police at that point  (  that is clear from his rogatory interview  ) 

Didn't he tell Gerry and Kate that  ? 

When he went back to to the apartment,   KNOWING   that the police had not been called,   didn't it occur to him to tell the McCanns that was the case  ?  ...  didn't it occur to him to say  "I asked them to ring the polce Gerry,  but they said we should make a thorough search before we do that" ?

He just went back and  'pretended'  that the police had been called,  did he  ? 

[Eleanor]

So much hindsight.  They didn't speak the language and they didn't know the system.  And I expect they thought that The Ocean Club were better able to deal with it, which they probably were.
Even The Police thought that Madeleine had wandered off, which was not an unusual assumption.  Kate might have known different but she was in no state to be coherent.
Personally, On reflection, I don't understand what the fuss is about.  It wasn't anyone's fault initially.

[pegasus]

Search for an abducted child.  Are you real?

It is understandable, but an error of logic, to assume that an open window and shutter mean abduction.

[icabodcrane]

So much hindsight.  They didn't speak the language and they didn't know the system.  And I expect they thought that The Ocean Club were better able to deal with it, which they probably were.
Even The Police thought that Madeleine had wandered off, which was not an unusual assumption.  Kate might have known different but she was in no state to be coherent.
Personally, On reflection, I don't understand what the fuss is about.  It wasn't anyone's fault initially.

Hindsight  ?

...  it wasn't  'hindsight'  ...   Matthew Oldfield  KNEW that the police hadn't been called  (  that is perfectly clear from his rogatory interview  ) 

Do you believe that he did not relay that to the McCanns when he went back to the apartment  ?

[Eleanor]

Hindsight  ?

...  it wasn't  'hindsight'  ...   Matthew Oldfield  KNEW that the police hadn't been called  (  that is perfectly clear from his rogatory interview  ) 

Do you believe that he did not relay that to the McCanns when he went back to the apartment  ?

I meant, wouldn't everyone do things differently given a second chance.  There are a lot of If Onlys in anyone's life.  But in hindsight I don't think it would have made a lot of difference in the light of what else happened.
But I can assure you that if any child ever disappears near me then I will be very much more on the ball  Won't we all.

[sadie]

It is understandable, but an error of logic, to assume that an open window and shutter mean abduction.

Kate and Gerry would know. 

They knew what Madeleine was capable of. 
They knew if she could have opened the window and the shutter
They would know if she would have dared to jump out into that black area behind the wall. 
They would see if the bed under the window was freshly made, or creased
They could see if there were any marks on the cill etc. 
They would know if she would even dream of leaving CCat.
They would know if she would waken the twins first


Also, had she taken the back way out
She had never gone out thru the window before. so as intelligent parents, they would find it unlikely that she would chose to go that way.   She had always used the patio door or the front door. 
According to statements IIRC, the bedroom window had never been tried and the shutters not raised, since they arrived  Please correct me if I am wrong.

They  would know if she was capable of sliding the patio door. 
They would know if she would close it again.
They would know if she would leave her comforter Ccact behind.
They would know if she was aware of where they were eating
They would know that she would have seen them the instant she left the actual indoor part to go onto the patio area.  There was a direct view of the group from there, just 50 metres away in a lit outdoor restaurant
THey would know that she had a bog voice and was not shy of using it.


So much that they would have known and probably more.  All stuff that we dont know.


Sure, they would have had a pretty good idea that she had been taken ... but they desperately  wouldn't want to believe it

[pegasus]

.. would know if she was capable of sliding the patio door ...

Photo of the sliding patio door of another apartment in same building (operator is younger)

[pegasus]

... would know if she would close it again....

Good point. It may be easy for a child standing inside to slide open the patio door, but it is more difficult for a child standing outside to slide it shut (no handle outside).

[pegasus]

How many inches was the door open?...

Good question. IMO the lounge patio door was probably left slided completely closed between checks. IMO this does not lock it (that can be done only from inside lounge).
To close or open from outside there is no handle but press against exterior frame/glass to get enough grip to slide it.

[icabodcrane]

Get your facts right J.Rob.  Matt ran to OC main reception as soon as they realised that Madeleine was not wandering around in the immediate vicinity.  IIRC he asked for the Police to be called by 10.15pm, but reception did not react properly.  Seems an official OC process had to be gone thru. before calling Police. 

When the Police, who were only the GNR, finally arrived.  Remember Madeleine was reported missing at 10.15 ish and the police were expected any second.  The Mccann Family were really let down by the late arrival of the GNR, who failed to arrive for approximately 50 minutes.  The first golden hour gone !

You are perpetuating  a myth 

The police did  NOT   "fail to arrive for 50 minutes"  ...  they were not contacted until 10.41pm,  and arrived at the scene less than 20 minutes later  (  phone records establish that fact without question  ) 

Here's the thing though

When Matthew Oldfield returned from reception  KNOWING  that the police had  NOT  been called  ( and  he makes it  perfectly  clear in his regotary statement that he was fully aware that the police had not been contacted at that point  )   did he tell the McCanns,  or not  ? 

Did he go back to the apartment and tell Kate and Gerry that the receptionist had advised they do a more thorough  search  before   contacting the police    ( and that he had accepted that advice  ) 

You'd think he would,  wouldn't you  ?  ...  you think he'd relay that information back to the McCanns wouldn't you  ?   

Or did Matthew Oldfield,   for some inexplicable reason,  decide not to mention that his request for the police to be called had been   rejected by the OC receptionist  ?