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

[Wonderfulspam]

seems a lot of people on here are experts on how to behave when you fear your child has been kidnapped...the astonishing thing is that you all think there is a certain way to behave and anyone who does not comply with your mindset is suspect...astonishing

Rewriting history dave?

They didn't 'fear ' she'd been kidnapped, they knew , according to them.

'I knew straight away she'd err been taken y'know'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lhACS6ck-Dw

'They've taken her'

[Anna]

so Fiona, I think, asked me to go and phone the Police, so I actually went down the route to where she would have gone for Nursery drop off, which his back to the, to the main reception essentially, so I went down that route looking for her at that time and I asked the reception to phone the Police, and that must have been about five past, it's difficult to know what time it was at that time, but maybe about ten past ten, five past ten, ten past ten'.
Quite quick then?

Reply 'Yeah, sort of pretty much, you know, straight away, erm, I think it was only, but then it was a kind of, it was surreal when you got there, I said, you've got to phone the Police, you know, a child's been taken, and they went, oh no, she's probably just sort of woken up and he thought she's probably sort of wandered off or something like that and you thought, yeah, maybe you're right, maybe you're right, erm, can you please, it was sort of, it was kind of, it was sort a weird kind of lack of urgency, you know, he'd ring, but you had to sort and stand there and say, ring now, ring now, so I don't know if they rang at that point, but certainly, erm, you know, I certainly asked them to, about perhaps sort of maybe about ten past ten maybe
http://mccannpjfiles.co.uk/PJ/MATTHEW-OLDFIELD-ROGATORY.htm

[stephen25000]

so Fiona, I think, asked me to go and phone the Police, so I actually went down the route to where she would have gone for Nursery drop off, which his back to the, to the main reception essentially, so I went down that route looking for her at that time and I asked the reception to phone the Police, and that must have been about five past, it's difficult to know what time it was at that time, but maybe about ten past ten, five past ten, ten past ten'.
Quite quick then?

Reply 'Yeah, sort of pretty much, you know, straight away, erm, I think it was only, but then it was a kind of, it was surreal when you got there, I said, you've got to phone the Police, you know, a child's been taken, and they went, oh no, she's probably just sort of woken up and he thought she's probably sort of wandered off or something like that and you thought, yeah, maybe you're right, maybe you're right, erm, can you please, it was sort of, it was kind of, it was sort a weird kind of lack of urgency, you know, he'd ring, but you had to sort and stand there and say, ring now, ring now, so I don't know if they rang at that point, but certainly, erm, you know, I certainly asked them to, about perhaps sort of maybe about ten past ten maybe
http://mccannpjfiles.co.uk/PJ/MATTHEW-OLDFIELD-ROGATORY.htm

..and what time do the reception staff state this happened ???

[John]

It is not the sort of task I would have delegated unless I were physically incapable of doing it myself as I would wish to ensure it had been done properly. Should it have been essential to delegate I would made good and sure it had been executed properly whether I had delegated to Einstein or Forrest Gump. That is the way I work and I find it astonishing that anyone should think it is abnormal to ensure an important delegated task has been completed satisfactorily.

What I fail to comprehend is that rather than telephone the police directly on 112, a number that every single Portuguese member of staff knew, it was deemed efficient to send Matt on the long jog to the main reception.  If Madeleine was gone and the window open then why piss about?  You phone 112 immediately and let a native speaker talk to the police.

In a real abduction it is those first minutes which are crucial.

[John]

so Fiona, I think, asked me to go and phone the Police, so I actually went down the route to where she would have gone for Nursery drop off, which his back to the, to the main reception essentially, so I went down that route looking for her at that time and I asked the reception to phone the Police, and that must have been about five past, it's difficult to know what time it was at that time, but maybe about ten past ten, five past ten, ten past ten'.
Quite quick then?

Reply 'Yeah, sort of pretty much, you know, straight away, erm, I think it was only, but then it was a kind of, it was surreal when you got there, I said, you've got to phone the Police, you know, a child's been taken, and they went, oh no, she's probably just sort of woken up and he thought she's probably sort of wandered off or something like that and you thought, yeah, maybe you're right, maybe you're right, erm, can you please, it was sort of, it was kind of, it was sort a weird kind of lack of urgency, you know, he'd ring, but you had to sort and stand there and say, ring now, ring now, so I don't know if they rang at that point, but certainly, erm, you know, I certainly asked them to, about perhaps sort of maybe about ten past ten maybe
http://mccannpjfiles.co.uk/PJ/MATTHEW-OLDFIELD-ROGATORY.htm

So it wasn't even the parents who sent Matt to reception, this just gets dafter by the minute.

[Miss Taken Identity]

So it wasn't even the parents who sent Matt to reception, this just gets dafter by the minute.

Oh indeed and ...

what about this section "Reply 'Yeah, sort of pretty much, you know, straight away, erm, I think it was only, but then it was a kind of, it was surreal when you got there, I said, you've got to phone the Police, you know,"

Doctors? Articulate? educated? It could make your eyes bleed!

[Benice]

So it wasn't even the parents who sent Matt to reception, this just gets dafter by the minute.

Not necessarily.     Gerry and Fiona could both have asked him to go.   It was pretty chaotic in those first 5/10 minutes with people running around everywhere.   

[Miss Taken Identity]

Running around in a 'crime scene'?...Hmmm Yes, about that, If they KNEW she was 'taken' why run around at all? why not phone the police straight away?

They all went to the apartment? no one thought 'we better phone the police'?  sheesh right!

[Benice]

Oh indeed and ...

what about this section "Reply 'Yeah, sort of pretty much, you know, straight away, erm, I think it was only, but then it was a kind of, it was surreal when you got there, I said, you've got to phone the Police, you know,"

Doctors? Articulate? educated? It could make your eyes bleed!

People do talk like that.    He was not making a speech.   That is how the unrehearsed spoken word looks when it's put into writing.    If he had been perfectly precise with no hesitations etc then no doubt folk would be saying it was obviously learned and rehearsed beforehand,

[Benice]

Running around in a 'crime scene'?...Hmmm Yes, about that, If they KNEW she was 'taken' why run around at all? why not phone the police straight away?

They all went to the apartment? no one thought 'we better phone the police'?  sheesh right!

It wasn't a crime scene until it was established that Madeleine was neither there nor in the immediate vicinity. How could they establish that without looking?     They all behaved like normal people who were suddenly and without any warning catapulted into massive shock.     Why anyone would expect them to immediately  morph into policemen is a mystery to me.

On the other hand the policemen who then  trampled round the crime scene and allowed others to do the same should have known better.

[Brietta]

What I fail to comprehend is that rather than telephone the police directly on 112, a number that every single Portuguese member of staff knew, it was deemed efficient to send Matt on the long jog to the main reception.  If Madeleine was gone and the window open then why piss about?  You phone 112 immediately and let a native speaker talk to the police.

In a real abduction it is those first minutes which are crucial.

I am unable to give an informed opinion as to how I think parents who discover their child is missing from her bed should react; and I will be eternally grateful never to have been in a similar situation either at home or abroad to qualify me to do so.

I can only imagine, and I don’t really want to.

With benefit of hindsight there are many things we would all do completely differently; but although taking a different approach who could be confident the outcome would be altered. 

The police could not have arrived any sooner than they did because they had been called out, some might think conveniently, to another case.

[sadie]

What I fail to comprehend is that rather than telephone the police directly on 112, a number that every single Portuguese member of staff knew, it was deemed efficient to send Matt on the long jog to the main reception.  If Madeleine was gone and the window open then why piss about?  You phone 112 immediately and let a native speaker talk to the police.

In a real abduction it is those first minutes which are crucial.

We have gone through all this this before John.

Few people have travelled to Europe and PT as often as we have, unless they have properties out there.

Most people have no idea what the number of the police is.

My hubby is extremely well travelled and a very clever man, representing his country at senior Professional level, ...... but neither he nor I knew the number for the Police.


Even if they perchance knew the number, they didn't speak PT.


Anyone who frequents hotels knows that in emergency one contacts Reception.

Reception speak both languages fluently , have local knowledge and are there to help the guest in emergency.  That is their job.


In an earlier thread, Gilet worked out exactly how far 5A was away from OC main reception  and IIRC it was less than 270 metres.  For a fit man it could be covered in well under a minute .... and he could be looking on the way there.

[Benice]

I am unable to give an informed opinion as to how I think parents who discover their child is missing from her bed should react; and I will be eternally grateful never to have been in a similar situation either at home or abroad to qualify me to do so.

I can only imagine, and I don’t really want to.

With benefit of hindsight there are many things we would all do completely differently; but although taking a different approach who could be confident the outcome would be altered. 

The police could not have arrived any sooner than they did because they had been called out, some might think conveniently, to another case.

 In the past one or two posters have related how they felt when their child went missing - from a few seconds - to a few minutes - before they were reunited.   IIRC they were all terrified out of their minds.    I too am eternally grateful that I have never experienced that terror .     When my son aged 7 fell and broke his arm and I first saw how misshapen his little arm was - I didn't run to help him - or run for help -  I simply fainted on the spot.

People only think they know how they would react to severe shock.

And yes - hindsight is a wonderful thing.

[Miss Taken Identity]

It wasn't a crime scene until it was established that Madeleine was neither there nor in the immediate vicinity. How could they establish that without looking?     They all behaved like normal people who were suddenly and without any warning catapulted into massive shock.     Why anyone would expect them to immediately  morph into policemen is a mystery to me.

On the other hand the policemen who then  trampled round the crime scene and allowed others to do the same should have known better.

Ok  this is where the Team Mcs get into Murky waters.  Kate said she knew immediately that Maddie was taken!  now she has repeated that several times over in interviews on TV.

 She also left the two children alone while she RAN to tell the others Maddie was taken

They knew therefore, they knew it was a crime scene!! They are doctors who work with forensic material/patients in contaminated areas in hospitals for a living, what do you think they forgot in their training? about contamination? and what about a conversation like "  we will go get the twins you go to reception and get police"- was there no waiters or multilingual staff in that Restaurant?  What is it about this scenario that you think is not the responsibility of Middle class Educated Doctors!

People do talk like that.    He was not making a speech.   That is how the unrehearsed spoken word looks when it's put into writing.    If he had been perfectly precise with no hesitations etc then no doubt folk would be saying it was obviously learned and rehearsed beforehand,

People talk about war memories of friends and comrades who dies over 50 years ago- they give clear details of what happened...these articulate doctors can barely remember anything or much about anything the day Maddie disappeared on the day (grabbing Maddies colouring book to collaborate stories) Or  what happened a few months after she disappeared!

Ppft!

[Mr Gray]

Ok  this is where the Team Mcs get into Murky waters.  Kate said she knew immediately that Maddie was taken!  now she has repeated that several times over in interviews on TV.

 She also left the two children alone while she RAN to tell the others Maddie was taken

They knew therefore, they knew it was a crime scene!! They are doctors who work with forensic material/patients in contaminated areas in hospitals for a living, what do you think they forgot in their training? about contamination? and what about a conversation like "  we will go get the twins you go to reception and get police"- was there no waiters or multilingual staff in that Restaurant?  What is it about this scenario that you think is not the responsibility of Middle class Educated Doctors!
 
People talk about war memories of friends and comrades who dies over 50 years ago- they give clear details of what happened...these articulate doctors can barely remember anything or much about anything the day Maddie disappeared on the day (grabbing Maddies colouring book to collaborate stories) Or  what happened a few months after she disappeared!

Ppft!

I think you have nailed that vital piece of evidence that will bring the mccanns to court