After 3 years and several million £'s - is the investigation going anywhere?

[Lyall]

The comment which someone made that the case has gone cold and consequently may never be solved is very true.  The only chance the police had of solving this case occurred in the hours after Madeleine disappeared and we all know by now why that never happened.

Whoever took Madeleine knew that the police would not be able to react instantly.  I still believe the robbery in Odiáxere was a diversion intended simply to keep the only GNR patrol as far away from Praia da Luz as possible.

Definitely straying into Michael Shrimpton territory there.

Even James Murray never printed that one.

[John]

I'd wondered about that possibility as well.

It seems all too convenient wasn't it that the only GNR patrol were way out in the sticks n the edge if their patrol area.   It would be interesting to know if anything came of that inquiry or was it a hoax.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Thank you for starting this thread, John.

I have always understood that it is a given that SY are working on old material and leads that in all probability have gone cold. The chances of coming up with something new after all these years is there, but it is small.

Icabod and I were discussing the matter last night and I still stand by my thoughts then, namely as summarised below (quoted post):

But icabod, hasn't this always been one of the shadows hanging over the investigation of Scotland Yard, namely
the fact that much of their work is predicated on old material, which may or may not be completely accurate and may not have been followed though to completion at the time?

Surely it has been a distinct possibility from the get -go that the SY investigation might never bear fruit,  if none of the old leads go anywhere, and new ones are not generated?

The base information SY have to work with is only as good as the PJ left it. And if there were things that the PJ didn't follow up, resulting in possible leads gone cold, there's not much that can be done about that now.

I'm not saying that the PJ did not in general follow up leads properly, or that SY can use the fact that their work is heavily reliant on that of the PJ as an excuse for not getting anywhere.

But the fact remains that if there happened to be any leads not properly pursued by the PJ, for whatever reason,  this could have forever stymied progress in the case.

We knew this when we (the British taxpayer) signed what has become a blank cheque - and we signed it anyway.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Without the need for criticising Portuguese authorities or the PJ, it is also a fact that PdL was a small sleepy town, and therefore the police response in terms of resources and talented staff would be much less strong than it would be in a metropolitan area with a force used to dealing with serious crime.

Icabod did not like my suggestion that people deliberately commit crime in small places in the expectation of the legal follow-up being less rigorous.

I am not sure if I am 100% correct on this, John - perhaps you have a better idea.

Nonetheless, it would certainly be the case that a small police force would be stretched in dealing with a burglary and a disappearance at the same time - whether this incident you mention was a deliberate distraction or not.

[jassi]

Without the need for criticising Portuguese authorities or the PJ, it is also a fact that PdL was a small sleepy town, and therefore the police response in terms of resources and talented staff would be much less strong than it would be in a metropolitan area with a force used to dealing with serious crime.

Icabod did not like my suggestion that people deliberately commit crime in small places in the expectation that the legal follow-up to be less rigorous.

I am not sure if I am 100% correct on this, John - perhaps you have a better idea.

Nonetheless, it would certainly be the case that a small police force would be stretched in dealing with a burglary and a disappearance at the same time - whether this incident you mention was a deliberate distraction or not.

Certainly an interesting point.  I'm sure that police response in some parts of America or rural Britain would be equally stretched, at least initially, as were the Portuguese.
Perhaps someone knowledgeable will be able to tell us if the 'diversionary' call was in fact genuine.

[Sherlock Holmes]

Certainly an interesting point.  I'm sure that police response in some parts of America or rural Britain would be equally stretched, at least initially, as were the Portuguese.
Perhaps someone knowledgeable will be able to tell us if the 'diversionary' call was in fact genuine.

I have definitely read a great number of articles here in America - though this is completely anecdotal I admit - where this point is made by journalists. It is a talking point, for what that's worth. Police forces in sleepy small town America are not operating like the NYPD, nor employing officers of that calibre ('scuse pun).

There have been several high-profile cases where someone is kidnapped or murdered, the perpetrator having come from a larger town to a smaller place to carry it out.

[VIXTE]

After 3 years and several million £'s - is the investigation going anywhere?

Isn't this quote from Carol Everett, the psychic. of few years ago,, the same Carol Everett who said in May 2007 the suspects were the OC workers, she drew their photos and said they were laundry workers :))

[Carana]

Oh no...  not more psychics.

There were loads of people who should have been checked out further... I do accept that it was a race against time to try to interview tourists who had planes to catch, and that can't have been easy to organise at short notice. However, there was more time to interview the T9 (which they did), then - working out - OC workers and local residents in more depth, but that doesn't seem to have happened. Alleged sightings all over the world probably didn't help either, but that was liaison work via Interpol.

[colombosstogey]

The comment which someone made that the case has gone cold and consequently may never be solved is very true.  The only chance the police had of solving this case occurred in the hours after Madeleine disappeared and we all know by now why that never happened.

Whoever took Madeleine knew that the police would not be able to react instantly.  I still believe the robbery in Odiáxere was a diversion intended simply to keep the only GNR patrol as far away from Praia da Luz as possible.

But I thought the GNR came very quickly once they were called? Also why would an abductor do a diversion 20 miles away so they could abduct a child they had no idea that they would be able to have access to the child in the first place. The family may have decided NOT to go out.

IF you think this then it becomes premeditated, and a group of very professional people involved.

[jassi]

But I thought the GNR came very quickly once they were called? Also why would an abductor do a diversion 20 miles away so they could abduct a child they had no idea that they would be able to have access to the child in the first place. The family may have decided NOT to go out.

IF you think this then it becomes premeditated, and a group of very professional people involved.

A distinct possibility

[Redblossom]

Isn't this quote from Carol Everett, the psychic. of few years ago,, the same Carol Everett who said in May 2007 the suspects were the OC workers, she drew their photos and said they were laundry workers :))

!!

Im tried real hard not to laugh, the getaway car is a corker! Bloody hell.

http://www.caroleverett.com/ce-crime/ce-crime.htm

[Estuarine]

But I thought the GNR came very quickly once they were called? Also why would an abductor do a diversion 20 miles away so they could abduct a child they had no idea that they would be able to have access to the child in the first place. The family may have decided NOT to go out.

IF you think this then it becomes premeditated, and a group of very professional people involved.

Don't even start down that route. A professional job would have needed more than five days planning. That would open up an amazing can of worms

[VIXTE]

!!

Im tried real hard not to laugh, the getaway car is a corker! Bloody hell.

http://www.caroleverett.com/ce-crime/ce-crime.htm

:)))) lol

Can you figure out what does it say next to that car?

[Luz]

The comment which someone made that the case has gone cold and consequently may never be solved is very true.  The only chance the police had of solving this case occurred in the hours after Madeleine disappeared and we all know by now why that never happened.

Whoever took Madeleine knew that the police would not be able to react instantly.  I still believe the robbery in Odiáxere was a diversion intended simply to keep the only GNR patrol as far away from Praia da Luz as possible.

I don't see how if GNR patrol was in PDL 10 minutes after being called. Unless you mean the call from PDL was delayed for almost an hour in order to allow time to put away/dispose or hide the subject.

[Redblossom]

:)))) lol

Can you figure out what does it say next to that car?

Small car looks like volkswagen beetle, dark, overcrowded, more than one car that looks the same