Scotland Yard about to commence digs in and around Praia da Luz.

[jassi]

They may be right...no body knows

At the moment, which is why I said if a body is found

[Alfred R Jones]

Of course they are, but people still  believe them.

You seem to be under the impression that every time there is a publicised sighting that everyone (who is not a doubter, obviously)  believes it must be true.  I believe there are sightings, but until one has been verified I will remain open minded to the possibility, though not hugely hopeful, that it is Madeleine. 

[John]

Criticism is being placed with Amaral and the PJ for not undertaking digs 7 years ago but where?  The area around Praia da Luz is mostly unworked scrubland and hillside.  It is impossible to dig everywhere.

[jassi]

You seem to be under the impression that every time there is a publicised sighting that everyone (who is not a doubter, obviously)  believes it must be true.  I believe there are sightings, but until one has been verified I will remain open minded to the possibility, though not hugely hopeful, that it is Madeleine.

I wasn't so much thinking of these international flights of fancy, but rather things like  the marina sighting, the taxi sighting, the garage/shop sighting.

[Cornelius]

Quote from the Mirror; source I neither know nor care.
"There will be earth diggers everywhere and it will look very dramatic and it will be a heartbreaking and hugely emotional time for Madeleine's poor parents.

One backhoe would be enough, two would be plenty. Unless the MPS are building a motorway or power station or knocking down half the village of course.

[Alfred R Jones]

I wasn't so much thinking of these international flights of fancy, but rather things like  the marina sighting, the taxi sighting, the garage/shop sighting.

Again, you seem to be under the impression that I (as I assume you are bringing this up in response to my point about the Marina Sighting) am convinced that it was Madeleine.  No, I am simply stating that in my opinion it was remiss of the PJ to not thoroughly investigate each sighting, but instead to dismiss them as "irrelevant" without further ado, based on nothing more than a hunch that they already knew who dunnit.

[Wonderfulspam]

British police investigating Madeleine McCann case in Portugal 'prepare to dig' near to resort she vanished from in 2007

Scotland Yard detectives are said to be planning to fly out to the Algarve

They will excavate two sites at Praia da Luz resort where McCanns stayed
 
Officers will dig up a third site at the beach nearby in hope for fresh clues
 
Dig is not believed to have been prompted by any specific new information
 
Source said it was part of the Met's routine review in the unsolved case

Madeleine's parents, Gerry and Kate, will stay at home in Leicestershire
 
Mr McCann, 45, said they wanted to find out what happened to toddler


British detectives are to fly to Portugal to dig up land near the holiday apartments from where Madeleine McCann went missing in May 2007.
 
Scotland Yard officers plan to excavate two sites near the Ocean Club apartments at Praia da Luz, and a third site on the nearby beach, it was reported today.
 
Madeleine's parents will not fly out for the search but her father, Gerry McCann, 45, said he and his wife, Kate, 46, were still 'hoping for a happy outcome'.

The decision to dig up the land in the Algarve is believed not to have come from a specific piece of new information but as part of a routine police review by British detectives into the unsolved case.
 
British police, who will use radar equipment to look for disturbed earth or potential evidence, are said to be hoping to find any pieces of information or clues that may have been missed by their Portugese counterparts.
 
A friend of the McCanns' said the police were not specifically looking for a body, but were hoping to rule possible scenarios out as well as find new information.

The source told the Mirror: 'There will be earth diggers everywhere and it will look very dramatic and it will be a heartbreaking and hugely emotional time for Madeleine's poor parents.'
 
'Certain areas should have been searched properly way back by the Portuguese authorities but were not.'
 
The latest Crimewatch television appeal for new leads on the hunt for Madeleine gave police fresh information and they are hoping that the digs might provide further clues.

Mr McCann, who on Saturday attended a prayer service in the his village of Rothley, Leicestershire, on the seventh anniversary of Madeleine's disappearance, said that the police were heading out to Portugal shortly.
 
He said the detectives did have new evidence, and insisted he and his wife continued to hope for the best.

The cardiologist said: 'They are chipping away and there is new evidence.  We are going to continue hoping we get a happy outcome and one day we will know what's happening.'
 
Brian Kennedy, 75, the great-uncle of Madeleine, who would now be ten, said the family was hoping for news as not knowing what had happened to the child was so difficult.

A spokesman for Scotland Yard said it was protocol not to comment on specific reports on the McCann case.
 
News of the digs in Portugal comes after it emerged that British police were looking to speak to a British paedophile who was arrested at a campside in the Algarve in 2010 and extradited to Australia where he was wanted for a 1998 rape of an eight-year-old.
 
Officers are said to believe that Roderick Robinson, 77, who jumped bail in Australia and fled to the Far East following another conviction in the UK in 2012, may have information about a child sex ring operating in the Algarve when Madeleine went missing seven years ago.
 
An international arrest warrant is out for Robinson, who at one point settled in Brighton before changing his name and going abroad.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2620513/Maddie-digs.html

[Alfred R Jones]

Criticism is being placed with Amaral and the PJ for not undertaking digs 7 years ago but where?  The area around Praia da Luz is mostly unworked scrubland and hillside.  It is impossible to dig everywhere.

Well, let's start with the premise that the parents buried the child's body, which was the PJ's own contention.  The suspects didn't have a car for at least 3 weeks so perhaps the PJ could have put themselves in the shoes of their suspects and dug in those places that would seem the most obvious ones for burying a small child's body.  It would have been a start wouldn't it?  They could even have used the indomitable Eddie & Keela to narrow down the search.  Why didn't they?

[jassi]

Again, you seem to be under the impression that I (as I assume you are bringing this up in response to my point about the Marina Sighting) am convinced that it was Madeleine.  No, I am simply stating that in my opinion it was remiss of the PJ to not thoroughly investigate each sighting, but instead to dismiss them as "irrelevant" without further ado, based on nothing more than a hunch that they already knew who dunnit.

My intent was to demonstrate that these issues would be resolved if Madeleine's remains were found.
Of course, absolutely nothing may come of this dig and the saga may continue.

[Alfred R Jones]

My intent was to demonstrate that these issues would be resolved if Madeleine's remains were found.
Of course, absolutely nothing may come of this dig and the saga may continue.

Almost certainly the outcome of this I would think, but we shall see.

[jassi]

Well, let's start with the premise that the parents buried the child's body, which was the PJ's own contention.  The suspects didn't have a car for at least 3 weeks so perhaps the PJ could have put themselves in the shoes of their suspects and dug in those places that would seem the most obvious ones for burying a small child's body.  It would have been a start wouldn't it?  They could even have used the indomitable Eddie & Keela to narrow down the search.  Why didn't they?

Perhaps that's what they intend to do.

[Wonderfulspam]

Police to dig up Portuguese resort in search for Madeleine McCann clues

DETECTIVES confirmed they will return to the Portuguese resort where Madeleine McCann vanished to dig for clues, just days after the seventh anniversary of the three-year-old's disappearance.

Distraught parents Kate and Gerry McCann were informed about the decision made by Scotland Yard as the investigation picks up.

Forensic officers are said to be heading to the Praia da Luz resort with high-tech equipment where they can search underground in an attempt to find anything that can lead to finding Maddie.

But the couple now prepare for further heartbreak with the thought of police finding her body.

A source close to the McCann family said the search is being done with thoughts that Portuguese authorities failed to search the area properly in 2007.

They told the Mirror: “There will be earth diggers everywhere and it will look very dramatic and it will be a heartbreaking and hugely emotional time for Madeleine’s poor parents.

“They don’t believe police are acting on any new tip off. They just need to carry out their own digs, looking for any possible clues that Portuguese authorities may have missed on their previous searches.

"They are doing searches as much as to rule scenarios out as much as rule them in. They will be concentrating on several different places at different phases.

“Certain areas should have been searched properly way back by the Portuguese authorities but were not."

Last week, British police announced they would push on in their investigation to find more clues surrounding the ongoing mystery.

And with Portuguese police refusing to work with Scotland Yard, investigators will be able to look at the case with "fresh eyes", according to the source.

A Met spokesperson said that new evidence that has emerged in in recent months makes them "optimistic" for the future.

It is believed police will dig close to Ocean Club’s Apartment 5A, where Maddie went missing on May 3, 2007, as well as on a nearby beach where witnesses said they saw a young, blonde-haired girl being carried by a potential suspect late that night.

The McCanns will remain in England as the police go out to Portugal to investigate.

Gerry, 45, told the media: “The Met are going back out to Portugal very soon. They are chipping away and there is new evidence. We are going to continue hoping we get a happy outcome and one day we will know what’s happening."

Earlier this week, Kate, 46, admitted that she has been going out there once or twice a year to "look for answers".

She said: I do go back. That was the last place we were with Madeleine.

"When I go to Praia da Luz, I go quietly.

"I'll still walk those streets and I guess try to look for answers."

Saturday marked the seven year anniversary of Madeleine's disappearance and Kate said that after all this time, the not-knowing is the worst thing.

She said: "We cannot change anything that’s happened now.

“We need to know. The worst thing is not knowing.

"We obviously want Madeleine back number one — but we do want an answer, whatever."

http://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/latest-news/377454/Police-to-dig-up-Portuguese-resort-in-hunt-for-Madeleine-McCann-clues

[jassi]

Almost certainly the outcome of this I would think, but we shall see.

I don't see how you can have any degree of certainty at this stage.

[Alfred R Jones]

Perhaps that's what they intend to do.

And it's taken them seven years to arrive at this point - why?

[Alfred R Jones]

I don't see how you can have any degree of certainty at this stage.

It's my opinion, I am not certain, only think it the most likely outcome.