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

[pegasus]

Absolutely the most logical place to look.  Waste ground, which had access.  Close proximity to the crime scene.

Dr Amaral maintains that his men thoroughly checked and searched it and I think that would be true.
The GNR did a good job in many regards and I am certain they would have deployed their dogs here.

And the newspapers which say it was unfenced at the time are wrong, it was fenced, and not with the current see-through wire fencing, it was high opaque metal panels, so this gave the unique characteristic that it was shielded from public view.
The July-August 2007 searches of various scrubland by Eddie did not include this one. There was IMO a selection of nearby scrubland areas to northeast because of the sighting focussed on at that time and for the same reason nearby sites west were not selected. That will now presumably be remedied at last by one of Eddie's successors.

[pathfinder73]

What I mean is, if you look at the route some propose for smithman's hypothesised walk from apartment to sighting, it passed continuously along about 200 metres of perimeter corrugated panel fencing of an unused, concealed from public view, unlit area. This is why I think AR's team has been doing very good on-the-ground research to select this as one of the upcoming ground survey areas. Even if smithman turns out to be irrelevant, the characteristics of proximity, shielding, and absence of lighting, still make it a sensible selection JIMO.

They need to check by the church - ground/road works first before the wasteland. Smithman didn't leave her in the wasteland - I believe it was on the outside of the perimeter fence (north west) but they need to check inside but it's not first priority - close to the church is where the suspect was heading IMO!

[pegasus]

They need to check by the church - ground/road works first before the wasteland. Smithman didn't leave her in the wasteland - I believe it was on the outside of the perimeter fence (north west) but they need to check inside but it's not first priority - close to the church is where the suspect was heading IMO!

I do not understand why a perp would while walking alongside about 200 metres of perimeter fence, inside which is unused, unlit land, with a part totally invisible to public view, would think oh I will ignore that safe option, and walk to the church at the centre of the town instead.

[pathfinder73]

I do not understand why a perp would while walking alongside about 200 metres of perimeter fence, inside which is unused, unlit land, with a part totally invisible to public view, would think oh I will ignore that safe option, and walk to the church at the centre of the town instead.

Smithman didn't want the body to be found and it wasn't.

[John]

Some good logic beginning to come out at last. Why on earth would anyone abduct a child to then have to take the risk of carrying her down a street only to bury her.  Not logical imo.

[Silkywhiskers]

Smithman didn't want the body to be found and it wasn't.

Ugh.....

[pegasus]

Map of two open trench locations closer to the apartment than the church
http://www.mccannpjfiles.co.uk/P13/13_VOLUME_XIIIa_Page_3987.jpg
Photos of filled-in trench (area 1)
http://www.mccannpjfiles.co.uk/P13/13_VOLUME_XIIIa_Page_3985.jpg
Photos of filled-in trench (area 2)
http://www.mccannpjfiles.co.uk/P13/13_VOLUME_XIIIa_Page_3986.jpg

These two trenches were open on evening 3rd May.
For water, phone, and electric, they were 1.2m deep x 0.9m wide.
In the photos pieces of brown/red pipe have been placed to mark the linear extent of each trench.
The utility workers on 4th knew of the disappearance and checked the trenches before continuing.

[pegasus]

Big gap under corrugated metal perimeter fence Aug 2009
Now a 2014 search area

[Silkywhiskers]

I remain mindful that searchers that night were looking for a live child, one who could answer calls and was mobile.

NO ONE was looking for a grave.

[John]

I remain mindful that searchers that night were looking for a live child, one who could answer calls and was mobile.

NO ONE was looking for a grave.

That's exactly what I was thinking and I perused the last days posts. The GNR dog handlers would not have bothered to go into any areas which were fenced off since as you say they were looking for a straying child and not a grave. Big mistake imo.

[Silkywhiskers]

That's exactly what I was thinking and I per used the last days posts. The GNR dog handlers would not have bothered to go into any areas which were fenced off since as you say they were looking for a straying child and not a grave. Big mistake imo.

Yes, it was a massive mistake to trust what the McCanns said and did.

They have steered the investigation since day one.

Kate - "they've taken her!"  - who is THEY?

[Alfred R Jones]

Amaral thought they were guilty from day one, he says so himself in his book.  What stopped him and his team from searching the wasteland?

[Angelo222]

Amaral thought they were guilty from day one, he says so himself in his book.  What stopped him and his team from searching the wasteland?

It was searched but not dug up.  The PJ only got ground penetrating radar four years ago.

[Luz]

It was searched but not dug up.  The PJ only got ground penetrating radar four years ago.

A correction is needed. Portugal has used georadar technology much earlier than 2007 for various purposes, and it was used when searches were performed in Jul/Aug 2007.

I've no patience to go over the files, but I can give a reference from a news article in Jornal de Notícias, July 6, 2012, paper edition, page. 14, translated in full at http://joana-morais.blogspot.com/2012/07/attorney-generals-office-and-expert.html


Fernando Almeida. Associate Professor, Department of Geosciences at the University of Aveiro. Specialized in Geophysics, [ «In August 2007 I joined an international team, among which was the English investigator Mark Harrison, to perform georadar surveys in Murat's residence. The work was exhausting, lasted two days and involved over 20 people.»], when responding to Birch's allegations:

"Fernando Almeida, the expert in Geophysics and professor at the University of Aveiro that participated in the investigations done with georadar to Murat's house back in 2007, says that the signal that was detected [by Birch] may correspond to objects, debris, rock fragments, supply pipes, etc... and he explains that “this method always requires confirmation by excavation, otherwise the interpretations are only hypotheses”.


P.S. It's good to see that some serious discussion is actually possible.

[Brietta]

A correction is needed. Portugal has used georadar technology much earlier than 2007 for various purposes, and it was used when searches were performed in Jul/Aug 2007.

I've no patience to go over the files, but I can give a reference from a news article in Jornal de Notícias, July 6, 2012, paper edition, page. 14, translated in full at http://joana-morais.blogspot.com/2012/07/attorney-generals-office-and-expert.html


Fernando Almeida. Associate Professor, Department of Geosciences at the University of Aveiro. Specialized in Geophysics, [ «In August 2007 I joined an international team, among which was the English investigator Mark Harrison, to perform georadar surveys in Murat's residence. The work was exhausting, lasted two days and involved over 20 people.»], when responding to Birch's allegations:

"Fernando Almeida, the expert in Geophysics and professor at the University of Aveiro that participated in the investigations done with georadar to Murat's house back in 2007, says that the signal that was detected [by Birch] may correspond to objects, debris, rock fragments, supply pipes, etc... and he explains that “this method always requires confirmation by excavation, otherwise the interpretations are only hypotheses”.

Might be a good idea to check out the hypotheses.