So where was Smithman going to that night?

[John]

Back on topic, Gonçalo Amaral was extremely interested in the vacant property and garden immediately adjacent to where Smithman passed Aoife.  We never ever did hear if that property or garden was properly searched for clues.

[Angelo222]

Back on topic, Gonçalo Amaral was extremely interested in the vacant property and garden immediately adjacent to where Smithman passed Aoife.  We never ever did hear if that property or garden was properly searched for clues.

That very overgrown garden was the perfect place to leave a body for a while before coming back for it later. High walls all around provided the perfect cover.

[pegasus]

Looking at the possibility Smithman was an innocent father carrying his child.

Where was he going to?

Given the time (10pm or later) and the age of his daughter (about 3 or 4) he was most likely going home.

Where was he coming from?

He is walking from an area with abundant parking, towards an area with shortage of parking.

Therefore it is likely he has just parked his vehicle immediately north of the sighting.
And is walking with his daughter from his vehicle to his home immediately south of the sighting.

[pathfinder73]

Looking at the possibility Smithman was an innocent father carrying his child.

Where was he going to?

Given the time (10pm or later) and the age of his daughter (about 3 or 4) he was most likely going home.

Where was he coming from?

He is walking from an area with abundant parking, towards an area with shortage of parking.

Therefore it is likely he has just parked his vehicle immediately north of the sighting.
And is walking with his daughter from his vehicle to his home immediately south of the sighting.

If you don't think Smithman is the one then you really have no chance of cracking this case 

[Lace]

I can’t argue with that.  We don’t know what scent the dogs were following. 

The handlers were given Madeleine’s blanket for the dogs to smell, perhaps the perpetrator’s scent was transferred? 

That they followed a scent, is borne out by the fact they were recorded as losing it in the car park.   

The more I think about it, the more I think Madeleine may have been taken directly from 5a to 5j, left with an accomplice and the perpetrator left by the route followed by the dogs to a vehicle in the car park.
The rotting food and [I believe] open fridge door has always niggled.
Who does that, and why?
I am convinced NSY want to trace the occupiers through the owners to ask them just that. 

So is Smithman just another innocentman who had nothing to do with Madeleine’s abduction?

I have always wondered about 5J too.    Who would leave a fridge door open with food inside to let it rot like that?

I have often wondered if the abductor had been hiding in 5J,  then when he/she left did that with the fridge in order to confuse dogs with the smell.

[Brietta]

If you don't think Smithman is the one then you really have no chance of cracking this case

With the best will in the world, I think we armchair detectives should let the professionals get on with it, because we are never going to crack this or any other case.

[pathfinder73]

With the best will in the world, I think we armchair detectives should let the professionals get on with it, because we are never going to crack this or any other case.

If they do you will find out that the Smithman sighting was 10:03

[misty]

I am now pretty convinced that the CCTV footage at Estrela da Luz was wiped not because it showed Smithman carrying Madeleine but because it would have shown no evidence of Smithman whatsoever. CCTV footage can only be edited to remove things, not add them.

[pegasus]

If you don't think Smithman is the one then you really have no chance of cracking this case 

I did previously think it was definitely the removal,
now I think the smith sighting is at a time which does not fit.
JIMO

[Silkywhiskers]

I did previously think it was definitely the removal,
now I think the smith sighting is at a time which does not fit.
JIMO

Well you'd better let SY know before they waste another million pounds digging up PDL.

The fact that they are digging the land adjacent to where Smithman was seen walking, tells me they think the Smith sighting is the key.

Indeed, Andy has TOLD us as much.

[misty]

Well you'd better let SY know before they waste another million pounds digging up PDL.

The fact that they are digging the land adjacent to where Smithman was seen walking, tells me they think the Smith sighting is the key.

Indeed, Andy has TOLD us as much.

I think they'll be using a little ground radar & the dogs before they start using the trowels.

[sadie]

Here is the view looking east from near the outside tables of the Bull.
https://maps.google.co.uk/maps?q=Praia+da+Luz,+Portugal&hl=en&ll=37.085687,-8.730891&spn=0.00264,0.004935&channel=fs&oe=utf-8&gl=uk&geocode=FcXYNQIda716_w&hnear=Praia+da+Luz&t=m&z=18&layer=c&cbll=37.085696,-8.730795&panoid=3Y1oa5prZ8mhifBfghDjcQ&cbp=12,74.64,,0,11.74
From east end of Rua 25 Abril a person taking a straight line to the church would walk from left to right across this view, and potentially be seen by customers sitting at the outside tables of the Bull.

With all due respect Pegasus
1)  The Bell is quite a distance from the Church
2)  It was a cool blustery evening.  Any customers left would probably be in the bar.

[sadie]

Hi Amanda, possibly but I think the body may have left PDL. I think she was concealed close to the church at 10:05 on the 3 May so getting those church keys could be the KEY. I need to find out more about the car boot findings as I believe Eddie was alerting to cadaver scent in the underground car park. He was chasing cadaver scent and with the DNA 15 alleles part match in the boot and leaving the boot constantly open which was reported by a neighbour then the impossible as Amaral believed may have actually happened I.e. she was moved out of PDL in the hire car. I want to know whose human hairs were found in the boot. New DNA tests should be able to say whether it was Madeleine or not. Where is her pink blanket?  Gerry asking directions to the church at 4am is interesting when there's a map open on the table in 5A crime scene photos >@@(*&)

Please can you give any evidence poiting to that?  I am not aware of any.

[sadie]

He did not "connect the two" until he saw the footage of Gerry carrying Sean.

Physicality is almost impossible to imitate.  It is as unique as a fingerprint.  The way someone walks, the tilt of their head when they don't think they're being watched, the stride, the speed - all unique and all as damning as if he'd have seen him in broad daylight 2 metres away.

Rubbish Swiskas.  Dont let your imagination get in the way. 

Someone walking down steps cannot be compared to someone walking down a road.  The only thing that was alike was the way that Gerry held S*** and the fact that he was looking down.   

Gerry was negotiating steps so he would look down.  Presunably Smithman looked down because he didn't want his face showing properrly?

As for the way Gery held S***. what better way could there be to hold a small sleeping child when coming down steps

[pegasus]

Well you'd better let SY know before they waste another million pounds digging up PDL.

The fact that they are digging the land adjacent to where Smithman was seen walking, tells me they think the Smith sighting is the key.

Indeed, Andy has TOLD us as much.

The logic of the choice of upcoming ground surveys at several sites is not dependent on the irish sighting being relevant.
The search area west of of Rua 1 Maio is behind the man the irish witnesses saw. You can't hide something then still be carrying it afterwards.