The Pedras Brancas building and Smithman's route.

[pathfinder73]

We have always assumed that Dr Amaral's suggested route was the correct one - Sadie has however come up with a reasonable alternative. 
Even more so if the starting point from 5a is altered to the location of the night crèche.   

The direction in which he was walking and the location of the man Jane Tanner saw was a rather strange one for a father who had picked up his child from the night crèche; we have already discussed this in some detail on the forum with the help of maps John posted showing the location of the crèche in relation to the junction where Jane saw him.

I think the man encountered by the Smith family may well have been on a direct path from the crèche to his accommodation; the photographs we have seen of the pyjamas his daughter was wearing on the night in question have long sleeves which would tie in with Aoife’s description.

The Met will of course know the holiday address of the father seen by witnesses and therefore know which person is more likely to be the actual suspect.
The DCI did not make a definitive statement eliminating Jane Tanner’s sighting which is strange given that he is very precise on every other well thought out statement he has made on the case.

I hazard a guess that the route taken by Smithman is a more logical one when bearing in mind the location of the crèche from where the child was picked up.

Do you know where the night creche is? If he came from the creche he follows that road down to the church and goes up Rua 25 de Abril. Why would he go around and go back down that road? That also doesn't make any sense. The only route that makes sense is Amaral's route away from the Ocean Club to that sighting.

[John]

My own view is that Madeleine was taken to a vehicle and it was Jane Tanner who witnessed it.  The Smith sighting, although persuasive, is a red herring imo.

[Anna]

My own view is that Madeleine was taken to a vehicle and it was Jane Tanner who witnessed it.  The Smith sighting, although persuasive, is a red herring imo.

I agree that there is a strong possibility that Smithman is not "the Man" and nor is the innocent creche man.
If abduction, it would have been well planned with transport and only if an unexpected person was in the vicity at this time would there have been an alternative escape method adopted.

I do however agree that if a route was taken from JT sighting, to the area of the sighting by the Smith family, the route would have been through the more dicreet areas, such as Sadie has illustrated and obviously taken a lot of time working out. Thank you Sadie and John for making the routes visible to us all   

[Wonderfulspam]

My own view is that Madeleine was taken to a vehicle and it was Jane Tanner who witnessed it.  The Smith sighting, although persuasive, is a red herring imo.

Why did Kate opt to lie about the detail of it then?

Why did the McCanns own documentary misrepresent the detail of it, if they are innocent & have nothing to hide?

http://miscarriageofjustice.co/index.php?topic=5018.0

[John]

Why did Kate opt to lie about the detail of it then?

Why did the McCanns own documentary misrepresent the detail of it, if they are innocent & have nothing to hide?

http://miscarriageofjustice.co/index.php?topic=5018.0

I agree WS, there is a lot which is questionable and that is one reason why this case has always attracted so much debate. 

[pathfinder73]

My own view is that Madeleine was taken to a vehicle and it was Jane Tanner who witnessed it.  The Smith sighting, although persuasive, is a red herring imo.

He's never came forward to clear himself because he's guilty. It's not like the Madeleine McCann case is unknown in PDL 

[Brietta]

He's never came forward to clear himself because he's guilty. It's not like the Madeleine McCann case is unknown in PDL 

I think you may have missed the point I made that the man seen by Jane Tanner may not have been the innocent tourist. 

There were two sightings of a man carrying a child that night – remove the man seen by Jane and who does that leave us with? 

The clue - is long sleeved pyjamas.

[pathfinder73]

I think you may have missed the point I made that the man seen by Jane Tanner may not have been the innocent tourist. 

There were two sightings of a man carrying a child that night – remove the man seen by Jane and who does that leave us with? 

The clue - is long sleeved pyjamas.

Jane Tanner didn't think it was Madeleine or she would have said something. She first said the child was too small to be Maddy. You can tell by the way he was carrying the child it wasn't her. Smithman carried a different way because the child was bigger i.e. Maddy. There is only one way this was done and by one man.

[Brietta]

Jane Tanner didn't think it was Madeleine or she would have said something. She first said the child was too small to be Maddy. You can tell by the way he was carrying the child it wasn't her. Smithman carried a different way because the child was bigger i.e. Maddy. There is only one way this was done and by one man.

Why would Jane think when she saw that man and child that he was an abductor?

Why would she think the child was Madeleine?
She had just passed Madeleine’s father returning from checking on her.

Only when the alarm was raised that Madeleine was missing did she realise what she had witnessed; and despite the vitriol heaped on her over the years she stuck by what she had seen and she believed that was the kidnap of Madeleine McCann. 

Aoife Smith saw a child wearing long sleeved pyjamas, I think you may have mentioned that once or twice, therefore on balance this is more likely to be the child who was carried home from the crèche.

The man carrying the child a few yards from the apartment from where Madeleine was taken is the more likely candidate to be the abductor.

My opinion only; but we can be assured that NSY know the rights and wrongs of it.   

[pathfinder73]

Why would Jane think when she saw that man and child that he was an abductor?

Why would she think the child was Madeleine?
She had just passed Madeleine’s father returning from checking on her.

Only when the alarm was raised that Madeleine was missing did she realise what she had witnessed; and despite the vitriol heaped on her over the years she stuck by what she had seen and she believed that was the kidnap of Madeleine McCann. 

Aoife Smith saw a child wearing long sleeved pyjamas, I think you may have mentioned that once or twice, therefore on balance this is more likely to be the child who was carried home from the crèche.

The man carrying the child a few yards from the apartment from where Madeleine was taken is the more likely candidate to be the abductor.

My opinion only; but we can be assured that NSY know the rights and wrongs of it.

"The child appeared to be older than a baby." (JT 4 May) Now why would she think that was Madeleine? The yard have got rid of that sighting. Crecheman's kid was a little 2 year old not nearly 4. They didn't put Smithman efits as the main focus of CW just for a laugh. Long sleeves will be at the landfill.

[pegasus]

IMO a likely scenario re Smithman is that he is a (non-english-speaking) innocent dad carrying his sleeping daughter, and they live somewhere a short distance down the lane of steps (Travessa Das Escadhinas) where if you look at aerial views you will see that some residences have no off road parking and also there is a shortage of on-road parking.

So I am suggesting the possibility he parks his vehicle in the parking area on the left in this photo
http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/9058/zvk9.jpg
where parking is plentiful, and then gets out of his vehicle and carries his sleeping daughter to their home.

People often do this if there is no parking outside their home - they park a little distance away where parking is easy then walk the short distance to their home.

[pegasus]

"On the days right after the disappearance of Madeleine, a muffled cry that came from that location raised suspicions"
http://www.mccannfiles.com/id117.html
Very interesting.
"On the days right after" implies that this muffled cry was not on the the night of the 3rd, but on another night very soon after.
The resulting PJ search was "on Saturday, around half past midnight".
This indicates that the "muffled cry" was most likely heard at about midnight on the night of Saturday 5th.

[Brietta]

IMO a likely scenario re Smithman is that he is a (non-english-speaking) innocent dad carrying his sleeping daughter, and they live somewhere a short distance down the lane of steps (Travessa Das Escadhinas) where if you look at aerial views you will see that some residences have no off road parking and also there is a shortage of on-road parking.

So I am suggesting the possibility he parks his vehicle in the parking area on the left in this photo
http://img18.imageshack.us/img18/9058/zvk9.jpg
where parking is plentiful, and then gets out of his vehicle and carries his sleeping daughter to their home.

People often do this if there is no parking outside their home - they park a little distance away where parking is easy then walk the short distance to their home.

A good hypothesis that would have him exiting the parking area at the small pathway as suggested by Sadie.

From that, is it your opinion he is a local or do you think he might be the crèche dad?

[pegasus]

A good hypothesis that would have him exiting the parking area at the small pathway as suggested by Sadie.

From that, is it your opinion he is a local or do you think he might be the crèche dad?

The innocent man seen by JT and identified by SY is from england and speaks english.
The IMO innocent man seen by the Smith family according to a newspaper report did not respond to Mrs Smith's friendly english language greeting - therefore it seems clear to me he does not speak english.
So they are two completely different innocent dads IMO.

[Anna]

The innocent man seen by JT and identified by SY is from england and speaks english.
The IMO innocent man seen by the Smith family according to a newspaper report did not respond to Mrs Smith's friendly english language greeting - therefore it seems clear to me he does not speak english.
So they are two completely different innocent dads IMO.

Yes Pegasus, I too believe that the Man who was dismissed by SC and the Smith sighting are innocent Dads, but not so sure that Jane didnt see the person responsible for Maddie's disappearance.