If the McCann's had left within a week of Madeleine's disappearance...

[Alfred R Jones]

I would have thought that all the books and documentaries were for financial gain.

I would have thought so too.

[misty]

So, going back to the original question of whether the PJ would have pursued the investigation in the same manner if the McCanns had left Portugal very early on...... the UK police & world media with them......who would have been searching for Madeleine....and how much attention would the story have attracted?

[Alfred R Jones]

So, going back to the original question of whether the PJ would have pursued the investigation in the same manner if the McCanns had left Portugal very early on...... the UK police & world media with them......who would have been searching for Madeleine....and how much attention would the story have attracted?

IMO the PT authorities would have been only too delighted to have seen the back of the McCanns ASAP and they would have given up searching even earlier than they did anyway. 

[pegasus]

So, going back to the original question of whether the PJ would have pursued the investigation in the same manner if the McCanns had left Portugal very early on...... the UK police & world media with them......who would have been searching for Madeleine....and how much attention would the story have attracted?

The question of the thread is so extremely hypothetical it can not be answered.

Probably the June 6 Berlin press conference would have happened the same?

[misty]

The question of the thread is so extremely hypothetical it can not be answered.

Probably the June 6 Berlin press conference would have happened the same?

It's not really hypothetical.
Without the McCanns presence, the tourist industry would have quickly returned to normal and there would have been no pressure on the PJ to solve the case.
How many books & documentaries would have been made?
Do you think the world press would have been interested in "that couple from Leicester whose daughter went missing from a little Portuguese village"? Isn't that the nature of the complaint parents of so many missing children have?

[pegasus]

It's not really hypothetical.
Without the McCanns presence, the tourist industry would have quickly returned to normal and there would have been no pressure on the PJ to solve the case.
How many books & documentaries would have been made?
Do you think the world press would have been interested in "that couple from Leicester whose daughter went missing from a little Portuguese village"? Isn't that the nature of the complaint parents of so many missing children have?

The PJ and Leics Police and the National Policing Improvement Agency and the Met phone forensics experts would have investigated every bit as professionally as they did, they were doing a good job.

[faithlilly]

We had no idea until early in the libel trial of the parlous state of Dr Amaral's financial situation.  Money from a best seller would have been very welcome indeed.

It would seem that if the McCanns needed to dip into the fund to pay their mortgage barely a month after their child had gone missing then things were financially precarious for them too.

[Brietta]

The PJ and Leics Police and the National Policing Improvement Agency and the Met phone forensics experts would have investigated every bit as professionally as they did, they were doing a good job.

I'm not sure exactly how far the British contingent would have been allowed to progress the investigation ... it doesn't appear to be a particularly easy thing to do if the present difficulty being experienced by SY is anything to go by.

[pegasus]

I'm not sure exactly how far the British contingent would have been allowed to progress the investigation ... it doesn't appear to be a particularly easy thing to do if the present difficulty being experienced by SY is anything to go by.

Expert MH of the UK police (NPIA) had no problems progressing the investigation in July 2007 - he was provided with a helicopter - and his recommendations were taken seriously - and resources provided by the PJ to follow them up. So the idea that the PJ were hindering the work of the UK experts is untrue. Whether some of the witnesses were living in Portugal or UK made no difference.

[pathfinder73]

It would seem that if the McCanns needed to dip into the fund to pay their mortgage barely a month after their child had gone missing then things were financially precarious for them too.

They were skint when Madeleine disappeared.

"When Madeleine first went missing, family and friends had to step in to help them pay the mortgage." (Patricia Cameron)

[faithlilly]

They were skint when Madeleine disappeared.

"When Madeleine first went missing, family and friends had to step in to help them pay the mortgage." (Patricia Cameron)

You have to wonder why when Gerry was earning a large salary as a consultant cardiologist and Kate a less substantial but still adequate salary as a part-time GP ?

[Eleanor]

The McCanns had just paid out for a relatively expensive holiday.  They almost certainly have a budget, Like most of us.

[faithlilly]

The McCanns had just paid out for a relatively expensive holiday.  They almost certainly have a budget, Like most of us.

The McCanns had paid for an early-in-the-season bog standard self-catering apartment, hardly living the high life, and if the McCanns couldn't find the £2000 to pay their mortgage, even though Gerry was still being paid, barely a month after their daughter's disappearance, should they really have been splashing out on a holiday at all ?

[Eleanor]

The McCanns had paid for an early-in-the-season bog standard self-catering apartment, hardly living the high life, and if the McCanns couldn't find the £2000 to pay their mortgage, even though Gerry was still being paid, barely a month after their daughter's disappearance, should they really have been splashing out on a holiday at all ?

I don't know.  I can't afford a holiday even that cheap.

And hasn't there been some discussion on whether or not Gerry was actually being paid?

[faithlilly]

I don't know.  I can't afford a holiday even that cheap.

And hasn't there been some discussion on whether or not Gerry was actually being paid?

There was but Kate put paid to that in her book where she admitted that he was on paid compassionate leave and also that the partners in her practice had agreed she should be paid two months wages also.

It would seem that the average wage for a cardiologist is £143,000 per/annum.