The Smithman e-fits - are the McCanns less than happy with them?

[Brietta]

Why is 'between a hurried walk and run' in the translation? There is no need to have it there if it was normal walking at a normal speed.

They left the bar, and went up some steps that give access to a road just above. On this road they took a side street, the name of which he does not know, in the direction of Estrela da Luz. Immediately at the beginning of this road he saw an individual carrying a child, who walked normally, with a fairly quick step because he was coming downhill. It appeared normal to him, like father and daughter.  (PS)

His gait and carrying a child appeared normal to Mr Smith who saw enough of the man to remove Robert Murat from the equation as he recognised clearly that it was not him.
Neither did he get a clear enough sight of the face of the man he said he passed to be able to describe the features to the police to enable an efit to be constructed. 

[pathfinder73]

His gait and carrying a child appeared normal to Mr Smith who saw enough of the man to remove Robert Murat from the equation as he recognised clearly that it was not him.
Neither did he get a clear enough sight of the face of the man he said he passed to be able to describe the features to the police to enable an efit to be constructed.

Robert Murat was a suspect at the time of that statement so they would want to know if it him or not so they asked the question. There's nothing strange about it.

[ferryman]

Any decent parent carrying their sleeping child down steps from an aircraft would carry in exactly the same way as Gerry  .... and the parent would look down in the same manner to watch where his feet went on the steps.


I believe that Mr Smith rethought this scenario and decided to dismiss it?

I'm not sure if that has been definitively established, but I do think it is a very safe assumption.

[Brietta]

Robert Murat was a suspect at the time of that statement so they would want to know if it him or not so they asked the question. There's nothing strange about it.

Didn't suggest for a minute there was anything at all strange that Mr Smith apparently had a clear enough view to recognise that it wasn't Robert Murat, who he knew by sight; and who was constituted arguido the day prior to the phone call from his son asking if they had dreamt their encounter.

With one person eliminated with such certainty, surely there must have been enough recall of features to make an attempt at efits a reasonable endeavour.  Apparently there was not.

So that is three members of the Smith family ruled out for being responsible for the efits with which we are familiar.

In the course of the continuing official police inquiry into Madeleine McCann's disappearance ... does it not strike you as strange that if other members of the family had had a clear enough recollection of the man's features to enable sufficient information to provide efits ... that diligence would have taken place as part of the ongoing police investigation.

Which strongly indicates the efits were not constructed with the assistance of the Smith family.

[pathfinder73]

Didn't suggest for a minute there was anything at all strange that Mr Smith apparently had a clear enough view to recognise that it wasn't Robert Murat, who he knew by sight; and who was constituted arguido the day prior to the phone call from his son asking if they had dreamt their encounter.

With one person eliminated with such certainty, surely there must have been enough recall of features to make an attempt at efits a reasonable endeavour.  Apparently there was not.

So that is three members of the Smith family ruled out for being responsible for the efits with which we are familiar.

In the course of the continuing official police inquiry into Madeleine McCann's disappearance ... does it not strike you as strange that if other members of the family had had a clear enough recollection of the man's features to enable sufficient information to provide efits ... that diligence would have taken place as part of the ongoing police investigation.

Which strongly indicates the efits were not constructed with the assistance of the Smith family.

No Murat is a lot heavier and bulkier than Smithman. You could tell straight away it wasn't him by his physique. I don't find it strange because Smithman connects to everything and he's not Robert Murat.

[ShiningInLuz]

Why is 'between a hurried walk and run' in the translation? There is no need to have it there if it was normal walking at a normal speed.

They left the bar, and went up some steps that give access to a road just above. On this road they took a side street, the name of which he does not know, in the direction of Estrela da Luz. Immediately at the beginning of this road he saw an individual carrying a child, who walked normally, with a fairly quick step because he was coming downhill. It appeared normal to him, like father and daughter.  (PS)

O caminhar do individuo era normal, sabendo distinguir o mesmo entre o andar apressado e o correr.

O caminhar do individuo ere normal,    The walk of the individual was normal,

sabendo distinguir o mesmo... knowing to distinguish the same...

entre o andar apresado e o correr...  Now the most common translation of entre is 'between'.  It is simply that here the best translation is 'from'.  Aoife was not trying to make the man hurried.  She was saying she could tell a person walking at unhurried pace from one walking quickly or running.  ...from a hurried walk and from a run.

Read all of Aoife's statement and this fits.  The man was 2m to her left, heading (down Rua 25 Abril) towards her.  He was heading towards a street light.  If his intention was to not be seen by Aoife and anyone in her group, he could have headed away from her (up Rua 25 da Abril).

The translators have gone through thousands of pages and done a decent job.  They haven't done it with a fine tooth comb.  The English version of Amaral's book, translated from Portuguese into French into English, makes the Smithman meeting happen a block away, though the original does not. 

[Brietta]

No Murat is a lot heavier and bulkier than Smithman. You could tell straight away it wasn't him by his physique. I don't find it strange because Smithman connects to everything and he's not Robert Murat.

The efits show facial features.  None of the Smith family were able to provide information about the facial features of the man they remembered a fortnight after the event; therefore it is highly unlikely the Smith family are the source of the efits which show faces in great detail.

[G-Unit]

The efits show facial features.  None of the Smith family were able to provide information about the facial features of the man they remembered a fortnight after the event; therefore it is highly unlikely the Smith family are the source of the efits which show faces in great detail.

According to an FOI to the Met. about the e-fits presented by DCI Redwood on Crimewatch in 2013 the Irish family mentioned in the programme created the e-fits. Both pictures are of the same man. They declined to answer other questions, specifically; on what date were the e-fits created, on what date were the e-fits shown to Operation Grange and on what dates did Operation Grange have contact the Irish family?
https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/questions_about_two_e_fits_of_a?unfold=1

According to the McCanns the e-fits were given to LP and the Portuguese police in 2009. In 2011 they were given to Operation Grange along with a file. In 2013 DCI Redwood asked people to identify the man.

We have been treated to the sight of many e-fits since May 2007. What a shame that these most important ones, which DCI Redwood was so excited about, took four or five years to reach the public. How strange that, as Brietta mentions, none of the Smiths thought they would recognise the man they saw. Was the Irish family the Smith family or were there two Irish families who saw this man?

Also, to refer to the thread title, the McCanns made no effort to give the e-fits to the newspapers to publicise and they made no complaint when Operation Grange sat on them for over a year. The e-fits don't seem to have impressed the parents as important therefore.

[Eleanor]

Therefore what?

[G-Unit]

Therefore what?

My conclusion is that the McCanns were less than happy with them. I came to that conclusion because they never publicised them.

[Eleanor]

My conclusion is that the McCanns were less than happy with them. I came to that conclusion because they never publicised them.

How could that be if The McCanns didn't know?

[jassi]

Didn't know what ?

[pathfinder73]

How could that be if The McCanns didn't know?

They knew about them when they did their "Madeleine was Here" documentary/reconstruction in 2009. They could've shown all the efits in that documentary to try and help find her. They had been releasing posh spice and George Harrison but not Smithman carrying a lookalike and he's still not come forward. What do the McCanns think about that one? You are lucky to see them on their website 

[G-Unit]

Yes, didn't know what?

[Eleanor]

Sorry.  I think I lost the plot.