Is It Possible For A Non Professional Investigator To Solve The Case?

[Mr Gray]

Do you think it couldn't?

I think it would be impossible

[Holly Goodhead]

Maybe OG has been systematically working through holiday makers in PDL by way of info from tour companies, passport control, phone records, hire cars, phone records, electronic payments etc, etc. 

[Holly Goodhead]

U think it would be impossible

Did I say I thought it impossible?

[Holly Goodhead]

There was a suspected semen sample which became not semen.

The voluntary samples were also compared with 'crime stain 1', a DNA profile obtained by Portuguese scientists using their DNA profile system. The profile was recovered from suspected semen on a blanket in the apartment 5.

I conclude further that, the DNA profiles obtained from the 'crime stain 1' and 286A/2007/CRL9A & B coincide with Charlie Gordon (bar code 51156964). I believe that Charlie Gordon was born on 29 January 2005, and if this is the case, in my opinion, the DNA profile obtained in 'crime stain 1' is not the result of semen found on the blanket.
https://www.mccannpjfiles.co.uk/PJ/JOHN_LOWE.htm

I wonder if that boy slept in the bed? He was only a month older than the McCann twins.

But what method of profiling was used?  Low copy number (LCN) is not capable of determining the type of cellular material eg blood, sweat, semen etc. 

[Mr Gray]

But what method of profiling was used?  Low copy number (LCN) is not capable of determining the type of cellular material eg blood, sweat, semen etc.

If it was visible it wouldnt be LCN

[Holly Goodhead]

If it was visible it wouldnt be LCN

So what method was used then?

[Holly Goodhead]

Does any reliable DNA exist? 

Many newspaper articles claim the following:

Now, after all the innuendo, Jornal de Notícias has carried a report saying that DNA evidence has ruled Euclides out.

https://www.portugalresident.com/2014/11/10/madeleine-dna-finally-clears-dead-suspect/

If the above is accurate it suggests some reliable DNA evidence was found in 5A?

[Holly Goodhead]

I've only read quickly the FSS report but I seem to recall the scientist(s) claimed a male component was found and I'm wondering whether some have then attributed this to a semen stain when in reality if the profile/component was produced from LCN it would not be possible to determine the source of cellular material ie semen.

[G-Unit]

But what method of profiling was used?  Low copy number (LCN) is not capable of determining the type of cellular material eg blood, sweat, semen etc.

Acid Phosphatase Test to detect semen on the small spot on the cloth fragment in envelope no. 5 recovered from the bedspread of the bed next to the window of the children's bedroom: Weakly positive...

Autosomic STRs:

- were obtained from: hair root CEnv 7-51 recovered in the apartment (entrance hall-Env.7), hair root PVT07 recovered in the vehicle (floor in front of rear seat Env.4), hair root C742-05 recovered in the vehicle (floor in front of the front seat-Env. 3) and the small spot on the piece of cloth (recovered from the bedspread of the bed next to the window in the children's bedroom Env.5).
https://www.mccannpjfiles.co.uk/PJ/PORTUGUESE-FORENSIC.htm

[Holly Goodhead]

Acid Phosphatase Test to detect semen on the small spot on the cloth fragment in envelope no. 5 recovered from the bedspread of the bed next to the window of the children's bedroom: Weakly positive...

Autosomic STRs:

- were obtained from: hair root CEnv 7-51 recovered in the apartment (entrance hall-Env.7), hair root PVT07 recovered in the vehicle (floor in front of rear seat Env.4), hair root C742-05 recovered in the vehicle (floor in front of the front seat-Env. 3) and the small spot on the piece of cloth (recovered from the bedspread of the bed next to the window in the children's bedroom Env.5).
https://www.mccannpjfiles.co.uk/PJ/PORTUGUESE-FORENSIC.htm

The Acid Phosphatase Test (APT) is a presumptive test for semen and must be confirmed by other means to determine:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fdnOTMXiUW0

At the end of the day apartment 5A temporarily housed a high turnover of holiday makers and was visited by others eg guests of holiday makers, cleaning and maintenance personnel all of whom would leave behind a trail of dna.  The only way I can see any of it being relevant is if a match can be found by someone already on a database and/or a suspect provides a dna sample and it matches dna found in 5A.  Even then it could be fraught with issues of contamination if the person had some legitimate reason for being around 5A. 

[jassi]

Did police ever produce a list of DNA  from 5A that they did identify ?

[G-Unit]

I once had a stereo unit which would intercept police radio messages to play audio from the unit broadcasting.  Not only annoying when interrupting the programme being listened to but frustrating in that only one side of the police conversation could be heard and understood.

I think that is very much the trap you fall into when skimming through the PJ files available to us on the internet.

You are hearing one side of a story taken out of context and focusing all your reliance on it if it suits your purposes, quite forgetting there are many other inputs of which you cannot be aware.

The FSS didn't act on their own initiative; the check on the child's DNA was requested by someone; and you don't have sufficient information to speculate either on whose DNA may or may not have been requested, by whom or when, but the report was sent to the Policia Judiciaria in Portugal which might provide a clue.

My radiogramme used to pick up messages from airline pilots landing at JFK in the US (when I lived in the Hebrides)

There is clearly information missing from the PJ files, because we don't know who decided to collect DNA from the Gordon child. What is clear is that it wasn't done at the request of the PJ; they only requested his father's DNA.

The report was sent to the PJ in reply to their rogatory request to the FSS, in which they asked about the profile obtained from the semen stain.

[Holly Goodhead]

Did police ever produce a list of DNA  from 5A that they did identify ?

Afaik its all contained in this report unless others here know different?

https://www.mccannpjfiles.co.uk/PJ/PORTUGUESE-FORENSIC.htm

[Anthro]

Can someone please explain the following in layman’s terms:

“Profile identified by letter "L", present in the spot on the bedspread of the bed next to the window and in seven hairs, meaning that all these samples came from the same person or from someone having the same maternal bloodline, did not match any of the reference samples”.

[Holly Goodhead]

Can someone please explain the following in layman’s terms:

“Profile identified by letter "L", present in the spot on the bedspread of the bed next to the window and in seven hairs, meaning that all these samples came from the same person or from someone having the same maternal bloodline, did not match any of the reference samples”.

My interpretation is that various biological samples were collected and tested.  The spot on the bedspread was given the reference 'L' along with 7 hairs found in the following locations all of which originated from the same person or persons having the same maternal bloodline. 

                     1 entrance to bedroom
                     2 entrance hall
                     4 floor; bed next to window

Reference 'L' did not match any of the reference samples from persons identified eg McCanns. 

I don't think its possible to conclude what the spot on the bedspread was.  Items such as bedspreads are probably not washed upon changeover of guests 

Although not harmful if you sent a forensic scientist into a hotel you would expect to find all manner of biological traces from previous guests even when the hotel has a good housekeeping programme in place.  Its one of the reasons I try not to think about it when staying in a hotel!