Where was Amaral when the news broke?

[huggy]

Yes, that would actually be worthy of a thread on its own, who DID Amaral actually interview in person? We know he interviewed Murat & what Murat thought about the interview.

ROBERT MURAT: He basically told me it was a game of two halves and as the night before I hadn?t confessed, erm, then, he would get me on the second half and he just kind of turned his back on me. He didn?t? He just? It seemed he didn?t care about the truth. That was the, thats how I felt.

http://madeleinemccannthetruth.wordpress.com/2012/04/26/transcript-of-panorama-madeleine-mccann/

If Amaral represented the best the Portuguese had in policing I seriously fear for the Portuguese people.

[huggy]

That  is fair comment Chinagirl  ...  I also find it astonishing that Amaral was so 'distant'  in such a high profile case as to never even meet the people involved

Totally astonishing that the senior detective in a case with such a high international profile did not even meet the parents of an abducted 3 year old.  What was he afraid of?

[Mrs. B]

Yes, and the alarming number of criminal convictions against members of Amaral's team doesn't help to inspire confidence in their honourability as law enforcement officers either IMO.

[AnneGuedes]

who am I to spoil your fun?

Nothing to do with fun, it is jüdischer Witz !

[Mrs. B]

I'm not actually bothered where Amaral was at the time the news broke, I'm more bothered that HE didn't bother to take any actions whatsoever to make sure that everything was under control. Even if he felt his personal attendance wasn't warranted, a phone call to his 2nd in command, for example, asking him to take over responsibility until the morning, would have been SOMETHING, at least.

[ferryman]

I'm not actually bothered where Amaral was at the time the news broke, I'm more bothered that HE didn't bother to take any actions whatsoever to make sure that everything was under control. Even if he felt his personal attendance wasn't warranted, a phone call to his 2nd in command, for example, asking him to take over responsibility until the morning, would have been SOMETHING, at least.

Almeida?

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

[AnneGuedes]

That  is fair comment Chinagirl  ...  I also find it astonishing that Amaral was so 'distant'  in such a high profile case as to never even meet the people involved

Many people were amazed when they discovered Mr Amaral's "distance". It wasn't "high profile" in the first days. He could have been irritated with the diplomatic "control" (I would have). May be he preferred not to be influenced by memories of Joana case.
In any case, and even if one judges he did a bad job, he really involved himself totally in this case.

[Mrs. B]

Almeida?

Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!

Yes, that would obviously have solved the case within minutes, knowing what we know now of Mr. Tavares de Almeida's investigative approach.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,301629,00.html

[AnneGuedes]

Police inaction through the night is a pure myth.
Norms must be respected to initiate an investigation and the control belongs to the Public Ministry.
It was a pity the PJ wasn't alerted earlier, but the Portugueses can't  be blamed.

[Lace]

It is astonishing that Amaral never met the McCanns.     You would have thought he would have met them if only to reassure them that all was being done to find Madeleine.

[Mrs. B]

Police inaction through the night is a pure myth.
Norms must be respected to initiate an investigation and the control belongs to the Public Ministry.
It was a pity the PJ wasn't alerted earlier, but the Portugueses can't  be blamed.

No, there was plenty of activity during the night, we know that, GNR were there, dogs were brought etc. Are you saying that police in Portugal don't hand over cases to the appropriate police authority automatically & just wait until the victims of crimes ASK for it to be done.

[gilet]

Madeleine's safety that night was not Amaral's responsibility  ....  it was her mum and dad's

So allowing for the fact that (as they admit) the McCanns made an error and should not have left the children, you don't believe that from 11 pm onwards the officer co-ordinating the search for a missing child that evening had any responsibility for her safety.

Understood.

It would appear Amaral thought along the same lines too. After all he just made a few phone calls about her plight and then went home to bed.

[icabodcrane]

So allowing for the fact that (as they admit) the McCanns made an error and should not have left the children, you don't believe that from 11 pm onwards the officer co-ordinating the search for a missing child that evening had any responsibility for her safety.

Understood.

It would appear Amaral thought along the same lines too. After all he just made a few phone calls about her plight and then went home to bed.

No, I don't find it unacceptable that Amaral did not present himself personally in the initial stages of the investigation  (  although I certainly question the fact that he did not meet with the McCanns as the investigation progressed )

His going home to bed that night is no great shock ...  he knew his men were there following procedure and that he would be updated as necessary

By the way,  you do realise that Gerry McCann went to sleep that night too  ?   ...  that is something I do find surprising   

[Carana]

No, I don't find it unacceptable that Amaral did not present himself personally in the initial stages of the investigation  (  although I certainly question the fact that he did not meet with the McCanns as the investigation progressed )

His going home to bed that night is no great shock ...  he knew his men were there following procedure and that he would be updated as necessary

By the way,  you do realise that Gerry McCann went to sleep that night too  ?   ...  that is something I do find surprising

From accounts, they'd got up at around 7am ish with the three young children on 3 May. Had an activity-filled day. Disaster struck late evening; they were up until around 3-4am ish.

Is there something I should find suspicious in a 2-3 hour rest before dawn to recuperate with a big day ahead?

[Mrs. B]

From accounts, they'd got up at around 7am ish with the three young children on 3 May. Had an activity-filled day. Disaster struck late evening; they were up until around 3-4am ish.

Is there something I should find suspicious in a 2-3 hour rest before dawn to recuperate with a big day ahead?

Not unless they were on speed or taking drugs to keep awake, no. Stress wears people out & in the end you will fall asleep regardless of the circumstance.