A look at what constitutes evidence of an abduction versus hearsay and gossip.

[Carana]

And why was there a lack of evidence? - Becuase the investigation was incomplete.
Why was the investigation incomplete? - Because the Mccann's and their group refused to take part in the next stage of the investigation which was the reconstruction.

It was "incomplete" from the beginning.

So far, NO ONE has been able to point me towards a report of what happened to the missing hairs on Madeleine's bed which somehow don't seem to have ever been received by the lab, let alone tested.

[stephen25000]

Then the SY team must be 'very sad' too in your eyes Stephen - as I accept their findings.

You obviously believe they've got it all wrong - but you can't come up with a single sensible reason why YOU are right and they are wrong.

All you can do is sneer and insult. 

Now that is sad - and also extremely childish.

Of course you would say that, because you support the mccanns; hook, line and sink.

I expected no less.

[ferryman]

First you answer my questions.

I'm not the one pushing abduction ?

So come on, PROVIDE THE PROOF.

As to how people commit crimes and appear 'normal'. History is littered with those.

There are other fiddly details, here, too.

Amaral insists Kate found Madeleine's body.  He insists that because Eddie picked up certain items of her clothing in his mouth (he also picked up one of the twin's tee-shirts, by-the-bye ....)

So Gerry is in the restaurant, oblivious and unaware, and Kate has just found the body of her daughter.

Aside from all else, how on earth does Kate find a way of communicating this dreadful news to Gerry without anyone else noticing?

Mission impossible.

All themccannsdunit theories founder on that rock.

Well, OK, not quite all.

There are some conspiracy theories so far-fetched, even Amaral doesn't entertain them.

But let's not go there ...

[Carana]

There are other fiddly details, here, too.

Amaral insists Kate found Madeleine's body.  He insists that because Eddie picked up certain items of her clothing in his mouth (he also picked up one of the twin's tee-shirts, by-the-bye ....)

So Gerry is in the restaurant, oblivious and unaware, and Kate has just found the body of her daughter.

Aside from all else, how on earth does Kate find a way of communicating this dreadful news to Gerry without anyone else noticing?

Mission impossible.

All themccannsdunit theories founder on that rock.

Well, OK, not quite all.

There are some conspiracy theories so far-fetched, even Amaral doesn't entertain them.

But let's not go there ...

I've never understood when Kate was supposed to have found it in Amaral's theory.

[Albertini]

It was "incomplete" from the beginning.

So far, NO ONE has been able to point me towards a report of what happened to the missing hairs on Madeleine's bed which somehow don't seem to have ever been received by the lab, let alone tested.

Well any gaps in the investigation could of course been highlighted in a court case and debated between experts for both the defence and the prosecution.

The fact remains that the continuation of the official Police investigation into Madeleine's disappearance required (under Portuguese law) a reconstruction of that night's events to test the veracity of their checking arrangements and to highlight how and when an abductor got in amongst other things. 

The McCann's and the Tapas 7 refused to comply and given a lack of evidence discovered anywhere else the PJ were unable to take the investigation forward and had to archive it.

I would have thought supporters of the Mccann's would have welcomed the reconstruction both to prove what the Mccann's said was true and then to revel in the crushing defeat of those Portuguese incompetents in a Court of law if the PJ still pursued a case against the parents.

[Albertini]

So far, NO ONE has been able to point me towards a report of what happened to the missing hairs on Madeleine's bed which somehow don't seem to have ever been received by the lab, let alone tested.

Just on this point, are you saying hairs were collected but never sent to a lab or that were no hairs found on the bed?

[Lace]

Evidence of an abduction are many,  as John has already pointed out.  The shutters and window in the children's bedroom were never opened by the McCann's  as the room was just for sleeping in.  When Kate went to check on the children on the 3rd of May both the shutter and window were open.

Madeleine was missing from her bed,  her cuddle cat left on the bed,  the toy that Kate McCann said was Madeleine's  toy of comfort if she was upset.   If she had woken and found the McCann's not in the apartment and she had gone looking for them then surely she was have taken her comfort toy?

Madeleine's shoes were also left behind.   The patio doors were closed, the gate at the top of the steps was closed.   So if Madeleine had gone out to look for her parents she would very tidily have closed the patio doors behind her and the gate at the top of the steps.

Jane Tanner sees a man carrying a child in his arms,  not carrying the child against his shoulder as is the usual way of carrying a child who is asleep, especially if the child has not got any kind of covering for warmth,  but in stretched out arms an awkward way of carrying.   The way in which someone might carry a child who has been handed over by someone else and then the person having to hurry away not having time to switch the child onto his shoulder.   

The man Jane Tanner sees is also wearing warm clothing,  as Jane Tanner says he didn't look like a tourist as he wasn't dressed as a typical tourist.   Strange that this man was dressed warmly on the night of the 3rd of May which was by all account a chilly night as Kate McCann stated.  This man had not taken a blanket for the child to keep her warm, yet dressed warmly himself.

The Smith's saw a man carrying a child in his arms at about 10 o'clock,  wearing very similar clothing and carrying a child with no covering, no blanket or coat,  yet this man too was dressed warmly himself.   He was spoken to but did not answer,  turning his head away.

Neither of these two men have come forward to say 'it was me',  everyone would have known about the missing child in the following days and the man that Jane Tanner saw and the similar looking man that the Smith family saw, yet neither of the men seen come forward to help the police eliminate them from the investigation.

[Benice]

Evidence of an abduction are many,  as John has already pointed out.  The shutters and window in the children's bedroom were never opened by the McCann's  as the room was just for sleeping in.  When Kate went to check on the children on the 3rd of May both the shutter and window were open.

Madeleine was missing from her bed,  her cuddle cat left on the bed,  the toy that Kate McCann said was Madeleine's  toy of comfort if she was upset.   If she had woken and found the McCann's not in the apartment and she had gone looking for them then surely she was have taken her comfort toy?

Madeleine's shoes were also left behind.   The patio doors were closed, the gate at the top of the steps was closed.   So if Madeleine had gone out to look for her parents she would very tidily have closed the patio doors behind her and the gate at the top of the steps.

Jane Tanner sees a man carrying a child in his arms,  not carrying the child against his shoulder as is the usual way of carrying a child who is asleep, especially if the child has not got any kind of covering for warmth,  but in stretched out arms an awkward way of carrying.   The way in which someone might carry a child who has been handed over by someone else and then the person having to hurry away not having time to switch the child onto his shoulder.   

The man Jane Tanner sees is also wearing warm clothing,  as Jane Tanner says he didn't look like a tourist as he wasn't dressed as a typical tourist.   Strange that this man was dressed warmly on the night of the 3rd of May which was by all account a chilly night as Kate McCann stated.  This man had not taken a blanket for the child to keep her warm, yet dressed warmly himself.

The Smith's saw a man carrying a child in his arms at about 10 o'clock,  wearing very similar clothing and carrying a child with no covering, no blanket or coat,  yet this man too was dressed warmly himself.   He was spoken to but did not answer,  turning his head away.

Neither of these two men have come forward to say 'it was me',  everyone would have known about the missing child in the following days and the man that Jane Tanner saw and the similar looking man that the Smith family saw, yet neither of the men seen come forward to help the police eliminate them from the investigation.

Excellent post Lace.   Another small but I think significant point is the fact that this man was out on his own - so why no wife or other family members with him?      He obviously wasn't  going home after a meal in a restaurant or a visit to a bar with his family (like the Smiths)   - and if he was picking his daughter up from babysitters then those people would be able to confirm who he was and what he was doing - so nothing to fear from informing the police it was him that JT and the Smith's saw.   And what are the chances of two different men walking through PdL, completely on their own, like that - both carrying a child.
 

[Carana]

Just on this point, are you saying hairs were collected but never sent to a lab or that were no hairs found on the bed?

Only 4 out of the 10 hairs apparently noted by the forensic photo seem to have been received by INML. I may have missed an explanation in the files, but so far I haven't found one.

http://miscarriageofjustice.co/index.php?topic=1246.15

[Carana]

Well any gaps in the investigation could of course been highlighted in a court case and debated between experts for both the defence and the prosecution.

The fact remains that the continuation of the official Police investigation into Madeleine's disappearance required (under Portuguese law) a reconstruction of that night's events to test the veracity of their checking arrangements and to highlight how and when an abductor got in amongst other things. 

The McCann's and the Tapas 7 refused to comply and given a lack of evidence discovered anywhere else the PJ were unable to take the investigation forward and had to archive it.

I would have thought supporters of the Mccann's would have welcomed the reconstruction both to prove what the Mccann's said was true and then to revel in the crushing defeat of those Portuguese incompetents in a Court of law if the PJ still pursued a case against the parents.

It wouldn't have been the PJ pursuing a case, but the public prosecution service... which archived in full knowledge that the - tardy - reconstruction hadn't taken place.

How would a reconstruction a year later have proven anything?



- Unless you were trying to pass each other on a narrow ledge, how could anyone prove that JT could not have passed without two men engrossed in conversation noticing her pass by?

- What would have been the point about getting Kate back to recreate the circumstances about the door slamming? The PJ would have had to have brought in a wind machine calibrated for any known wind velocity at that time, or to have coordinated a reconstruction date with whichever deity decides on the weather. The PJ may have gone back there on their own anyway (there are photos of Rebelo et al at the apartment).

- What's the point of a physical reconstruction with so many of the other witnesses (staff, other holidaymakers...) absent?

[icabodcrane]

It wouldn't have been the PJ pursuing a case, but the public prosecution service... which archived in full knowledge that the - tardy - reconstruction hadn't taken place.

How would a reconstruction a year later have proven anything?



- Unless you were trying to pass each other on a narrow ledge, how could anyone prove that JT could not have passed without two men engrossed in conversation noticing her pass by?

- What would have been the point about getting Kate back to recreate the circumstances about the door slamming? The PJ would have had to have brought in a wind machine calibrated for any known wind velocity at that time, or to have coordinated a reconstruction date with whichever deity decides on the weather. The PJ may have gone back there on their own anyway (there are photos of Rebelo et al at the apartment).

- What's the point of a physical reconstruction with so many of the other witnesses (staff, other holidaymakers...) absent?

A reconstruction would provide  crucial information

For instance,  it would demonstrate whether it was possible for a man to have been hiding in the children's bedroom,  and to have remained undiscovered when Gerry made his check

[Benice]

A reconstruction would provide  crucial information

For instance,  it would demonstrate whether it was possible for a man to have been hiding in the children's bedroom,  and to have remained undiscovered when Gerry made his check

Surely that could be done at any time by anyone.      It's either possible for a man to hide in the bedroom or it's not.   It doesn't need Gerry to be there to find that out.

[AnneGuedes]

Then the SY team must be 'very sad' too in your eyes Stephen - as I accept their findings.

Easy to accept findings which don't (yet) exist ;)

[AnneGuedes]

Surely that could be done at any time by anyone.      It's either possible for a man to hide in the bedroom or it's not.   It doesn't need Gerry to be there to find that out.

It would be certainly better if he checked it himself... cf. "your" corrupt cops, biased experts suspicions, etc.
The reconstruction would put either a man or nobody behind the door. And he wouldn't know.

[Benice]

Easy to accept findings which don't (yet) exist ;)

This is one of their findings Anne:-

''We have conducted a forensic analysis of the timeline and there is clearly opportunity there for Madeleine MCann to have been removed from that apartment alive.''

This is another one:

Neither the McCanns nor any of the group who were with them are persons of interest or suspects in this case.