Could Madeleine have been abducted by boat?

[Robittybob1]

'In the resort'. Why would they say that if it was in Lagos? The telephone number given seems to be a supermarket. Bear in mind this information didn't come from Burke, it came from 'the family'. Where and what is Amy Dukes? He spoke to the press, but seems to have told them all something different.

a Briton who runs a company in the Algarve
British tourist George Burke
Supermarket owner George Burke

Where did those 3 options come from? 
1. a Briton who runs a company in the Algarve
2. British tourist George Burke
3. Supermarket owner George Burke




There was a Pizza Hut at the Marina da Lagos was this where expat George worked/owned/ran company?

http://www.gerrymccannsblogs.co.uk/Nigel/id399.htm

"1) George Brooks, an ex-pat from Liverpool, claims to have seen a suspicious couple carrying a child, near Lagos marina, 7/8 hours after Madeleine had been reported missing. For reasons unknown, in all early media reports he is referred to as 'George Burke'. Despite the claims of many of these reports, it appears that Mr Brooks never made an official statement to the Portuguese police."

Was this because it was associated with the information from the family?  "2) Meanwhile, a friend of Kate McCann's aunt and uncle has a friend that claims to have had a strong vision that Madeleine was on a boat with a man in the marina in Lagos..."


Here is a report with a little more detail "07 May 2007

Last night an expatriate British businessman described how he saw a couple carrying a young child eight hours after Madeleine went missing.

George Burke, originally from Liverpool, was driving home at 6am on Friday after dropping his son at a station when the man and woman were caught in his headlights and immediately scurried out of sight. He said he thought nothing more about the incident until he heard about Madeleine's disappearance, after which he contacted police.

- Daily Mail"


Was his only connection to the Lagos marina the fact that he dropped his son off at the railway station?

[Robittybob1]

"George contacted police as soon as he got home but border and port authorities were not alerted for another 12 hours.

- Daily Mirror"

http://www.gerrymccannsblogs.co.uk/Nigel/id399.htm

"11 August 2008

Meanwhile, it has emerged police failed to quiz Liverpool man George Brooks, 61, who saw a suspicious couple carrying a child in Praia da Luz hours after Madeleine vanished.

By the time police finally visited the restaurant where he worked, he had left and they made no further effort to contact him.

- Daily Mirror"

[Robittybob1]

This is the transcript "Ian Woods: The police are checking out one possible sighting about eight hours after Madeleine disappeared. Just before dawn a motorist said that his car headlights picked out a couple on the road; they had a child with them and, according to him, it looked as if they were trying to avoid being seen."

So where did Ian Woods get this bit of information from?  "The police are checking out one possible sighting about eight hours after Madeleine disappeared"  that sounds as if the police are aware of it.
http://www.gerrymccannsblogs.co.uk/Nigel/id399.htm

video = https://youtu.be/4MSPtShACg4

[Robittybob1]

The most detailed description to date ""Though there was nobody else on the road, they were hurrying across a dual carriageway that leads straight to the train station and marina in Lagos.

"The woman was in her thirties, darkhaired and slim. The man, also in his thirties, was less than six feet tall and slightly stocky.

He had shoulder-length hair and looked quite tanned. They did not look like tourists and they certainly didn't seem to be British.

"You could tell from their posture that they were trying to carry the child without anyone seeing it and they were extremely disturbed when I caught them in my headlights.

"It was only after I returned home to my house in Burgau, along the coast from Praia da Luz, that I realised the importance of what I had seen. I quickly rang the police."

Portuguese police alerted airports, ports and border controls several hours after the alarm was raised, before cordoning the area.

Helped by Mr Burke's description, they have built a profile of the man they believe is their prime suspect. Mr Burke said they told him not to tell the media what he had seen but he decided to break his silence to help to track down the kidnapper.

"I'm the father of two teenagers myself, " he added, "but you can't begin to understand the agony and the distress that the child's parents are going through.""
http://www.gerrymccannsblogs.co.uk/Nigel/id399.htm

[sadie]

-snip=



There was a Pizza Hut at the Marina da Lagos was this where expat George worked/owned/ran company?

http://www.gerrymccannsblogs.co.uk/Nigel/id399.htm

"1) George Brooks, an ex-pat from Liverpool, claims to have seen a suspicious couple carrying a child, near Lagos marina, 7/8 hours after Madeleine had been reported missing. For reasons unknown, in all early media reports he is referred to as 'George Burke'. Despite the claims of many of these reports, it appears that Mr Brooks never made an official statement to the Portuguese police."

Was this because it was associated with the information from the family?  "2) Meanwhile, a friend of Kate McCann's aunt and uncle has a friend that claims to have had a strong vision that Madeleine was on a boat with a man in the marina in Lagos..."


Here is a report with a little more detail "07 May 2007

Last night an expatriate British businessman described how he saw a couple carrying a young child eight hours after Madeleine went missing.

George Burke, originally from Liverpool, was driving home at 6am on Friday after dropping his son at a station when the man and woman were caught in his headlights and immediately scurried out of sight. He said he thought nothing more about the incident until he heard about Madeleine's disappearance, after which he contacted police.

- Daily Mail"


Was his only connection to the Lagos marina the fact that he dropped his son off at the railway station?

If a boat moored outside the Marina gates was used to take Madeleine away then it would have been positioned just off this picture to the south, along a canal like channel leading to the sea.  You can just see the tip of the channel at the top of the picture.  Immediately below the cut off was the Marina "gate" which according to reports was closed at 8pm.

A boat was reported to have have left the marina before the "gates" closed and been moored there.  It may have been moored there for a totally innocent reason and probably was.

However, it should be looked at because if George Brooks saw a couple with a child in mysterious circumstances near that Pizza Hut, then it must be pointed out that to get to that moored boat from the main roads, it was necessary to pass that Pizza Hut.

Just where were they going otherwise, I wonder?   

[G-Unit]

Did the PJ go to the Marina and make inquiries?  Did they follow it up?  It was on Sky TV the next day so they can't say they didn't know about it.

If Burke had contacted them they would have interviewed him in my opinion. Do Portuguese police watch Sky in case there's a lead on there? I very much doubt it. Even if they did they probably hold the same opinion as Rowley about newspaper stories.

[Robittybob1]

If Burke had contacted them they would have interviewed him in my opinion. Do Portuguese police watch Sky in case there's a lead on there? I very much doubt it. Even if they did they probably hold the same opinion as Rowley about newspaper stories.

George says he was told by the PJ not to report it to the news media so I take that to mean it did report it.  If they didn't follow it up, that is their problem.

[G-Unit]

George says he was told by the PJ not to report it to the news media so I take that to mean it did report it.  If they didn't follow it up, that is their problem.

He was the first to claim in the media that the police had ignored his evidence, but he wouldn't be the last. Many of those who made this claim had one thing in common; there is no evidence that they ever contacted the police.

Looking in the files we can see that the police diligently followed up some very tenuous leads, which suggests to me that they would not have ignored this sighting had they been informed.

The British police were informed by 'family', seemingly on 4th May. The family weren't in Portugal, so how did they get the information?

Was this man Burke or Brooks? He couldn't be both.

It would have been interesting if the PJ had asked this man to come and see them when they finally tracked him down, with his passport.  They couldn't confirm his identity on the telephone.

[Robittybob1]

He was the first to claim in the media that the police had ignored his evidence, but he wouldn't be the last. Many of those who made this claim had one thing in common; there is no evidence that they ever contacted the police.

Looking in the files we can see that the police diligently followed up some very tenuous leads, which suggests to me that they would not have ignored this sighting had they been informed.

The British police were informed by 'family', seemingly on 4th May. The family weren't in Portugal, so how did they get the information?

Was this man Burke or Brooks? He couldn't be both.

It would have been interesting if the PJ had asked this man to come and see them when they finally tracked him down, with his passport.  They couldn't confirm his identity on the telephone.

we never know we might be able to contact him and clear it up. 

[G-Unit]

we never know we might be able to contact him and clear it up.

My opinion is that taking an interest in the case is acceptable, interfering with witnesses isn't.

[Robittybob1]

My opinion is that taking an interest in the case is acceptable, interfering with witnesses isn't.

Call it what you want.  Clearing up the misunderstandings. 

[sadie]

we never know we might be able to contact him and clear it up.

I can see no harm in this, so long as it is done very sensitively, backing off immediately if he bridles in any way.

It needs someone who is very diplomatic in their approach ... and who knows, he might have been instructed not to talk to anyone.


Thinking about it, I am 50/50 about approaching him

[G-Unit]

Call it what you want.  Clearing up the misunderstandings.

I have called it what it is; interfering with a witness in a live investigation.

[barrier]

I can see no harm in this, so long as it is done very sensitively, backing off immediately if he bridles in any way.

It needs someone who is very diplomatic in their approach ... and who knows, he might have been instructed not to talk to anyone.


Thinking about it, I am 50/50 about approaching him

One wonders what your attitude would be if its suggested getting in touch with the McCanns to clear something up?

[jassi]

One wonders what your attitude would be if its suggested getting in touch with the McCanns to clear something up?

What an excellent idea. Straight from the horse's mouth so to speak.