"I have absolutely no doubt"

One of the most common phrases that we were able to read or listen in TV, since 2007 is “I have absolutely no doubt!. Hundreds of “witnesses” were absolutely sure that a good number of blonde girls were Madeleine Mccann. But all of them just look at the girl and did nothing, like shouting, confronting the adults that were with the children or following them and calling the police, at the same time. 

May be they had no mobile phone, like all the Tapas Seven, when they went out for dinner, the night Madeleine disappear. Ray Roberts, from Anglesey, North Wales, was on holidays in Malta. He saw Madeleine Mccann. According to the MailOnline, he saw a girl in the north-eastern town of Sliema wearing what he said was a jet black wig being told: "Get up little girl," by an Arab-looking man. "The more I think about what I saw the more convinced I become that it may well have been Madeleine," he said.

But that is what he said to the newspaper. Police in Malta denied that Mr. Ray Roberts has filed any report or even contacted authorities. But Ray Roberts wasn't alone. In a couple of days, police had to deal with a total of 12 sightings of blonde girls that were – according with the “witnesses” - Madeleine Mccann. Of course, none of those sightings were confirmed.

Belgian police had a more difficult task: 107 people were absolutely surethat they saw Madeleine Mccann. This is a phenomenon worth to be investigated. Is it a need to be in the news, to be famous, to see their names printed on a newspaper? Is it what Andy Warhol said, in1968? "In the future, everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes?”

Foreign Office alerted about the lack of co-operation of the Mccann with the Portuguese police

The Foreign Office was alerted to fears over Gerry and Kate McCann by a British diplomat in Portugal just days after their daughter Madeleine went missing. The diplomat was sent to the holiday resort of Praia da Luz in the days following the four-year-old's disappearance and soon became concerned over "inconsistencies" in the testimonies by her parents and their friends.

After visiting the McCanns, the unnamed diplomat sent a report to the Foreign Office in London, admitting his worries about "confused declarations" of the McCanns' movements on the night of May 3.

He also noted the couple's "lack of co-operation" with the Portuguese police.

The diplomat's concerns were made over four months before Gerry and Kate were named arguidos (suspects) on September 7.

Contents of the letter were leaked to Belgian newspaper La Dernière Heure over the weekend.

The diplomat expressed his fears after receiving instruction from the Foreign Office to provide "all possible assistance to the McCann couple".

The French-language paper printed excerpts of the letter, quoting the diplomat as saying: "With the greatest respect, I would like to make you aware of the risks and implications to our relationship with the Portuguese authorities, if you consider the possible involvement of the couple.

"Please confirm to me, in the light of these concerns, that we want to continue to be closely involved in the case as was requested in your previous ­message."

in MailOnline

Alex Wolfall: no sugestion Maddie was snatched

AlexWoolfall  (McCanns' first spokesman):

'Mr Woolfall says that he heard no suggestion in the early days that the girl had been snatched. 'Certainly I did not hear any discussion that this could be a paedophile or an aggravated robbery. All the time I was around it was whether she could have wandered off and had an accident or somebody had actually taken her in, perhaps not with ill-intent. During the first 48 hours the word being used was 'missing' rather than 'abducted' or any link with a paedophile or any sort of crime. Towards the end of the second week I detected a shift towards there being a consciousness that she had probably been taken rather than wandered off, just on the assumption that anybody would have found her by now."'

Times interview, 06 October 2007

John Hill, manager of Ocean Resort, said "there was no physical evidence that the girl had been abducted from the family's rented apartment while they ate at the tapas restaurant 200 yards away. It's still questionable as to whether it's an abduction," he said. "We are hoping that Madeleine is found as soon as possible and safe and well." But Jill Renwick, a family friend, told GMTV that the parents were certain that Madeleine has been abducted.

Algarve Resident 11 Setembro 2007

Kate Mccann: The night she went missing there was about 20 seconds of disbelief where I thought 'that can't be right'. I was checking for her. Then there was panic and fear. That was the first thing that hit. I was screaming her name. I ran to the group. Everyone was the same. It was just total fear. I never thought for one second that she'd walked out. I knew someone had been in the apartment because of the way it had been left. But I knew she wouldn't do that anyway. There wasn't a shadow of a doubt in my mind she'd been taken.

The Independent 05 August 2007

in www.mccannfiles.com

Noises but no tears...

I'm back, but slowly, after a health problem. Still working in the book "The Mccann War". I have found some interesting things, in my research.

"GNR Officer J.M.B.R. found the parents to be nervous and anxious, he did not see any tears from either of them although they produced noises identical to crying. He did not feel that this was an abduction, although this was the line indicated by the father."

in www.mccannfiles.com

THE spokesman for the family of Madeleine McCann has reversed a statement made in the early days of the search for the missing child (...) However, in the early part of the hunt, friends and family members told journalists that the shutter on the apartment where the McCanns were staying had been broken.

Mr Mitchell made his comments when questioned by a 'Prime Time' team in a report on the disappearance to be screened tomorrow. "There was no evidence of a break-in," said Mr Mitchell.

"I'm not going into the detail, but I can say that Kate and Gerry are firmly of the view that somebody got into the apartment and took Madeleine out the window as their means of escape, and to do that they did not necessarily have to tamper with anything. They got out of the window fairly easily.

in independent.i

Clarence Mitchell backtracks on previous statement about watches

"Mitchell said he was not surprised by the inconsistencies in the initial accounts. 'You had nine people in a bar without watches on, without mobile phones, and absolute panic set in when they realised what had happened.

The Guardian 06 April 2008 

"It was made out to be the biggest 'conspiracy' since the Diana 'conspiracy,'" says Mitchell. "Some of the group (of friends in the tapas restaurant) had their watches on that night, and others didn't...

Yorkshire Post 29 May 2008 

in www.mccannfiles.com

Time to slow down...

I had a health problem that kept me away for almost one month. I'm back home, now. But it will take some time until I'm able to work as usual. The book "The Mccann War" will be the main "victim" of this health problem. I can not have it ready on December. And now, I can not set a new dead-line, yet. The only thing I can do is wait and see if, little by little, I can be back as soon as possible...

A “mysterious” Press Release with false information about missing children in Portugal

Mr Paul Rees, Editor of algarvedailynews.com told me that the story about a scheme to find missing children in Portugal was just a Press Release, sent by a company, not a story wrote by any journalist from his news site.

My apologies for my comments directed to the journalist fromalgarvedailynews.com who I thought wrote it . Anyway, a basic thing in journalism is to do a clear reference every time a story mentions a Press Release content, identifying it's origin/author. 

Only four news sites, all English language sites from British expatriates living in Algarve published the Press release: “”, “algarveresident.com”, “jornal algarve 123” and “Algarve Newswatch” (and I trust Google about this....)

In three of those four news sites (not in algarvedailynews.com), at the end of the Press Release, theres is a phrase: “For further information, please email “lenport@gmail.com”. 

Another fake story about missing children in Portugal

“A rapid response system has been launched this week, designed to trace children who get lost or go missing in Portugal. Based on Android smartphone and Apple iPhone technology, the scheme has been rolled out in Portugal with a view to expanding it throughout Europe and beyond (…) There are more than one and three-quarter million children aged 14 or under in Portugal. The number soars when visitors arrive on holiday. Even though Portugal is generally a safe country for children, thousands go missing each year. The great majority are found but a significant number are not. Unfortunately, the figures are vague and incomplete.” 

in algarvedailynews.com (Portugal - Scheme to find missing children is launched - 18 July 2012 - 19:57)

-----------------------------------------------------

To find the parents of “lost” foreign children is a task Portuguese Police is used to perform daily (dozens of times...) in Algarve, during the summer. A “holiday state of mind”, crowded beaches and restaurants, cheap beer, a relaxing mood (Algarve is a safe place, Portuguese people friendly) are the main reasons for this phenomenon. Few of those cases make headlines in newspapers. Children and parents are reunited quickly, not only because Portuguese Police in Algarve has experience and specific procedures for theses kind of cases, but also because Portuguese people acts immediately, whenever the see a child that seems to be lost or looking for her parents. Most “lost” children in Algarve (many times because their parents just had a couple more of beers that they should, got "distracted" and did not pay enough attention to the whereabouts of their children.....) are from British nationality.

The "Algarve Daily News" journalist who wrote this story either is a ignorant or has manipulated the information about missing children in Portugal, when he wrote "Even though Portugal is generally a safe country for children, thousands go missing each year. The great majority are found but a significant number are not. Unfortunately, the figures are vague and incomplete." - THIS IS FALSE!!! There are 8 MISSING CHILDREN IN PORTUGAL, FROM 1994 UNTIL NOW.

“PJ investigates an average of two disappearances of children every day, mostly teenagers running away from home. Every year an average of 750 disappearances are reported, most of them teenager girls, between 14 and 17 years. The cases usually are solved in around five days.” - in “Diário de Notícias”, may 21 2008

The story published by algarvedailynews.com is a piece of shit, concerning facts about missing children in Portugal. Since 1994 there are 8 MISSING CHILDREN CASES STILL OPEN. Algarvedailynews.com is lying, when they write that “(...) in Portugal (..) thousands [of children] go missing each year” - only an average of 750 CASES OF MISSING UNDERAGED PERSONS ARE REPORTED TO PJ, every year. The algarvedaily.news is lying again, when they write that “a significant number [of those missing children] are not [found]. For the last 18 YEARS, 8 CHILDREN missing in Portugal (including Madeleine McCann) have not been found. All the others were found. 

Lord John Stevens and Maddie's Case: a show of ignorance or manipulation of information?

I'm not yet sure if this opinion of Lord John Stevens, former Metropolitan Police chief (at the time, also chairman of "Quest Ltd – Corporate Intelligence & Risk Mitigation" and Gordon Brown's adviser on international security issues) about Madeleine McCann disappearance was just the result of simple and plain ignorance or if it was a manipulation of information.

Lord John Stevens, former Metropolitan Police chief, wrote on October 2007 that “the entire apartment and its environs should have been totally sealed off and barred to anyone but specially-trained police and forensic scientists who would have checked every millimetre of it for evidence. It wasn’t. Police don’t call the time after a crime, particularly one against children, the Golden Hour for nothing. In fact, I always insist it’s a Golden Day — the time when forensic evidence is most fresh and easy to detect, when memories are most sharp, when lies and alibis are most vulnerable.”

Lord John Stevens, former Metropolitan Police chief, ignored that police was called only 50 minutes after Kate McCann found that Maddie disappeared? And during those 50 minutes, all the McCann friends, staff members and the manager of Ocean Resort, more than a dozen of other guests, went inside the apartment, several times, trying to find what happened and offering help to search for Madeleine? Just a detail: Police arrived 12/15 minutes after the call was received – it's the time they needed to drive from the GNR police station, near Portimão, to Praia da Luz.

Lord John Stevens, former Metropolitan Police chief, ignored that, when police arrived, the McCann and their friends were all inside the apartment and they already “had a meeting where they agreed on certain rules that sustained the version that they accompanied continuously the children, while they dined”? A manuscript, consisting of two possible and diferent timetables, with different members of Tapa's Seven checking the children, is annexed in the PJ files.

Lord John Stevens, former Metropolitan Police chief, wrote: “And the possible murder scene was treated as a glorified meeting-room to organise a search for a missing child, instead of the potential treasure trove of clues it actually was. To any experienced British detective, it is incomprehensible.”

Indeed it was, Lord John Steven. But police wasn't there yet, and those who treated a “possible murder scene (...) as a glorified meeting-room to organise a search for a missing child” were the parents of Madeleine McCann and the so-called Tapa's Seven.

When the GNR arrived, 12/15 minutes after a call was made (and recorded, just like in any UK police station) the crime scene was totally spoiled. So, Lord John Steven, why do you blame Portuguese police? You didn't know these details, when you made these comments? Do you have the habit of making comments about any crime case, without the most basic knowledge of fundamental details? It does not seem to me a very professional attitude, coming from a former Metropolitan Police chief...

Lord John Stevens, former Metropolitan Police chief, wrote that he was “bewildered by reports leaked by the Portuguese police that tiny traces [of human fluids of a dead body] have been found in the vehicle (…) None of the so-called forensic finds being boasted of in Portugal sound either likely, admissible or even possible to me.” But, Lord Steven, you knew, when you made those comments, that it was a British forensic team that searched and found those tiny traces? That those samples were analysed at the Forensic Science Service (FSS), in UK? So, Lord John Steven, why do you blame Portuguese police?

Lord John Stevens, former Metropolitan Police chief, wrote that “Evidence from cadaver dogs, for instance, could not be used to bring about a conviction here [in UK]. Generally they are regarded as being at best 80 per cent reliable. 80 per cent? Not bad, Lord Stevens...

It's a pity that South Yorkshire police “killed” springer spaniel Keela public profile, after she was used in the McCann Case. First, Keela (and also Eddie) was “Britain's most amazing police dog”, “UK's No1 Sherlock Bones” who earned “more than South Yorkshire's top cop Med Hughes.”

As The Sun wrote, on August 3^rd 2007, Keela “sense of smell is so keen she can sniff out blood on clothes after they have been washed repeatedly in biological powder. She can pick out microscopic amounts of blood even on weapons that have been scrubbed clean. And she is able to lead detectives to minuscule pieces of other evidence.”

“Keela could be described as ‘top dog’ in her field of expertise. The trained Crime Scene Investigation (CSI) dog has skills like no other and it has left forces worldwide hankering after an insight into her special training”, according to South Yorkshire police. May be this was the reasons why Gerry and Kate McCann asked for the use of those sniffer dogs to seek fresh clues in the search for Madeleine.

But on August 17^th 2007, The Telegraph made a front page with a different perspective: “Evidence obtained by South Yorkshire Police sniffers dogs [in Maddie's investigation] 'no more reliable than 'the flip of a coin"

Another UK newspaper, The Sun (what a coincidence...) on September 5th 2008 went further: The Sun: 'It's crazy to rely on animals' “EXPERTS say sniffer dogs can play a vital role in fighting crime - but warn it is "madness" to rely on their findings. The animals are used to lead police to evidence, but do not provide evidence themselves. One expert told The Sun: "The dogs can identify traces of blood, but it's crazy to draw major conclusions just from what they find. "Any evidence they find should be used as a starting point. It's madness just to rely on the findings of the sniffer dogs."

So, Lord John Stevens, former Metropolitan Police chief, five years ago you wrote something that it's either a monumental show of ignorance or a shameless manipulation of information. I wonder if you still have the same opinion...

Mr. Stephen Birch told Portuguese authorities about his “discovery”?

Did Mr. Stephen Birch made any formal contact with the Portuguese Public Prosecutor’ Office, the Judiciary institution that directs any crime investigation (PJ is under the authority of PPPO) or with "Polícia Judiciária", to inform any of those institutions about his findings?

As far as I know, neither the Portuguese Public Prosecutor’s Office of PJ received any formal contact from Mr. Stephen Birch, with evidence of his discovery.

As it happens in any country ruled by Law, in Portugal only the Portuguese Public Prosecutor’s Office and "Polícia Judiciária" have legal power to take specific actions about a crime investigation. But they only can do that after they receive (or find) evidence about a crime...

What it Mr. Birch "Find Maddie Operation" took place in UK?

May I ask a question? Let's suppose I go to London, I phone the Daily Star, they interview me and I say: "I am an expert in finding buried bodies and for the last five years I investigated the case of Xxxx, a British child that vanished in 2007. I found that she was killed and her body is buried in the garden of the private residence of Mr. John Doe. Just dig it, and you will find the body".

A murder is a crime and police (either Scotland Yard or PJ) has legal powers and a duty to act whenever they heard, read or find any new piece of evidence about a crime that has been committed years ago. What is expected that Scotland Yard will do, after they read the news about my "discovery"in the Daily Star?