Posted on 09/15/2007 2:14:05 AM PDT by BlackVeil
Portuguese police appeared to take a step back from charging Madeleine McCann's parents last night after a senior officer said they had "nothing concrete" to implicate them in her disappearance.
Detectives may be depending on Kate and Gerry McCann making a confession, a Portuguese newspaper reported. They were declared formal suspects a week ago, and are now back in Britain.
The McCanns spent Friday in London consulting their lawyers A "high-ranking" officer in the Policia Judiciaria (PJ) - Portugal's criminal investigation department - said the evidence was not even strong enough to prove whether Madeleine was dead.
The unnamed PJ officer told the 24 Horas newspaper yesterday: "We have nothing concrete. There are a lot of indications, but without more elements it's impossible to determine what happened in those four vital hours [between 6pm and 10pm on the night of May 3, the night Madeleine disappeared].
"Even if the blood and traces gathered in the car or in the apartment were confirmed to correspond 100 per cent to the little girl's DNA, that wouldn't prove anything. . . just that the body had been transferred in the vehicle."
Portuguese newspapers claimed yesterday that police were investigating whether there was any possibility of "accomplices" in the alleged disposal of Madeleine's body and concoction of a false story.
It emerged that detectives want to re-interview some of the friends with whom the McCanns dined on May 3, to resolve certain alleged discrepancies in their versions of events.
Detectives have admitted that the girl's body may "no longer exist", according to the Diario de Noticias.
advertisement One theory is that her body was thrown out to sea in a bag weighted with stones, from a yacht, the paper claimed without specifying its source. The boat is allegedly based at a marina just a short drive from Praia da Luz, it reported.
It has also been claimed that the Forensic Science Service is examining alleged bloodstains from the apartment next to the McCanns'. Police believe they could hold the key to Madeleine's whereabouts after she vanished, the London Evening Standard said.
On Tuesday, the PJ formally passed a 4,000-page dossier of evidence to the Algarve-based public prosecutor.
The judge now has until next Thursday to consider several requests made by the prosecutor, including one for the seizure of Mrs McCann's personal diary, sources said.
Intense attention has focused on what police found in the hire car rented by Madeleine's parents 25 days after she went missing.
Senior sources linked to the investigation said police had discovered "bodily fluids" - not blood - with an 88 per cent match to Madeleine's DNA in the boot.
Toxicological tests on the liquid showed that Madeleine had consumed a "significant" quantity of sleeping tablets and may have overdosed, the French newspaper France Soir reported, citing unnamed sources in Portugal. British forensic science experts have cast doubt on the claim.
The McCanns spent yesterday with their lawyers, Kingsley Napley.
Mr McCann hit out at the "ludicrous accusations" that he and his wife were involved in their daughter's death. He said he and his wife knew they were innocent but were frightened and had been "backed into a corner".
If they have “nothing concrete” how can they “admit that the body may no longer exist”? This looks like the Aruba fiasco. It appears to me they managed to spread enough rumors and cast enough doubt to get those parents to leave the country.
Very fair comments. Not forgetting that other man, whom they insisted for a long time was the sole suspect, and they made statements indicating they had incriminating evidence and expected him to confess.
In my mind, the parents have always been suspects - suspects only, not sure of anything.
I think we will never know what happened to her.
“Even if the blood and traces gathered in the car or in the apartment were confirmed to correspond 100 per cent to the little girl’s DNA, that wouldn’t prove anything. . . just that the body had been transferred in the vehicle.”
Doesn’t prove anything? How about: her DEAD body was placed inside the vehicle that was used by her parents. Was anyone else besides her parents using the car? How was the body removed from the apartment, placed in their rental car, and moved somewhere without her parents knowing about it. If her death was the result of an “accident”, why the coverup? And how on earth her parents could continue their European tour one month after her disappearance is way beyond what most people would consider normal. IMO, these two will continue to dig themselves into a deeper hole. Talk about “ludicrous”. Geeze.
The Sunday Mirror quoted Kate McCann discussing the offer in an interview with the paper. “They are basically saying, ‘If you confess Madeleine had an accident, and that I panicked and hid the body in a bag for a month, then got rid of it in a hire car,”.......
Madeleine had an accident, and that I panicked and hid the body in a bag for a month, then got rid of it in a hire car.
Sounds like a confession to me.
The car was rented by her parents 25 days AFTER Madeline disappeared. They didn’t “continue their European tour” — they stayed there to help with the investigation.
You really know very little about this. I consider the parents innocent, and I’d like you to explain exactly what coverup you are talking about.
Since her disappearance, the parents have been in constant contact with the authorities, and hounded by the press. How on earth would you think they had any chance to do anything with the baby’s body?
The Portuguese authorities bungled this investigation from the start. Now they’re trying to blame the parents, even though they claimed they had another suspect they could have arrested.
How did the little girl's hair, body fluids, and DNA get in the tire well trunk (the boot, as the Brits say) of the car.
If those reports from the Portuguese police are accurate, that is almost proof positive that something nefarious happened to the little girl.
Also, the autopsy on the little girl showed she had ingested sleeping pills.
I suspect the mom gave the little girl too many pills. She was likely at her wits end because the hyperactive little girl would not take a nap, or would not go to sleep.
What autopsy?
Um, how and when was this autopsy done?
I hope to never stand before a jury, but if I do, I hope you are not on it!
THE AUTOPSY ON THE LITTLE GIRL???
The child may still be alive. She has not been found. What on earth are you thinking?
“How did the little girl’s hair, body fluids, and DNA get in the tire well trunk(the boot,asthe Brits say)of the car.”
Now they are saying the hair,body fluids may belong
to Madeleine’s siblings.
“If those reports from the Portuguese police are accurate, that is almost proof positive that something nefarious happened to the little girl.”
Problem is, the reports from the Portuguese police
keep changing, which doesn’t make them accurate!
“Also, the autopsy on the little girl showed she had ingested sleeping pills.”
There is no body, so no autopsy has been done. The
testing results on the hair found in the car has
not been accurate or confirmed.
“I suspect the mom gave the little girl too many pills. She was likely at her wits end because the hyperactive little girl would not take a nap, or would not go to sleep.”
I believe the parents are innocent, and trust the
truth will be found in time.
Vacationing in crooked little countries like Mexico or Portugal is foolish.
Mis-spoke, I did.
The test on the body fluids and hair found in the trunk, I meant.
Found in the car boot hair, strange it seems.
3 May - Three-year-old Madeleine McCann goes missing from her family’s apartment in Praia da Luz.
30 May - The McCanns meet the Pope at a general audience in Rome at the start of a “European tour” to raise awareness of Madeleine’s disappearance.
12 June - Mr and Mrs McCann arrive back in Portugal following their European tour.
The car was rented by her parents 25 days AFTER Madeline disappeared. That would be approximnately May 28.
Late July - British sniffer dogs fly out to Portugal. Keela, who can detect minute quantities of blood, and Eddie, who is trained to detect dead bodies, work in the apartment and several cars, including the hire car the McCanns rented 25 days after Madeleine disappeared.
Since her disappearance, it is known that her parents traveled to Rome (met the Pope on May 30), and where else did they go? How did they travel? Rental car? And Madeline’s DNA has been found in the rental car.
Leaving 3 babies unattended in an unlocked room, even though there were hotel babysitting services available, to drink with friends is even more foolish.
They weren’t the only ones who left children “unattended.” Every fifteen minutes, one of the parents in the group went to check on all the children.
And NOW, one of the Portuguese police is under investigation for forcing a confession from a mother in a similar case.
I think the Portuguese police are implicated in the child’s disappearance.
And the DNA in the trunk is not a complete match to Madeleine, only 80%, which could be one of the other children. Ever been around 3 small children? You are going to have body fluids, hair, and DNA from all of them all over the place.
From the 3rd to the 30 they are in Portugal. A suspect is found by Portuguese police, and is NOT arrested.
They meet with the Pope, and go to other places; do you know why? Were they meeting with authorities in other countries where Madeleine may have been taken?
You’re basing your suspicions on nothing. This child was abducted, the Portuguese police bungled the investigation, there is no Madeleine DNA in the room or in the “boot” the mother did NOT confess, because she didn’t do it.
And once again, the DNA in the boot is NOT positively identified as Madeleine’s, it could be of the other children as well.
On the timeline, there was one ten minute window where the children were checked by one of the other friends, and when Madeleine disappeared. Where was the body hidden during all that time, till July? Did the parents rent a freezer?
It is sad to see your uninformed suspicion of the parents. Now why don’t you ask why the Portuguese police are under suspicion for literally forcing a confession from another mother under the same circumstances? Because the officer involved may also be involved in a child-stealing ring, that’s why.
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