Depending on the preferred version of the case, the answer is not easy anyway. There is only a minimal to zero chance that she is still alive. This is due to the version 1 of course the cadaver odour and DNA traces which point with no doubt to the death of Maddie occurred in Apartment 5A. But also if agreing with the version 2 of the McCann’s, which alleges an abduction, the chance that she is still alive is close to zero. This is related to the fact that an abductor would have just a very small chance to hide the girl without being recognized, as Maddie has/had a very special blemish in her right eye’s iris which cannot be overseen by an informed witness. Portuguese Police warned the McCann’s to make this special mark public to thus avoid additional danger to her live if she was indeed abducted. Ignoring the warning but the McCann’s made the sign public with their “Look into my eyes”-campaign and today it is known virtually to anybody.
Regardless of the preferred version we thus may sadly have to search for the possible remains of Madeleine. This but being the search for “the needle in the haystack” as far as nothing more precise is known.
With the general version 2, an unknown (professional) abductor, Maddie or her remains could be virtually at any place in or outside of Europe. Getting a hint to a place for her remains thus can have only a small chance if one looks in the periphery of a possible suspect. Such a search was done e.g. as long as Robert Murat was a suspect at his home and surroundings. But also from suspecting the parents there are some hints to possible location of the remains. It is known that McCann’s drove about 3000 km with the Renault Scenic (which was hired three weeks after Maddies disappearence) in which the Cadaver Odour and also Madeleines DNA was found later. One of the suspected drives went from Praia da Luz (Portugal) straight along the southern coast to →Huelva (Spain), a distance of about 185 km one way. Another unsustained rumor is the possibility that (at least parts of) the remains were brought to the Rothley home of the McCann’s. This stems e.g. by the fact that on the one side Kate is a strict Roman Catholic in connection with a plastic bag thrown away and found at Faro airport. In this bag there was found DNA (which had already much decayed, only five markers could be linked to Maddie) which can but must not be linked to Maddie. A cogent house search in their →home in Rothley but was never made.
The Find Madeleine Fund is still searching for Madeleine assuming her being alive
Extract 22-Jan-2014: “Why do we continue? There is absolutely nothing to suggest that Madeleine has been harmed. Madeleine is still missing and someone needs to be looking for her. She is very young and vulnerable and needs our help. We love her dearly and miss her beyond words.”
See more at: →Find Madeleine Fund
Recent: →The Herald of Scotland, Kate McCann reveals secret Portugal hunt for Madeleine, 02-May-2014: “….Asked if she would return to Praia da Luz, Mrs McCann said: “I do go back. I haven't been since last April but I do go back for personal reasons. I might once or twice a year. It's difficult because we don't want to go back and generate publicity because I know that local people don't like that… and, while we have some really good friends in Praia da Luz, I know some people would like it to go away. So when I go to Praia da Luz, I go quietly.” Asked if the visits were a chance to be close to Madeleine, Mrs McCann said: “It is - that was the last place we were with Madeleine, and I'll still walk those streets and I guess try look for answers. It helps me.”….”.
Known searches for Madeleine's Remains until today are:
Remark: If the offender(s) but was really thoroughgoing he/she will have abolished the dead body completly, e.g. by burning, dissolving or sinking the body into the open sea. If something like this happened there will be no chance for any search to find her remains.
Madeleine's grave home in Britain? (52.717728, -1.138930)
Hypthesis Source extract; see more at→Criminal Profiler Pat Brown, Monday, October 8, 2007
“A short time ago, I made a suggestion that the British police might investigate the McCann's residence (and the residences of friends and family of the McCanns) for the possibility that the body of Madeleine McCann might have been transported into England. Some folk immediately labeled the theory ridiculous, or ludicrous, as the McCanns would say. …… Let me clear up a few misconceptions: first of all, it is a theory, not a fact. Secondly, a theory is useful to stimulate investigative avenues not yet thought of that might lead to evidence that would otherwise have been overlooked. Third, offering one theory does not mean it is the only theory or even the best theory.
…..Whether a child predator took Maddy or the parents did her in, she will probably one day just be found. However, there is nothing wrong with being proactive and trying to find her sooner than later. Therefore, the police should follow all leads and theories. IF they find her sooner, than not all the evidence with the body or within the body will have been destroyed by time and nature. So, search in Portugal and Spain and any other place one can think of. And, yes, search in England: Maddy just might be there. Would it really be possible for one of the McCanns to cart the body of their daughter back to England? Yes, absolutely. Because of the climate in Portugal, it is possible that should they have buried Maddy in a shallow grave in a sandy substrate, her body would have mummified. ….There is relatively little odor associated with a mummified body. If this occurred, the body would be easier to transport; it would be lighter and drier and lacking the horrible smell of a corpse. Such a body could easily be placed in a sealed bag and placed in a suitcase. Screening of stowed luggage is not likely to uncover a body inside of a suitcase and when the traveler reaches the other end and goes through customs, they enter the “Have nothing to declare line,” and just walk through….
….For example, Gerry McCann returned to England on June 19, just four days after an exhaustive search for Madeleine was called off. This search was in an arid, desolate area (the kind of climate which might encourage the mummification of a body) near a town called Odiaxere. A letter from an unknown sender had stated she could be found there in a shallow grave. Four days later, Gerry is on a plane home. I don't know if he took any luggage with him, anything more than a rucksack (which I don't know the size of). He only stayed for the day, purportedly to attend some meetings. He claims he had his wallet stolen while getting money from an ATM and later that evening, the wallet was mailed back to him. A rather peculiar story that I wonder might not be a cover for the reason he was late to his meetings; he ostensibly spent the time calling credit card companies to cancel his credit cards.
If I were the police investigator, I would follow up this lead. I would want to know what luggage Gerry took with him to England. I would try to see if there was any proof to the wallet theft story. I would find out if he had any “alone” time on the trip. I would find out if he made those phone calls to the →credit card companies and if he really got money from an ATM. I would find out exactly where he was that day through any evidence of his movements (phone call tracking, receipts, witnesses, etc.). I would want to know if anyone met him, especially anyone who he could have transferred a package from one suitcase to another.
I would check all the McCann trips and look for possibly ways for them to transport a body away from Portugal. And, again, I would look for all possible places within Portugal or neighboring countries as possible places to hide or bury a body. I would check the possibility of a burial at sea. If I were the Portuguese police, I would be following all leads, even those that lead away from the McCanns. It never hurts to be thorough. The point is to recover Madeleine, dead or alive, and bring justice to those that hurt her. In the end, it doesn't matter which theory is correct (except as an educational tool for future investigations). It only matters that the case is solved.”
In July 2014 I did two weeks holiday at the Algarve. And of course spend a little time for some small investigations, regarding the question “Where is Maddie?”, or say just where could she have been at which time? First of all I'd like to say that the site in Praia da Luz is much more narrow as I thought just from aerial photos. Everything is that close together, the Batista Supermarket, the Tapas Bar, the pool area, the apartment 5A and even the point of the Smith-Sighting and the beach area south of Kelly's Bar. It's not more than a 5 minute walk from the apartment to the west side beach, less than 3 minutes to the Smith-meeting point and from Tapas-Bar Apartment 5A seems to be just in spitting distance. Although my Camera has a real good wide-angle lens, I had always to stitch several pictures together to get an overall view of e.g. Ocean Club and other details. The narrowness of the site makes the “Abductions Hypothesis” of the McCann's even sound more rediculous as it is already in view of the PJ found evidence.
At the site around the Ocean Club I didn't feel quite comfortable. Obviously the resort is still harmed very much from the happenings of 2007 and the following media circus which longs until today. And an end of the circus is not really in sight. The first thing you are stuck by is when you arrive at the STOP-signs which are altered with the text “STOP - McCann Circus”. Of course I made a lot of photos at the side and I could not hide my large DSLR to do so. An old Portuguise women watch me photographing; thus telling this to somebody in the off with angry voice…the only word I could understand was “…photos…!”. Another women appeared at apartment 5A, she seemed to be the new owner of the flat or just somebody for cleaning there, but of course also made not a friendly face to me but just shut doors and windows. I can understand this behaviour very well. It is not easy for the people around there being seemingly suspected of whatever by some mostly British looking photographers walking around there since seven years. “What a mess.”
Walking around the site but makes it much more easy too guess how the plot will have run. Indeed one can walk around there just thinking “What would I have done, if I had a problem like the McCann's on that evening 3rd May 2007?”. Based on known evidence and the details of the site in Praia da Luz I will give here an educated guess on the plot, the places and timelines of the happenings.
In principle we may split up the question “Where is Maddie” into three parts: The short-, mid- and long-term occultation of her body . The short-term occultation needed to hide the body at least for the hours of the night 3rd to 4th May and directing the police and attention into the wrong direction. Mid-term had to occur also very fast, as on the next day surely more educated searches would be performed. Mid-term occultation means that a place had to be found which was far enough away from Praia da Luz such that coming searches would not succeed for at least days, weeks or even months. That time then could be used to decide what to do further with the body. Thus the long-term plot means to expel the body from mid-term hiding place to its final destination.
If you have any additional Information / Evidence / Opinion / whatever you think possibly could help on finding (the remains of) Maddie you would like to share, please Email me — Heribert Genreith 2015/10/06 00:14
The short-time plot of course is the one most easy to reconstruct from the site and known evidence. We will do the Short-Term-Occultation reconstruction in very detail here as it on the one side is very important as on the other hand we have a bunch of evidence here which are to be brought together in logical order. (Also, as a side effect from the detailed description, somebody who was at the scene in Praia da Luz at the time in question may remember something or come up with photos which contain evidence just by pure chance. If so, please mail me: — Heribert Genreith if you need any help.)
First of all we have to remember how the plot did run after evidence from the PJ-Files. From evidence of Cadaver Dogs and the metrics of Cadaver Odour we have to state that Madeleine died latest at 19:00 on The 3rd May 2007. From evidence of the, in details contradicting, statements of Gerry and Kate McCann and of David Payne, we know that Maddie was already dead at 18:30. Obviously she died at around 18:00 from mutual reconstruction of the event.
From CCTV coverage of the Tapas 7 from 17:31 until 18:36 (Evidence: see →McCannFiles) in Paraiso Bar we may see that there was not any unusual behaviour of the friends. Obviously they were unaffected by the drama happening in Apartment 5A at this time.
Despite the bunch of contradicting self-statements of the Tapas 9 regarding the time between 17:30 (time Maddie leaved kids club) to 23:15 (time local police GNR arrived), what will have happened really at the site?
Obviously the Tapas 7 used the time after 17:30 for relaxing including their kids. For the McCann's but the situation was other: They obviously where still in heavy martial quarrel (evidence: Oddities Version 2 - Sample 8: The Quiz happening/Maddie crying on 1st/2nd May ) and were eager to get the kids to bed and quiet. Seemingly by false medication Maddie died on an allergic shock around 18:00 o'clock while the Tapas 7 where still at the Paraiso Bar. After 18:13 the three males left the Paraiso Bar to go to the tennis hour, where they would meet with Gerry McCann. At about 18:30 David Payne there was introduced by Gerry to the event. At latest 19:00 then David came back to the tennis court and introduced the two other males of the Tapas9, which are Matthew Oldfield and Russel O'Brien. Until the evening meeting at about 20:45 (evidence: the testimonies of the Tapas-Group; seemingly they gathered around the Tapas Bar somewhere between 20:30 to 21:00) there were 1:30 to 2 hours left now. The men's wifes then will have been introduced to the plot. At least Jane Tanner, spouse of Russel O'Brien will take an active roll later on. Only Diane Webster seems to have taken a completely passive consternated role (evidence: Fitness instructor/Waiter J.R.S. saw Webster still staying at the Tapas Bar as the only one of the group while the alarm was already given by Kate and the alleged “searches” by the group started).
What they had to do in this short time was first to clean the apartment 5A from direct evidence (body fluids on the living room wall, see Apartment 5A) and making plans for the best evacuation of Maddies body away from the apartment and finding a temporary usable hiding place. From the sites situation there is only one direction for an evacuation, which has a good chance to do so unseen by witnesses: the direction to the not that occupied west, with scrubland and a wild stone beach. The most critical path now is to carry the body unseen from the east-most apartment 5A to the next street west into the scrubland. In principle Gerry has two possibilities: Leaving the apartment through the main door at the car park and street side, or through the patio door and the pathway north of the poolside of the Ocean Club. Both ways are somehow difficult to manage, but which one is mutually better?
He has to decide, and from evidence (evidence: cadaver odour in one of the flower beds at the patio side) he decides for the pathway north of the pool area. The reason is obvious: The region at the car park side is much less controlable. At this side there are situated all the main doors of every apartment. It is there a high risk that anybody returns from the street side to his apartment or even leaves his apartment for any reason. From the patio side but the situation is more easy to be controlled: because potentially witnesses first have to enter their individual patio area and must come close to the pathway to witness what happens. This but is easy to be controlled by an helper which may be positioned at the back corner (see → picture). In the same way also the pathway can not been observed from the Tapas Bar region or the poolside directly. Any attempt could also be watched by the helper.
Still there will be one obstacle be left: there is no way out through the pathway directly to the west, as one would have to climb a small wall there, which would have been an “eye catcher” of course.
So the helper has to watch the way around the corner into the darker west-side of the car park again, as soon as Gerry arrives at the 90-degree corner of the pathway himself. After clearing Gerry has to cross the last west part of the Car Park and then has just to cross some meters over the street into the scrubland area, where he will be mutually save for the next part of the walk.
The next pictures shows the resulting track at the Ocean Club:
(red line: track used [watch re-enact video “gerry's run”] ; blue dotted line: not usable track due to the small walls to be climbed, e.g. at the street side of Ocean Club. Another thing we can see in this picture is, that vis-a-vis of the east block, where Aoartment 5A is situated, another Aprtment block is situtated, from where the main door and also the alleged “abductor window” can be easily watched. Thus the only way to escape unseen is by the pathway chosen.) So they will have come to the following principle plot: while sitting at the Tapas Bar, waiting for secure darkness, every say 15 minutes one member of the group will have a look around the site to watch if the situation is clear enough for an attempt.
Evidence: timeline(s) of the Tapas 9 - The observation where approximatly after self-testimonies: Matt 9.00-9.05, Gerry 9.10-9.15, 9.20/5 - Jane Tanner, 9.30 - Russell and Matthew, 9.35 Matthew 9.50 Russel returns (then “alarm” 21:55, see timeline 1). Also indirect evidence: lot of contradictions of the Tapas 9 group in self-testimonies about a bunch of details. From those testimonies including independent witnesses, it seems that the alleged regular control walks for the kids →didn't take place on the other evenings except 3rd May.
Thus the helper seemingly was Russel O'Brien (yellow cross) for the Ocean Clubs pathway. From self-testimony timeline No.1 it was obviosly Matthew Oldfield (blue line) who put Maddies body (green star) into the flower bed at the patio side, such that Gerry (red line) could pick up her unseen in the pathway some minutes later.
The time when Kate raised the alarm is not absolutely clear. By self-statements of the Tapas group it was 21:55/22:00, but from independent witnesses we know for very sure, that it was at least several minutes before (see evidence → 8 independent witnesses, somewhere around 21:45). Seemingly the first timeline was indeed very close to the truth. When observation helper Russel returned 21:50, while Gerry had already started his run, this was the trigger for Kate to raise the “alarm” at about 21:55. (a very unintended evidence besides, can be found in a new (otherwise widely flawed) book by →Swan and Summers: “A man was seeing behaving oddly in a lane close to the McCanns' apartment. Ms Swan said: “Two separate witnesses apparently saw a man, whom both described as very ugly or with a spotty or pimply face, staring fixedly at apartment 5a. They both described him being in the same position in the street. That's combined with the fact that on the very day Madeleine disappeared, a lady visiting the apartment upstairs saw from her balcony a man behaving very oddly in the lane between the apartments and the pool. The man was going out of an adjacent gate, closing the gate repeatedly to see if it was creaky. He seemed to be looking around and generally acting very peculiarly before leaving.”….see also eventually at ”→Pimple-Man“ suspect.”)
The path in the west there has scrubland secured with a large fence on the left and a at this late time empty tennis court on the right hand. Both areas but are not usable for occultation, as they are to close and obvious and not easy to access too.
Then it takes about 200 meters but where the next critical point is reached: the small pathway through the housings straight to the stony beach.
And there indeed happens what should not have happened: The meeting with potential witnesses, here the Irish family Smith, closely around 22:00. It was the point of no return and Gerry stayed cool. He walked his way fast straight on without any attempt of conservation with the Smith's.
Then there at once comes the street crossing. Going right would not make any sence, as it goes back to the populated centre. Going now left, to the scrubland hill which was searched by SY in 2014, also makes no big sense. This is as then he had to pass through a street with a lot of apartments left and right with possible observers.
So he will have walked straight on and down the stairs the shortest possible way to the stony beach.
The last obstacle then is crossing the street where in his back then were some restaurants, so the Kelly's Bar, where the Smith family came from. (this picture is viewed back! Gerry comes down the stairs; Kelly's Bar is the one right with the green front-roof)
Going some meters to the right then he reaches the first entrance to the beach, Travesa da Prainha. Obviously he had some luck that there where no additional witnesses there until known today.
Now he is at the stone beach where he has to decide for one of the dozen of holes and cracks which can be used for body occultation. (see pictures)
Will he turn to the right (east) or to the left (west)? It will have depended on the then actual situation.
Was there anybody else so that he had only one side to chose? Which part of the beach did he know better (McCann's used to know the PdL-region very well through their daily long runs training)? We don't know but either way the place would not be secure for more than a day or two maximum, possibly even much less.
After deposing the body he was free to run back. Yes, of course, he could run if he liked, as now he was officially on the “search” for Maddie and could do so without any risk. The well trained runner Gerry could go back the around 500 meters in less than two minutes. Which way he may have taken is unclear, but there are not so much possibilities (blue and red lines in picture. The green circle down right is the area of the preferred night searches, the ligth blue arrow (top) is the alleged Tanner-Sighting. The green circles marked with SY are the recently searched area by Operation Grange. The black cross is the point of the Smith-Sighting.).
The whole occultation could be handled in about 10 minutes (minimum) to 30 minutes (maximum), as Gerry should have had time from approximately 21:45 to 22:15, which is 30 minutes. He thus will have arrived back shortly after 22:00, not later than around 22:15 latest (Police was called seemingly →at 22:14). Coming back he will have informed his friends about the meeting with possibly Irish witnesses around 22:00. At this point they got two new problems to solve in a very short time: First of all Gerry urgently needed an alibi for the time 22:00. Second: The now coming early searches by volunteers and soon the police, must be directed straight away from the west beach area into the wrong direction.
So they now used the time left to construct their timelines. The time of the alarm was directed to 22:00 (one week later Gerry insisted as the only one on about 22:15, which was → clearly a lie). Also the Tanner Sighting was introduced to direct any early searches to the east. In the first Tapas-timeline all the observational helpers on the site were camouflaged as “looking for the kids”-walks. This was seemingly meant for the possible event of witnesses seeing any of them and coming out with testimonies eventually later on. But then discussing the first timeline they realized that in this way there would have been no time-window for the alleged abductor at the scene. Thus they altered the timeline to a second one, letting open the needed time-window but while risking some possibly contradicting statements of a possible independent witness out there. But at least the last possibility was less risky than the one from the first timeline.
How long did this writings take? Seemingly about the time of one hour they formally had for “searching”, as they had have done if there had been anybody to search for indeed. As the GNR police arrived at about 23:05 they obviously had just handled to fit the second timeline. But now in the hurry and excitement Russel O'Brien made a heavy mistake: He gave both(!) contradicting timelines to the police. But the GNR (which was not the PJ. The first →PJ Officer V.M.M. arrived on the scene at about 00:40/00:50. Goncalo Amaral arrived at about 9:00 next morning the 4th) didn't check this but used sniffer dogs to search in the east direction. Those sniffer dogs also where trained to trace on living people (and not on cadaver odour which is another thing). So the dogs lost any trace in the street to the east, and then found a trace straight south to the close Baptista Supermarket, where indeed Maddie stayed earlier. Also volunteers where directed into the direction of the south-east sandy beach, where Maddie used to play. The first searches thus ended effortless then between 3:00 and 4:00 o'clock in the night to the morning of the 4th May 2007.
Final remarks: Imagine that the pictures shown here were taken at best day-time in high-season July 2014. The event but was at Night in low-season May 2007. Even in high season's daytime there were no people at the scrubland-streets and also few people anywhere around. In the Night 3rd May it was indeed “bad luck” for Gerry to meet the Smith family. But always “shit happens” like this. Occasionally there may exist witnesses and/or photos taken at the time and places shown here unknown until today. If you were at the site at the time in question check photographs if there appear any person in the background which may be related to the events. Imagine that especially in pictures taken with flash light sometimes in the background people appear much underexposed and unrecognized. Such pictures (regardless of being analog or digital) but may be enhanced by photographic software such that those people still may be identified.
As soon as Maddie's body was far enough away from Apartment 5A the parents were seemingly safe. If here body would be found now, her death could easily be blamed to the „unknown“ abductor. But there would occur two problems: First, if found in the west region of Ocean Club the Smith-Sighting around 22:00 would sooner or later come out and then would much overrule the faked Tanner-Sighting pointing to the east side. And secondly there would be an autopsy of the relatively fresh cadaver. From which her cause of death could be simply be recovered, then pointing directly to the parents.
After some thinking about the actual situation, the parents must have concluded that the cadaver had to be brought to a more save place very soon. At the best at once, as possibly the discovery by pure chance could happen as soon as next day. From testimonies we know, that the last searches for Maddie were closed at about 04:00 latest. Also there where a bunch of telephone calls and SMS's to England then, mostly via Jon Corner, who is also known as one of the main actors in setting up Madeleine's Fund. (evidence →Jon Corner stated that at 3:30 Gerry was around there alone on “searches”. Police had shut down action for the night between 3 and 4 o'clock. See also more details at →McCannFiles. ) Seemingly he has something arranged in this night for his freemason brother.
The nearby city of Albufeira is known as a center of British holidaymakers and house owners, but also as →a center of Portuguise and British Freemasonry. It now lies on hands, that the McCann's via Jon Corner tried to arrange immediate help from freemasonry brothers at the site. Which now was the urgently needed help to evacuate the cadaver from PdL-west-coast site to any far away and secure place. Albufiera is a well usable place to do so. Gerry also knew the region of Albufeira well from his first journey to Portugal (evidence: first witness statement Gerry). And for sure he knew the wild cost there, consisting of giant sandstone rocks with thousands of natural small holes and caves in them.
Seemingly they got a connection which agreed to help this night. The most easiest way would have been to send a car for transportation of the body to Praia da Luz. But the helper would have risked a lot. As for sure Police where informed of the alleged disappearence of a small girl, there was a large risk to get anywhere into a police roadblock where the cadaver could be found red handed. Much less risk would be to use a boat for transportation. (Even if, at very low risk, a control by an approaching marine police boat would occur, the body could be easily disposed unseen into the sea in the deep darkness). The aerial distance from the west-coast of PdL to the marina of Lagos is just 5 Kilometers, the shortest walking distance using small streets a little less than 8 Kilometers. An average walker will do this distance in one and an half hour. But the McCann parents are both well trained long runners capable of doing even a marathon. They could manage this distance easily in half the time, about 45 Minutes. (The following picture shows some of the multiple of possible traces from the west-cost of PdL to the Lagos marina.)
George Burke, from Liverpool, was driving home from nearby Lagos around 5:55 am when he caught two people in his car headlights carying a child. In an Interview he stated ( see at →evidence)
“I couldn't see them clearly because it was dark and windy. They scurried down a side road and out of sight. It was very, very dark and it was hard to make out exactly what the couple looked like. But through the gloom I could see a very suspicious-looking man and woman, with a child who fitted Madeleine's description. Though there was nobody else on the road, they were hurrying across a road that leads straight to the train station and marina. They were trying to carry the kid without anyone seeing.”. Indeed the Burke-Sighting later on was utilized by the McCann's as another “hint” to the “abduction” by a sinister “unknown couple”.)
Evidence, Additional Remark:
Michael Wright is a close family relative and immediatly was called by Gerry to help the McCann's in PdL. On the 6th may Wright by pure chance got knowledge of the Burke-Sighting. But he didn't officially report the George-Burke-Sighting. Why? Not before in his statement to Leicestershire Police in 2008, →where he stated:
“As for additional information I would like to add that on Sunday, 6 May I went to the pizzaria in PdL and bought a large quantity of pizzas. I was attended by a girl from Liverpool. I explained to her my relationship to the McCanns and she told me that her father ‘George’ had seen a man carrying a child in his arms in the early morning of 4 May in the resort. I asked her if her father would speak about this to the Portuguese authorities. I don’t know if the information was ever investigated.”
On →Steel Magnolia (Jan. 7, 2012) we can find the following information:
“The pizza girl: During this time, on 6th May, Michael Wright says he met a girl from Liverpool. He says he bought a large quantity of pizzas from a ‘pizza shack’ on the beach of Praia da Luz; the girl serving the pizzas was from Liverpool. She apparently told him that her father, known as ‘George B’, had seen a man carrying child during the very early hours of 4th May in the resort, the day after Madeleine ‘went missing’. Michael Wright apparently didn’t know if ‘George’ had been spoken to by authorities. This possible ‘sighting’ of Madeleine was for some reason never mentioned by the McCanns…As Michael Wright was advised by the girl of this ‘sighting’, did he run and tell the McCanns? - and did the McCanns then contact the police? Let us look at this another way. Suppose you're out there helping your close relations Kate and Gerry after the tragic abduction of their daughter. You go down to the beach on Sunday - just three days later - and go and get some pizzas. The girl there tells you that her father saw someone carrying a young girl on the night of 3rd/4th May. So - what do you do? You might, for example: (a) immediately ’phone Kate and Gerry to and tell them of the lead, or (b) contact the Portuguese police immediately, or © contact the UK Police immediately, or (d) ask the girl to make contact with the father so you can speak to him? But - no. Apparently Michael Wright does none of these things. He did nothing and apparently only mentions it to the police months later…. ”
This is also sustained by Witness statement of →Yvonne Warren Martin:
So the thing is, that the Kate-Yvonne W.M.- meeting took place actually just 3 hours after obviously delivering Maddies remains to the marina. Seemingly in a freudian slip confused Kate told her that “a couple had abducted her daughter” in sharp contrast to what ever said since. From forensics this quote is a typical offenders knowledge provided by her.
But was it a freudian slip or even more a deliberate choice, as she knew that they possibly again (already Smiths-Sighting at 3rd 22:00) where watched by pure chance. At this early time they but couldn't know if this two sightings would come later under scrutinity or not. So she seemingly feeled she had to introduce the later so called “mystery couple” at this moment. The story was even built up later with this “mystery couple” allegedly have looked after Maddie 2nd May, see e.g. →Examiner: Do Maddie McCann's parents know so called "mystery-couple"?.
Also interesting in this circumstances is the witness testimony of Father →Peter Neal Patterson:
“As regards the questions, I can offer the following information: I became known Kate and Gerry since 2002. My wife (Bridget) and Kate both trained in general medicine and have become good friends……On Friday the 11th of May 2007 we heard rumours that the Portuguese were going to stop the searches. After having passed this information to Kate we met up in the Tapas bar in the resort between 9:30 and 9:45 in the morning…..I encouraged Kate to read Psalms X and XX of the Old Testament as I felt these were relevant to her. … The passage which is marked in my wifes bible I believe is Samuel 2:12. This passage is very significant for me and my wife but likely has so significance for Kate. I interpret this passage as saying that even though we cannot be with the two children that we have no lost, we will find them one day… Kate asked me to pray at the Marina, which I did, a number of times during the week. I returned home on Sunday, 13th of May, 2007, leaving from Faro at 9:30.”
Remark about the distance/time: One may wonder how they could do the walk to and back the marina (ca. 5 km (3 mil.) air distance). One way is about 7 to 8 km, which would take an average walker about 1.5 hours. To carry the body to the marina they but had enough time, at least from around 4:00 to 6:00 am - Way back they had 1 hour. Both Gerry and Kate are top trained runners and walkers, see e.g. Gerry, who did an →Iron-Man Triatlon (Virgin Active London Triathlon with top international elite athletes) completing the swim, bike, run in an impressive olympic time of 2:26.50. Also Kate is able to do a Marathon (42km) and it takes her even today (aged 45) just →45 minutes for 10 Km. So, as they also knew the region from their daily runs very nicely, the distance was quite easy to do for them.
The Burke-Sighting, together with the related testimonies of Mrs. Martin and Mr. Wright (plus testimony of GNR Officer Paolo Neto, see next paragraph, and the testimony of Father Patterson) , prove, from just common sense, that the couple George Burke saw early morning 4th May at the marina definitely were Madeleine's parents liquidating their daughter.
But this sighting now seems obviously related to the Parents own cover-up. A boat from Albufeira was ordered to meet at 6:00 o'clock at Lagos marina. It picked up the body and transported it the one-hour trip back to the marina or cost of Albufeira into custodial care of a freemason brother. The McCanns indeed then were seen by police witnesses at 7:00 o'clock in the morning ( →evidence “07:00 GNR Officer Paolo Jorge Fernandes Neto: “…He remembers that he saw the McCann couple at about 07.00 alone in the street next to the site where they were stationed…”) in PdL just coming back from “searching for Maddie”, returning from anywhere unknown. Which again fits best with the needed time for them to do the hurry back from Lagos marina.
Who could have been the helping freemason from Albufeira? Of course there are a lot possible brothers. One of them but is obviously linked to Brothers McCann, Brown, Blair and Savile: It is →Sir Cliff Richard, who recently had a →house search done in Britian in connection with the sexual abuse of minors (Besides: He also was questioned in the case of the Jill Dando murder 1999). Obviously Cliff is like e.g. politician Gordon Brown also →under allegations and pressures regarding the Savile-Complex. He is owing three large Villas in Albufeira, two of them situated directly at the sand-rock beach. The then actual PM Tony Blair is a good friend of Cliff Richard. Just in the year before the event, in 2006, Tony Blair used Cliff Richards Coast-Villa as his holiday residence. Although it is not the only possibility, it is not a far guess, that Maddie's body was brought to Albufeira, even possibly to an estate owned by Cliff Richards, and disposed into one of the dozens of natural holes and caves in the rocks on private ground (To cover the cave with the body one may use easily those sandstone lying around to close the hole). Which then would have been a very secure place for virtually any long time.
But of course not for ever. The Albufeira helper but will have insisted, that the body must be brought away from his ground as soon as the situation makes it possible to minimize his own risk. From this time on we will get to step three,the long-term occultation.
For the Long-term occultation we have again a lot of evidence which can be taken into considerations. This is good news. The bad news is, the range of possibilities is that wide spread, that it is still the needle in the haystack to be found.
Still one of the top riddles of the Madeleine-McCann-Case is her bodies last destination. A lot of more or less well founded guesses were made, of course by Goncalo Amaral. but also from a lot of others. As everybody knows, without any success until today. And, sorry to say, if the offenders worked really professional there is not any chance to recover the body anyway. Now, as Gerry McCann is decribed as a very tough, sometimes stoic (statement David Payne) Heartspecialist, Kate McCann but is known and described as a very catholic women. So there is some possibility, that Maddies Body was burried (or even burned) in some way which would be compatible with her catholic faith.
Such body disposal-suggestion formerly done included:
All those leads where followed but did not have any success or gave any additional reliable information until today. So but first let us see what the known evidence tells us:
The main evidence of course is the Renault Scenic (registration 59-DA-27) rented by the McCanns on 27th of May 2007. The car was in the possession of the McCanns until their flight back on 9th of September 2007. On 3rd of June it had already done 5,864 kms which means an average of 163 km per day of posession. From DNA and Cadaver Dogs evidence but it is very clear that with no reasonable doubt Maddies body was transported in it. From this it follows, that we have to look at the rides done with the car, at times, regions and persons possibly involved.
Sunday 27 May 2007: Kate and Gerry take ownership of a Renault Scenic hire car
Monday 28 May 2007: One day after renting the car Kate and Gerry find time to view an →800 sq ft inflatable poster of Madeleine, which has been driven all the way from the West of Scotland by supporters Chris and Les. The billboard will be placed near busy roads to maintain awareness of Madeleine's disappearance.
Sunday 3 June 2007: The inflatable poster of Madeleine is returned to UK.
So this is a first very strange evidence. As the mighty billboard to build and to transport was a very hard and expensive task (→costs of 20,000 pounds, sponsored by e.g. J. K. Rowling), why was it used just for five days? It could have been done faster and cheaper by air transport too. It could have but been anyway used in Portugal for several years, why but now returning it after that short time having not even a small effect for the “search” for Maddie? A suggestion on hand is of course that the billboard was build and arranged for the secret transportation of Maddies body back home to Rothley. It could have been done this way, but there is some doubt about it either. In early August the cadavar odour and DNA was discovered in the Renault Scenic, two months later. As a witness stated, the days before the house search at the McCann's new rented villa in Praia da Luz, the doors of the Renault where night and day left wide open. Presumably to get rid of the strange cadaver odour in it. But this would mean, that they (1) used the Renault to transport the body to the Billboard, which could have been done with the billboard car either, and/or (2) that they drove the Renault car for two months ignoring the strange odour. So we may suggest, even if the billboard was eventually constructed for this special reason, but if so, then the plot maybe was abandoned as thought to be to risky.
The next question is, where did the team McCann drive with the car in the time (approx. three and a half months) in question?
From witnesses and from telephone tracking we know that in principle the whole Algarve Coast from west to east, and from there up to Huelva in Spain, was visited. Also it drove to Lisboa. One place in this account but is indeed miracolous: This is the region triangle of Sagres/Budens/Raposeira north of the west Algarve coast. This is a lonely poor agriculture region and usually no place to give reason for tourists to go. Either way but this region was visited several times by the McCann's, even in the last short time between the day 3rd of September when they were announced that they would be declared to be “arguidos” and their hurry return to the UK on 9th of September 2007. So what was the reason to visit this area several times?
The other suspicion is related to the →Huelva Spain trip. The trip was planned for the Thursday 2nd August. But at this time the first house search relating the McCann's was made. On August 2nd, at 6pm, the inspectors arrived at the McCanns' residence and presented the search warrant. Cadavar Odour then was detected on clothes and Cuddle cat. So obviously Gerry cancelled the trip because of a 'viral illness' as he said. The trip but was formerly arranged for making PR action at the Center of Huelva. Now they did the trip a day later, but the 3rd was known to everybody to be a vacation day in Spain, such that the Center of Huelva was empty. But despite the trip on 3rd being nonsense, the trip was made either. So what was the reason to do so?
Finally the hired Renault car was investigated not before 5th/6th of August 2007, when cadaver odour was found in the tire boot and on its keys too. DNA samples where collected and send to the British DNA Labs of FSS. The car then but was returned to the McCann's. From this we definitly know, that the crucial transport of Maddies body was done before Monday 6 August and after of course the 27 of May, which means somewhere from 28 May to 05 Aug. 2007. A lot of those days are out of question, as the McCann's, mostly Gerry, did a lot of PR trips in this time:
So days left in principle are:
Which are not more than max. 52 days (half days included) left in question.
The next question now is: who where the persons/friends/relatives also in PdL with the McCann's in this times?
May 28, 29 (2)
Gerry and Kate (G&K), Auntie Anne (AA); Trish Cameron and her husband Sandy (TCS); Clarence Mitchell (CM), Chris and Les
June 2 to 4 (3)
G&K, TCS, AA, CM, Chris and Les, Auntie Phil (AP)
June 8,9/10 (3)
G&K, TCS, AA, CM, AP, Kate's parents (KP)
June 13 to 18 (6)
G&K, TCS, AA, CM, AP, KP, Jon Corner (JC, 14.-16.), friends/family (16.-18.)
June 21 to 30 (10)
G&K, TCS, AA, CM, AP, KP
friends from Leicester (23.), drop off and pick up more friends (29.) (22.-29?): Campaign Manager Justine McGuinness (JMG) ( →I travelled to Portugal on the fiftieth day anniversary of Madeleine's disappearance, Friday the 22nd June 2007. ..My involvement in the “Find Madeleine” campaign ended on 15 September 2007. During my time as director of the campaign I made several trips to Portugal. ..I travelled as a passenger in the Renault Scenic many times, which was driven by Kate and Gerry and their family members, Sandy Cameron and Michael Wright. I cannot specify the number of times that I travelled in the vehicle. The first time that I travelled inside the vehicle was when I arrived at Faro on the fiftieth day anniversary. At that time the car smelt exactly like what you would expect after having been cleaned by a rental car company. I never noticed unpleasant odours. ) seems to be reliable, clean car until 22. June/1. July?!
July 1 to 11 (11)
G&K, TCS, AA, CM, AP, KP, JMG (1.), Russell O'Brien, Rachel Oldfield and Fiona Payne are re-interviewed by police (11.)
July 15 to 21 (6)
G&K, TCS, AA, CM, AP, KP, described as “quiet”
here: USA Trip follows 22.-26. –
July 26/27 to 31 (6)
G&K, TCS, AA, CM, AP, KP, (29.) Kate and Gerry drop Trisha and Sandy off at the airport for an emotional farewell. They have given the McCanns support throughout their time in Praia da Luz.
Aug. 1 to 4/5 (5)
G&K, AA, CM, AP, KP, (1.)JMG, (1.-4.) JC, (3.) Huelva G&K, (with one of JC, GM, JMG ?)
From JMG statement we can guess that the event in question should have been after at least the 22 of June, which lefts max. 52-16=36 days to consider. If we take into account the witness statement, that days before the 6th August the car doors were opnened day and night, we may consider that the event in question must be considered to be located in before late of July. It is said by witnesses that Kate and Gerry drop Trisha and Sandy off at the airport for an unusually emotional farewell. This must be seen I the circumstance, that Gerry's (most) loved Sister Trish is close family and the farewell was surely not meant for ever but for days, as he would very often meet his sister in the past and the future too. If the farewell on 29th of July was such emotional that also witnesses remarked it, was this eventually in connection with a burial of Maddie just some days ago? Of course we don't know it by now, but from the time-line of evidences it lies at least very close. Although the 3rd of Auguts, the Huelva-trip, is not impossible in principle, it is but very unlikely, as then the car couldnt have been cleaned and ventilated, and thus cadavar odour would have been very strong and also DNA would have been in a better condition. Presumably the trip on 3rd Aug. to Huelva was just done from embarrassment to get out of PdL and stress for a day after the house search done by the PJ.
They days most suspicious are the “quiet” days July 15 to 21, and then after returning back from USA, just the two days 27. and 28. of July are left. From this we could conclude that the days of final deposit of Maddies body was in the days from July 15 to July 21 in 2007. The most suspicious days here are the 18th/19th of July 2007 where Gerry' blog for the day 19th says→remarks just ”…that the twins are enjoying spending time with their granny, who they have not seen for 2 months.“ Another evidence is Kate's Dreams in late July (23rd July, while Gerry is in the USA), where she describes the whole horror of these consecutive occultations in principle to the police.
This dates are also verified by tracking of Kate's and Gerry's phone done by PJ:
So the final question arises, how and where was it done?
A lot speaks for the triangle Sagres/Budens/Raposeira. Maddies body had a dry mass of less than 10 kilogramms, which means it is no big deal to burn the body completely on a pile of wood. From evidence it seemingly was the case, as in the triangle one may easily find one or more lonely places, where an open fire at some day or night doesn't get any attention. One has just to collect dry wood, or even bring in some, to make one or even some pile(s) for later use. When the decission to do so has fallen, then they could have taken Maddies body from its intermediate (midterm) hiding place by car to the pile in the triangle to burn her in a final catholic ceremony. It is easy to do and the ashes are easy to burry at a nice place, even openly, as DNA cannot be extracted from the completely burned body anymore. The last visit there derived from the phone tracks, shortly before their return on 9th September, then would have been nothing else than the (last?) visit to Madeleine's grave for a pray and farewell.
From this we may guess, that Madeleines cremation and burial took place in the Sagres/Budens/Raposeira traingle on the 18th/19th of July 2007, attended by mourning Kate, Gerry, Trish and Sandy at least.
Remark: The cadaver ashes (or at least the main part of it) could easily been transported back to UK too. One could use just a simple tin box of “black tea” for it. Especially Trish and Sandy could have done this easily on their return to UK on 29-July-2007. Finally the ashes would have been buried somewhere home at Rothley (see eventually also Freudian Slip of Philomena).
This seems to be the most compelling scenario, but of course it must not have been exactly this way. The last visit to the Sagres/Budens/Raposeira traingle could also have been a fake, as Clarence Mitchell e.g. knew that PJ would do phone tracking, and thus giving them a wrong lead by this travel. Instead of burning the body it was also easily possible to sink her body into the open sea (Sea Funeral) with a ceremony done too. Just to take a strong Nylon-bag (duffel bag) to put her body in together with 20 kg of stones, and close it with strong nylon fibres. It will sink in the nearby Atlantic thousands of metres deep to the ground and will not release the body for the next hundred years at least. But, although 99.9% secure, it is not that secure like burning. A fishing net of a large Trawler could by pure chance pick it up from the ground. A very small, but not a zero chance.
Now we have just one miracle evidence left: One month after the return of the McCann's to the UK, in October 2007, a →plastic bag with some child clothes and was found at Faro airport. In the bag there were a shower curtain and a green elastic band, a white flannel, a green child's T-shirt with a flower on front and a pencil case with pink heart motif.
Dropped there some time ago and laying between some bushes at a layby in the open. As the clothes seemingly could have belonged to a female child DNA was extracted. Which was but in very bad condition. Again Low-DNA copy had to be made and found a 5 markers fit with Maddies DNA. This is far from a forensic prove, as we need at least 8 markers to be sure. But even with just five markers it can be seen as a roughly 80% possibility, that it formerly belonged to Maddie. Who and why did eventually somebody deposit such a bag there ? Of course not the alleged “abductor” as claimed by the McCann's. As it would make no sense, as for an abductor the main evidence to hide would have been Maddie herself and not some clothes eventually contaminated with DNA or much more dangerous, with cadaver odour. It only would make sense, if somebody in the last moment before entering the Faro Airport would remember, that he has some evidence in his luguage which he better did not risk to go through with at customs. This would have been the case especially for the time after the 3rd of September, as then the McCann's were officially “arguidos” and thus the risk was high to get stopped at the airport and got arrested and the luggage been confiscated. So we may guess that the McCann's deposited the bag as in the last moment before boarding, they remembered that there was still some evidence between their belongings. Very strange is the shower curtain and a green elastic band. Where was the curtain taken away? Where they used to enwrap Maddeleine's cadaver?
Another seemingly very strange, but at least thinkable scenario would be, that Kate did decide not to destroy the body of Maddie. As we know, Clarence Mitchell who accompanied them, is seemingly a MI5/6 agent. Thus he will have had access to diplomatic luggage which is not allowed to be controlled by customs. So one left possibility is, that Maddies Body, or even parts of it (the parents were doctors and surgeons), were transported then back to UK for a private burial ceremony. Maybe this was the case, before entering the airport Clarence would have checked them. If they had any evidence left in their luggage accessible to customs? And thus it was disposed in the last moment.