Thursday, 13 August 2015

MOROCCO AND.....


MOROCCO

7th June 
Kate and Gerry fly back to PDL early evening, then drive to Lagos to attend concert in aid of Madeleine. 

8th Jun 07
Gerry's blog:  "Sean, in particular has acquired a taste for sea-bass"

9th June DATE:  9/6/2007 (from Pamalan)
DATE GERRY USED 
Day 37 - 11/06/2007
Kate and I had a slightly busier day on the media front than expected. We did a short press interview for the Irish Sunday papers, mainly to thank the Irish for their fantastic level of support. [..]
After this we headed down to Sagres which is the very most southwestern tip of Portugal. There is a very nice beach and we had lunch with the family. [..]
After returning from the beach we did the Irish version of Crimewatch-‘Crimecall’. [..] we want the Irish public to come forward with photographs of people who they do not know who were in and around Praia da Luz in the 2 weeks leading up to the 3rd May.

The Sagres trip does seem rather strange and - considering that some of the family apparently flew in for this junket - rather short. Surely it would make more sense to make it a full day with the twins (there is no mention of them in the blog) and have a day out with all the family. I
t looks more like a few hours with the family although it is possible that if the twins came Sean could have been treated to fresh sea-bass, his liking for this food having already been announced to the world the previous day.

Why in particular are Irish people asked to send their photographs. I particularly love the phrase ‘photographs of people who they do not know’   and why is Gerry two days out? The 11th would make it day 39. 

This Sagres trip isn’t mentioned at all in the book for some reason. 

There is no previous mention of Sagres in the blog yet Gerry talks about  ‘heading down to Sagres’ as if he knows it. 
His blog religiously mentions the ‘family day’ which is always a Saturday  - the only day in the week the creche is closed and they have to entertain the twins. 

10th June (Sunday)
Mobile phone call is tracked between Gerry and O'Brien on this day. Tracking shows the two were possibly 28km apart at the time of the call.

The McCanns attend mass in the morning in PdL.

Late afternoon they drive to Lisbon airport to fly  to Rabat.
Clarence Mitchell travels with them on the flight.

From ‘madeleine’ - chapter 12: 
We were lucky we managed to get on a plane to Rabat at all. I use the word ‘lucky’ loosely. The jet had broken down and a pre-war propeller plane was drafted to help out. It was too small to carry all the passengers and had to make a return trip to get everyone to Morocco. Flying was hard enough for me now as it was, and this was scary. The plane, a bare metal tube, was basic. It had about twenty seats and no separate cockpit, no overhead lockers or storage racks, no in-flight service [..] .
Miss Biddy Brett-Rooks, the consul general for Casablanca, was there to meet us when we landed. She looked and sounded exactly as I’d imagined from her name: very sweet and very English. We went first to a hotel where we had arranged to meet
an ITN crew from the UK. They wanted to show us an interview they’d recorded with a Norwegian lady called Mari Olli. [..]  On 9 May, she’d seen a little girl who looked like Madeleine at a petrol station on the outskirts of Marrakesh. [..]
From what we could infer, this lead simply hadn’t been adequately followed up. Indeed, a month later, Mari still hadn’t been formally interviewed. It was intolerable. 
unquote

The  McCanns spent the night at the British Ambassador’s residence: 
‘It was pretty late by the time we arrived at the ambassador's residence, where we would be spending the night.’
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This sighting  was on the 9th of May, reported  in Spain on the 10th. Meanwhile quite a few other sightings were being followed up - some by Leicester Police for some reason. 
The pre-war plane must have been quite a change from the private jet which had already whisked them to Rome, Madrid, Berlin and Amsterdam.  
Interesting information is that obviously  more than 18 and less than or exactly 38 people expected to travel with the McCanns as the plane had to return to pick up the rest of the group. 
Apparently the Consul-general has her H.Q. in Casablanca and not in Rabat. 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
11th June:
The McCanns met several ‘important and powerful figures’  The Chief of Police and two government Ministers among them according to Chapter 12:

In the morning, at a meeting with the consular staff, we heard from a British Metropolitan Police attaché, a counter-terrorism liaison and cooperation officer, that Morocco was a police state with excellent networks and intelligence-gathering systems. If Madeleine was here, she was sure to be found. It was something we’d be told several times during our visit.

We talked to the president of the Ligue Marocaine pour la Protection de l’Enfance, the Moroccan equivalent of the NSPCC, and visited Touche Pas à Mon Enfant. [..] 
That day several senior and powerful figures spent time with us, including the minister of the interior, Mr Benmoussa, and the director general of the police, Charki Draiss. The police attaché had told us earlier that for these meetings to take place, permission must have been granted by the King himself. Both Mr Benmoussa and Mr Draiss reiterated the message of the day: ‘We will help you. If Madeleine’s here, we will find her.’
unquote

Lucky timing to launch a new computer system or just a button?
En route to our visit to the Observatoire Nationale des Droits de l’Enfant, a Palace-sponsored child-welfare watchdog, [...] From the Observatoire Nationale des Droits de l’Enfant, we learned that the heart of each Moroccan community is not the town hall or police station but the health centre. Accordingly, a new computer network system linking all the health centres in Morocco [..] ready to be launched from their headquarters. 
A special webpage about Madeleine had also been created to coincide with our visit to Rabat. Gerry and I were completely blown away to be invited to press the ‘go live’ button, activating not only Morocco’s new network but with it the ‘Madeleine page’, thereby alerting all the health centres across the country to her disappearance and our need to find her.
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The western press published photographs of hundreds of children holding up Maddie posters (remember that box of posters Gerry schlepped through customs?). The book devotes a paragraph to the event.
Royalty has been mentioned twice, senior and important people have ‘spent time with them’. But it doesn’t look as if the great and good of Morocco were falling over themselves to host the McCanns. These sideways allusions to royalty and important people do not add up to the image which is projected in the press. In fact the meeting on the last morning seems to have been arranged by the translator and was facilitated by the fact that it was her father-in-law. 
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Paolo Reis (Portuguese journalist)
At the press conference held in Rabat at the Hilton Hotel, the English couple was accompanied by a very ‘British’ gentleman who is presented to us as a British diplomat from the Foreign Office. John Kayne accompanies the English couple on his journey for two weeks. [..]
The British diplomat told us a few minutes before the press conference: ‘Maddie’s parents are ordinary people [..] they are not accustomed to the press’. [..]
The morning of June 11, the English couple had a meeting with the members ‘Matkich waldi’.  (do not touch my son). The parents had previously met with the Executive Director of the National Observatory for Children’s rights (ONDE), Said Raji. 
unquote 
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Presumably the press conference - not mentioned at all in the book - was later in the day. This time not only Clarence Mitchell, but a translator provided by the British Embassy shared the platform - respectively a question and  language filter possibly preventing unwanted questions.
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June 12th
On our final morning, the lady who’d been interpreting for us arranged for us to meet the minister of Islamic affairs, who happened to be her father-in-law. I was keen to talk to an Islamic religious leader to seek the support and prayers of the Muslim community. 
The minister was an academic, senior cleric and an adviser to the King, and he seemed kind, genuine and receptive.[..] I asked if he would urge the Muslim people here to pray for her, too, and for all missing children. He promised us that he would, adding that he was certain we would be reunited with our daughter.
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The  lady with the McCanns and Clarence Mitchell at the press conference  on the 11th was probably Myriam Alami Toufiq - she's on the British Embassy's list of lawyers and translators.
Therefore the  minister may have been Ahmed Toufiq, appointed as minister for Islamic affairs in November 2002).
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12th June
The McCanns arrive back in Praia de Luz in the afternoon. At night they go to church for prayers. 


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BBC News:  Madeleine parents 'to take stock' 
Last Updated: Sunday, 10 June 2007, 05:12 GMT 06:12 UK

The parents of missing Madeleine McCann say they will spend the coming week reviewing the campaign to find her and allowing themselves time to grieve.

The couple have travelled across Europe in an effort to find Madeleine, four, who went missing in Portugal on 3 May.

But on their return to the Algarve on Tuesday from Morocco, Gerry and Kate McCann of Rothley, Leicestershire, say they will have a period of reflection. [..] When they return to Portugal, Mrs McCann said it would be time to withdraw from the media attention.
unquote
11th June:
The McCanns also did a couple of interviews for ITV and Sky focussing on a change in the phase of the campaign. They confirmed that there would be a period of reflection before they decided on the best role for themselves.

 (1) Re Sagres:  
 John McCann speaking on radio: ‘  - but some of the, some of the stuff that’s being speculated on just isn’t plausible. Like information appearing about samples in a car which Gerry and Kate only got 5 weeks after Madeleine disappeared.  Are you trying to tell me that Madeleine was hidden for 5 weeks and then was suddenly reappeared in this hire car.’ unquote
 Why did John mention “5 weeks” when he was talking in September 2007 – months after Madeleine had disappeared?
The facts are that the car had been hired on May 27 – 24 days after Madeleine was reported missing. 24 days is a significantly shorter time than 5 weeks.
So, what could be significant about something happening 5 weeks after Madeleine’s demise?
5 weeks after Madeleine disappeared was the weekend commencing Friday June 8, 2007. When we look closely at that weekend, there are several interesting things to note:
The McCann family flew in to the Algarve or were already there for that weekend. Susan and Brian Healy – Kate’s parents – were there. Trish and Sandy Cameron – Gerry’s sister and his brother in-law were there. Philomena flew in to Lisbon and Kate’s long time friend Anne-Marie Wright and her husband Michael had flown in to Faro.
Michael told the police that he and his wife flew in with the specific job of looking after Sean and Amelie while Kate and Gerry went to Morocco on Sunday June 10. Given the large number of close family relatives in town, Michael’s statement to the police is flawed.
On Saturday June 9, 2007, the entire family is supposed to have spent a day at the southwestern tip of Portugal – a town called Sagres.
On the Sunday afternoon, Kate, Gerry and Clarence Mitchell all went up to Lisbon to catch a small private plane laid on especially for them to go to Casablanca in Morocco. Their ultimate destination was Rabat, where a press conference with Sky’s Martin Brunt was held.
North Africa in June is a very hot place to be. Why then was Martin Brunt wearing a white suit, children were wearing t-shirts, but they chose to wear the worst attire possible – black suits more befitting a funeral?
It is even more remarkable that this BBC news item was apparently written before they left for Morocco. 
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A number of questions arise from the above clips: 
Why have they given this information even before they left for Morocco? 
What ‘role’ are they looking for?  Gerry eventually returned to Glenfield Hospital but that’s hardly a ‘role’.
Most of all: the time to grieve - I feel this was a crucial period when a lot of things changed. End of European Tour which from the distance of 8 years looks like a damp squib. 

Plus this little item from ‘madeleine’:
Chapter 11:
At the beginning of June, Gerry had a call from the director of communications at the Foreign Office. [..] Whatever the case, it was suggested to Gerry that we should use Madeleine’s Fund to employ someone to replace Clarence once our campaign visits were complete. Reluctantly, Gerry agreed. We honestly hadn’t bargained for having to pay a salary for media liaison out of the fund, which we’d envisaged being used primarily to meet costs related directly to the search for Madeleine.
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References: 





































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Sunday, 9 August 2015

SOCRATIC QUESTIONING OF THE LAST PHOTO


This blog is honoured to post this report by Socrates - a most distinguished guest!


The Last Photo - revisited




Kate states that the Last Photo, of Gerry, Amelie, and Madeleine sitting by the children’s pool, was taken, by her, on Thursday 3rd May 2007

“We then sat round the toddler pool for a while, dipping our feet in, and I took what has turned out to be my last photograph to date of Madeleine.”

The time in the EXIF metadata is shown as 13:29, but the McCanns were at great pains to point out that this time was one hour wrong, and it was actually taken at 14:29

Date/Time Original 2007:05:03 13:29:51+01:00

The photo shows Gerry , wearing sunglasses, T shirt and shorts, with a slight sheen of perspiration across his forehead, the children in sun hats, which are casting shadows, there are clear shadows cast by the tree, and by the sun beds.

The edges of the shadows are sharp, indicating bright sun.

However, the weather records for Thursday 3rd May 2007 in Praia da Luz tell a totally different story.




At 1pm the temperature was 17º C,  (62ºF)  This is relatively cold.
At 2pm the temperature had risen to 18ºC (64ºF)    Again not hot enough for sweat to break out on the brow of a man wearing nothing more than a thin cotton T shirt and shorts.

Across the top of the figure is a grey bar which indicates the cloud cover.
At 1pm and 2pm it is shown as 50%

By 4:30pm it was 90% so we may deduce that at lunchtime there may have been cloud cover somewhat greater than 50% and increasing as the afternoon progressed.

It also shows TWO separate cloud layers, one at 540m which then rises to 740m,  and a higher one at 2700m

The record for the entire holiday week is even more instructive.





Here we see a clear pattern of the temperature falling and the cloud cover increasing between Sunday evening 29 April, and the following Friday morning 4 May




When we consider the Last Photo we must ask the following questions.
What do we SEE
What do we KNOW
and then 
What can we DEDUCE ?

We see
Shadows have sharp outlines
Shadows more or less vertical
Bright reflection from human skin
Bright reflection from objects
Sheen of perspiration on Gerry's forehead
Children in very light dress
Children in sun hats
Gerry wearing very dark sunglasses
Gerry wearing T shirt and shorts
Bright and sharp reflection in sunglasses
Father and children with feet in the water 

We know
The pool was very cold - all week 
Weather for the rest of the week was cold and cloudy 

What do we deduce ?
The photo was taken on a pleasantly warm or even a hot day.
It was taken when the sun was more or less overhead. Solar Zenith was at 13:29 for the days in question.  Therefore, in layman’s terms the sun was overhead between 12:30 and 2:30 pm 
There were no low clouds and there was no high overcast 


But surely wind speed and direction depend on other factors,  buildings, vegetation . . 

You make a very valid point.
Wind speed IS measured about 3m from the ground, and in  an open area, for the obvious reasons that you give. The ground has a frictional resistance, there are walls, buildings, street furniture, and then hedges and trees, all of which will act to slow the apparent speed at human level
The wind speed and direction at lunchtime is given as 7.2 m/s, of a stiff breeze, Force 4, and the direction approximately WSW, or bearing 250

On the map it is coming in along the red line 



In fact this is across a large patch of waste land, tennis courts and then the very low wall by the Tennis courts in the Ocean club, which are protected only by chain link fencing.  The vegetation, although there is some, is low.


As we can see there is not much of a barrier to reduce the force of the wind.

And I suppose that even reducing Force 4 would only bring it down to Force 3

well exactly and if we look again at Madeleine’s very fine hair falling across her face, and her floppy little sun hat, we are entitled to ask whether they were sitting in any wind at all.  

But if I may digress slightly, this raises another very interesting point,

Let is stick with the issue of wind force and direction .. .

Later that evening, around 10pm Kate tells us what happened when she entered the apartment.

Her first statement said the curtains were wide open,  
[Quote]and immediately noticed that the door to her children's bedroom was completely open, the window was also open, the shutters raised and the curtains open, while she was certain of having closed them all as she always did.”

 but later we have seen repeated interviews, and read in the autobiography, which say they were tight closed.  

but I just noticed that the door, the bedroom door where the three children were sleeping, was open much further than we’d left it. 
I went to close it to about here, and then as I got to here, it suddenly . . . slammed, . . . . and literally as I went back in, the curtains of the bedroom which were drawn, [demonstrates with both forearms together]  that were closed, “wheesh’  like a gust of wind kind of blew them open.

[extract from book] p. 71 “Then I noticed that the door to the children’s bedroom was open quite wide, not how we had left it. At first I assumed that Matt must have moved it.  I walked over and gently began to pull it to. Suddenly it slammed shut, as if caught by a draught.”

She says the door slammed even though she was holding it, and when she pushed it open again another gust “whooshed” the  curtains into the room.



By 10pm the wind had died down, and was 4 m/s, Force 2, bordering on the low end of Force 3. It has also veered to WNW, or bearing 290.


Assuming the window was open, it is only 1 m x 0.5 m, so half a square meter.  The door is 2 m x 0.75 m so one and a half square metres.  

so any wind pressure entering the room is effectively dissipated over three times the area,
Now let us look at photos of the area outside the bedroom window.

What we see is a small car park lined with thick and high trees, a substantial wall, and then another wall just outside the window of the apartment 
                      



So the argument which says the effective speed and power of the wind is reduced by vegetation, walls, street furniture, cars and other obstacles applied here with even greater force.

This apartment window was by any standards very well sheltered


And from that we then have to imagine what wind power or force would be necessary to tear through all that barrier - and remember the wind is coming in at an angle across that road, across other areas with high buildings and thick vegetation, it is the purple line on this map




and the wind still has to have the force to get in through a small open window, and then slam a door being held by an adult, and on the second occasion to pull full length curtains from where they were jammed between the bed and the wall, or jammed behind the wicker chair, against the wall, so that they can “Whoosh” 



And that wind force,  would then one assumes also hit the Tapas bar around the same time, and we remember that the bar was encased in about 40 square metres of clear tarpaulin.   Yet not a single guest or member of staff reports what would have been a deafening sound as those two gusts hit.


The Weather reports from Faro Airport are similarly silent on the point.

So it has been an interesting excursion, driven by responding to reasoned arguments that the wind conditions might have permitted the Last Photo to have been taken on Thursday 3rd, but leading not only to a serious suspicion, on those grounds alone that it could not have been, but also to some serious doubts about the slamming door and whooshing curtain story.

There just does not seem to be enough evidence to substantiate either,

as with so much else in this continuing Mystery

What is even more interesting is to note that the McCanns’ entire story involving the Last Photo, and flapping curtains depends on flat calm and hot at lunchtime, and high wind at bedtime.
The facts are 
EXACTLY  THE OPPOSITE.






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Friday, 31 July 2015

BERLIN AND AMSTERDAM part 3


BERLIN:

Gerry’s Blog:
4th June 2007 Busier day today with travel arrangements for Berlin and Amsterdam finalised. Leaving tomorrow night and coming back Thurs afternoon. It will be a very busy schedule similar to Madrid. On Thurs night there is a music festival in aid of Madeleine in nearby Lagos which we will be attending. Tonight, we were interviewed for Crimewatch which will be shown on BBC1 tomorrow night.

5th June 2007 Met with the Portuguese Police today. It is good to talk face to face especially with so much speculation in the media.[..]
Another busy programme tomorrow with TV, press, and politicians to see and then straight on to Amsterdam for more of the same. It all helps in the search for Madeleine.
(McCannfiles.com: Before leaving for northern Europe, the McCanns have a meeting with police detectives at the British Consulate in Portimão.
Sources said the Tuesday meeting was in line with similar briefings given by police in the past, but "within the bounds of Portuguese secrecy laws". The source added that "nothing new" was disclosed during the meeting.
British Consul Bill Henderson told The Portugal News that the Consulate served "as a facilitator" and was providing constant "consular assistance" to the McCanns.)

6th June 2007 Today seemed to go very well with huge interest in our search for Madeleine. There has also been a little bit of criticism in the German press about the amount of media coverage but this did not seem to diminish the level of interest. The German interviewers are a little more direct with their questions but I was still surprised by the question as to whether Kate and I may be involved in Madeleine's abduction! unquote

PAUL HARRIS
Last updated at 12:46 07 June 2007

[..]The McCanns flew into Berlin on Tuesday night in a private Hawker jet, lent to them by the owner on condition of anonymity.

They met British ambassador Sir Peter Torry and the Mayor of Berlin Klaus Wowereit before flying on to their next port of call - Amsterdam.
[..]
When asked what message they would give to Madeleine, there was a long silence before Mrs McCann said quietly: "She knows we love her."
unquote


McCanns defend tour around Europe BBC News  6 June 2007

The parents of Madeleine McCann have said their trip around Europe to raise awareness of their missing daughter is their way of taking positive action.[..]

Mr McCann was speaking in Berlin, where he and his wife Kate are seeking information about the four-year-old abducted in the Algarve 34 days ago.
The couple have already been to Rome to speak with the Pope about their daughter. [..] (in fact a 30 second  public blessing, not a conversation of any king.)
Earlier Mr McCann said that the couple were sure Madeleine is still alive.
"There is an absence of evidence to the contrary," he said.
unquote

A German journalist asked this question during a press conference:
Sabina Mueller: Sabina Mueller, German radio. How do you deal with the fact that more and more people seem to be pointing the finger at you, saying the way you behave is not the way people would normally behave if their child is abducted; and they seem to imply that you might have something to do with it?

Kate McCann: (inaudible aside to Gerry) To be honest, I don't actually think that is the case. I think that's a very small minority of people that are criticising us. Errm... you know, the facts are out there; we were dining very close to the children and we were checking on them very, very regularly. Errm... you know, we are very responsible parents and we love our children so much and I think it's only a very few people that are actually, errm... criticising us.

Gerry McCann: I have never heard before that, errr... anyone considers us suspects in this and, errm... the Portuguese police certainly don't. And, errm... without going into too much detail, errr... about the circumstances, we were with a large group of people, errm... and, you know, there is absolutely no way Kate and I are involved in this abduction.(He then talks at some length about the non-functional state they were in and expert advice which resulted in this tour) 

Their exit from Berlin is delayed when the Portugese police say they have received some information that they need to be consult the McCanns on. It means they arrive in Amsterdam 3 hours late  (7.30 pm) and miss 2 TV programmes - Gerry later dismisses the information as being 'nothing of interest'.


David Brown in Praia da Luz and Thomas Catan in Madrid
June 7, 2007

Police searching for Madeleine McCann have told her parents that they have received a "credible call" from a man claiming to know what happened to their daughter following her abduction 36 days ago.

Kate and Gerry McCann were asked if they were prepared to speak to the man after he told police that he wanted to talk directly to Madeleine's parents.  
Information provided by the anonymous man yesterday afternoon convinced British police officers, who are liaising with the Portuguese-led inquiry into Madeleine's disappearance, that it was necessary to inform the McCanns immediately and to ask them to speak to the caller. 
[..] 
The contingency plan involved the McCann's flying back to Britain where they were to be met by a specialist team of advisors to oversee their talks with the source. But when efforts to re-establish contact with the caller failed the McCanns were finally advised to proceed to Amsterdam as planned. They took off bound for Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport at 7.30pm, three hours later than planned.
unquote

Gerry found time to enter this in his blog on the 6th June: 
We had to delay our onward flight to Amsterdam because of some information received by the police, which we needed to be consulted on. We diverted to the embassy in Berlin but it turned out to be nothing of interest. We unfortunately had to miss 2 TV programmes as we arrived in Amsterdam 3 hours late. unquote


AMSTERDAM


BBC News  Wednesday, 6/7/2007
They then go straight on to Amsterdam where the couple lived in 2004[..] This will be the first time they have gone back and they expect it to be a highly emotional visit.

BBC News  Thursday 7/6/2007
McCanns appeal to Dutch in search Gerry and Kate McCann held a press conference in Amsterdam on the final leg of a two-day trip in Europe raising awareness of Madeleine's disappearance. [..]
They then go straight on to Amsterdam where the couple lived in 2004, leaving when Madeleine was just a year old [..]
Friends in the Netherlands have been working behind the scenes since Madeleine was taken and 500 billboards bearing her face are being put together ahead of the trip.

Thursday 07 June 2007
McCanns  giving a Press Conference in Amsterdam, 7 June 2007, five weeks to the day after they reported Madeleine missing:
1 minute 59 seconds: a quick confab  with Clarence behind the pyjamas whilst Kate describes the garment.
2 minutes 40 seconds: a journalist asks the McCanns why they seem to be so in control of their emotions. Kate glares at the man.
Soon after that Clarence allows only two more questions. 
3 minutes 49 seconds: to the question ‘is the main focus on Morocco, is that your hope?’ 

After the scheduled meetings, Gerry catches up with 'a friend of mine who was attending a medical conference in Amsterdam'. It is speculated that this was Matthew Oldfield (2nd from right) who is believed to have been attending the Euromedlab 2007 event in the city at that time. (McCannfiles.com)


They return to PdL in the early evening. Presumably with the private jet lent to them by someone who wishes to remain anonymous. 

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

In short: 

Tuesday 5th June - McCanns fly to Germany in private jet
Crimewatch is aired with the McCanns holding up a pair of pyjamas which are similar to those Madeleine is said to have worn. 
A press report  is worded to give the impression they had private talks with the Pope. 

Wednesday 6th June - Press conferences and TV appearance  in Berlin.
Their exit is delayed when the tiresome Portuguese police needs to consult them about a call they have received. 
Gerry dismisses it as ‘nothing of interest’  in his blog. An golden opportunity for ‘anguish and despair’ of parents waiting for news totally missed. 
Gerry’s unique logic dictates that absence of evidence is the same as evidence of absence.
A German journalist asks questions and at a later date a German psychologist publishes his analysis of the McCanns:

Thursday 7th June Having arrived in Amsterdam at 7.30 pm on Wednesday, the McCanns give a press conference where once again a journalist asks the wrong question. 
Clarence Mitchell does not appear to have been present in Berlin. The publicity results in several sightings, one of which was promoted by the McCanns in 2008 to highlight the ‘incompetence’ of the PJ. ( see Stam sighting below)
A Dutch journalist asks an unwelcome question but at least Clarence is on hand to provide much needed behind the safety screen of the pyjamas.
Gerry meets with an ‘old friend’ - Matthew Oldfield: another of the Tapas 7 who said he only met them this holiday. 

Stam Sighting: 
Following on from the press conference on the 7th of June, a sighting is reported on the 13th of June to the Amsterdam police. This particular sighting was selected out of thousands by the McCanns for a publicity drive highlighting the ‘incompetence’ of the PJ.  


 05th August 2008 
A little girl calling herself 'Maddie' and claiming to have been taken from her mother on holiday was seen in Amsterdam at the time Madeleine McCann disappeared, the case files show. [..]

Ms Stam was at the back of the shop when the young girl approached her and asked in English without an accent: "Do you know where my mummy is?"
The shop assistant answered that her mother was a little further back in the store but the child replied, "She is not my mummy," and added:

'She is a stranger, she took me from my mummy."
 When Ms Stam asked the girl where she last saw her mother, she said: "They took me from my holiday."

The Dutchwoman went on: 'I asked where that holiday was but the little girl was incapable of telling me. [..]
The girl had dark brown hair in a ponytail, "huge" green-brown eyes and a pale face which showed "little or no emotion", she said.

Ms Stam said she thought the child looked "very much like" Madeleine apart from the colour of her hair.
unquote

PJ files: ApensosV, Vol I. File 01. Documents 55 to 66 
The facts are: 
The girl was seen on the 6th or the 8th of May.
Ms. Stam went to the police on the 13th June.
The child had brown hair and no coloboma.
The conversation with the child as reported is highly unlikely.
Reports - after checks by Dutch police - were sent to Portugal on the 17th or 18th June.


Considering that these people said they ran a small circus in France - tracing such a circus working in France in 2007 is not impossible  one might think.  But did the McCanns  instruct their detectives to go to work on the best clues they’d had so far? Apparently not - it is never mentioned again.  

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Tuesday, 28 July 2015

PART 2: FIRST THE VATICAN - THEN THE WORLD..


The European Campaign:

‘Rome is already preparing itself...’

‘Clarence spoke to us about a possible visit to the Vatican. Rome is already preparing itself.’
(Kate McCann’s diary - 27th May)

SKY helpfully tells us: 
Madeleine McCann's parents are in Rome for their audience with the Pope who has been kept up to date on the search for the four-year-old.
 (29/5/07)unquote

The McCanns are greeted  on arrival by the British Ambassador to the Holy See, Francis Campbell, and a representative of the Catholic Church. They are to stay at the British Residency in  the centre of Rome. 
‘Audience with the Pope’  conjures up a vision of the McCanns being received by the Pope in the same way heads of state are pictured in the press:  the Pope and his visitors in a large and splendid reception hall inside the Vatican.


Kate McCann’s diary tells us: ‘Clarence spoke to us about a possible visit to the Vatican. Rome is already preparing itself. Francis Campbell was spoken to’. -  This would more accurately translate as: ‘Clarence managed to shoe-horn us into a group of people who are each to be blessed by the Pope. Blessings take about 30 seconds each but Clarence thinks he can stretch ours to as much as a minute.’ 

Not so much an audience as a quick blessing then and only one couple amongst several dozen.  The press were as good as gold, giving the impression that it was an exclusive audience, photographs  giving the impression it was just the McCanns, Clarence  and a bunch of security men as a cordon sanitaire cropped out of most photographs.  
The  same day the British Embassy is the venue for a Press Conference by the McCanns.  Another brilliant move from Clarence. Only important people give press conferences, up to now the McCanns have been interviewed, not the same thing at all. Problem is that one has to answer unexpected questions. A few of the more interesting answers below. 

Unknown: "I'm (inaudible) from Swedish daily Aftonbladet of Stockholm. Errr... I heard some voices that you might go to... over to Sweden, is that true? 
Gerry McCann: "We have no immediate plans to go to Sweden and we hope and pray that this will be over before we get to Scandinavia.

Unknown: "Yes, I just have a very short question. This toy that you have on your table, was it Madeleine's? And how would she call it? 
Kate McCann: "Errm... It was Madeleine's, yes. She took... she takes it to bed with her every night or if she's upset or something she'll have it. It's... it's actually called 'Cuddle Cat' - not very inventive, sorry. It was... it was actually the name of that... that... that it already had."
Gerry McCann: "It is a cat though. Ha, ha.

Five News: "Jon Samuels from Five News. What other plans do you have to visit other countries, possibly in Europe, go to other capital cities to... to spread your message?"

Gerry McCann: "We certainly were planning to do some visits and, errm... this one, errr... came about quicker than we thought, errm... and it was so important to us that we have come here first for spiritual reasons, more than any other. Errm... we are planning a visit to neighbouring Spain, errr... probably with Madrid and although the arrangements are not finalised yet we would also plan trips in the very near future to Germany and The Netherlands as the next two largest, errr... nationalities who, errr... go to the Algarve on holiday."


Vatican Radio: "Susie Hodges from Vatican Radio. What lessons do you give to other parents that have to go through this appalling experience?
Gerry McCann: "I... We hope and pray that no-one ever does go through it again. Errm... I think... I hope that, if it does happen, that there will be some template, errr... from what we have done, as our extended family, that will help raise the awareness for any other missing children and it's possible to such cases. Having spoken, errm... to peop... you know, errr... people around us, then stayed strong and taking control even of small things because you feel totally out of control in those first hours and taking control of this... of this smallest decisions helps you cope and think rationally and influence things around you and that, I think, is the most important thing.
unquote
So: Scandinavia may also be on the itinerary but is for some reason low priority. Even though there are many Scandinavian tourists in the Algarve, the alleged reason why Germany and the Netherlands were selected as first points of call. 
Gerry’s last answer (remember Missing People having launched on the 24th May with yellow ribbons - see part 1)is already raising awareness for other missing children and the ‘template’ created by the McCanns. 

The McCanns return to PdL on the 30th, leave for Madrid on the 31st. It is a little strange that on the 30th Gerry appears not to know that a visit has been arranged. 

Most of the questions are answered by Gerry and both he and Kate lose no time in telling the world what an awful time they’ve had,  the words ‘anguish and despair’ are well and truly embedded in their routine answers. 

Cuddlecat does not appear to have been blessed, although is it now wearing a rosary and the green and yellow ribbon with for some reason ‘Fatima’  (perhaps souvenir from Fatima?) printed on the ribbon. 



By Richard Edwards and Fiona Govan in Praia da Luz
Last Updated: 2:10AM BST 02 Jun 2007
Almost four weeks after Madeleine was abducted, Gerry and Kate McCann flew to Rome after receiving a formal invitation from the Vatican.

Mrs McCann carried with her a small photograph of Madeleine which she will present to Pope Benedict XVI at a general audience in St Peter's Square today. [..] It is believed the Pope will refer to Madeleine "prominently" during prayers. (He didn’t)
They also plan trips to Madrid, Berlin and Amsterdam, where they intend to meet children's charities and government ministers with a portfolio for child welfare.[..]

As honoured guests, Kate and Gerry McCann will sit in the front row, known as the prima fila, normally reserved for heads of state and dignitaries. The Pope will speak to them in English and may also invite them to a private audience afterwards. unquote


The Daily Telegraph  repeats several times that it is a general audience although naming the McCanns in the same sentence as ‘honoured’ and ‘heads of state’  is a neat touch. 
The opening paragraph tells the world that the McCanns clearly did not ask for this honour, it was the Vatican who sent a formal invitation. However, it appears that Clarence Mitchell managed to organise it all in a very short space of time, if we are to believe he did not work for the McCanns before the 22nd May 2007. The Archbishop has his residence in London and it is reasonable to suppose that Clarence Mitchell met the archbishop in order to arrange the Papal blessing. Possibly some time before the 22nd of May 2007.

Cardinal Cormac Murphy-O'Connor, the Roman Catholic archbishop of Westminster, has been instrumental in organising the visit. (http://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/may/28/ukcrime.gilestremlett) 

The Rome visit was without a doubt a masterstroke. Approval from the earthly representative of God  - leader of about 14% of the world population -  is certainly  helpful in establishing one’s reputation. 

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------
29th - McCanns leave in Sir Philip Green’s private jet for Rome 
30th -  at 10.30 AM the McCanns have an  audience with the Pope 
30th -  they arrive back in PdL (a sighting in Morocco is in the news)
31st -  they leave for Madrid
1st June -  McCanns have a very busy day in Madrid, taken up with meetings with government and non-government agencies concerned with child welfare and various TV interviews and a ‘well attended press conference. 
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Madrid:

The European campaign continues in Madrid, with a packed press conference, a live broadcast on Spanish TV and a meeting with Spanish Interior Minister Alfredo Perez Rubalcaba. 


McCanns take search to Spain BBC News video


The parents of abducted Madeleine McCann are in Spain to continue publicising her disappearance.

01 June 2007
Transcript by Nigel Moore

Steve Kingstone: (voice over) "After Rome on Wednesday, Kate and Gerry McCann have now visited two European capitals in 48 hours. Here they appealed for help from the public and action from the Spanish authorities."

Gerry McCann: "I would like some reassurance, in Spain, that there has been some proactive, errm... investigation regarding Madeleine's disappearance and I think it is at least worth exploring the possibility that Madeleine's disappearance should not be considered in isolation."

Steve Kingstone: (voice over) "As the couple see it, that means cross-referencing this inquiry with other missing children cases throughout Spain and Portugal.[..]

"This afternoon the McCanns met Spains's interior minister to discuss a broader approach to child abduction.


It appears that Gerry McCann is already employing political speech patterns, demanding reassurance from Spain. Surely they hadn't reneged on a previous agreement? 
Once again we are already looking for other missing children, although Amber Alert has not yet been mentioned in the press.
Kate's image makers are doing a great job. Perfect highlights, good haircut and the cute ponytail for the Pope - here the pink cardigan with little ruffles. A picture of innocence. 





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