Madeleine McCann: Praia da Luz Calls, Maddy Shunned And Portugal On The Edge
MADDYWATCH - Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann.
DAILY MAIL page 36: “Madeleine: Portuguese detectives trawl thousands of phone records”
Police are looking through phone records of Praia da Luz’a 27,000 residents at the time of Madeleine’s disappearance. They are looking for unusual call patterns. Bugging calls
A local resident of Praia da Luz says the police questioned her, saying: “We are investigating all calls made within Praia da Luz from 9.30pm onwards on May 3″
Says the McCanns’ spokesman Clarence Mitchell: “Any information could prove vital”
THE SUN page 15: “Maddie cops seize local phone bills”
“They are using a method of triangulation which pinpoints a person’s location via their mobile and are also checking land-line calls”
Can it work? Says the Sun: “Mobile phone evidence exposed holes in the alibi of Soham murderer Ian Huntley”. And that is similar to this case because..?
DAILY MIRROR front page: “MADDY – Blitz to fined phone clues”
Page 10: “COPS CHECK EVERY CALL ON DAY MADDY VANISHED”
Well, not every call. Just calls made in the area of Praia da Luz by those 1,000 persons on a police list
DAILY EXPRESS page 19: “Now Madeleine police seize all phone records”
The papers says the search is in light of talk of a “massive conspiracy”. The Express is belived to be fond of a conspiracy
Says Clarence Mitchell: “Kate and Gerry are encouraged by this police work because it shows the investigation is now active and thorough…Crucially they also hope it may lead to them being reunited with Madeleine”
DAILY STAR: “PARENTS SHY AWAY FROM NAME ‘MADDY’”
Or Madeleine, for that is her name
The name Madeleine is “now lower than at any time in the past five years”. It is now the 80th most popular name. Says a child psychologist called Ruth: “The majority of people who hear the name Madeleine automatically associate it with her”
What the top girl’s name is readers are not told, nor where Kate features. The Telegraph says it is “Grace”, as in Baby Grace
NEW YORK TIMES: “Portugal Polishes Its Image as the ‘West Coast of Europe’”
Portugal wants to reposition itself. Portugal is exciting, shiny, new and historical.
But: “The unsolved case remains a big story for the British tabloids, and there have been reports of declines in tourism from Britain, an important market for Portugal.
“Over all, though, tourism remains strong, Manuel Pinho, Portugal’s minister for the economy and innovation said. ‘This is a tragic case, of course, but it has not affected the numbers,’ he said. ‘It’s a very peaceful country, a very safe country’”
The demonising of Portugal and the case of Madeleine McCann
Posted: 20th, December 2007 | In: Madeleine McCann Comments (547) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
Comments
- Wyvern on Bolivian Police And Maddie McCann Introduce The Worst Photo-Fits Ever
- yampster on X Factor: Jedward Go GAY, Win I’m A Celebrity And Hate Susan Boyle
- Nomadic View on Bolivian Police Release Video Of World’s Worst Photo-Fit Killers’ Capture
- June on The Chilcot Inquiry Into The Iraq War, In Pictures
- Katie Norman on X Factor: Jedward Go GAY, Win I’m A Celebrity And Hate Susan Boyle
December 20th, 2007 at 3:27 pm
266 Ferdinand
McCann is a liar and this is not a libel, as he has been shown to have lied about distance, about worries of sedation and the interview, it was indeed embarrassment as any people watcher will know - embarrasment is often something felt when telling a lie.
In my opinion they covered up the ‘accidental’ death of their child, which occurred because they left her alone in an apartment whilst they went off well out of hearing and sight, to have fun, fun without the children. In my opinion, their attitude to childcare is clearly emphasised through their alleged abusive use of star charts to keep her from their bedroom when she awoke, probably frightened and alone even at home. This and their other behaviours are being exposed even as people seek to defend them. They have displayed an incredible lack of judgement and an incredible audacity too. To suggest these people have suffered as the result of some cartoon abductor is ludicrous, unsubstantiated nonsense!
December 20th, 2007 at 3:26 pm
must go and pick up kids but my bloods boiling again
GRRRRRRRRRRR
wheres teddy boy and sad git ?
Christmas bonus boys
I will raise it by another £1000 if job done after midnight mass!
December 20th, 2007 at 3:24 pm
Hehe I wouldn’t want to be a waiter in Chaplins when Ol’ Harry Hind Sight pops in for a visit
December 20th, 2007 at 3:23 pm
she was probably running away from the needles
December 20th, 2007 at 3:21 pm
264
brandon flours
I don’t think for one minute there was a quiz night at the Tapas Bar. If you read the stories carefully, there’s not really much evidence for one is there? And if you were up and down from the tables as often as the T9 say, there’d be no point participating in one.
I think the quiz night idea came from Chaplins on the Tuesday as that’s clearly advertised. After a quiet meal in the Tapas Bar on the 2nd, I don’t doubt they thought it would be more lively and interesting to go to Chaplins and “the kids will be ok….”
December 20th, 2007 at 3:21 pm
Is it remotely possible that the reason why they started to leave the children when they went to eat was because something happened to Madeleine just after the night they all ate at the Millennium restaurant? I mean, is it possible that they decided not to take them so that no one would notice that one was missing?
December 20th, 2007 at 3:20 pm
262 brandon
That is a great link
December 20th, 2007 at 3:20 pm
Could Chaplins pleased be sealed pending old Harry Hind Sights inspection in late Jan 2008.
Will try to drop in on a Tuesday night and give them a quizz night that they will never forget what what hey hey
December 20th, 2007 at 3:19 pm
263
Stevo Says:
December 20th, 2007 at 3:11 pm
….. At about 9.15pm Jane Tanner, his girlfriend, went to their apartment to see how things were. As she did so she passed, right on the street corner by the McCanns’ apartment, a man carrying a child wrapped in a blanket.
************************
Ahem Stevo, I gather this could be the blanket that she forgot to describe when she gave the identikit of the dude carrying the child away? Ya know …. the see-through one that revealed the child’s pj’s underneath, etc, etc …….
December 20th, 2007 at 3:18 pm
250
Stevo
The answer to your questions is that the product CALPOL NIGHT does act as a sedative, due to the ingredient DIPHENHYDRAMINE.
As I posted previously, large amounts of diphenhydramine would be found in someone who had had a severe allergic reaction, because (as an anti-histamine drug) it fights the fatal effects of the allergic reaction.
Gerry was playing a semantics game with “sedative”, which can be defined as a particular class of drugs. So “diphenhydramine” is NOT a sedative in one sense, but it is a sedative in another sense, as it acts like a sedative.
My opinion is that the McCanns used CALPOL (NIGHT) as an excuse for the high levels of DIPHENHYDRAMINE found in blood samples.
Next, they shifted the topic to the product CALPOL (not Calpol Night) which does NOT contain this ingredient.
The whole thing is a red herring and a diversion.
The McCanns hoped to make people think they were using a Calpol product, and then even deny using that product.
In reality, if they were sedating the children it is highly unlikely they were primarily relying on CALPOL NIGHT. They had access to too many other more effective sedatives. Most likely they had tried all sorts of sedatives on the children. JMO. Hypothetical specualtion.
December 20th, 2007 at 3:16 pm
Just burst out laughing when I read this on the This Is London report :
“After all, the two doctors had brains on their side.”
December 20th, 2007 at 3:14 pm
250 Stevo
When the subject of the Calpol was discussed on here before, it emerged that there was a relatively new version of Calpol that includes a light sedative on sale on some countries.
December 20th, 2007 at 3:14 pm
Ms O’Donnell says Jes walked their baby for an hour or so.
Here’s a review from a person who stayed at Ocean Club:
“As someone else mentioned, the resort is spread across the village mixed in with residential homes. The streets are NOT good for a buggy because you have to hug the walls as you walk about 10 mins to the Millennium Restaurant. I think if your kids can walk this wouldn’t be so much of a problem. The biggest negative is the walking especially Rua Direicta which is the main cobbly road and and as I mentioned, a distance away. The cars whizz pass you so fend for your life.”
So, I wonder if Mr Wilkins really did walk around pushing a buggy for an hour…
December 20th, 2007 at 3:14 pm
250 Stevo Says:
“This is interesting because to my knowledge “Calpol” (Tylenol for our American readers) is not a sedative. It’s a pain killer. Why then didn’t Gerry answer with a simple “no” or even say that Calpol isn’t a sedative?”
I understand that he was tempted to say “I know what you want to say, I know the rumors you are referring to”, but then decited not to say so, instead directy answering to the unuttered question. But he was embarrased, hence the ear-twitch.
“Later when he was interviewed again in Portugal he stormed out (well mildly stormed), when asked a similar question. He wasn’t arguido in both interviews so why did he want to answer the Calpol question but not the question posed by the Portuguese male interviewer?”
Anger about an accusation. What does that prove?
December 20th, 2007 at 3:13 pm
Try the Guardian, 9/10/07
Anders Persson, a Swedish officer overseeing Interpol’s human trafficking unit’s database of images of child abuse, … declined to reveal how specialists at Germany’s federal police agency, the Bundeskriminalamt (BKA), produced the unblurred shots.
“Techniques are always developing,” he said. “What is impossible today is possible tomorrow. There were several attempts to clear the face … We are sure that you can’t get better pictures and the people in his neighbourhood - family friends, colleagues, whatever - they will recognise him.”
Mr Persson added that he had opposed making the photos public because it demonstrated to criminals that police could now unblur pictures, but that consideration and the risk the man could face public humiliation or violence were outweighed by the desire to protect children.
“It was a long discussion,” he said. “We can’t just sit here and do nothing. We have exhausted all possibilities within police work to find this man … This was the last step.”
Interpol, which holds more than 520,000 child abuse images from 36 different member countries, asked anyone who recognises the man or who has any other information to contact police or the Interpol bureau in their home country. It urged them not to take any direct action themselves.’
http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,2186568,00.html
December 20th, 2007 at 3:13 pm
stevo
but maybe they went onto chaplins after 10
December 20th, 2007 at 3:11 pm
Also from September 9th:
One of the party, Russell O’Brien, was away from the table for much of the evening, caring for his sick child. At about 9.15pm Jane Tanner, his girlfriend, went to their apartment to see how things were. As she did so she passed, right on the street corner by the McCanns’ apartment, a man carrying a child wrapped in a blanket.
December 20th, 2007 at 3:09 pm
In a further twist, locals now claim that Madeleine did not always settle well. One evening they allege she ran away into the paths between the apartments, hiding for half an hour when it was time for bed.
Whatever the truth, to begin to unravel the mystery one has to go back to the seemingly carefree days at the start of the holiday.
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/news/article-23407950-details/Madeleine%20and%20the%20missing%20hour:%20how%20often%20did%20the%20McCanns%20check%20on%20their%20children/article.do
December 20th, 2007 at 3:09 pm
brandon flours
From September 9 in the Times:
On the first night, Saturday, April 28, the adults and children all ate together at the Ocean Club’s other location, some 10 minutes away, the Millennium Restaurant and Terrace. But the next night, and for all the nights thereafter, all four families settled the children in their apartments and then walked down to the nearby Tapas restaurant with its open air tables offering a clear line of sight to the apartments, about 50 metres away.
December 20th, 2007 at 3:08 pm
Julie - maybe she was on a promise from a nice Portuguese waiter!
December 20th, 2007 at 3:07 pm
257
dcb Says:
December 20th, 2007 at 3:04 pm
Tinsel - in my experience a granny would trample everyone underfoot to help a child. It is so strange.
**************************
Well not this granny … she wanted to stay behind and polish off the dregs …. IMHO of course
December 20th, 2007 at 3:05 pm
Gerry likes the F-word doesn’t he?
This is him on September 9:
“As Gerry McCann emerged from Porti-mao police station at midnight on Friday, he stared unblinkingly into the distance while his lawyer read out a statement. The consultant cardiologist, said the lawyer, had just joined his wife as a prime suspect in the death of his daughter, Madeleine, who went missing four months ago.
Beneath his unflinching exterior, Gerry was in a state of turmoil and fury. “We are being absolutely stitched up by the Portuguese police,” he had told a friend after his wife Kate had earlier been named a suspect after hours of interrogation. “We are completely f*****, we should have seen this coming weeks ago and gone back to Britain.”
December 20th, 2007 at 3:04 pm
Tinsel - in my experience a granny would trample everyone underfoot to help a child. It is so strange.
December 20th, 2007 at 3:03 pm
232
Stevo Says:
221 Hideki
“Actually that pervert in Vegas encrypted his image. ”
Do you know how it was decrypted, and why it took so long to decrypt? As I state below, I think the only “encryption” he used was the photoshop Swirl function. Let me know if it was something else.
“Stories like that are the kind of myths I was talking about. There’s no magic “undo” button…”
What I heard was that this guy used the Swirl function of photoshop to hide his face. By using that same function in the opposite direction one gets a partial reversal — but it was difficult to reconstruct the face exactly, and thus took 2 or 3 years.
“and Hollywood makes movies with all kinds of things we professionals would like our software to be capable of but it isn’t possible.”
Yes, but the guy did use the Swirl of photoshop, according to some technical sites I read. Did he use some form of encryption in addition to that?
Anyway, a Swirl is not analogous to pasting an image into the photo (or changing the color). The Swirl is itself an elementary form of encryption, but the addition of an image is just a deletion of data, followed by a substitution of other data. If color alone were similarly encrypted, we would have the same image, distorted by a random distribution of color.
December 20th, 2007 at 3:01 pm
252 Tinsel
Agreed and I think we’re on the same page with it. It’s hard in here to explain the intricacies but most of all I wanted to dispel the various myths that perpetuate. It’s frustrating sometimes because those myths make people believe anything is possible - like poster Magnum saying anything you ever save is retrievable i.e. their implication is a hard drive is infinite in its storage capabilities.
December 20th, 2007 at 3:00 pm
I’d like to have a look at the McCann’s collection of photo albums to see if they regularly took only about 3-5 photos on previous holidays (i would expect more like 80-120 per week / 15 a day).
December 20th, 2007 at 2:58 pm
248
dcb Says:
December 20th, 2007 at 2:54 pm
Apart from the quotes from the Tapas waiter does anyone else know if there is there any other evidence that one of the Tapas stayed behind when the others rushed out?
***
It must be part of the testimony, because it was shown in the Panorama documentary that the senior lady of the group sat still as everyone else jumped up from the table.
December 20th, 2007 at 2:58 pm
247 veritablequandary
Cheers.
I just hope this case doesn’t drag on for 44 years like the Kennedy Assassination!
December 20th, 2007 at 2:56 pm
(unless of course she was just minding the 6,8 or 12 bottles of wine)
December 20th, 2007 at 2:56 pm
244
Stevo Says:
December 20th, 2007 at 2:50 pm
234 Tinsel
Not all graphics packages change the file format parameters unless you do “Save As”.
***
Ah, then for those programs, the detectives would have to look for differences in modifcation dates, creation dates, and check the pixels for irregular patterns.