"A Stoughton private investigator hired by the CBS show “48 Hours” to probe the mysterious disappearance of a little British girl believes her parents are innocent but found holes in their story. Joe Moura, who speaks fluent Portuguese, spent 15 days last month posing undercover as a vacationing businessman at the Ocean Club in Portugal’s resort town of Praia da Luz - where little Madeleine McCann vanished in May in a story that has made international headlines.”
(...)
“Moura discovered that the routine of the McCanns and their friends was always the same. “They all had dinner at the same time every night,” Moura said. “They all left their children in apartments - unsupervised and alone. This was a pattern that went on for five days.”
(...)
“The McCanns also claimed that they could see the corner apartment where they were staying from the restaurant, but Moura said a large wall covered with a hedge blocks the view. The parents claim they checked on their children every half-hour - the girl was discovered missing at 10 p.m. - but Moura said witnesses told him only one person - the tallest man of the group and not her parents - got up from the table.
“Moura, who has worked on thousands of cases during his 34-year career, believes a pedophile snatched Madeleine. After speaking with numerous employees, familiarizing himself with the compound and reviewing the time line, Moura said it would have been impossible for the McCanns to harm their daughter and dispose of her body. “It doesn’t work,” he said. “The time doesn’t work.” - Boston Herald
Anorak Forums » Madeleine
US McCann News
(5 posts)-
Posted 2 years ago #
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Thanks Thea for updating us. Can you tell me :is "48 hours" a relyable programm or a sort of tv version of the tabloids?
Posted 2 years ago # -
It's difficult to say because there is an atmosphere of tabloidism in almost all US tv news and news programmes. My husband likes '48 Hours' and as far as news programmes go it is much better compared to those on ABC and NBC. '48 Hours' and '60 Minutes' (this programme especially is considered to be the best unbiased serious investigative journo programme in the US - it's been around for like 30 years) are more than likely going to be unbiased and balanced reporting and not sensationalist like the other news programmes.
CBS has an older demographic base than the other two (these three networks are known as the 'Big 3' as they were the first major tv channels since the inception of television in the US) but now with satellite tv the Big Three are desperate to increase their ratings because they now compete with Fox, MSNBC (owned by NBC and there are a lot of crossovers between the news programmes althought I find MSNBC has a bit of grittier although sleeker edge to it and some of their news programme presenters are real journalists - not just talking heads)CNN and even foreign news shows like BBC America. In their desperation for high ratings they often take the low road. We have more access to more news programming than ever before.In the US we can even get 24 hours of for example, French and Italian news on special channels. My friend gets French programming and it's really fascinating to watch real foreign news coming from that country imo.
Anyway, back to 48 Hours......my issue with 48 Hours is that they often don't dig deep enough. They will refrain to ask what to me are common sense pertinent questions. Or it could be the journo has but the producers (for whatever reason: slander/defamation laws or in respect of an ongoing investigation or because the case is in court etc...). Although 48 Hours does this they are more thorough and investigative than most.
I noticed that a lot of people on Anorak and other blogs have already expressed disappointment in this news programme I suppose because they do not report that they believe the McCanns guilty of murder or accidental death. However, I think it is naive to think this way and is wrong to judge the show before it has even aired! And again, there are laws which a seasoned PI like Moura would have to abide, as would CBS.
For me, what is important, is that investigative journos do their job without bias and without fear of reprisals. I knew it would be an American news organisation who would finally do so because even though US electronic media (tv and radio) is very similar to English gutter press - there are still serious investigative journos who are willing to take serious risks to uncover the truth. Sadly, it is getting more infrequent as a lot of the old school journos have left for that big news room in the sky. :) But I have faith in this programme and hope other ethically inclined news orgs follow suit with their own investigative reports on the Madeleine McCann mystery. In my opinion, it will definitely have to be non-UK news orgs who go this route.
However, lol it is interesting to note that Clarence's old haunt, BBC, is involved in some way with this programme. Although it says the network's programs are "prepared independently", I'm going to check to see if any other CBS news programmes have been a collaboration with, or in some way connected with the BBC. To my knowledge, I cannot think of ever seeing this before with CBS. With PBS (Public Broadcast System) the programmes are often directly from the BBC or a collaboration with.
More info on tonight's programme:
[NOTE: The following article is a press release issued by the aforementioned network and/or company. Any errors, typos, etc. are attributed to the original author. The release is reproduced solely for the dissemination of the enclosed information.]
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48 HOURS EXCLUSIVE -- "I MIGHT HAVE SEEN MADELEINE BEING ABDUCTED," SAYS JANE TANNER, ONE OF THE McCANN DINNER COMPANIONS THE NIGHT OF MADELEINE'S DISAPPEARANCE
Private Investigator Says He is 100% Sure Maddie is Alive
"I never in a million years thought it could have been Madeleine...It was just complete shock and complete horror that I might have seen Madeleine being abducted," says Jane Tanner in her first public interview to be broadcast on 48 HOURS MYSTERY reported by Peter Van Sant on Saturday, Nov. 17 (10:00-11:00 PM, ET/PT) on the CBS Television Network.
In this exclusive interview, Tanner, one of the McCanns' friends and dinner companions at The Tapas Restaurant the night of Maddie's disappearance, describes catching a glimpse of an oddly dressed man carrying a child. "I just saw somebody walking across the top of the road...that person was carrying a child," she recounts. "I could tell it was a child...I could see the pajamas and the feet." Tanner initially thought nothing of it, but is now certain that she saw the abduction in progress.
Tanner goes on to say that she told police what she saw that same night. "As soon as the police arrived, they were brought to the apartment and I told them what I'd seen...And then the CID (Criminal Investigative Department) people arrived a little later I again told them exactly what I'd seen." Her description even led to an artist's rendering distributed by the family a month ago.
Tanner strongly supports the McCanns, saying they had nothing to do with Madeleine's disappearance, "We know Kate and Gerry well. We know that there's no way that what the media are saying is true. It's just madness."
Francisco Marco, a Spanish private investigator hired by a supporter of the McCanns, expresses a similar sentiment, claiming to have answers the whole world has been waiting for. "We're 100% sure that she is alive. We are sure she was abducted. We are very, very close to finding the kidnapper."
In addition to these explosive revelations, 48 HOURS has acquired information from a highly placed source in the investigation who discloses that Portuguese police are now not investigating homicide by Kate and Gerry McCann as a possibility. 48 Hours has also learned from police sources that the DNA is inconclusive and will not solve this case. 48 Hours also went undercover, hiring top US private investigator Joseph Moura, who has handled cases in Portugal. Moura unearthed eyewitness accounts that contradict both the local investigators' and the McCanns' versions of the events of May 3.
What really happened the night Madeleine McCann vanished? Are the McCanns and their friends telling the entire truth? Are authorities close to catching someone?
48 HOURS MYSTERY: WHERE'S MADDIE? is produced by Doug Longhini, Joe Halderman, Liza Finley, Avi Cohen, Patti Aronofsky and Peter Henderson. Al Briganti is the executive editor. Susan Zirinsky is the executive producer.
This 48 HOURS report was prepared in cooperation with the BBC and Sociedade Independente de Comunicaco Sa/TV of Portugal. CBS' 48 HOURS program and BBC's Panorama are prepared independently.
Posted 2 years ago # -
I agree. I believe "48 Hours" to be a reputable program, but it never digs deep enough. Often, like the newspaper coverage of Madeleine's abduction, I feel like I am left with more questions than answers. I have never felt as though the program has mislead me or thrown in fabrications for dramatic effect.
Posted 2 years ago # -
Thank you Thea. Great analysis. I think I might be able to see the program by the Internet (our cable is down at the moment).
Posted 2 years ago #
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