Police 'find blood on walls of Madeleine abduction flat'

[clippedgull]

has woken up every parent in this country of the dangers.

Fantasy land at best.

You can't be vigilant 24/7 however much you want to be. Just a few days ago I was driving through a council estate in Brighton and saw kids as young as 4/5 playing outside the safety of thier homes.

 

[clapham_gull]

yea i heard on the news apparently the first thing british police would have done is use sniffer dogs to see if they could pick up a scent which makes perfect sense. They don't do that there...

As morbid as it sounds, I was reading tonight that the dogs sent over are very specialist trained and are not only able to determine the presence of microscopic traces of blood but are also able to determine whether the blood was derived from a dead or live person.

We do seem to have a small but highly techincal number of extremely specialist police forensic resources in this country and I wouldn't expect automatically other police forces in other countries to have the same.

We don't know how proactive our forces were to offer their help. We don't know the European protocols in place that wouldn't have allowed them to instantly jump in.

Also have to remember that the Portuguese police work under a system where everything is kept confidential. In this country it seems to be the case that publicity is the key at the very onset of a child abduction case.

Probably the Portuguese system (although well meaning) is wrong, and perhaps they may wish to change it after this - but we can't neccesarly criticise them for working within their legal (and technical) boundaries.

Unfortunately when you travel abroad (even with Europe) you need to take on board the relative risk of the systems not being the same as you would expect at home.

On a different note, I saw posters pasted on walls even the back streets of Venice a few weeks ago. It's a remarkable achievement of the parents that they have been able to keep this in the public eye.

 

[beorhthelm]

i dont know how good these dogs are supposed to be, but i find it dubious that they can sniff out a couple of specks of blood 3 months dry. and how on earth does a few specks of blood get left behind when a child is abducted anyway, surely if it was from struggle or violence there'd be a substantial amount.

as for the Portuguese method of keeping the case confidential, i think that has a lot of merit with regards to keeping the media off their back (normally) and avoiding potentially prejudicing a court case.

 

[jonny.rainbow]

Here's the theory that the BBC can't definitely confirm is true, hence are not reporting. however, expect lots of it in your papers tomorrow.

She died in some sort of freak accident, and someone panicked, and pretended to abduct her as a cover-up.

This is set to be one of those grisly internet rumours that will go around forever, I'm afraid.

Yep, my girlfriend has been convinced the parents were behind it from day one.

 

[Stumpy Tim]

Yep, my girlfriend has been convinced the parents were behind it from day one.

Weren't they travelling with friends... rumour I heard is that the friends are now being looked at as the main suspects

 

[Lokki 7]

i dont know how good these dogs are supposed to be, but i find it dubious that they can sniff out a couple of specks of blood 3 months dry.

I watched a programme once about the training of sniffer dogs in the US. The dog got a whiff of a bloke, then had to go into a 10,000 seater open air baseball stadium and find the exact seat the bloke had sat on 24 hours earlier during a packed out game. Amazingly the dog had no problem and found the right seat. I'm sure blood on a wall would be easier, even after 3 months.

 

[clapham_gull]

surely if it was from struggle or violence there'd be a substantial amount.

An attempt had been made to remove the blood

 

[Stumpy Tim]

No matter how sad it is, I still think her parents are very very stupid but at the same time, has woken up every parent in this country of the dangers.

I think people are very harsh on her parents. they left her in the bedroom assuming she was asleep. But I've been to weddings where people have done the same thing...

 

[Exmouth Seagull]

If traces of Madelaines blood that have been cleaned-up are found in the apartment the parents story is going to look increasingly unlikely.

You darent say it out loud, but I have been suspicious of the McCanns from day 1, and have refused to put into any charity boxes from which they benefit.

Lets hope this turns out to be somebody elses blood and a false lead.

At this stage I put the chances of Madelaine being found alive about 2%

 

[beorhthelm]

An attempt had been made to remove the blood

quite. picking up a child that young, even struggling, doesnt tend to require much effort from a grown person, i cant see any blood being split. wouldnt screams from a stuggle have been heard by the other children? so where does lead us too, other than the hypothesis ClownOPB brought up.

 

[Buzzer]

I think people are very harsh on her parents. they left her in the bedroom assuming she was asleep. But I've been to weddings where people have done the same thing...

sorry mate. You'll have the self-righteous brigade on your back with that type of thinking.

I agree completely. On holiday, you let your guard down, you relax and don't apply the same rules as at home. The McCanns paid the price unfortunately.

I really, really hope the Belgium thing comes to something.

 

[Pavilionaire]

I'm trying to think of a scenario that fits the blood on the wall development.

Abductor enters room - girl panics - runs into wall and cuts herself badly - abductor panics - strangles girl and removes body from room - disposes of body?

 

[tip top]

I think people are very harsh on her parents. they left her in the bedroom assuming she was asleep. But I've been to weddings where people have done the same thing...

Two wrongs don't make a right I'm afraid squire!

 

[Exmouth Seagull]

I'm trying to think of a scenario that fits the blood on the wall development.

Abductor enters room - girl panics - runs into wall and cuts herself badly - abductor panics - strangles girl and removes body from room - disposes of body?

What, and manages to do all this and clear it all up, leaving no signs of a struggle or his DNA whatsoever, without anybody noticing, even though the parents were dining yards away and returning regularly. He must have just happened to have cleaning materials with him.

How about this alternative scenario - the parents did it earlier - then after disposing of the body and cleaning everything up used the 'child abducted when left asleep unattended for a few minutes while we were dining with 8 friends nearby' cover story?

 

[Shegull]

Was the apartment not sold since the "abduction" though. Surely the blood could have come from the new owners

 

[glasfryn]

why has it taken 14 weeks for the Portugese police to start even looking at this blood(?) surely it should have been checked in the first few days.

Theories are Ok for speculators but they are still only theories.

 

[questier]

I dont understand how they have only just found this, its been months!

 

[TSB]

How about this alternative scenario - the parents did it earlier - then after disposing of the body and cleaning everything up used the 'child abducted when left asleep unattended for a few minutes while we were dining with 8 friends nearby' cover story?

They have three kids...where were the other two?

Why would they kill their own child abroad?

 

[Hampden Park]

What, and manages to do all this and clear it all up, leaving no signs of a struggle or his DNA whatsoever, without anybody noticing, even though the parents were dining yards away and returning regularly. He must have just happened to have cleaning materials with him.

obviously they need to speak to the hotel room cleaner eh?

 

[Shegull]

If by any chance the poor little mite is still alive (and I don't believe for one minute that she is still alive at this stage)- just how long can her memories last for and at what stage would she be likely to forget her previous life. Can't imagine a 4 year old being able to remember things for very long.