Misinformation and the problems it causes
Misinformation and the problems it causes
I was just reading a CdeM Article on Joana-Morais blog posted by Astro. But straight away I picked up on a mistake. A mistake that is proven by the files. Here is the article:
The PJ is forced to investigate abduction lead
Alípio Ribeiro, the Polícia Judiciária’s national director, received a telephone call from John Buck, the British ambassador in Portugal, on the night that Madeleine disappeared from the Ocean Club, on the 3rd of Mayby José Carlos Marques / P. M.
At around 11 p.m., approximately two hours after the child’s disappearance was communicated, Alípio Ribeiro had to interrupt a private dinner in order to listen to the diplomat. The phone call was the first sign that the English were very interested in following the PJ’s action closely and to push the investigations into the direction of an abduction.
“The PJ lost too much time investigating the abduction”, a source linked to the investigation told Correio da Manhã. The English diplomacy’s pressure only relented when British police officers arrived in Portugal and supported the redirecting of the investigation towards the hypothesis of homicide. The biological traces that were found inside the apartment were decisive in changing the inquiry’s route, or at least, for the PJ to publicly admit to that change.
The decision to deepen the possibility of the child’s death at the Ocean Club – and the consequent reevaluation of Maddie’s parents’ statements, as well as their friends’ – was made while considering the English police officers’ opinion. The interview that Olegário Sousa – the Judiciária’s chief inspector who has been serving as the police’s spokesman in this case – gave to BBC and ITN televisions yesterday was planned with these agents.
The choice of these two television channels was motivated by the indignation that the English police officers in the Algarve felt themselves, concerning the accusations that have been made against the PJ by the British press. BBC and ITN have been covering the case with more coldness and impartiality, which is the reason why they were given privileged access to the interview.
This was the first time that Olegário Sousa publicly admitted the possibility of Madeleine being dead. A position that places the McCanns in the centre of the investigation, a situation that has been handled ‘with tweezers’ by the Portuguese police.
But the mistake is in the first paragraph, we know Madeleine was reported as missing at 10 p.m. so either the Ambassador called at 11pm (only one hour later) or at 12 p.m. (two hours later) as stated in article. The facts contained in that first paragraph are totally wrong. If he received the call at 11 p.m. Madeleine had only been reported missing 1 hour.
Naturally Madeleine is a British Citizen and it is obvious that whoever rung the Ambassador John Buck and his associates told them about a child that could have possibly been abducted. Does anybody think the British Ambassador is going to tell them to “speak to the holiday rep”. It was not someone’s passport or camera gone missing it was a child.
But in his book Goncalo Amaral states this:
It’s July. The hypothesis of death, including by the parents, is being seriously considered. However, no lead has yet come to anything, and we find ourselves in a cul-de-sac. We have to re-centre the investigation around its point of departure, apartment 5A at the Ocean Club, in Vila da Luz. We officially request the help of the best experts in criminology and forensics but also the specialist dog team from the English police. A few days later, we welcome Mark Harrison, a specialist in murder, and the search for missing persons and victims of natural disasters. National advisor to the British police, he is well known for his exceptional professional experience. He has already participated in dozens of international criminal investigations.
“Is being seriously considered”, so they did think that a death may have occured and they were considering the actions of the parents being involved prior to July. Surely if the British wanted the abduction theory to be the only one considered then they would not have given sanction for the dogs and Mark Harrison to arrive and even offer the resources of Scotland Yard as Goncalo states:
His work consists of defining new strategies for research. He gets to work immediately, supported by the Portuguese PJ and the investigators from Leicester and Scotland Yard.
The family Liaison officers who were assigned to the McCann when Madeleine disappeared have all stated NO to one important question put to them:
Was anything said or done by Kate or Gerry McCann in your presence or during your contacts that may have raised any suspicion that they had knowledge of what happened to Madeleine, besides the circumstances described to the Portuguese investigators?
So either we have 6 officers willing to commit perjury or six officers speaking the truth, what is it? Family Liaison Officers are crucial to an investigation, they support the family in their time of need, they liaise with the Police and do all they can to help? But they also do another important job, because they are with the family for such long periods, they monitor them and if they notice anything that seems untoward, suspicious or hear something that raises alarm bells they tell the investigation team.
After all was it not the Family Liaison Officers who suspected something was not quite right in the disappearance of Shannon Matthews and they monitored the family and reported to the investigation team about the conduct of the family?
But no matter how much, every one cries the dogs, the dogs, the dogs, one important factor must be taken into consideration, and that is:
The dogs findings can only be proved correct if backed up with corroborating evidence.
Martin Grime in his report stated this as a summary:
SUMMARY
The tasking for this operation was as per my normal Standard Operating Procedures. The dogs are deployed as search assets to secure evidence and locate human remains or Human blood.
The dogs only alerted to property associated with the McCann family. The dog alert indications MUST be corroborated if to establish their findings as evidence.
Therefore in this particular case, as no human remains were located, the only alert indications that may become corroborated are those that the CSI dog indicated by forensic laboratory analysis.
My professional opinion as regards to the EVRD’s alert indications is that it is suggestive that this is ‘cadaver scent’ contaminant. This does not however suggest a motive or suspect as cross contamination could be as a result of a number of given scenarios and in any event no evidential or intelligence reliability can be made from these alerts unless they can be confirmed with corroborating evidence.
And we also know from Martin Grime in the PJ Files (Vol. IX p. 2480) this:
‘Eddie’ The Enhanced Victim Recovery Dog (E.V.R.D.) will search for and locate human remains and body fluids including blood in any environment or terrain. The initial training of the dog was conducted using human blood and stil born decomposing piglets. The importance of this is that the dog is introduced to the scent of a decomposing body NOT FOODSTUFF. This ensures that the dog disregards the ‘bacon sandwich’ and ‘kebab’ etc that is ever present in the background environment. Therefore the dog would remain efficient searching for a cadaver in a cafe where the clientele were sat eating bacon sandwiches. He has additionally trained exclusively using human remains in the U.S.A. in association with the F.B.I. The enhanced training of the dog has also involved the use of collection of ‘cadaver scent’ odor from human corpses using remote technical equipment which does not contact the subject. This method is comparable to the simulation of cross contamination. It does however differ in that the remote scent samples recovery does not involve subject matter and therefore is a ‘pure’ scent sample. The dog has since initial training gained considerable experience in successfully operationally locating human remains and evidential forensic material.
You see I can read two things in that, and they are:
- We know the EVRD dog can detect cadaver as well as dried Human Blood from a living or deceased person and
- Unless a body is found during the searches you can only go on the results of the CSI dog namely Keela.
And the most crucial part of his summary is these words:
Therefore in this particular case, as no human remains were located, the only alert indications that may become corroborated are those that the CSI dog indicated by forensic laboratory analysis.
