Express: Search for clues at five locations

British police searching for Madeleine McCann are to start digging at the holiday resort she vanished from seven years ago.

They are preparing to excavate up to five sites in and around Praia da Luz in Portugal.

The sites are thought to include wasteland close to the apartment where Madeleine's parents were staying, along with a nearby beach.

Last night local reports said investigators want to examine roadworks being carried out when Madeleine disappeared on May 3rd, 2007, which were filled in shortly afterwards. Two areas outside the resort will also be

Turn to page 5.

My friends, this was taken from The Sunday Express newspaper:

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/474173/Madeleine-McCann-Police-to-dig-up-resort-where-British-child-went-missing-seven-years-ago

So much for the media acting responsibly.

Oh, good grief! I'm not sure which is worse, tasteless speculation all over the front pages, or the story playing second fiddle to some nonsense about halal pizzas.

What are they playing at?

Nothing that shows the slightest respect or concern for the investigation, Madeleine or her parents.  

Petra Johnson I might make my next pic a shovel


Petra Johnson James it would be great if a body was found as it will tell a story .

Yet another depraved freak getting off on imagining a child's death, what utter scum they are!

Bonny, the thrive on it. I bet they can't sleep at night for excitement at what they imagine is on the horizon.

http://www.express.co.uk/news/uk/474418/Madeleine-McCann-Police-to-use-radar-in-hunt-for-suspect-sites-at-the-holiday-resort?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+daily-express-uk-news+(Daily+Express+%3A%3A+UK+Feed)

Madeleine McCann: Police to use radar in hunt for suspect sites at the holiday resort

BRITISH police searching for Madeleine McCann are to start digging at the holiday resort she vanished from seven years ago.



They are preparing to excavate up to five sites in and around Praia da Luz in Portugal.

The sites are thought to include wasteland close to the apartment where Madeleine’s family were staying, along with a nearby beach.

Last night local reports said investigators want to examine roadworks being carried out when Madeleine disappeared on May 3, 2007, which were filled in shortly afterwards.

Two areas outside the resort will also be searched in the operation, it was claimed.

Detectives said the searches could coincide with arrests.

Madeleine’s parents Kate, 46, and Gerry, 45, have been fully briefed on the plan by Scotland Yard.

The tormented couple are bracing themselves for their worst nightmare if the investigation reveals a body.

Portuguese authorities gave the go-ahead for the searches after a formal request from Scotland Yard.

A team of expert forensic officers will use ground-penetrating radar equipment to uncover areas where earth has been disturbed.

Mechanical diggers and earth moving equipment will then be brought in.

Permission for the operation was sought alongside a series of requests made by British detectives in a letter sent to the Portuguese authorities in February.

Portuguese police and officials will carry out the work on behalf of Scotland Yard’s Operation Grange.

For the first time British officers will be working alongside their Portuguese counterparts on the ground.

The McCanns’ spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: “As always, we simply will not comment on operational details of Operation Grange. That is a matter for the Met Police.

“Kate and Gerry are being kept fully informed throughout.”

A source close to the couple said: “They don’t believe police are acting on any new tip-off.

“They just need to carry out their own digs, looking for any possible clues that Portuguese authorities may have missed on their previous searches.

“Police have assured Kate and Gerry that it does not mean they are specifically searching for her body. They are doing searches to rule scenarios out as much as rule them in. They will be concentrating on several different places at different phases.”

Last night Scotland Yard confirmed that the case was “moving towards increased action in Portugal.”

It said “activity will occur in forthcoming weeks”.

Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley said the action was being taken as a result of the international letters of request.


The high-ranking officer has been in talks with his opposite number in Portugal’s Policia Judiciara which is also investigating Madeleine’s disappearance.

He said the process “is more bureaucratic and slower than we would wish”.

But he added in an open letter that police are “increasingly optimistic of that activity starting soon”.

Assistant Commissioner Rowley said he would be unable to “provide any information concerning the activity”.

He said the Portuguese had threatened to halt the searches if media interest is seen to cause ­disruption.

The moves come as the couple are preparing for the saddest day of the year on May 12 – Madeleine’s birthday.

At the weekend, Kate and Gerry thanked the public for their unstinting support at a service in their home town of Rothley, Leics.

Heart consultant Gerry said police “are chipping away and obviously there is new evidence, so we are going to continue to hope that we will get a happy outcome”.

about: "continue to hope that we will get a happy outcome”.", for me the only happy outcome is to find Madeleine McCann alive, safely found, safely returned to her home.

lily wrote:What are they playing at?

Flogging newspapers.

Ba Boom J-P.    

I do find it strange that Portugal's police don't want to give the public official updates on the matter. It makes a person wonder why on earth not?

your words are mine:"I do find it strange that Portugal's police don't want to give the public official updates on the matter. It makes a person wonder why on earth not?"

British and Portuguese police already at odds over Madeleine McCann search as it emerges that Scotland Yard detectives can only watch their counterparts dig despite covering huge cost

Portuguese authorities approved Scotland Yard's plans to excavate site
But they blocked request to search homes of suspects at Algarve resort
Suspects were working at Ocean Club resort when Madeleine vanished
They 'carried out break-ins at resort in run-up to Maddie's disappearance'
But investigators are starting to dig waste ground at Praia da Luz resort
Despite huge interest in case, Portuguese police are demanding secrecy
They have threatened to halt their search if media is given information

By PAUL BENTLEY and REBECCA CAMBER and GERARD COUZENS and MARK DUELL
PUBLISHED: 04:40 EST, 7 May 2014 | UPDATED: 17:28 EST, 7 May 2014


Scotland Yard detectives flew in to Portugal last night ahead of excavation at the holiday resort where Madeleine McCann vanished.
But the arrival of the team, led by Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood, comes as tensions with the Portuguese authorities escalated, with fears the investigation could be derailed at any point.

After almost two years of delicate negotiations, Scotland Yard has been given permission to start digging at sites surrounding the holiday resort in Praia da Luz where the youngster disappeared seven years ago.






A large wasteland yards from the Ocean Club complex will be dug up, plus an area beside the beach as well as roads by the church in Praia da Luz where Gerry and Kate McCann prayed for the safe return of their daughter.

But while Met detectives instigated the new searches and will cover the huge costs involved, the work is controlled by the Portuguese.
There are even concerns that the Met may be banned from ‘witnessing’ the digs.

In a further setback, a request to search the homes of some of the prime suspects in the case has been rejected. The three former staff members at the Ocean Club are considered ‘people of interest’ by the inquiry.

Analysis of mobile phone data suggests the men were close to the scene of her abduction and were in contact in the hours that followed.

One theory is that burglars raided the McCanns’ flat and were panicked into snatching Maddie when she woke up. Met detectives reportedly requested the men’s bank details and asked local officers to quiz the trio and search their homes.

But the judge who dealt with the requests ‘did not consider Scotland Yard’s arguments valid’, local sources said.






The Met team is part of Operation Grange, which was set up in 2011 to investigate the disappearance of Maddie, whose 11th birthday is on Monday.

British detectives have since expressed their growing frustration at the length of time the probe is taking.

The Mail told yesterday how a large wasteland yards from the complex will be dug up, as well as an area beside the beach and roads by the church in Praia da Luz where Gerry and Kate McCann prayed for the safe return of their daughter.

But while Met detectives instigated the new searches and will pay for them, they may only be allowed to watch while the work is controlled by the Portuguese.

In a further set-back, officers have been told a request to search the homes of suspects who worked at the Ocean Club resort in Praia da Luz has been rejected.

The stand-off has come after the Met set up Operation Grange in 2011 to investigate the toddler’s disappearance.

Portuguese authorities refused to mount a joint investigation, preventing Scotland Yard from carrying out its own activities in Portugal, and a number of requests have since been snubbed.

In a letter to the media yesterday, Met Police assistant commissioner Mark Rowley suggested the relationship between the forces was on a knife edge.

He warned officers could not keep the public up to date with information in case it upsets Portuguese authorities. ‘The advice I am receiving from Portugal is that their approach is very different,’ he said.

‘If we provide any briefings or information on the work they are undertaking on our behalf activity will cease until that problem dissipates.
‘We will not be able to provide any information concerning the activity because ultimately it could mean the work stops.’

Deputy assistant commissioner Martin Hewitt added: ‘We have been issuing a number of letters of request. Some of the requests are not being acceded to.

‘It’s not fatal to what we are going to do - it’s their judicial authority.’ He said they were not being refused because of any lack of resources.

‘That’s causing us frustration because we know what we want to do and we are ready to go with that. But the process is the process,’ he added.

Maddie disappeared on May 3, 2007, when she was three years old. Her 11th birthday is next week.

The cold case review into her disappearance has involved the painstakingly analysis of every document collected during the multi-million pound inquiry.

Appeals on BBC’s Crimewatch led to new information and officers now plan to dig up key areas of Praia da Luz, just yards from where she vanished.






A key area to be searched is an overgrown wasteland, which was bought by Irish developers before being abandoned because of a property crisis in the area.

MET POLICE BLAMES PORTUGAL FOR LACK OF PUBLIC INFORMATION IN SEARCH FOR MADELEINE

Metropolitan Police’s Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowler has blamed the Portuguese authorities for the lack of information being made public by Operation Grange.

In an open letter dated today, the senior police officer said that despite pleas for the media to be briefed on ongoing developments in the search for Madeline McCann, Portugal’s Policia Judiciara have threatened to stop work if information is passed on.

Revealing the ongoing tension between British and Portuguese police, Assistant Commissioner Rowley said he had explained to his opposite number in the Policia Judiciara that it is the Met’s preferred practice to make public as much information and context as possible, providing it does not compromise the investigation.

He revealed that the reply from the Portuguese police was that they do not brief the media on an ongoing investigation, accompanied by a threat that if any information were to emerge, the work undertaken by Portugal on behalf of Scotland Yard would ‘cease until that problem dissipates’.

‘It is important you understand this and appreciate the position in which I find myself. We will not be able to provide any information concerning the activity because ultimately it could mean the work stops,’ Assistant Commissioner Rowley said.

‘We respect the Portuguese position as we would expect them to respect our position if we were carrying out work on their behalf in the UK,’ he added.

Portuguese detectives will use radar equipment and mechanical diggers to excavate the site, while officers on foot will conduct fingertip searches.

Local reports suggested cadaver dogs could also be used in the searches - a controversial development considering the flawed initial Portuguese police case against the McCanns relied on evidence from two British sniffer dogs.

Also targeted will be an area by the beach, two locations in the surrounding countryside and land near Our Lady of the Light Church in Praia da Luz, where Gerry and Kate were given keys to pray alone after Maddie disappeared.

Met officers - who will pay for the work - will be in the area but can, at best, only supervise.

There are even concerns they may be banned from ‘witnessing’ the digs, with decisions on the details involved due to be made imminently by Portuguese authorities.

Respected Portuguese newspaper Jornal de Noticias wrote: ‘The logistics necessary for the execution of all this work will be costly.

‘It will be paid for by the UK which has already spent nearly seven million euros on this investigation.’

After 26 trips to Portugal to negotiate the work, British detectives have also been told they will not be allowed to raid the homes of three key suspects who worked at the Ocean Club when Maddie disappeared.

And, as none of the suspects is British, the Met does not have jurisdiction to make arrests.

The three former staff members, who are thought to have carried out break-ins at the resort, are considered ‘people of interest’ in the inquiry.

Analysis of mobile phone data suggests the men were close to the scene of her abduction and were in contact in the hours that followed.
One theory is that the burglars raided the McCanns’ flat and were panicked into snatching the youngster when she woke up.




Met detectives reportedly requested the men’s bank details and asked local officers to quiz the trio and search their homes.

But the judge who dealt with the requests ‘did not consider Scotland Yard’s arguments valid,’ local sources said.

A spokesman for the Attorney General’s Office in Portugal said: ‘The content of the requests formulated by the British authorities is confidential.’

British police are said ‘discreetly’ to be on the ground in Portugal already, with a full team is expected to arrive in the coming days.
The Met Police said it was not prepared to provide a ‘running commentary’ on the inquiry.


Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2622233/British-police-leading-hunt-Madeleine-McCann-banned-searching-homes-burglary-suspects.html#ixzz315HZeTSn
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Respected Portuguese newspaper Jornal de Noticias wrote

Personally, I wouldn't describe any of them as 'respected', except for Expresso - it's the only one that doesn't publish sensationalised rubbish from Sources in the PJ = Gonzo and his chums.