Correio da Manha - 01.05.2017
Traduit par Joana Morais
I will start with the conclusion: I think this was probably crime of
the Century in Portugal. On May 3, 2007, in Praia da Luz, Madeleine
disappeared to never be seen again. The case shocked the Country and
the World, giving the motto for an unyielding conflict between the
Portuguese and the English police authorities ...which still remains
today!
We all still have these images in our heads: the despair of the
family and friends, the odd and imperceptible expression of the
mother, Kate McCann, asking for the return of her daughter, the
solidarity of the people, the massive police presence. A whole
country startled by the sad fate of a girl who could be the daughter
of any of us. After ten years of a mystery that has never been
solved, there are more doubts than certainties. But the hypothesis
that the parents themselves, or one of the friends of the inner
circle, are involved in the event, whether in an intentional or
negligent way, is increasingly consistent. The investigation’s
data, in my opinion, points this way.
Why was it that Kate - and no one suffers as much with the
disappearance of a daughter as her own mother - gave evasive answers
to the police, sometimes even reacting with contempt for the police's
work? Why are the contradictions evident in Kate and Gerry's
statements regarding simple facts, if whether they had or not argued
the night before or if any of them had slept in the bedroom with the
children? Why did the dogs alert to cadaver scent in the car used by
the McCanns?
It is possible that we are before the crime of the century, where the
disappearance or death of a girl ends without the guilty being known,
in a plot where everyone insists on casting aspersions about hidden
powers or incompetent police forces.
I'll leave this question: if the much acclaimed effort of the English
police to find Maddie fails to produce results, despite the massive
amount already invested, wouldn’t it be wise to reopen the
investigation in Portugal, placing the homicide hypothesis again on
the table?
