FBI Agent Analyzes McCann Case

Worth a read!

By SUSAN MILLER
May 2, 2008

co-anchor Elizabeth Vargas recently spoke with former FBI Special Agent and profiler Brad Garrett, an ABC News consultant, who discussed the details surrounding the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

Reports said the Portuguese police arrived on the scene soon after Madeleine vanished, and left soon after, a fact Garrett called "unusual." Garrett, who has worked on several high-profile missing persons cases, including that of Chandra Levy in Washington, D.C., said investigators would typically form a "command post right inside the resort. You start collecting information, and everything comes back to a lead detective in a room, and that's how you go through the information. You prioritize what needs to be done. ... You want to be right in the middle of the action so you can make snap decisions as to what should be done at any given time."
Garrett added, "You put people in places like airports, ports for boats" and you secure the scene as well as the resort so that everyone coming in and out is vetted.
From his experience, Garrett said that typically, in an investigation like this, the police would obtain and review surveillance tapes from the resort and any surrounding areas. And police would generally have a set team of law enforcement in place from the very beginning.
"Every case that I've worked like this you usually have a case agent, an FBI case agent and a lead detective," he said. "They sit right next to each other, and they work from that location, and everything comes back to them to make decisions on what should be done."
It would have been helpful in the McCann case, Garrett said, to know which cabs arrived at the resort. Additionally, he said police should have spoken with the entire staff at the resort to figure out if there were any people working there who had a history with missing children. "People get hired and there's limited background done on them," he said.
At times, the McCanns expressed little emotion during public appearances related to the case. Reports emerged that they had been advised by law enforcement not to break down in public. Garrett confirmed that "there is a belief in the world of criminal profiling that by keeping a very steady pace and talking in an authoritative but not condescending manner that you're sending a message out" to whoever may have abducted the child.
"You want to keep calm," he said. "The last thing you want is for them to get excited. They see this hysteria, that's one side of it. The other is some of these guys get kicks out of watching parents suffer on camera."
Garrett said Madeleine could have been taken by someone looking to adopt a blond 4-year-old attractive child. In these types of scenarios, "they actually have somebody go out and look for the child," Garrett said. Adoptive parents also might go to an agency that's unscrupulous and abducts children, he said.
But how could someone take Madeleine from her room without anyone hearing her cry or making noise? Garrett said there are a few explanations. The McCanns have said that their children sleep quite soundly and that the twins apparently slept through the abduction. They even slept through the police coming into the room, the couple said.
Another theory?
Madeleine might have known her abductor, Garrett said. Somebody might have independently befriended her, possibly someone who works at the resort, he said.

It definitely makes sense to me - the process used by the FBI seem much more beneficial than the one the PJ used (honestly, I don't the PJ's used a process -- they were flying by the seat of the pants and it shows).

Thanks, Manz for this article.

Useful article Mandz, confirms what we all have been saying for a long time. Quite simply the scene was not preserved, no-one took charge, a complete shambles. No excuse that the police were not experienced in abductions, doesn't come into it. This was basic police investigative skills that would appear to have been sadly lacking in Madeleine's case.

What a fascinating report, is there any more to it or is this the lot?

this just confirms what many if us have been thinking for a good long while now, that the PJ were so totally incompetent is unbelievable, in fact so unbelievably incompetent that I wondered if any half decent police force with half a brain could have made this catalogue of errors by accident or were they on purpose? Committed on purpose to try and conceal what really went on there.

It would have been helpful in the McCann case, Garrett said, to know which cabs arrived at the resort. Additionally, he said police should have spoken with the entire staff at the resort to figure out if there were any people working there who had a history with missing children. "People get hired and there's limited background done on them,"

This is exactly what I have been saying all along about checking up on what cabs were in the area doing what.
Not only this I have often wondered why the PJ have done nothing to discover who had hired the McCann's car hire just prior to them and on the night that Madeleine vanished! Seems logical to me, but we all know the PJ act totally illogically sometimes.
Background checks on every single person hired in the MW complex should have been undertaken and each member hired at that time should have been interviewed and DNA samples taken.

Great post Mandz.

That is a very interesting article that raises a number of points. Mainly supportive of our view that the PJ's methods were a little unorthodox (being very polite here). Also, glad to hear that Garret considers that it is a possibility that Madeleine was abducted, and gives good reasoning for it.

But the most interesting thing to me, is something I never though of before.

Madeleine might have known her abductor, Garrett said. Somebody might have independently befriended her, possibly someone who works at the resort, he said.

That is how a lot of abductors work. And it makes perfect sense that it could have happened that way. I wonder if the PJ investigated everyone who had access to the children in the creche. And I dont mean just the creche workers but what about other resort staff who are allowed in there, say delivering food, or gardeners, or cleaners etc.

http://abcnews.go.com/2020/Story?id=4766445&page=1

Hi All..!
There is the link above and video of him talking about the case!

Rosie exactly why did they not check cabs etc? Like you I am suspicious of the catalogue of basic police errors and would like to see an independent review of their case. Something is deeply concerning here – IMO we could have done a better job!

Dianeh!
Yes this does make sense of course someone could have befriended her within that resort like you say other staff coming and going perhaps staff cover from somewhere else? The person who took her I believe lived in PDL and knows MW complex very well. Someone would need to be close to see/watch the McCann routine. Did the police even bother interviewing all these people? Why did the allow tourists to fly home that day and next day? Why not keep everyone there? Again this comes back to basic police errors.

"At times, the McCanns expressed little emotion during public appearances related to the case. Reports emerged that they had been advised by law enforcement not to break down in public. Garrett confirmed that "there is a belief in the world of criminal profiling that by keeping a very steady pace and talking in an authoritative but not condescending manner that you're sending a message out" to whoever may have abducted the child.
"You want to keep calm," he said. "The last thing you want is for them to get excited. They see this hysteria, that's one side of it. The other is some of these guys get kicks out of watching parents suffer on camera."

The above makes me feel so sorry for the McCann’s who were doing what they were told however some sick people like vile et al took this as arrogant. I remember them on the DX slating him and saying he came across authoritative manner like he was in some business meeting. Well here is the explanation above just what we have all been saying since last year - he was "TOLD" by experts. Well done to Gerry for having the strength and stamina to do this.

Scotland Yard need to go in and look at this case.

I often felt watching Kate in press conferences that she was telling herself to hold it together, trying to be measured in what and how she said things. This must have took an immense amount of inner strength but from what I have seen, they have listened to and took on board whatever the professionals have told them to do in the best interests of Madeleine. How easy would it have been for them to fall to pieces and cry in front of our very eyes, the restraint must have been immense.

This is true, there have been many reports that have suggested that Kate and Gerry's composure before the camera's was not replicated behind the scenes.

Remember also when Kate spoke about being in the toilets with head over the loo being sick just prior to going into the EU parliament?

It just goes to show what a person can do when determined. Kate must be so determined, driven to find Madeleine, that she has overcome the fear that she so obviously feels when speaking in public.

I admire her for this, as well as for continuing her fight to find her daughter. Both Gerry and Kate deserve our support, hopefully it helps them in some small way to carry on the search for Madeleine.

Anyone that hasn't take a look at the link that Mandz supplied, will find ths an extremely interesting video clip.

Link To FBI Profiler Discussing The Madeleine McCann Case

Just watched it.

Garret does seem to be very good, doesnt he.

So PJ were a bit lax at the start, too laid back, took the wrong paths.

But the most interesting is that Garrett thinks the McCanns have nothing to do with Madeleine's disappearance, that it is an abduction. And his reasons are valid and much of what we have discussed here over and over.

And could Madeleine still be alive? He says yes. I also found interesting that he thinks it more likely she was taken for adoption, rather than for a paedophile ring. But he is also saying it is a real possibility that a predatory paedophile took her (in which case she would have been killed very soon after). And if she was taken for adoption, then she could still be alive.

I wish that that PJ had let the FBI in when the McCanns asked for their help. Why, wouldnt they? They could have used it as a training exercise to give their officers superior skill. At least they wouldnt now be criticised and called Keystone cops, as they are now.

And maybe, just maybe, Madeleine would be home.

i also watched it intresting hay

Yes it is interesting, I had not see it before so am really grateful to Mandz for providing the link. :D

If it was a predatory paedophile I have always had a gut feeling that it was a local man, or local group!!! One would certainly hope that the PJ have done the relevant investigations, but I have absolutely no confidence in them because of their bungling, leaking and smearing.
I have never been able to entirely agree that it is some international paedophile ring, wondered if it was me wishful thinking, but then I heard the FBI profiler saying the same sort of thing, so perhaps, she is not somewhere else in the world, perhaps she really is still in Portugal, just as I have always thought? This does not mean I think she is dead, do not discount the Josef Fritzl case! I hope to God not, it gives me nightmares just thinking of it, in fact I can't I have to push it away! But this scenario MUST be considered by the investigators, it is their job! While there is a possibility that this child is still being held in or around PDL, after all the correct searches have still NOT been done!

If she is abroad then I prefer to think of the scenario that she was abducted for adoption and is being well cared for and well loved and well treated, this way when she is found (and I do believe she will be found, I have an unshakable belief that she will) her mind will not have been too badly damaged.

Can you imagine a grown Madeleine looking at the internet? Seeing photographs of herself everywhere? Will she be able to recognise herself? Will she put 2 plus 2 together over her eye and get 4? Will this form real doubt in her mind, especially when there are no pictures of her in her new family's home prior to the age she was when she was taken? Or will her new family have conjured up a photograph album and official documents? Or do they already have such documents because they had already lost a child similar looking to Madeleine? Is this why Madeleine was taken because she closely resembled a lost child in age and looks? This is a scenario that I thought about right from when Madeleine first went missing.

If I were the PJ, I would be looking closely into all those in the area that have links to adoption agencies!

You are right Diane, why didn't the PJ accept the help of the FBI and Scotland Yard? All damned egos, if you ask me.
or is it something a lot more complex? is there a paedophile group operating in and around PDL. Like Casa Pia? This is something I have also been banging on about for months, it is a very real possibility. there are these localised paedophile groups that take children and unfortunately they are in every country, sick sad b*****ds !

yes indeed read dianahs link a local german man was arrested on the 25th......................

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article2681658.ece

Possible escape routes aside, one of the most convincing arguments I have heard for an abduction by a local came from my colleague at Liverpool University, Professor Kevin Browne, who advises many international agencies including the WHO and Unicef on child protection. He made clear that this quiet village could harbour a number of child abusers who had been released into the community rather than convicted.

The situation in Portugal was, he pointed out, very different from that in Britain today, being more the way it used to be here a decade or more ago.

Compared with other countries in Western Europe, Portugal convicts a much smaller proportion of child abusers. Children are more likely to be removed from their families, ending up in institutions while their abusers walk free. As a consequence, there are not only potentially more abusers within society unmarked and unmonitored, but a of whole new generation of people with an increased likelihood of becoming abusers because of their own experiences.
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I'm not sure however another interesting theory.

Mandz wrote:http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/crime/article2681658.ece

Possible escape routes aside, one of the most convincing arguments I have heard for an abduction by a local came from my colleague at Liverpool University, Professor Kevin Browne, who advises many international agencies including the WHO and Unicef on child protection. He made clear that this quiet village could harbour a number of child abusers who had been released into the community rather than convicted.

The situation in Portugal was, he pointed out, very different from that in Britain today, being more the way it used to be here a decade or more ago.

Compared with other countries in Western Europe, Portugal convicts a much smaller proportion of child abusers. Children are more likely to be removed from their families, ending up in institutions while their abusers walk free. As a consequence, there are not only potentially more abusers within society unmarked and unmonitored, but a of whole new generation of people with an increased likelihood of becoming abusers because of their own experiences.
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I'm not sure however another interesting theory.

intresting quote whats the weblink to this

this is clearly not done by pj

In most cases of predatory paedophiles, the child is raped and killed within a few hours, and the body is almost always found. No body = live Madeleine, and, more importantly, unharmed Madeleine.

It is always comforting (if I can use this word in these circumstances) to see our theories and convictions being shared by people we value. I too feel that it is important that my opinion on PJ's investigation is corroborated by other investigative bodies.

But I would like to see the subject of the abductor being known to Madeleine more expanded, I feel we still are very much 'glued' to a member of staff, somehow I feel this can be just ONE of the possibilities.