The Eddie and Keela Searches/Videos

Date	Timeline, at a glance
30 July 2007	Specialist sniffer dogs, Eddie and Keela, arrive with their handler, Martin Grime.
31 July 2007	In the evening, Portuguese and UK investigators begin their search of apartment 5A with Eddie and Keela. Cadaver odour is indicated in the McCanns bedroom by the wardrobe, in the living room behind a sofa and a light scent indicated outside in a flowerbed. A blood indication is made behind the sofa.
01 August 2007	Jon Corner arrives to film promotional material for the official 'Find Madeleine' site. Kate's parents also arrive.
02 August 2007	Gerry McCann cancels trip to Huelva due to 'viral illness'. Around 18:00pm, the Inspectors knock on the door of the McCanns villa. Jon Corner states in the Panorama documentary that the McCanns were forewarned of this forensic visit and that there were clothes in the washing machine when the Inspectors arrived. Cadaver odour is indicated on two pieces of Kate's clothing (trousers and blouse), on a red T-shirt believed to belong to Madeleine and on the soft toy known as 'Cuddle Cat'.
03 August 2007	The Huelva trip goes ahead, despite all public places being closed.
04 August 2007	Casa Liliana, home of Robert Murat, is searched. Vegetation is cleared from the grounds and in the evening the sniffer dogs are used. Jon Corner returns home.
05 August 2007	The search of Murat's property continues. Nothing is found.
06 August 2007	10 vehicles are collected and examined in a closed car park in Portimao. Cadaver odour is indicated on the McCanns Renault Scenic hire car and also the key of the vehicle. Blood is indicated on the key of the vehicle and the interior of the car's boot. Gerry states in his blog that today he 'went to a large office store in Portimao to buy a new printer and ink' - a journey that would have had to be undertaken by car. But how did he get there and back?
07 August 2007	Martin Grime returns home with Eddie and Keela.
08 August 2007	Kate's parents return home.
09 August 2007	A Portugese newspaper claims police had 'intercepted' emails and phone calls between Kate and Gerry McCann and their friends, which provide 'decisive proof' that Madeleine was not abducted but died in the family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz. The McCanns take the twins out of the Kids Club.
10 August 2007	Kate and Gerry do a further series of interviews for Portugese and foreign TV. During the Portuguese interview, Gerry is asked if he gave the children Calpol or something to make them sleep. He denies it.
11 August 2007	Police in Portugal acknowledge for the first time that, in light of new evidence, Madeleine may be dead. Chief Inspector Sousa adds that Mr and Mrs McCann are not being considered as suspects following newspaper speculation that they were under suspicion.

Date	Timeline, in detail (Gerry's blog for that day on coloured background)
30 July 2007	Specialist sniffer dogs arrive The Enhanced Victim Recovery Dogs (EVRD), Eddie and Keela, arrive with their handler, Martin Grime.
	We had a routine meeting today with the Portuguese police. Kate and I are confident that every avenue is being explored and the vital piece of information that leads to Madeleine is only a phone call away. This is the last time we will have met the Consul General in a professional capacity, as he retires tomorrow and will be returning to the UK. Bill has provided us with consular support since day 1 and, naturally, he got to know us very well during the last 3 months. He has said that Madeleines abduction is the most tragic circumstance he has had to deal with. Without doubt Bill has given us excellent support and we wish him and his wife a very happy retirement.
31 July 2007	Note: According to translations of 'The Truth of the Lie', Mr Amaral dates the visit to Apartment 5A as 03 August but the PJ files state 31 July. It would seem logical that the dogs would start at the McCanns' first apartment, bearing in mind that is where they believed Madeleine to have died. Seach of Apartment 5A, summary from 'The Truth of the Lie' - Evening of 3 August, Portuguese and UK investigators begin at Ocean Club, Apt 5A - Martin leads in Eddie and tells him to sit at the front door, so that he can remove the leash. Contrary to expectations of this wonder dog-detective, Eddie ignored the command and ran immediately to the interior of the apt, where he ran "devilishly" from the living room to the parent's bedroom. Grimes says worriedly that something has made Eddie nervous and he calls Eddie again so that he can give orders to indicate where to start searching. An investigator is video taping. Some minutes later, Eddie focuses on the floor of the couple's bedroom, next to the wardrobe and gives the alert for cadaver odor, in a strident bark - Why here, in the couple's room? More goosebumps to follow: Eddie gives another strident bark next to the living room wall, behind the blue sofa, under the window. - Apt 5A begins to give up its mystery. - On that night, before 10pm, the investigators see Gerald McCann near the apartment, driving alone in the rented Renault with the face of one "who has few friends." - If the cadaver (EVRD) dog alerts, then the blood (CSI) dog is brought in. They are trained to find ONLY human blood, even in areas thoroughly cleaned with chemicals or bleaches. Sometimes they find blood vestiges so small that they can't be collected, and the surrounding materials themselves have to be transported to the lab. This happened with Keela. - Keela is brought in and she marks blood in the same place as Eddie marked the cadaver smell... she stopped, immobile, with her nose pointed at the precise location of the smell. The tiles on the floor. - Outside, Eddie gives two more alerts of cadaver smell, on the varanda of the couple's bedroom and also in a garden situation directly below it. Here, the bark is weaker, like a "could be", with some doubt, like a human shrugging their shoulders. - Going now to the other apts, the investigators are nervous. Who knows what will come next? But to the amazement of all, after very careful exams of all the other apts, Eddie exhibits complete disinterest. Martin decides to not use Keela, since Eddie found no cadaver smell. - There are signs of death in Apartment 5A. It's necessary to confirm that, prior to 3 May, no one had died there. The OC has no records of anything like that, nor the fire department, nor the paramedics, nor the prior apt owners knew of any death in the apt. - It is concluded, therefore, that the cadaver odor could only come from one person: Madeleine Beth McCann Findings, as detailed in the PJ's 57-page report summary 1 - Apartment 5A, of the resort 'Ocean Club', place from where the child disappeared. - cadaver odour dog: in the couple’s bedroom, in a corner, close to the wardrobe; in the living room, behind the sofa, close to the lateral window of the apartment; - blood dog: * in the living room, behind the sofa, close to the lateral window of the apartment (exactly as it was signalled by the cadaver odour dog); 2 – Area of the backyard, close to the apartment 5A: - cadaver odour dog: * in a flowerbed, the lightness of the scent detected was commented by the dog handler.
	Relatively quiet day apart from phone calls and campaign related e-mails. We have Busy couple of days coming up so off to bed relatively early (before midnight)!
01 August 2007	Jon Corner and Kate's parents arrive McCann family friend, and film producer, John Corner arrives to film promotional material for the official 'Find Madeleine' site. Although this never transpires, segments do appear on the Panorama programme aired on 19 November 2007. Kate's parents also arrive for a week's stay. Kate is interviewed for the first time without Gerry. The interview was published on 05 August, in two different versions, by The Independent and The People. Both versions can be found on the 'Kate's Interviews' page of this site.
	Another trip to the airport this morning to pick up our campaign manager. Kate did a series of interviews for womens magazines and the Sunday newspapers which took most of the afternoon. Kates parents, who we visit regularly at home, also arrived and the twins were very happy to see them. They will be staying with us for a week. We have had some new posters designed of Madeleine, in Portuguese and Spanish, which I have been printing out to distribute locally. I also did some filming to camera which we might use on the website and for future events.
02 August 2007	Search of McCanns villa - summary from 'The Truth of the Lie' - When preparing to go to the McCann's villa with the dogs, everyone knew this was the moment to either take up a technical and legal instrument which could assign responsiblity, or fully remove from suspicion, Madeleine's parents in her disappearance. - We knew, then, that we had failed when we decided to not wiretap and follow the friends and McCanns from the beginning of the investigation. - The Public Ministry (MP) created the proper search documents. At the same time, they asked for authorisation to wiretap the villa and car at that time. The MP agreed, as it's been used in other cases. 24 anxious hours later the sitting Judge, covering for someone on holiday, denied the MP's agreement. No time to re-request, the last chance to know what the McCanns said away from the press microphones was gone, just as the couple prepared to leave the country. - The search was planned in great detail. - The villa is on Rua das Flores, 27, rented at the beginning of the summer with money donated to the Find Madeleine Fund. - At 6pm-ish, the inspectors knocked on the door. Kate and Gerry were giving the twins a bath in the exterior pool. Surprisingly, they both reacted well to the search warrant and in a forthright and open way gave unlimited access to the investigators. - Eddie started, going directly to the living room where on top of a chair was cuddlecat, which now had a little green ribbon and rosary around its neck. Again, Eddie showed his 7 years of experience dedicated to forensic crime scene work and, with a determined and affirmative bark, indicated that CuddleCat had been in contact with a cadaver. - Using cardboard boxes, all the clothes in the house were taken to a specially prepared area to be placed on the ground for the dogs. - At 23h20 all the clothes are spread out. Again, Eddie marks a strong cadaver odor on Kate's clothes: slacks in black/white check and a sleeveless white blouse. He barks frenetically. - Keela finds no blood vestiges. Findings, as detailed in the PJ's 57-page report summary 6 – In the clothes and belongings of the Family MCCANN - cadaver odour dog: * in two pieces of clothing belonging to KATE HEALY * in a piece of clothing of the minor MADELEINE * in the plush toy, possibly belonging to MADELEINE (it was detected cadaver odour, when the soft toy was inside the residence – at the date occupied by the family) Jon Corner - Panorama documentary CORNER: Well this is the bizarre thing Richard because the police said to Kate and Gerry: "Yeah, we're going to be coming along, we want to do some forensics." And Kate and Gerry were massively optimistic about this. You've got to remember if your daughter is missing and the police phone you and say: "We want to do some forensics, that's a straw that you hang onto. That's a moment for optimism. - Just earlier in the documentary, Corner had said this: CORNER: They took most of their clothing, they were taking even the wet clothes out of the washing machine. I was aware that the cuddlecat was boxed up and we were asked to leave the villa. - So, the police phoned the McCanns to say they were coming over to do some forensics and the McCanns, it would appear, immediately filled up the washing machine with clothes.
	Today was a bit of a write off for me as I was laid low with a probable viral illness which meant I could not stray too far from the house! I did manage to get through some e-mails, telephone calls and some paperwork. Feeling a bit better tonight so hopefully be back to normal tomorrow. Kate did manage to put up some of the new Madeleine posters in shops around Praia da Luz.. It is noticably busier, now that we are in August, with lots of tourists many of whom are from Portugal. The figures from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children show that one in six kids are recovered after being recognised from a poster. Such statistics do encourage us that relatively simple measures may be effective in helping us find Madeleine.
03 August 2007	A '100% sure' Maddie sighting is reported In Belgium, details emerge of a possible sighting of Madeleine. A child therapist says she is '100% sure' she saw Madeleine at a restaurant in the town of Tongeren, not far from the Dutch border. A bottle is taken for DNA testing but turns out to be that of a man. The sighting originally took place on 28 July 2007.
	It is exactly 3 months since Madeleine was abducted. Kate and I had an early start as we drove to Huelva, 50Km over the border from Portugal in Southern Spain. We were meant to go yesterday but had to cancel because I was ill. Unfortunately it was a public holiday in Huelva and the large shopping centre we planned to visit was closed. We did distribute posters in several garages, taxi ranks and the bus and train stations and gave out some Madeleine wristbands. This was definitely a worthwhile exercise, as many people did not seemingly recognise Madeleine but we did get a very warm response from the Spanish people we met. We would encourage everyone to continue taking posters on holiday but please ask permission before putting them up in public places. When we arrived back in Praia da Luz we did a couple of media interviews to building up to August 11th, which will mark 100 days if Madeleine is still missing. There will be a lot of media activity next week reviewing Madeleine's abduction, the investigation and of course the campaign to help find her. It is an opportunity to highlight that we have not given up hope and are still optimistic of being reunited with Madeleine. Tonight we prayed for Madeleine at a vigil in the church. This has happened every Friday since Madeleines abduction and was very well attended tonight, probably due to the greater number of tourists in the resort.
04 August 2007	Search of Casa Liliana, summary from 'The Truth of the Lie' - 4 and 5 August. Ground "aired" and opened. Over two days of thorough searching, no signs from Eddie at Murat's home. Madeleine McCann: suspect's home searched Telegraph By staff and agencies Last Updated: 12:48AM BST 05 Aug 2007 Police in Portugal investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann have begun another search at the home of the only official suspect in the case. Up to 10 police officers, including two British detectives, starting searching the land surrounding the house of Robert Murat at about 7am today, his spokesman Tuck Price said. They are clearing undergrowth and cutting down trees on the property in Praia da Luz, just yards from where the little girl was snatched from her family's holiday apartment more than three months ago. The area is said to be thick with vegetation and the officers are using rakes and hedge trimmers to clear the area. Mr Murat is not at home, and the search is expected to last up to four days. The latest search in Portugal comes as police in Belgium investigate a possible sighting of the four-year-old there. A customer at a restaurant in the Flemish town of Tongeren, not far from the Dutch border, said she was "100% sure" she had seen the youngster. She said the girl was with a couple, a Dutch man and an English-speaking woman, who were acting strangely and not like "normal parents". A police spokeswoman said they were treating the report "seriously" and are looking for DNA on a drinks bottle used by the girl. They have also issued an identikit drawing of the man based on the description given by the "trusted witness". Today's search of Casa Liliana, the villa in which Mr Murat lives with his mother, Jenny, is not the first time the property has come under scrutiny. Mr Murat, 33, was thrown into the spotlight 11 days after the four-year-old from Rothley, Leicestershire, was snatched from her bed in the Algarve village. Then officers from Portugal's investigative Policia Judiciaria searched the house extensively, which is just a short walk from the apartment where the McCanns were staying at the time of the abduction. Several items were taken away for analysis while Mr Murat's girlfriend Michaela Walczuch and her estranged Portuguese husband Luis Antonio were also interviewed as witnesses. Mr Murat was named as an official suspect, but was never formally arrested. In July he was re-interviewed by police investigating the youngster's disappearance. Jon Corner returns home (see Gerry's blog below) McCanns unhappy with Daily Mirror 'spoiler' piece The McCanns are understood to have expressed serious concern about the tactics of the press for the first time, after the Daily Mirror publishes a 'spoiler' piece ahead of Kate's first interview - due to be published in full tomorrow. The Daily Mirror article, heralded on its front page as 'My Dark Moments by Kate McCann', was actually based on interviews with the McCanns' relatives - not Kate. However, a spokesman for the Daily Mirror said: ''We have received no complaint from the McCanns or their representatives.''
	Another early start to the day as I dropped the crew who did some filming for the website and other forthcoming events. Kate and I did a short interview reviewing the last 3 months and the search for Madeleine. We spent the rest of the day with the kids and Kate's family. We were all glad it clouded over in the afternoon to give us some respite from the intense heat. The most recent searches by the police have attracted a lot of renewed media interest with satellite trucks arriving back in Praia da Luz. It is likely that some of the British Broadcasters will also come back out. We werre all very tired and we managed to get off to bed at 10.30pm, which is very early for us by recent standards.
05 August 2007