What a post from a thinking hounder!

I think the body of Madeleine is in PDL. The parents and their entourage were in the resort for nearly 5 months. How long does it take to become familiar with such a small area? Particularly as Kate and Gerry are keen runners - they must have known the terrain intimately. The 'family', were effectively 'holed up' in PDL, surrounded by journalists and police - although they were of course, working very hard to keep the police occupied with anything that took them away from the area. As far as we know the family and their friends did not join in the searches of the local area - not even on the night Madeleine went missing when there was the greatest chance of her being found nearby. They were directing the police towards the borders, and the search outwards and away from PDL.

Just thinking out loud, during WWII, the prisoners of Colditz dug an escape tunnel right under the noses of their German Guards. The family were not watched as closely as prisoners of war, and desperate times call for desperate measures.

This case now has drama, in the sense that for the first time in 7 years there will be evidence of physical searching for this missing child. The McCanns and indeed their friends have had 7 years to tell the truth, they could and still can, confess at any time, but they clearly want to go the whole hog, and defend their innocence to the end. They still have Tannerman on their website and their reaction to these new developments are anger.