James and Charlotte Gorrod

James and Charlotte Gorrod are friends of Dr Russell O'Brien and his partner Jane Tanner - who are close friends of the McCanns - and met Russell O'Brien and Jane Tanne at the resort.


From Mccannfiles

A BRITON told yesterday how he became caught up in the investigation into missing Madeleine McCann after suspicious staff at a hire car firm tipped off police.

Lawyer James Gorrod, 34, rented a blue Opel Corsa in Portugal five days before the four-year-old vanished.

Staff at rental firm Sixt, based at Faro airport, raised the alarm when he returned the vehicle on May 6 – because it was fitted with a child seat and they believed he was travelling alone.

Mr Gorrod was later contacted by British police after it was discovered he had close links with friends who had been on holiday with Madeleine’s parents, Kate and Gerry.

In a statement, Mr Gorrod said last night: “A British police officer directly liaising with the Portuguese investigation team recently contacted me to eliminate the vehicle I hired for a holiday with my wife and two-year-son in Praia da Luz at the time Madeleine McCann disappeared.

“The ¬vehicle has been identified and I have been told by the British police officer that he has no plans to interview me or my family, and he does not expect me or my family to have any further involvement in the investigation. We are, of course, deeply saddened by Madeleine’s disappearance and hope for her safe return.”

Mr Gorrod’s wife, Charlotte, yesterday said it was “absolutely ridiculous” to suggest the couple were in any way linked to Madeleine’s ¬disappearance.

She said: “Horrible things have been said about us and our friends but none of them are true.’’

The Gorrods live in Exeter, Devon, just two minutes from their friends, hospital consultant Dr Russell O’Brien and Jane Tanner, who are both key witnesses in the investigation.

The two couples met up during their week-long holiday in Portugal and it is believed Mr Gorrod and his family were staying at the same resort in Praia da Luz as the McCann’s and their seven friends.

Coincidentally, chief suspect Robert Murat, 33, was in Exeter for 10 days shortly before Madeleine vanished on May 3.

The British expat arrived back in the Algarve just 48 hours earlier on May 1. He has since been questioned several times by police but has always protested his innocence.

Mr Gorrod, his wife, and their two-year-old son William flew out to Portugal on April 28 – the same day as the McCann’s and their friends began their ill-fated holiday.

Police were alerted after Mr Gorrod returned the car eight days later. The vehicle was never examined by Portuguese police and was leased out five more times.

Three months into the investigation British police carried out a major review of the case and car hire bosses were ordered to take it off the road last Monday.

The vehicle was traced to Lisbon and has now been placed in a compound awaiting examination.

Yesterday Mrs Gorrod, 32, said how hurtful speculation about the couple’s involvement in the case had been.

She said: “This is all absolutely ridiculous. We know Dr O’Brien and Jane Tanner because we both have children of about the same age and we were staying in the same resort. At the time, the Portuguese police asked the O’Brien’s if they knew anybody who had access to a car and they gave our names.

“We were happy to talk to the police but they did not approach us.

“We know what is being said now and it is ridiculous. The car has been checked out and there is no problem. It is surprising it has come up now and very upsetting for me because I have just come out of hospital after giving birth to my second child.

“We have been told that the family and friends of the McCann’s are not under suspicion. My husband has spoken to the police and given them all the details of the car. We just want to help really and we could do without all this hassle.
“My husband was on holiday with myself and our son who is aged two. And that is why we needed a baby seat. It was our last chance to have a holiday before I got too pregnant to fly.”

So many coincidences.Did the dogs have a sniff of this car ?

Lioned wrote:So many coincidences.Did the dogs have a sniff of this car ?

Yes they did. 4th video scroll down.......

http://www.mccannfiles.com/id167.html

If anyone connected to the McCanns or the rest of the Tapas group are questioned, then it is "hurtful and ludicrious" yet the McCanns have encouraged people to grab any small child that resembles their daughter and call the police.

HE WORKED AT ANSTEY FOOT? SOLICITORS AS A PARTNER(PROPERTY LAW?)

Badboy wrote:HE WORKED AT ANSTEY FOOT? SOLICITORS AS A PARTNER(PROPERTY LAW?)

Exeter, Murat is a property developer, is that another connection?

Although the dogs did not alert to this car, it is still an interesting coincidence. It provides a possibility of access to transport if emergency medical supplies were needed or perhaps cleaning products and equipment. All speculation on my part of course. But it is possible ROB asked for use of the car on the pretence they had run out of baby milk or some such item. This would be an acceptable reason for anybody to need to travel somewhere at anytime of the day or night. In particular another couple with a young child would understand this.

I have also read references to the fact that Charlotte Gorrod is the owner of an apartment within the OC complex, but some statements in press articles state they were staying somewhere else in the area, although I have not yet found evidence to back this up. If not staying at the OC where were they staying ?

Dianne Webster referred to the males of the group sailing on Monday with some chap she did not know and I think (but am not certain) it was MO who said one of the group was sailing with somebody he did not know on another occasion. It is worth noting that Jim Gorrod is a keen sailor. If this unknown person were him it would appear that this couple met the tapas or at least some members of the group on at least two occassions, Sunday in accordance with JT's statement and again on the Monday.

All of the above is speculation but is interesting and of course this couple were likely not to have been involved other than perhaps innocently loaning a car to a friend.

But yes, another Exeter connection in PDL and as far as I know his expertise is in construction and property disputes.

With acknowledgement to the Jill Havern site, here is some more information about the Gorrods.

http://jillhavern.forumotion.net/t1418-james-and-charlotte-gorrod?highlight=gorrod

so a link on that site shows they DID stay at the OC. it says apartment C5C owner bkg. i wonder if this means they own the apartment or if they booked it through the person who owns the apartment ?

Mossman As your post was in danger of getting lost on the abductor thread, hope you don't mind me re-posting it here.


Mossman posted

I note another family by the name of Gorod were in the Ocean Club at the same time as the McCanns and live close to and are / were at the time known to Jane Tanner and Russell O'Brien. It seems they had hired a car for the duration of their weeks holidays, a grey opel corsa. I have seen it stated that Jane Tanner met with them on the Monday, i think, but I did not check yet to see if JT herself confirmed this.

Then, from the mccannpjfiles.co.uk :


Another witness with the surname da Silva - Maria Manuela Martins da Silva - said was visiting the sister of her boyfriend in another Ocean Club apartment (Block 6, Apartment 5) during the afternoon and evening of 3 May. From the ground floor kitchen window of that apartment, there was a direct view across to the back windows of the apartment occupied by Madeleine McCann [Source: Police Files 02 - Processos Volume II, Pages 469 to 470a].

Unusually, some five days later, Maria was able to recall the exact time she left that apartment - 9.58pm. She says she remembers the exact time because she asked her friend the time, and she responded after checking this on the telephone in the lounge. Maria da Silva left with her boyfriend in a green Opel Frontera, parked in the private parking area of Block 6. As they drove away, she recalled seeing a small car, perhaps grey in colour, parked close to the window of the McCann apartment. By coincidence the route taken by GNR officer, Pedro Miguel Esteves Fernandes and the Search & Rescue dogs in the early hours of 4 May, lost track of Madeleine's scent in the private parking area of Block 6.


So we have a small grey car parked in the car park close to 5a close to 10.00pm on 3rd May and a grey car hired by a family who were known to JT and ROB in the UK and quite possibly met with them on the Monday in PDL.

There was also a reference here in the last few days to the possibility of ROB having been in a car (other than the mccan hired renault).

So there is a possibility at least they could have had access to a car during the holiday.

As I just came across this I found it interesting, my apologies and feel free to delete if this has been discussed before.

[quote="Autumn"]Mossman As your post was in danger of getting lost on the abductor thread, hope you don't mind me re-posting it here.

Of course not, thank you

It would certainly seem like the Gorrods were in the loop,wonder how many more old friends and acquaintances can be found in and around the Ocean Club that week ?

Lioned wrote:It would certainly seem like the Gorrods were in the loop,wonder how many more old friends and acquaintances can be found in and around the Ocean Club that week ?

It's like something out of Agatha Christie. A whole crowd of people turn out to be connected in some way and who is involved with the crime?

What a pity that we don't have Hercule Poirot to assemble all the suspects in the tapas bar and announce which of them is the guilty party!

Murder on the Orient Express is the one where they all did it.

It does seem like some sort of 'convention' going on ?

Lioned wrote:It does seem like some sort of 'convention' going on ?

Reminds me of this, for some reason!

Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together In a Cave and Grooving with a Pict

AnnaEsse wrote:

Lioned wrote:It does seem like some sort of 'convention' going on ?

Reminds me of this, for some reason!

Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together In a Cave and Grooving with a Pict

Thats very weird especially towards the end and you can just see them all sitting there conspiring amongst each other,i may well go back to the stem cell lab on this one.

Lioned wrote:

AnnaEsse wrote:

Lioned wrote:It does seem like some sort of 'convention' going on ?

Reminds me of this, for some reason!

Several Species of Small Furry Animals Gathered Together In a Cave and Grooving with a Pict

Thats very weird especially towards the end and you can just see them all sitting there conspiring amongst each other,i may well go back to the stem cell lab on this one.

It does get weird at the end with that weird Scotsman chanting something or other.

Not Born Yesterday wrote:With acknowledgement to the Jill Havern site, here is some more information about the Gorrods.

http://jillhavern.forumotion.net/t1418-james-and-charlotte-gorrod?highlight=gorrod

Interesting snippet from there:

James Gorrod is a solicitor at Ansteys in Exeter, and specialises in property and contruction law.

Robert Murat visited his sister house in Exeter in April 2007. His sister's house is alleged to have been within a mile of Gorrod and O Brien's properties. Murat has been employed by several property dealers, including Remax in Lagos, where Ocean Country has its head office

Badboy do you know if Ansteys is connected to any of Murat's property dealers? Did they know each other?

Autumn wrote:

Not Born Yesterday wrote:With acknowledgement to the Jill Havern site, here is some more information about the Gorrods.

http://jillhavern.forumotion.net/t1418-james-and-charlotte-gorrod?highlight=gorrod

Interesting snippet from there:

James Gorrod is a solicitor at Ansteys in Exeter, and specialises in property and contruction law.

Robert Murat visited his sister house in Exeter in April 2007. His sister's house is alleged to have been within a mile of Gorrod and O Brien's properties. Murat has been employed by several property dealers, including Remax in Lagos, where Ocean Country has its head office

Badboy do you know if Ansteys is connected to any of Murat's property dealers? Did they know each other?

NOT AS FAR AS I KNOW

Is it true that Charlotte Gorrod owned an apartment in PDL as has been reported on some blogs?

on the link to the jillhavern site already posted there is a Mark Warner booking sheet which shows this booking in the name of Charlotte Gorrod, Apartment C5.. After the names it shows the holiday company with which each person booked. After her name is stated owner bkg. I suspect this is how the statement that she owns the apartment came to be. My question would be does this mean she is the owner or did the actual owner book it with the Ocean Club on her behalf.
Do we know where apartment C5 is in relation to the other apartments ?

mossman wrote:on the link to the jillhavern site already posted there is a Mark Warner booking sheet which shows this booking in the name of Charlotte Gorrod, Apartment C5.. After the names it shows the holiday company with which each person booked. After her name is stated owner bkg. I suspect this is how the statement that she owns the apartment came to be. My question would be does this mean she is the owner or did the actual owner book it with the Ocean Club on her behalf.
Do we know where apartment C5 is in relation to the other apartments ?

In the newspaper article the Gorrods state they never saw the McCanns so would be interesting to know where their apart was in relation to the tapas group apartments. If it was their car parked outside 5A on the 3rd then they were probably not that far from them.

Does anyone know if the car was hired with a babyseat or did they rent the babyseat later. I thought they came under suspicion when James Gorrod returned the car with a babyseat as the staff thought it strange a lone male should have a babyseat in the car. Surely it would only look suspicious if the babyseat hadn't been hired with the car and appeared in car on returning it. There must be many lone males that have babyseats in the cars so this alone cannot have set alarm bells ringing with the staff.

Autumn wrote: In the newspaper article the Gorrods state they never saw the McCanns so would be interesting to know where their apart was in relation to the tapas group apartments. If it was their car parked outside 5A on the 3rd then they were probably not that far from them.

But they did meet with Jane Tanner.


Summary from Jane Tanners second witness statement:

In the tourist complex last Sunday, 30 April, she net a copule she knew from Exeter, Jim and C. G., with their son of 20 months, B.G. She knew they had travelled on the same day as her, on a different flight. Asked, she relates that they had a hired car, not knowing the brand, model or colour. He (Jim) liked to surf and that was why he had hired the car.[i]


As far as I know there was a babyseat hired with the car, i am almost certain i saw it on a booking form. In the articles I have read it was stated that JG had dropped his wife and child at the arrivals entrance, then carried on alone to drop the car back. We are then led to believe that the member of staff was suspicious at this lone male with car and seat, because there was no child visible with him. More than likely an over zealous staff member, given the amount of publicity and awareness there was in Portugal at the time, i suppose.

What I find fascinating is that there appears to be no statment to the police from them. They clearly thought it important enough to include the car in eddie and keela's line up, so why no statements from the passengers.