The purpose of
this site is for information and a record of Gerry McCann's Blog
Archives. As most people will appreciate GM deleted all past blogs
from the official website. Hopefully this Archive will be helpful to
anyone who is interested in Justice for Madeleine Beth McCann. Many
Thanks, Pamalam
Note: This site does not belong to the McCanns. It belongs to Pamalam. If
you wish to contact the McCanns directly, please use
the contact/email details
campaign@findmadeleine.com
This page contains press reports and opinions about Danie Krügel, a former South African police officer,
who claims to have invented a "Matter Orientation System" (MOS) for locating missing items and people.
In July 2007, he is brought in by the McCanns to undertake searches around the Praia da Luz area.
Ruda Landman (Carte Blanche presenter):
'Can you remember when the fax machines first became part of the office set-up? When the computer replaced the typewriter?
The first time you used an auto teller, the first cell phone call you made? It wasn't all that long ago, yet at the time
it was mind boggling.'
Today it is the most common thing to do. You probably don't even think twice
about it.
Ruda: 'Now imagine this: A person disappears, you find a few strands of hair
left on a brush, you put those hairs into a gadget and that points out on a map where in the world that person may be.'
That's exactly what a group of Bloemfontein businessmen claim they are able to do.
Steering the
project is Danie Krugel, former police superintendent and current Director of Health and Safety at the Central University
of Technology of the Free State.
Danie Krugel (Inventor): 'If you get a signature sample
of something... let's call it organic or non-organic... a very small sample. I have developed a method to use that small
sample and to create data that I use to search for its origin. So you transmit and you receive.'
Ruda:
'Is there anything metaphysical involved? Are you psychic?'
Danie: 'I'm a Christian
and I put it clearly... this is science, science, science! That is what is so fantastic about it. It is tied to the science
we hear but people didn't realise it... it's just science. That's it.'
Given the massive potential
of the invention, Danie refuses to divulge exactly how it works. He says the energy source is his most precious secret.
Once he has done a test with a hair sample - or signature material [which] pertains to whatever he's looking for
- Danie is able to geographically pinpoint an area by applying co-ordinates from more than one vantage point.
The
search area is where the lines intersect.
In the past two years Danie's travelled across South Africa to test
the equipment. This is a long list of his successes... [data on screen]
Most of those he tracked down were found
Alive.
Danie: 'Now that's fantastic. To phone the dad and say, 'Look, I've
got him' or 'I have got her. You can come and get him' or 'you can come and get her.'
Ruda:
'How many of those have you had?'
Danie: 'A lot, a lot, a lot.'
In
2004 police at the Navalsig police station in Bloemfontein were trying to track down the suspect in a murder case.
They got the name of the attacker from the victim before he died, but he was on the run. Left behind was a razor with the
suspect's beard stubble. And within hours Danie was able to tell the police where to search....
Captain
Danie Van Der Berg (SAPS): 'Danie took daily readings to see where he was and what was happening, but every time
we just missed him by a few minutes.'
Ruda: 'So every time you went to the address he
wasn't there?'
Capt. van der Berg: 'He had been there, but just left. He never stayed
in the same place for long.'
Danie: 'One night at about 7 or 8 o'clock I thought:
now this is now enough. I went out and I tried to get as close to him as possible. I told them and said, 'This is where
he was'. The next morning they phoned me and said they had found him there.'
Bloemfontein private investigator,
Leon Rossouw, has often called on Danie's services...
In one case a man was reported missing after his car
was found abandoned at this filling station [on screen] on the N1.
Danie tracked him down to the Pelonomi Hospital
after Leon was able to get a hair sample in the missing man's shower.
But the hospital did not have any record
of him.
Ruda: 'Danie insisted that the missing man was here at the Pelonomi hospital.
Desperate, the family came back to check one last time - do a physical search if necessary. They found him in the mortuary.'
Leon Rossouw (Private Investigator): 'He walked on the N1 to the oncoming traffic and jumped
in front of a big truck. So unfortunately this person died.'
Ruda: 'But Danie was right?'
Leon: 'Danie was right.'
Finding missing people was the last thing Danie had
in mind when a group of businessmen approached him four years ago to develop equipment that could locate minerals.
Danie: 'We started by getting stuff from overseas. A lot of people who said they could develop
the stuff for us [was] just a hoax. Then we started with diamonds. The small diamonds, the sugar diamonds gave me a lot of
heartache because you pick up on every small piece of diamond. Now what we do is work to get the bigger diamonds from a carat
upwards.'
Danie and his partners are now reworking this old dig, but they only focus on dumps where the
equipment shows they will find real big ones.
They have reason to smile. Their register shows they've found
almost 300 carats in just three months.
Ruda: 'How did you get involved in this area
looking for people?'
Danie: 'I was following the Leigh Mathews case and that night on
the news they said they had found her body. I was so upset. What bothered me was what went through her mind. We heard the
shocking news that her naked body was found in the veld. She was shot. The whole of South Africa was looking for her and nobody
could help. That night I couldn't sleep.'
Watching his son asleep, Danie made a decision.
Danie: 'I took a pair of scissors and cut off a piece of his hair. I thought: if I can get diamonds,
I am going to try this. I worked until 5 o'clock the next morning. The first test... no result. Nothing worked. Then,
from two metres, I could pick him up. The first positive test was two metres from where he was lying there on the bed. Then
we started... 25metres, 50 metres, 100metres, then 50 kilometres and 150 kilometres. I believe that night - with Leigh Mathews
- if I may say so, the Lord saw my heart. '
Carte Blanche put Danie to the test. We cut off a sample of
our cameraman's hair and sent him to hide in a Bloemfontein cemetery with his camera rolling.
Danie took two
readings and within minutes he was able to point out where our cameraman was hiding. The exact spot was pointed out on an
aerial photograph.
Danie: 'The point where I would start searching for this person would
immediately be in this vicinity.'
And that's exactly where we found him.
Ruda:
'If one can locate diamonds and humans with the same equipment, what else could one find? And what else can this seemingly
amazing invention do? Well the simple answer at this point is that nobody really knows.'
For our second
experiment we hid a can filled with crude oil on a farm outside Bloemfontein after Danie had taken a sample for his test.
We took the GPS reading and contacted him once we had left the area.
The previous test Danie conducted with crude
oil was over a distance of a few metres, but this time he was doing it from 6 kilometres away and from the other side of this
dolomite hill!
It only took 15 minutes before he phoned back with the co-ordinates.
He wasn't spot
on, but he effectively reduced the search area to a few hundred metres. He was overwhelmed by the outcome
Microbiologist,
Prof Ryk Lues, was sceptical when he first heard about Danie's invention, but then he realised its potential.
Prof Ryk Lues (Microbiologist): 'My first reaction was: Wow! this sounds a little bit far fetched.
But I know Danie well enough to know that he could be onto something.'
That something could mean applications
in science, health, pharmacology or microbiology.
Ryk: 'Food safety is a big thing nowadays.
If you could find a technique that could very quickly pick up certain pathogens in food substances. Let's say you could
get something - you could put something in a factory that scans the substances as they pass in the processing line and picks
up certain toxins, chemicals or hazardous substances.'
Ruda: With this in mind, we gave Danie
a sample of harmless bacteria and I hid the source in a hair salon in a retirement village in Bloemfontein.
He
was a kilometre away, but identified the area within minutes.
Ruda: 'The bacteria used
in this experiment were harmless, but the same would apply to dangerous bacteria, or chemicals or viruses. This could have
been anthrax, or XDR-TB or HIV.'
Ryk: 'The current methods are very lengthy. You need
to cultivate the organism first, which takes two or three days, then identify the organism and then prescribe treatment. If
you had a technique that can immediately or very quickly identify something there and then, it would really be a breakthrough.
The technique would be revolutionary if it could be applied in different environments.'
Danie:
'If the right scientists take this I believe it can help us medically, in minerals, and of course crime.'
Ruda: 'Hundreds, maybe even thousands, of people go missing around the world every day - often without
a trace. But maybe not without leaving a few hairs on a jacket or on a pillow.'
Think of Osama Bin Laden,
Lord Lucan or even Ananias Mathe - the man who'd escaped from C-Max.
Ruda: 'Imagine
if their hair was available.'
Madeleine McCann Search Decision Support Document, 23 July 2007
Madeleine McCann Search Decision Support Document
PJ Files
By Mark Harrison MBE National Search
Adviser Homicide, Missing Persons, Mass Fatality Disasters in National Policing Improvement Agency [NPIA] 23 July 2007
- Extract from report, relative to search by Mr Krugel -
A Mr Krugel, at the McCann's request, attended Praia Da Luz last week from South Africa alleging he could assist in
locating Madeleine McCann. I have spoken with the Police officers that accompanied him and viewed the documentation Krugel
has supplied to the PJ.
The limiting factor in coming to a view is that Krugel did not allow anyone to view the
handheld device he had with him or observe him using it. He was unable to provide any validating scientific data or documents
to support the claims he made or the device he alleged to have with him.
In short he would appear to claim he has
uniquely developed a handheld device that can find a missing person alive or dead in any given terrain over any elapsed time
period.
In debriefing the officers who accompanied Krugel it is possible to hypothesise what he may have been doing
and using.
In consultation with a colleague Dr Wolfram Meier-Augenstein we feel he may have been attempting to
give the impression he had developed and was using a "Remote Laser based gas sensing device". However his claims
regarding the distance of detection, up to 20km, and the use of a hair sample are highly unlikely and would be a great innovation
in the scientific world. Further provenance of this technique could be sought from Prof. Miles Padgett who is a Professor
of optics in physics at the University of Glasgow.
One obvious challenge to the claims of the device capability
is that if Krugel claims that by taking 3 separate location readings he is able to triangulate to an area then one would assume
that, as an area was identified, further reading and triangulation inside that area could be conducted repeatedly until an
"X marked the spot".
Of most concern is the poor quality of his report which merely shows a google earth
image of an area to the east of Praia Da Luz and includes open scrub and beach and sea. As Krugel was not prepared to allow
the device to be viewed or provide any specification data of readings or equipment and the fact that no known device currently
exists commercially or academically then I can only conclude that the information he has provided is likely to be of low value.
October 2007 Danie was in Portugal during July 2007. As from the second
day of her disappearance they have made every attempt to assist in the search for her. Not to jeopardize the investigation
in any way Danie requested the McCanns and the police not to reveal his involvement until the conclusion of the investigation.
Danie provided a full report with detailed maps of her location for searching. It was subsequently provided to the McCanns
and Police.
Map location of Madeleine: July 2007
After
five months of fruitless efforts to find Madeleine, despite detailed information given by me to all relevant parties, I have
now decided to publish this information so that any member of the public who is willing and able to assist in the search for
Madeleine may have access to the very same information I have been providing to the parties involved since July 2007.
I know that even if she was moved after July 2007, there will still be evidence of her presence in this area.
I
have done my very best, and believe my findings are correct.
My heart goes out to all who knew and love her.
Danie Krugel
Search area and map location produced by Danie Krügel
By Nick Owens 7/10/2007 EXCLUSIVE THE SEARCH FOR MADELEINE DAY 157 Expert pin-points spot on Algarve
beach He accuses police of ignoring his report
Desperate Kate and Gerry McCann have hired a professional
"bodyfinder" who says he has pin-pointed the exact spot where their daughter Madeleine is buried.
Scientist
and former South African police colonel Danie Krugel secretly flew out to Portugal to meet the couple before spending a week
tracking the four-year-old's DNA trail.
Using cutting-edge technology, Krugel led Portuguese police to an area
of beach 500 yards from where she vanished.
Detectives took his finding so seriously that they sealed off the entire
area.
But in what could turn out to be yet another astonishing bungle, Portuguese police never bothered to dig
at the spot.
Now, as sacked police chief Goncalo Amaral is off the inquiry and a new officer, Carlos do Carmo -
dubbed "Portugal's Robocop" - takes over, Krugel is heading back to reinvestigate.
A source close
to the McCanns said last night: "Kate and Gerry are pleased he's returning. They worked with him before and want
to see his leads investigated."
The former South African detective has an amazing 90 per cent success rate
in tracing missing people.
Speaking exclusively to the Sunday Mirror, he said last night: "I'm preparing
to fly to Portugal again because the investigation seems to have come to a halt.
"I'm convinced Madeleine's
body is in Praia Da Luz."
The McCanns turned to him in July to spend a week investigating Madeleine's
disappearance after being deluged with emails from members of the public recommending him as a "genius".
He said: "Gerry sent me a strand of Madeleine's hair for DNA purposes, which had been removed from her coat."
Krugel became a household name in South Africa when he created a DNA tracking device which solved a 19-year mystery
about the whereabouts of six schoolgirls snatched by a paedophile.
He told last night how he used the same method
to track a potential burial spot for Madeleine on the beach in Praia da Luz.
The area was sealed off and Krugel
suggested sniffer dogs be brought in to further pinpoint the spot where they needed to dig. Yet ironically, when the dogs
arrived they were used by cops to turn the finger of suspicion on to Gerry and Kate.
Portuguese police were more
excited about the dogs' reaction when they searched the McCanns' Ocean Club apartment and hire car.
It
means the area on the beach has still not been searched properly by officers and no dig has ever taken place.
And
it came amid new reports from Portuguese newspaper Correio yesterday claiming police believe Madeleine was buried on the beach
in Praia da Luz soon after her death.
Krugel added: "After I conducted my investigation I gave the police
a map pinpointing the spot I think Madeleine is. And I handed over a 2,000 word report on what they should do next.
"I said sniffer dogs should be brought in to start the search. But I warned that this alone was not enough as dogs
are only a success in missing person hunts three out of four times.
"That is why I also suggested a fingertip
search of the area and a dig of the spot I located. But if this has not been done, the police really need to start from scratch
and investigate that area again."
He added: "Too much time has been wasted accusing Kate and Gerry and
not enough has been spent searching for Madeleine and following up on leads."
Krugel's device apparently
combines quantum physics and global positioning technology to pin-point a body on a map.
His invention has already
helped solve the riddle of a man reported missing by his family.
South African cops had no clue where he was -
until Krugel was called in.
He used his DNA expertise to track down the body to a hospital mortuary where he had
lain unidentified for days after being knocked down by a car.
Krugel claims his invention works much like a metal
detector but tracks minute DNA traces rather than metal.
Krugel landed in Praia da Luz with his machine on July
17 and embarked on a four day search - with the blessing of Portuguese detectives. He said: "I had a meeting with Kate
and Gerry where I explained exactly how my technology works and what I was going to do.
"They knew a lot about
my work already because people had posted messages about me on the Find Madeleine website.
"The police were
fully aware of the work I was about to do.
"I set off with some colleagues and we conducted an extensive search
of Praia da Luz using the machine.
"I scoured many different places across the resort and spent time near
ports and other exit points in Praia da Luz.
"We spent 16 hours a day searching everywhere - nothing was left
unsearched."
Under Portuguese law Krugel is forbidden from revealing the exact spot as he has mentioned it
in a police statement. But sources close to the investigation told the Sunday Mirror that it is a spot on the beach in Praia
da Luz near where Gerry regularly went running.
Krugel said: "The technology I use picks up a trace using
DNA and complex and secret science techniques. Every day the trace was strongest in this one area.
"The machine
was highlighting the same co-ordinate and it kept drawing me back there. It left me convinced that Madeleine was there.
"My machine has a 90 per cent success rate, so I am convinced this is the place where Madeleine is buried."
Krugel added: "The Portuguese police took my findings seriously at first, but now the work seems to have stopped.
In the short time I have had with Kate and Gerry it is clear they are really concerned that the search for Madeleine is getting
put to one side because of rumour and speculation. To them, all that matters is that the search for their daughter should
go on day and night."
Krugel's DNA-tracking machine was first featured on South African TV. Respected
news programme Carte Blanche introduced Krugel's invention last year showing how it helped recover the remains of six
children killed by a paedophile in the late-1980s.
The police knew they had been abducted and murdered by paedophile
Gert van Rooyen and his female accomplice Joye Haarhoff.
But where the pair had buried the children was one of
the biggest criminal mysteries in South African history - until Krugel was called in.
He used his machine to track
down an area near to Van Rooyen's home and in a dig of the area he pinpointed human remains which were found buried deep
underground.
The programme claimed that DNA evidence recovered from the skeletons found in the dig proved the bones
were those of the missing children. Krugel - head of health and safety at the Central University of Technology in the Free
State - is regularly drafted into help in missing children enquiries by South African Police.
The McCanns'
decision to fly Krugel to Praia da Luz is one of many steps they have taken to conduct their own search for Madeleine, missing
now for 157 days.
As "arguidos" - suspects - Kate and Gerry retain the right to request that certain
investigations are carried out.
Krugel said: "Kate and Gerry are right to try anything at all to find their
daughter.
"You can't just rely on the police and they have done all they can to think of other ways of
looking for Madeleine.
"I have told them I am ready to return to Praia da Luz or wherever they need my help.
"All that matters is to keep searching and to keep trying to find this little girl."
RENOWNED international manhunt expert, dubbed The Locator, sensationally
revealed he has uncovered a telltale DNA trail left by snatched toddler Maddie McCann.
In a shock
new twist, ex-cop Danie Krugel tracked a "forensic route" he believed her kidnapper took from her family's Portuguese
holiday apartment through alleyways, roads and paths down to a nearby beach.
There the trail goes cold-crucially
supporting the theory that Madeleine was then taken out to sea in a boat after being abducted on May 3.
And the
McCanns are convinced Krugel's evidence means four-year-old Maddie was taken ALIVE and gives them hope she can still be
found.
The experienced investigator told us: "I spent four nights in July carrying out my searches.
"I've been able to trace where Madeleine was in the resort and have drawn a map which has been given to the police.
"I can't reveal details as I don't want to alert anyone who might try to disturb the scene. But I believe
I've traced where she was taken that night and now it's down to police to use their search experts to do the rest.
The area to which my investigation led me is a difficult one to search."
"We tried to contact the family
at the very beginning to offer our help, but unfortunately we didn't get called in until a couple of months after Madeleine
went missing."
Desperate
News of Krugel's findings
came as the News of the World discovered that forensic tests on DNA found in the apartment and hire car are "inconclusive"-completely
refuting Portuguese police claims that they incriminate to Maddie's distraught parents, still branded official suspects.
In their desperate bid to find Madeleine the McCanns called in South African Krugel after hearing of a string of remarkable
successes in his homeland, where he earned his nickname The Locator.
Krugel's hi-tech methods are a closely
guarded secret and he refuses to give details of his techniques.
But his method uses DNA fragments and Global Positioning
System (GPS) satellite technology to find missing persons, alive and dead.
The McCanns gave him a sample of Maddie's
hair found on a coat that had been left at home in Rothley, Leicestershire, to carry out his probe, with the full cooperation
of the cops in Praia da Luz.
Krugel's starting point was the ground floor apartment in the Mark Warner complex
where she vanished, just a short distance away from the tapas bar where Kate and Gerry were dining with seven friends.
Using his secret techniques Krugel began tracing and following a DNA trail on a 15-minute route to the sea.
Portuguese cops were then called in to examine his dossier of evidence and immediately decided to carry out searches based
on the information. A source told us: "In fact TWO searches were carried out although this has never been revealed.
"The police were worried that media in the area would see them but they managed to do it all without anyone finding
out.
"They didn't find any trace of Madeleine but this did not mean Mr Krugel's information wasn't
accurate. The investigations show the only option was for Madeleine to have been put on a boat and taken out to sea."
After police made inquiries around the nearby Lagos marina and other local boating communities there emerged the two
theories that Madeleine's body was dumped at sea or she is still alive having been taken by boat abroad, possibly to Morocco.
Krugel's results also match a crucial eye-witness account on the evening of May 3 by Kate and Gerry's close
friend Jane Tanner.
She said she saw a man carrying what appeared to be a child wrapped in a blanket close to their
apartment.
In a witness statement to cops Miss Tanner said the child looked similar to Madeleine. The man has never
been traced. Ironically for the McCanns, it was the work of Krugel that resulted in sniffer dogs being brought in and the
couple being declared suspects.
Our source said: "It was suggested to the Portuguese police that after they'd
searched the beach they should then use the dogs from Britain. And it was the behaviour of the dogs that caused them to believe
they'd found this so-called 'scent of death'.
"This in fact may not have been the case but the
police became convinced Kate and Gerry were involved.
"They are ignoring all the statements to the contrary,
the DNA evidence said to have been found in the hire car which can be easily explained, and also the work of Mr Krugel who
has had many successes."
"The Locator" traced victims of infamous South African paedophile Gert
van Rooyan in the late 1980s. Six girls, aged 11 to 13, had vanished and police were baffled.
Using hair from the
missing girls he repeatedly pinpointed the same spot and when the area was excavated bone fragments of victims was found.
He also traced the body of missing five-year-old girl, Naledi Ntebele, in just 20 minutes.
The News of
the World has learned Kate and Gerry could finally be cleared after new forensic tests carried out in the UK have proved "inconclusive".
DNA testing by the Forensic Science Service in Birmingham on samples of body fluids and blood have NOT provided a
positive match to Madeleine.
An FSS source said that further "more complicated" tests were being carried
out and denied claims they were holding back information from the Portuguese. Earlier British experts accused the Portuguese
of overplaying early DNA evidence to put pressure on the McCanns.
In the days that followed it was alleged that
Portuguese police had found fluids and hair from Madeleine in the hire car.
Leaked reports claimed bodily fluids
and blonde hairs apparently belonging to Maddie had been found in the Renault, leading to speculation that they used the car
to move her corpse weeks later.
Proven
But a source close
to the forensic inquiry insisted yestereday: "The testing carried out so far remains inconclusive. There are no complete
DNA profiles that could implicate the McCanns.
"Tests are still underway and if they come to the same conclusion
the case against the McCanns will collapse."
As the argument raged, investigator Krugel told us he had asked
for no money or even expenses for his work on the case. "I wanted to assist the McCanns and offered my services,"
he said.
"We tried to contact the family at the very beginning but unfortunately we didn't get called
in until months after Madeleine went missing."
A source close to the McCanns said: "The work of Mr Krugel
should not be underestimated and gives great hope to Gerry and Kate.
"Many people have contacted the couple
to try to help but while their hearts may be in the right place they just don't have the expertise to be of assistance.
But Mr Krugel has a proven record of finding people and his methods are extremely credible.
"The results in
Praia da Luz crucially match many other strands of the investigation which all point to Madeleine being abducted and still
being alive on that night when she was taken.
"Kate and Gerry just want police to concentrate on this evidence
and find Madeleine. It's so frustrating for them.
"It is important to mention Kate and Gerry used Mr Krugel
with the full cooperation of Portuguese police. The fact they carried out searches as a result of his work prove his credibility
with them.
"Yet sadly they seem to have decided to no longer follow this line of inquiry."
A
MAN dubbed "The Locator" claims to know where Madeleine McCann was taken after her apparent abduction.
South African ex-policeman Danie Krugel, who says he has invented a device for finding missing people, believes Maddie
was not taken away from the area where she was abducted.
But he rates her chances of being alive as "very
slim".
Krugel has scoured Pria da Luz in Portugal and the surrounding area for clues using hi-tech equipment
he developed which uses a person's DNA to track them down.
Kate and Gerry McCann are believed to have called
in Mr Krugel after hearing about several of his successes in finding people in South Africa.
They gave him a piece
of Maddie's hair which was found on her clothing to use with the tracking device.
The university health and
safety director refused to reveal how his hi-tech methods work, but said he was currently in negotiations with companies to
develop the "matter orientation system machine" which is said to use satellite technology.
But he was
reluctant to talk about his four-night search in Portugal.
"I don't want to interfere with this investigation.
I think that she's still in the area because the possibility that she's alive is very slim," he said.
"I gave an area to the police for them to search and to the McCanns with maps and photographs of the area."
Mr Krugel is believed to have uncovered a "forensic route" from Maddie's holiday appartment along paths
and roads to a nearby beach.
"The area is walking distance from Praia da Luz. I don't want to say exactly
where because I don't want to interfere with this investigation. I don't want to give anyone the chance to destroy
the prints," he said.
"If I look at the area, there is a very, very slight possibility that she could
be alive.
"From the piece of hair I was able to conclude that she was in the area."
But the
McCanns' spokesman Clarence Mitchell said that the McCanns have not hired Mr Krugel, and said: "We cannot comment
on anything that goes to the very heart of the investigation.
"However, Kate and Gerry will never rule anything
out which may have a degree of credibility behind it. Therefore they will try anything if there is a genuine chance of it
helping to find Madeleine."
Madeleine McCann, the Observer, and their special magic quantum DNA box (with secret energy
source), 07 October 2007
Madeleine McCann, the Observer, and their special magic quantum DNA box (with
secret energy source) Bad Science
Ben Goldacre October 7th 2007
Madeleine
McCann is a 4 year old girl who went missing from her parents' holiday hotel room in Portugal 5 months ago. Danie
Krugel is an ex-policeman in South Africa who believes he can pinpoint the location of missing people anywhere in the world.
He does this using his special magic box, which works by something to do with "quantum physics", "complex
and secret science techniques", a secret energy source which nobody is allowed to know about, and a strand of the missing
person's hair or some other source of DNA. His secret method can miraculously pinpoint the missing person's location
anywhere in the world on a map, using their DNA and international GPS technology, so he says.
This might sound
ridiculous to you, but today Krugel is featured in a completely serious news story in the Observer newspaper about the hunt
for Madeleine McCann, where they report – in all earnestness – that he has found traces of her body
on a beach in Portugal. This is not a quirky story about an optimistic eccentric. There is no mention of his top secret quantum
technology; instead they explain that "forensic DNA tests" by Krugel have revealed traces of Madeleine's body
in a specific location.
To avoid any ambiguity I've reposted their article in full below, because as we know
from their recent and entirely bogus front page MMR scare, news stories like this can sometimes disappear from the Observer
archives, unannounced and without trace.
Psychics telling your future at the fairground are fine. When it comes
to newspapers printing horoscopes, I couldn't care less. But exploitative misreporting of this scale on this subject is
contemptible. You're as capable as I am of reading about Krugel's work, and so are the Observer, but still this reputable
UK newspaper is presenting magic quantum box tomfoolery as serious DNA evidence on the whereabouts on a little girl who has
disappeared and may well be murdered.
Or maybe Krugel's onto something – I'm perfectly prepared to
be convinced – in which case perhaps the Observer could run us through the evidence for his magic quantum box. And while
they're getting that piece together, maybe Krugel would like to apply for James Randi's excellently passive aggressive
one million dollar prize for anyone who can prove their paranormal abilities.
Forensic DNA tests 'reveal traces of Madeleine's body on resort beach', 07
October 2007
Forensic DNA tests 'reveal traces of Madeleine's body on resort beach'
Observer
Mark Townsend and Ned Temko Sunday 7 October 2007
Traces
of Madeleine McCann's body were found on a Portuguese beach weeks after she was reported missing, during tests by a former
detective renowned for locating abducted children.
Forensic analysis by retired South African police superintendent
Danie Krugel claimed to reveal Madeleine's body had either been temporarily buried or was still beneath the beach at Praia
da Luz, the resort from where she disappeared on 3 May.
Based on a combination of Madeleine's DNA sample and
GPS satellite technology, Krugel's findings were taken so seriously by Portuguese detectives that officers twice searched
the beach.
Krugel, of the University of Bloemfontein, claims that his technique is able to locate a missing person
anywhere in the world using only a single strand of hair. He became famous in South Africa after helping a television crew
locate the whereabouts of five South African girls who went missing during the Eighties. Last July the retired detective spent
four days in Praia da Luz following a request for assistance from Madeleine's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann.
'He clearly identified an area of the beach where Madeleine may have passed through or was buried,' a close friend
of the McCanns said yesterday.
Krugel's report of his findings to Portuguese detectives eventually led to British
officers being asked to bring in sniffer dogs to supplement the search for Madeleine. The subsequent reaction of the dogs
to Kate's clothing - the so-called scent of death - led to the couple being declared formal suspects over the death of
their daughter.
The results of Krugel's investigations come amid mounting concern that the Portuguese-led investigation
into the disappearance of Madeleine has stalled with an increasingly exhausted core of 'half-a-dozen' CID officers
awaiting potentially crucial final forensic results from laboratories in Birmingham.
Reports in the Portuguese
press claim that the original team of more than 200 police who were involved in the frantic early days of the investigation
has now been whittled down to a small core who have been working without holidays and are 'completely exhausted'.
The inquiry, increasingly managed by UK-based detectives, appears once again to be focusing on trying to find a missing
child rather than on the role of Madeleine's parents in their daughter's disappearance.
'I know where Madeleine is buried' says body finder hired by McCanns, 07 October
2007
'I know where Madeleine is buried' says body finder hired by McCanns Daily Mail
Last updated at 22:05 07 October 2007
A professional "body finder" hired by Kate and Gerry McCann says he has has pin-pointed the exact spot
where Madeleine is buried.
Using cutting-edge technology South African scientist,and former police detective, Danie
Krugel reportedly led police to an area 500 yards from where the four-year-old vanished 157 days ago.
Officers
took Krugel's finding so seriously that they are said to have sealed off the entire area.
But in what could
turn out to be yet another astonishing mistake, it is alleged that Portuguese police never bothered to dig at the spot.
Now, as sacked police chief Goncalo Amaral is off the inquiry and a new officer, Carlos do Carmo takes over, Krugel
is heading back to reinvestigate.
A source close to the McCanns told the Sunday Mirror: "Kate and Gerry are
pleased he's returning.
"They worked with him before and want to see his leads investigated."
The former South African detective says he has a 90 per cent success rate in tracing missing people.
He
told the Sunday Mirror: "I'm preparing to fly to Portugal again because the investigation seems to have come to a
halt.
"I'm convinced Madeleine's body is in Praia Da Luz."
The McCanns turned to him
in July to spend a week investigating Madeleine's disappearance after being deluged with emails from members of the public
recommending him as a "genius".
He said: "Gerry sent me a strand of Madeleine's hair for DNA
purposes, which had been removed from her coat."
Krugel became a household name in South Africa when he created
a DNA tracking device which solved a 19-year mystery about the whereabouts of six schoolgirls snatched by a paedophile.
He explained how he used the same method to track a potential burial spot for Madeleine on the beach in Praia da Luz.
The area was sealed off and Krugel suggested sniffer dogs be brought in to further pinpoint the spot where they needed
to dig.
Yet ironically, when the dogs arrived they were used by cops to turn the finger of suspicion on to Gerry
and Kate.
Portuguese police were more excited about the dogs' reaction when they searched the McCanns'
Ocean Club apartment and hire car.
It means the area on the beach has still not been searched properly by officers
and no dig has ever taken place.
And it came amid new reports from Portuguese newspaper Correio yesterday claiming
police believe Madeleine was buried on the beach in Praia da Luz soon after her death.
Krugel added: "After
I conducted my investigation I gave the police a map pinpointing the spot I think Madeleine is. And I handed over a 2,000
word report on what they should do next.
"I said sniffer dogs should be brought in to start the search. But
I warned that this alone was not enough as dogs are only a success in missing person hunts three out of four times.
"That is why I also suggested a fingertip search of the area and a dig of the spot I located. But if this has not been
done, the police really need to start from scratch and investigate that area again."
He added: "Too much
time has been wasted accusing Kate and Gerry and not enough has been spent searching for Madeleine and following up on leads."
Krugel's device apparently combines quantum physics and global positioning technology to pin-point a body on a
map.
Krugel landed in Praia da Luz with his machine on July 17 and embarked on a four day search - with the blessing
of Portuguese detectives.
He said: "I had a meeting with Kate and Gerry where I explained exactly how my technology
works and what I was going to do.
"They knew a lot about my work already because people had posted messages
about me on the Find Madeleine website.
"The police were fully aware of the work I was about to do.
"I set off with some colleagues and we conducted an extensive search of Praia da Luz using the machine.
"I
scoured many different places across the resort and spent time near ports and other exit points in Praia da Luz.
"We spent 16 hours a day searching everywhere - nothing was left unsearched."
But under Portuguese
law Krugel is forbidden from revealing the exact spot as he has mentioned it in a police statement.
But sources
close to the investigation told the Sunday Mirror that it is a spot on the beach in Praia da Luz near where Gerry regularly
went running.
Krugel said: "The technology I use picks up a trace using DNA and complex and secret science
techniques. Every day the trace was strongest in this one area.
"The machine was highlighting the same co-ordinate
and it kept drawing me back there. It left me convinced that Madeleine was there.
"My machine has a 90 per
cent success rate, so I am convinced this is the place where Madeleine is buried."
Krugel added: "The
Portuguese police took my findings seriously at first, but now the work seems to have stopped."
Meanwhile,
a former public relations consultant to the McCanns said their public composure in the immediate aftermath of Madeleine's
disappearance masked their private turmoil.
Alex Woolfall said they reacted exactly as he would expect after Madeleine
vanished and that their behaviour convinced him of their innocence.
"They were behaving exactly as I thought
someone in that situation would be," he told The Times.
"They had not slept. They were trying to work
out what to do that might help generate images of her.
They were desperately keen to publicise her face.
"I was struck at the perception of people who had watched Kate and Gerry: that they were very controlled and perhaps
were not responding in a way people thought would be more natural.
"They were not at all controlled.
When I was with them, they were between being completely distraught and trying to do what they felt was the right thing."
EXCLUSIVE THE HUNT FOR MADELEINE As DNA expert claims his device has pinpointed missing tot's
grave one mum warns the McCanns..
Kate and Gerry McCann were yesterday warned not to put their
faith in controversial "bodyfinder" Danie Krugel - an ex-detective who claims to know where Madeleine's body
is buried.
South African Krugel is said to have used a bizarre DNA-tracking machine that he invented to pinpoint
a stretch of beach just 500 yards from McCann's apartment in Praia da Luz.
But a mum who was sent on a fruitless
4,300-mile trek after hiring Krugel and his device to track down her missing son urged Kate and Gerry: "Don't trust
him."
Varenda Gouws, 45, said Krugel led her and husband Willem on a wild goose chase after son Rayno, 20,
went missing last year during a hiking holiday.
She gave Krugel a hair from Rayno's razor. He fed it into his
Matter Orientation System, that he claims combines DNA testing and GPS - satellite technology to track down missing people
anywhere in the world.
She said: "I can't say this machine doesn't work - but I know for a fact it
didn't work for us."
Rayno had last been seen taking a bus to Knysna in South Africa's Western Cape
region.
Varenda said: "First Krugel told us Rayno was still in Knysna so we went to Knysna. Then he said
he was in Port Elizabeth 150 miles away so we went to Port Elizabeth. Then he was in East London so we went there. Then he
told us 'No, he's in the Transkei.'
"It was an endless track. We drove through South Africa for
4,300 miles. He absolutely convinced us saying 'Rayno is moving'. He said he must be in a truck or a car because
he was moving so fast.
"Every time we left our jobs and packed up and went to these places and put articles
in the newspapers. It cost us a fortune.
"But it's not the money, it's the mental torture. Being told
your child is all right, he's moving around. We thought, 'Why doesn't he contact us?'"
Rayno's
remains were eventually found eight months after he vanished in a forest outside Knysna. It is thought he died from a snake
bite.
Varenda said: "It was clear that he had been dead for eight months because there was no flesh on the
bones and there were ferns growing through the body.
"But when I phoned Danie to tell him, he was really
aggressive. He said it was not possible. He blamed me.
"He said 'This is a lie. Nobody can tell you how
long a body is dead'.
"He didn't want to hear he had made a mistake."
Varenda said
that after her experience she would never recommend Krugel to anyone. She added: "He told us he could definitely find
Rayno and we believed him. We trusted him. He told us he can find anybody, anywhere in the world.
"I feel
betrayed. Eight months is one hell of a time to look for a child - to be told he is alive.
"I'd say to
the McCanns 'Don't believe in him. Only believe in God.'"
It is thought the McCanns initially
welcomed Krugel's help - but have since changed their minds.
A source close to Kate and Gerry, who gave Krugel
a strand of Madeleine's hair after he flew to Portugal in July, said they are unconvinced by his claims and are keeping
him "at arm's length".
Krugel, 42, contacted the family offering assistance two days after Madeleine
disappeared on May 3.
In July Gerry allegedly rang him back to accept his offer after receiving a string of emails
urging the family to use the South African.
Krugel has told the Mirror his machine quickly traced Madeleine. He
said: "I went to Praia da Luz in the middle of July and did the tests on Madeleine.
"I stayed there
for four days, working at night time and all the data was the same.
"She was there in an area within walking
distance of Praia da Luz but it is a very difficult area, with few houses. In my opinion the chances of her being alive
are very, very slim."
He said he gave the McCanns and police a map and an aerial photo of an 800-metre area
they must search.
Krugel reportedly also first suggested that sniffer dogs be bought in to search the McCann's
apartment.
It was the sniffer dogs discovery of forensic evidence in the apartment that eventually led to Kate
and Gerry, from Rothley, Leics, being officially designated as suspects in the case.
Krugel is a controversial
figure back home in South Africa, where he insists he has solved some of the country's most baffling missing persons
cases.
It has been claimed he was responsible for pinpointing the secret burial place of two young girls believed
murdered by a paedophile.
After an exhaustive search by a TV current affairs show, bone fragments of two females
and four males were found. However, DNA experts were unable to make any identification.
South Africa's police
said he recently failed to find the body of a murdered constable after they called him in.
Krugel is also said
to have refused to allow them to examine his Matter Orientation System. He is recently said to have sold the rights to the
machine for almost £1million.
Scientists have rubbished the machine. Jacqueline Burke, a Johannesburg-based
consultant scientist, said: "A dead person has no magnetic field, no energy - nothing. Unless you have a device planted
in you, it's impossible."
But Superintendent Johan Gelderblom of Brandfort police insists Krugel pinpointed
the body of a murdered six-year-old that was found lying beneath a goatskin after two police searches had drawn a blank.
Mr Gelderblom said: "I know there are lots of people who say he is lying. All I can say is that he didn't
lie to me."
Krugel insists he never asks for money from the families of the missing or from police. But he
has a contract with a TV company and was filmed while working on the Madeleine case. He says the footage can only be released
once Madeleine is found.
McCanns fear suspicion will never end, 08 October 2007
Madeleine McCann's parents fear they will always be suspects in their daughter's disappearance,
a friend has said.
By
Aislinn Simpson in Praia da Luz Published: 12:01AM BST 08
Oct 2007
Gerry and Kate McCann's worries were revealed as it emerged the
couple had used a scientist to help look for the missing four-year-old using a DNA-tracking device.
He claims he
followed Madeleine's trail to a beach near the Portugal resort where she went missing on May 3 and is now resuming his
search, believing she was either buried in the sand or her body dumped at sea.
Last week, a British source close
to the inquiry reportedly claimed the case had "run out of evidence". That, a friend of the McCanns said yesterday,
is their "nightmare scenario".
"Gerry and Kate's biggest fear is that Madeleine will never be
found and the case will go unsolved," he said.
"They could go on forever without knowing what happened
to their daughter.
"If Madeleine isn't found then they also fear they will have to live under a cloud
of suspicion for years."
The source also said the McCanns think they will face months if not years of legal
problems surrounding their status as "arguidos", or formal suspects, in the case. Their lawyers are trying to have
the arguido status lifted.
Meanwhile, it was revealed yesterday that Danie Krugel, a South African former police
chief, first joined the search for Madeleine in July with the support of the Portuguese police and the McCanns, to track her
DNA trail from her parents' rented apartment in Praia da Luz.
He met the family and said he worked from a strand
of Madeleine's hair they gave him.
His DNA-tracking machine, which he likens to a metal detector, led him to
a beach. From there, the trail went cold, meaning she was either buried in that spot or taken out to sea by boat.
Police cordoned off the area but, according to Krugel, did not search it properly or respond to his report on the case.
He said: "I'm preparing to fly to Portugal again because the investigation seems to have come to a halt.
I'm convinced Madeleine's body is in Praia Da Luz."
Monday October 08, 2007 [Retitled: Doubts
Raised Over Madeleine 'Locator' 8:56am UK, Tuesday October 09, 2007]
A leading
child protection expert has said he has significant concerns about the man nicknamed "The Locator" who has been
called in to help find Madeleine McCann.
Former detective Mark Williams-Thomas told Sky News Online he doubts the
ability of Danie Krugel to provide any assistance in tracking down the missing child.
Madeleine's parents,
Kate and Gerry McCann, have given the South African some hair found on her clothing to use in his "missing person machine".
Mr Kruger refuses to reveal how his mysterious methods work, but they have apparently won him success and recognition
in his homeland - which prompted the McCanns to call him in.
He said he has scoured Praia da Luz, in Portugal,
and the surrounding area using the equipment, which he developed himself.
Not much is known about his "matter
orientation system machine", but it is said to use satellite technology, and he has claimed he is currently in negotiations
with companies to develop it.
The former policemansaid he believed Madeleine was not transported beyond the area
where she went missing on May 3, but her chances of being alive were "very slim".
It was reported he
had uncovered a "forensic route" from Madeleine's holiday apartment, along paths and roads to a nearby beach
where the trail went cold.
However, the university health and safety director was reluctant to talk in detail about
his search, which was carried out over four nights in July.
And Mr Williams-Thomas told Sky News Online "The
Locator's" claims belonged "in the realms of fantasy".
"Krugel has no published academic
or scientific information about his machine, neither is there anything on the internet about it and no police force outside
of his own country uses it," he said.
"If it really does locate missing people then not only would every
police force purchase one, but he would be an acclaimed expert and millionaire.
"I am sure his intentions
are honourable - however, there is no easy way to find Madeleine, no magic machine."
Madeleine, from Rothley,
in Leicestershire, went missing from her family's holiday apartment while her parents dined nearby. She was three
when she disappeared.
It is in these idyllic surrounds on the Portuguese coast that Danie Krugel believes Madeleine McCann is buried. Glynnis
Underhill reports
January 26, 2008 Edition 1
Former South African police superintendent Danie Krugel is haunted by the muddy pink and white child's blanket he found
at the site in Praia da Luz in Portugal where he believes the body of Madeleine McCann is hidden.
Now, due to his frustration at the lack of progress in the case, the ex-cop - dubbed "The Locator" as a result of his
high rate of success in tracing missing people in SA - has broken his silence about the results of his search for Madeleine
last year and revealed a map of the area where he believes she is buried.
With the consent of her parents, Gerry and Kate McCann, Krugel spent three nights searching for missing Madeleine (4)
in July, using the Matter Oriented System (MOS) equipment he has developed.
The site he outlined to be searched for Madeleine's body is a wasteland, full of black refuse bags, building rubble and
rocks, and is located only 900m away from the Ocean Club resort apartment where the McCann family were staying in Praia da
Luz.
Krugel said sniffer dogs and a full forensic team should have searched the area, but this had not happened.
"I kick myself every day that I didn't pick up the blanket. I just didn't want to disturb the investigation. The blanket
was full of mud and had a light white, light-pink colour, and it was definitely a child's blanket.
"It was also clear that it had been in the elements for a while. I showed the police the blanket but I don't know if
they picked it up," he added.
Taking a hair from Madeleine's coat, which was given to him by her father, Krugel's equipment repeatedly gave him signals
that led him to the site, which is within walking distance of the apartment. Madeleine is alleged to have been kidnapped while
her parents dined at a nearby tapas bar.
Krugel said he gave a copy of the map to Madeleine's parents and to the Portuguese police at the time, but refused to
disclose details of his findings to the press for fear of anyone trying to disturb the scene. Now he wants to return to Praia
da Luz to see if his equipment indicates that Madeleine's body is still there - or if it has been moved.
Asked whether he would like Krugel to return to search for Madeleine, Gerry McCann said he had no say in the matter.
"Kate and I have no control over who is allowed to go come and go into Portugal.
"This is a matter for the Portuguese authorities. Officially I cannot comment further, sorry."
After his search, Krugel requested the Portuguese police to use sniffer dogs and a forensic team to search the area.
But when they were brought in a few weeks after he left Portugal, the sniffer dogs picked up a scent on Kate McCann and in
the hired car, which changed the focus of the investigation, he claimed.
Portuguese police have now named three suspects in the case: Gerry and Kate McCann and Praia da Luz resident Robert Murat.
"After the sniffer dogs were brought in, I think the police altered their line of investigation, and I don't believe
they searched the area I gave them.
"I am almost 90% sure Madeleine is dead. There is always the slight possibility that she could be held hostage in one
of the houses in the area on my map, but I feel this is very unlikely. If her body had been moved, my equipment would tell
me she is no longer there."
With 16 years' experience in policing cult-related violent crime, Krugel has devoted his life to finding missing people
- free of charge.
"When children disappear, what is important is what went through the child's mind. A child is supposed to be safe and
protected. When I first saw Madeleine's face in the paper, I could see this child had an angel's face. Immediately I wanted
to catch the person who took this child. There is somebody out there who is guilty. That person belongs in a place where he
must not see the blue sky."
In SA, Krugel's free services are used regularly by private investigators and police officers, who frequently call him
in to help, with many insisting that he helped them locate people.
Brushing aside the sceptics, South African senior systems engineer Johan Booysen believes Krugel was "spot-on" in the
co-ordinates he gave last month to locate his missing father, pilot Dirk Booysen.
The wreckage of his plane and the charred body of Dirk Booysen were found in the dense Baviaanskloof mountains shortly
after Christmas.
"At first we misinterpreted his co-ordinates, but when we looked again, we saw he had been spot-on," said Booysen.
"It was very difficult terrain and Danie never gave us any false hope about my father. He just offered to help - for
free - and that's what he did.
"I can see now that he was spot-on in his search. I can vouch for him and his equipment, and would be happy to talk to
Madeleine's parents if they want to talk to me.'
Krugel has been in regular contact with Madeleine's parents, who have thanked him for his help. But his appeal for them
to turn their attentions to the site to help find her body has not been answered.
Last year, Krugel claimed to have uncovered a "forensic route" from the McCanns' holiday apartment at the Oceans Club
Resort, along paths and roads to a nearby beach.
At the time, he said: "The area is in walking distance from Praia da Luz. I don't want to say exactly where because I
don't want to interfere with this investigation. I don't want to give anyone the chance to destroy his or her prints. If I
look at the area, there is a very, very slight possibility that she could be alive. From the piece of hair I was able to conclude
that she was in the area.'
But Krugel is still anxious to help find Madeleine, as she is constantly on his mind.
"The sooner we find Madeleine's body, the sooner the police can find out who murdered her," he said.
The locator
While he is currently working as the director of health and safety at the Central University of Technology of the Free
State, Danie Krugel (right) is also trying to patent his equipment, which works on satellite technology. Details of the controversial
equipment he has developed are being kept under wraps until it has been patented, he said.
Inventor Who Finds Missing Persons Says He Can Detect Cancer, 23 February 2008
Inventor Who Finds Missing Persons Says He Can Detect
Cancer SA Skeptics (originally appeared in Rapport)
Maryna
van Wyk 23/02/2008 21:56 - (SA)
Bloemfontein
The Bloemfontein man who became known worldwide with his DNA-location system for finding missing persons believes that his
newest invention can detect cancer cells in the human body and assist doctors identify cancer more quickly and sooner in patients.
Mr Danie Krugel was in the media spotlight regularly for the past year after he found the body of missing Naledi Ntebele
(age 5), who was raped and murdered outside Brandfort, within 30 minutes using his DNA-location system.
Krugel
also recently identified an area (region) in Portugal where he believes the missing British girl Madeleine McCann's body
is.
He also made the news when he located bones with his apparatus in the search for victims of paedophile Gert
van Rooyen.
For the past week, Krugel has demonstrated his latest invention to a Bloemfontein internist, Dr Frieda
Pienaar.
Pienaar gave Krugel a variety of blood samples from patients suffering from cancer as well as a few test
tubes containing the blood of healthy persons.
During the tests in Pienaar's consulting rooms Krugel held
the tubes with blood, one by one, in front of his small electronic device.
The device, which was loaded with data
of certain cancer types, indicated whether cancer cells were present.
The device showed no reaction when a tube
with cancer-free blood was placed before it.
Krugel says that the contents of his silver bag (case) are still a
big secret because his invention has not been patented yet.
Still, he was prepared to say that he applies the principle
according to which materials of the same kind communicate amongst themselves.
For the past week, Krugel repeated
the tests in [this newspaper's] presence.
One of the tubes contained a pinhead-sized breast cancer growth.
By means of a gauge, the device indicated the presence of cancer in the tube.
A tube of blood from a healthy person
was then given to Krugel for testing.
He did not know the blood's status. The device passed the newspaper's
test and did not react.
About his latest invention Krugel says he can detect cancer within a radius of 4 m.
He started designing the apparatus three months ago and has already tested it on people. "The system has great
possibilities. It is even possible to load data of other diseases on my device. In this way, diseases can be diagnosed much
earlier and treatment can commence sooner," he says.
Pienaar, who for the past fifteen years has specialised
in endocrinology and diseases like leukaemia and diabetes, says that even the blood of patients who are almost cured of cancer
produced a reaction in Krugel's device.
"Such a device can assist doctors in their consulting rooms with
more rapid detection of cancer so that further tests can be done."
Danie Krugel expands his imaginary product line, 28 February 2008
Danie Krugel expands his imaginary product line Smoke & Mirrors
February 28, 2008 at 8:40 am
Bloemfontein's
favourite son is at it again, folks. His new product is a mysterious device capable of detecting a substance at a distance
provided it is given a sample of that substance.... hang on a second, isn't this his last product, you ask? Oh no, this
time the substance being detected is cancer, so it's a totally different thing. Never let it be said that Danie Krugel
is a one-trick pony.
The original article appeared in the Afrikaans-language Rapport, and the SA Skeptics forum
have provided a translation here [see below]. In it, Danie supposedly is able to differentiate vials of blood containing cancer
from those that do not. Since the 'tests' were performed in the office of a local internist, and then by the journos
at the Rapport, I hardly think we can consider the results reliable. Perhaps now that Danie has voyaged into the realm of
medicine, he will consider submitting his device to a double-blind, controlled trial? Yeah, you're right, probably not.
To start with, I find it telling that after his spectacular failure in finding Madeleine McCann, and the subsequent
pummeling he took in the internation press, Danie has moved away from body-finding and into cancer-sniffing. Allow me to remind
you that Danie claimed to know where Madeleine McCann was buried, and yet there has been no digging whatsoever in the area
he has marked out. Does this not strike anyone as odd, considering how ingenious Danie was at obtaining digging equipment,
able bodies and cameras to upturn an area the size of two football fields, on a similar hunch about the Van Rooyen victims?
Frankly, if I knew where that little girl was buried, and no one would listen to me, I would have set to digging that beach
up with my bare hands to prove it to them. But not Danie. He slinks back to South Africa, stays quiet for a few months, then
suddenly appears with a new shiny silver case containing yet another 'invention'.
So let's examine
some of the details of this new article. Apparently Danie has 'loaded' his device with various forms of cancer already.
Immediately this makes me wonder where he got it from. I don't know about you guys, but samples of cancer are not something
I come across in everyday life. Either Danie has been dumpster-diving in medical waste, or someone is supplying him –
the man obviously has an accomplice in the medical community. All eyes should at this point be swivelling towards the internist
who assisted him in testing the device. I would suspect that Danie did not just walk into this person's office and claim
he was looking for an objective witness with a medical degree, but rather that this is the culmination of a carefully planned
scheme. Either that, or Danie is lying about the device being loaded with cancer samples.
There are also some distinct
differences between this device and the last. Danie's previous Matter Orientation Device, which worked on the same apparent
principle of like communicating with like, was so sensitive that given any sample it would only detect the source of that
sample, and not any other similar source. Given a sample of hair, it would react only to the person from whom that hair was
taken, and not just to any hair (or poorly made wig) that happened to be in the vacinity. So I would wonder how it is that
Danie's current device is so much less precise? It apparently goes off in the presence of any cancer. However, cancer
as we all know is genetically specific material, so I would expect that Danie's technology would only register in the
presence of the rest of the tumour from which the sample was taken (we look pointedly at the internist again), or perhaps
in the presence of the person from which the sample was taken. Unless Danie's lying again.
And now, this device
is only able to detect cancer within 4m, whereas his previous device could find its match anywhere on the entire planet. Again,
the device seems somehow weaker than the last... the claims, somewhat toned down. But then again, the case also seems smaller,
so perhaps he's using fewer fairies this time.
All I can say is that I'm looking forward to seeing how
this new ruse of Danie's pans out.
Post August 2008 Danie Krügel
is a former South African police officer currently employed as Director (see p. 79), Protection Services and Occupational Health & Safety at Bloemfontein's Central University of Technology.
Mr Krügel claims to have invented a novel technology called a "Matter Orientation System" (MOS) for locating
missing items and people, and he has featured in numerous newspaper articles and investigative TV programmes in SA such as
3rd Degree and Carte Blanche where his claimed ability has been naïvely highlighted, usually in connection with missing
persons cases. The disappearances of Madeleine McCann and, more recently, Kerry Winter are among the more prominent cases
in which Mr Krügel's help has been requested, but there are several others including that of 7-year-old Sheldean
Human, policewoman Francis Rasuge and Anisha van Niekerk.
Mr Krügel is very secretive about his alleged invention
but insists that it is "science, science, science! … just science," using quantum principles in conjunction
with the global positioning satellite system (GPS). Briefly, he requires a small sample of the material whose source he is
asked to locate – a cutting of hair in the case of a human – which he then uses to perform what he calls "measurements"
from a few different positions before announcing the source's current location within reasonable limits. Scientists overwhelmingly
agree that there is no known mechanism that can account for Mr Krügel's supposed technology working as he describes,
and they are therefore eager to validate his claims to novelty. However, Mr Krügel appears overly reluctant to submit
to any formal testing by an independent and trustworthy authority. His main concern seems to be that he will have to reveal
his trade secrets, a concern that is invalid since such testing need not establish how it works, only that it does
work.
For people and families whose loved ones have disappeared, especially young children, Mr Krügel's
claims are a beacon of considerable hope and therein lies perhaps the most compelling reason for Mr Krügel to verify
his claimed abilities. How much more ultimately cruel and ruinous is it to live in protracted false hope than to face a potentially
devastating truth – a false hope that has been actively nurtured by uncritical media with a craving for perpetual sensationalism?
Added to which, if Mr Krügel's claims do not prove out, there exists a clear danger of significant amounts of wasted
effort in pursuing false leads. Recently, Mr Krügel has also claimed that his device is able to detect cancer and other
diseases in patients, a claim that is clearly dangerous if found to be untrue.
For these reasons, it is essential
that Mr Krügel's ongoing promotion of himself and by the media be opposed until such time as the validity or otherwise
of his claims has been determined.
DNA, GPS, and The Matter Orientation System., 30 September 2008
Before I express my opinion
on why I think Danie Krugel's Matter Orientation System (MOS) cannot possibly work, let me say upfront that I'm not
an expert in quantum physics; I wouldn't know what a quark or a gluon was, even if either one of them jumped up and bit
me in the arse. I'm not an expert in DNA or genetics, my knowledge stems from the little bit of reading I've done
and the occasional episode of CSI. Nor am I an expert on Global Positioning Systems; I've covered a little of it in my
studies and questioned a very patient surveyor friend on the basic workings of GPS.
What I do have is a Bullshit
Detector that sets off a siren in the presence of Bullshit, and that siren gets louder with every report I read about Danie
Krugel and his Matter Orientation System.
Danie Krugel claims that the MOS works by placing a hair in the machine,
a DNA reading is done on the hair and, hey presto, the GPS co-ordinates of the missing person are popped out, and
the missing person is located.
But there are some questions I'd like answered: -
From what I've
read about the MOS, the hair sample doesn't need the root attached for the MOS to pick up the DNA of the missing person.
Hair is composed of dead cellular debris that has no nuclei, so you won't find any nuclear DNA within the hair shaft –
you need the root of the hair to give you a DNA match, the root is where growth takes place and consists of live cells, which
is where you'll find the DNA. I know it is possible to obtain genetic information through mitochondrial DNA in
the hair shaft, it's not an easy process. So, how does the MOS extract the DNA from the hair sample? Does it extract nuclear
DNA or mitochondrial DNA?
If his MOS is able to process forensic samples so quickly, why hasn't he sold any
machines to forensic labs around the country? I'm sure they'd be very happy to pay whatever he asked for them because
some forensic labs have a huge backlog to get through.
How does the MOS relay the genetic information to a GPS
satellite? As far as I know, satellites don't contain data banks with genetic information, so how would it read or understand
the information that the MOS is sending? What technology would the satellite use to match the owner of that DNA; does it scan
every human being on the planet until it finds a match?
If Danie Krugel is using GPS technology, why does he always
give more than one set of co-ordinates for people to search? GPS is amazingly accurate. Depending on the type of GPS receiver
that's installed in the MOS, the accuracy of the co-ordinates could vary from 100m to 0.5mm. Granted that's quite
a big variation in accuracy; if I had developed a machine like the MOS I would certainly install the very best technology
to give me the most accurate position possible. Surveyors use this kind of GPS technology all the time when they build skyscrapers,
so it's not like the technology isn't available to Danie Krugel. Danie claims the MOS can detect a person 400kms away,
does the topography of the area interfere with this distance; a built up area must surely limit the distance capabilities
of the MOS?
Why won't Danie Krugel allow anyone to do a proper scientific test of his machine?
Surely if he has invented something as wonderful as the MOS, he'd want humanity to benefit from it? Wouldn't he want
all those missing children in South Africa to be found? Wouldn't he want to find Osama Bin Laden, the most wanted man
on the planet? And if he didn't give a hoot about helping humanity, wouldn't he want to market it and become a billionaire?
The answers to the above questions are simple, it's all Bullshit. Bullshit, with a little bit of quantum physics
thrown in to make it sound all scientific and credible; and Danie knows it, that's why he won't let anyone near his
machine.
I'm sure Danie must realise that with all the publicity he gets, he's going to come under more
pressure to produce scientific evidence that his machine works. Speaking of the publicity he does get; most of the articles
that have appeared in the media about Danie Krugel have been so poorly researched, it makes me wonder if journalists no longer
need any sort of qualification to get their stories into print. Not one of the journalists has asked any pertinant or relevant
questions, instead they have just accepted the drivel Danie fed them because the word quantum was chucked in for good measure
and because he's a christian – so he must be telling the truth!
So Danie, I'm adding my
voice to the growing number of scientists and skeptics, like me, who want you to back up your claims with solid evidence;
submit your MOS to an independant scientific review and silence your critics or admit you're wrong.
Danie Krugel, it's showdown time!, 09 October 2008
Every now and then a topic
comes up in the news or on the internet that gets me angry enough to want to do something about it. One such topic is Danie
Krugel and his magic box of tricks. For those of you who haven't yet heard of Danie, he's the head of Protection Services
and Occupational Health & Safety at Bloemfontein's Central University of Technology. Krugel claims that he has "invented"
a machine called the Matter Orientation System, which can locate people (and lots of other lovely goodies such as oil and
diamonds) using DNA, GPS, and Quantum Physics, see my last post here for an explanation of how it works.
Anyhow,
when I read a suggestion from Subtle Shift in Emphasis on the South African Skeptics forum, I, along with others on the forum,
offered our support and encouragement. There are three reasons why I wanted to help in some way.
1. The promotion
of Danie Krugel and ridiculous machine in the media by journalists who are too lazy to do a proper investigation into his
claims, is creating the impression that his machine can find anyone, anywhere.
2. He’s taking advantage of
people when they’re at their most vulnerable.
3. His interference only hampers the efforts of the people
who are trained in search and rescue.
The new website, StopDanieKrugel.com, has been set up with the aim of correcting
misleading reports about Danie Krugel's "invention" in the media, to supply information to the public about
Danie Krugel and his machine, and to encourage Mr. Krugel to allow an unbiased scientific test of his MOS.
I encourage
you to visit the site and read about the cases Danie Krugel has been involved in, read about the $ 1 Million challenge Mr.
Krugel turned down, and read about why Danie Krugel won't allow his MOS to be tested. Feel free to engage in the discussion
on the website and please add your support to the growing number of sceptics who would like to see Danie Krugel back up his
claims with proper, unbiased scientific evidence.
A FORMER cop claims he has identified the
area where he says Madeleine McCann is buried.
South African Danie Krugel says it is just 500 yards
from the holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, from where Maddie disappeared.
The area is a wasteland, full
of building rubble, rocks and black, plastic bags.
It is one of two "priority search" locations highlighted
by the former detective – one close to the complex and one near the beach.
Krugel – known as "The
Locator" for his success in tracing missing people in South Africa – was called in by Kate and Gerry McCann two
months after Maddie vanished.
He used DNA tracking – helped by a strand of Madeleine’s hair given to
him by Gerry – and GPS satellite to pinpoint the area.
He has also highlighted an area where he spotted
a muddy pink and white child’s blanket.
Findings
He
claims he didn't remove it because he didn't want to interfere with the police investigation.
He then drew
a map and gave a detailed report of his findings to local police.
But he says a full search for Madeleine, who
vanished shortly before her fourth birthday on May 3, 2007, never took place. Krugel told the Daily Star Sunday: "If
they want me to go with them I will.
"I'm convinced they will find her. I will do whatever I can to help.
That area needs to be properly searched.
"If it means training up officers from Scotland Yard in how to use
the technology, I will do that.
"There needs to be a proper team of experts."
Kate and Gerry,
both 41, of Rothley, Leics, are convinced Maddie was abducted and is still alive.
But Krugel said: "I believe
the truth will come out and I pray for the family that they get their answers. There is somebody out there that is guilty."
Daily Star Sunday, paper edition,
31 January 2010
Daily Star Sunday, 31 January 2010
The search for Madeleine McCann:
Danie Krugel, 09 May 2012
The search for Madeleine McCann: Danie Krugel YouTube
Danie Krugel Published on 9 May 2012
Danie Krugel demonstrates
the KTT (Krugel Theory Tester) with a hair sample from Madeleine McCann.
The hair sample is from a hair brush received
by Danie Krugel from Gerry McCann.
For someone who
has mastered the mysteries of quantum (you still claim the KTT is quantum, right?) and built a machine that redefines what
all of humanity has learned about physics, chemistry and the very nature of time and space during the last few centuries,
it's surprising that you clearly show your left hand under the machine to manipulate the needle, and even more surprising
that you'd think anyone would be fooled. Shame on you for using the McCanns' grief to promote your bogus KTT. Shame!
Response from Danie Krugel:
As I have stated, I am willing to show the science behind the technology
to the British & Portuguese authorities(police) that is involved in the search, have their experts evaluate what I have
shown and said. It is about Madeleine and not the KTT or me, if there is anything in what I have said or demonstrated in the
video that is not 100% the truth then the relevant authorities can issue a media statement after they have evaluated me and
the KTT that they have tested me and that am a charlatan.
