Madeleine McCann - new suspect

[KatherineJaneway]

A 43-year-old German prisoner who travelled around Portugal in a camper van is now the focus of Scotland Yard's investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

[https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-52914016]

@Ramalamalama

I foolishly looked at one of those Facebook groups - people are FURIOUS that someone other than the McCanns has been implicated and convinced that they are allowing an innocent man to go down for their crime. This is why some sort of critical thinking test should be applied before you’re allowed to take part in jury service.

With you on that! My brother in law did JS a few years back and (being a bossy type) managed to get himself appointed head of the jury, or whatever the term is. He said some of the stuff people came out with (think, "I know the bastard is guilty, I can see it in his eyes") was incredible.

Re. the McCanns. I assume the initial suspicion was not that they murdered the child, but that she had an accident while left alone and they tried to cover it up. The Portuguese police obviously did feel that they had evidence that suggested that all was not exactly as it seemed. But I presume that had all been thoroughly investigated - with the amount of publicity this had, I'm sure the facts would have come out if they had been directly or indirectly responsible, and if they had perverted the course of justice. It did seem that the Portuguese investigators just didn't like Gerry McCann very much - thought he came across as arrogant and unpleasant - but God knows how any of us would come across if this had happened to one of our children.

There is a sad tendency to blame the parents when children go missing. I remember the Alice Gross case - there was so much flak directed at the parents because they didn't know she was going walking. I work with young people who have EDs and I would feel confident in saying that practically every anorexic teen will have lied to their family in order to take exercise. It's part of the illness. The parents are treading a desperately fine line to try to ensure that their child follows the treatment plan whilst not stripping away absolutely every aspect of their independence. This is one of the huge issues with the FBT approach and why teens who appear to have recovered in this treatment plan will relapse as young adults. But I go OT. Suffice to say, I think any parent in this situation would wish they'd done something differently. It doesn't mean they are responsible.

The Facebook group I looked at is quite frightening. An angry mob egging each other on. The suspect is, of course, ‘a scapegoat’. This group has over 40000 members!!

If the parents hadn't left Madeline and the twins alone, this wouldn't have happened, how hard is that to understand?

For those who say that people like me who are suspicious of the parents, will be disappointed if this is resolved, you are wrong. There are 3 innocent children in this sorry saga. Madeleine and her siblings. For their sake I hope it’s true. The twins have lived virtually their whole lives in the shadow of this. Just as I hope that if Madeleine was murdered soon afterwards, it was quick.

As for the parents the fact remains that if they had made appropriate provision for their children, non of this would have happened.

I don’t blame them for going out on the lash with their friends. Doing that on holiday, or wanting to do that is perfectly reasonable. I do blame them for not organising a proper babysitter.

I don’t think their actions can be brushed under the carpet as a simple “mistake”. Nor do I think the passage of years excuses it.

When Savile died I was reading Pistonheads. People were eulogising him. The few people who said their gut feeling was that he was an evil man were shouted down with the “Savile is not cold yet, how dare you?”

Whose gut feelings were right there?

That’s my opinion.

@TopBitchoftheWitches

If the parents hadn't left Madeline and the twins alone, this wouldn't have happened, how hard is that to understand?

Perhaps, but it doesn't make them murderers. It doesn't even make them responsible.

Perhaps, but it doesn't make them murderers. It doesn't even make them responsible

True. I am sure they have punished themselves enough over the years for making that decision too

This one does seem to be a more serious lead than any of the others. I hope it turns out to be the one.

People aren’t saying that the McCanns are responsible because they left the children alone. They are alleging that they actually killed her.

The person responsible was the person who knowingly took a child that wasn't their own.

As discussed multiple times, it was fairly common at the time to leave young children unattended in the evening and many resorts - both abroad and in the UK - offered a listening service for this reason.

I don’t understand this idea of joining a facebook group specifically to discuss one case, over and over and over. For years.

I think it’s fair to say that most of us have some interest in various unsolved mysteries and in fact there have been multiple threads on MN where people have discussed various unsolved mysteries, not just this one.

But devoting yourself to it that much that you would join a group specifically to discuss it is on a whole different level....

so, so sorry itoldyoui and endofthe

I was talking about the people in Facebook groups who allege that they actually murdered her and the latest suspect is being used as a scapegoat. This is what many people believe and sadly it doesn’t seem that any evidence that can be produced will sway their opinion.

@BankofNook

The person responsible was the person who knowingly took a child that wasn't their own.

As discussed multiple times, it was fairly common at the time to leave young children unattended in the evening and many resorts - both abroad and in the UK - offered a listening service for this reason.

It being common doesn't make it right though does it? And they didn't use the listening service did they? For two clearly very intelligent people this was a very stupid decision.

I do wonder if those posting about the parents being responsible and not accepting another explanation are just too invested in it. They belong to a select group of people who all think the same way, who "know" what the "real truth" is. Makes them feel special. They are a community against a common enemy and maybe they would lose too much if their conspiracy became obsolete.

Oh, I hope this is the breakthrough they've been waiting for and they can finally get some closure. Those poor parents, and poor Madeleine.

Yes ok they shouldn't have left them. I think they probably know that by now. They've paid the ultimate price for their error of judgement. They screwed up, doesn't mean they deserve to have their child taken and (likely) worse. Jesus, people are vile!

I've never been to Portugal but I am sure put off by their police. It does seem to be a magnet for some very dodgy people who know they will get away with it due to the inept police force.

If the parents hadn't left Madeline and the twins alone, this wouldn't have happened, how hard is that to understand?

Well yes and no, it wouldn’t have happened. But it wasn’t 100% guaranteed to happen either. They had no idea that someone was going to break the law and snatch their child. It makes it more likely but not sure to occur.

It’s better to say, is he hadn’t been a murdering bastard, this wouldn’t have happened? They were negligent yes but years of people leaving their children at home alone made them miscalculate the risk. The blame isn’t on them, it’s on the one who committed the crime.

So you've never done any stupid as a parent Genie?

I know I have. I suspect most parents have, but get away with it 99.9999% of the time. Sadly the McCanns didn't.

The decision to leave the kids alone was, as events later showed, at best misguided. (My personal opinion would be "lazy".) But I imagine they've been wracked with guilt every day since. I think a big part of why they came across as so excuse-y was that they were desperate to demonstrate that it WASN'T a bad decision - probably more to themselves than to anyone else. But at some point, you have to move past that, the parents for the sake of their other two children as much as any other reason.

It being common doesn't make it right though does it? And they didn't use the listening service did they? For two clearly very intelligent people this was a very stupid decision.

It doesn't matter if you think it was right or not, it was normal. It was stated at the time that they didn't use the listening service because they were intending to check on the children more frequently than offered by the service and - as listening staff were roaming the grounds - they would be alerted anyway if there was an obvious emergency.

I mean people leave their cars alone every night and don’t get the blame when someone steals it. The criminal does.

And they didn't use the listening service did they?

No. They WERE the listening service with the difference that they were actually going into the apartment.

If they’d used the listening service there would have been nothing to listen TO because Madeleine wasn’t bloody THERE to hear, and her disappearance wouldn’t have been discovered until later.

There were blood splatters in the apartment, the Portuguese police have always believed she died there 🙁 I can't see the German man confessing he'll not want to extend his stay in prison. Is the camper van still around? You often hear of cases where DNA was found decades later

@knittingaddict

So you've never done any stupid as a parent Genie?

I know I have. I suspect most parents have, but get away with it 99.9999% of the time. Sadly the McCanns didn't.

I've never left my child unattended no!