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]

I was sure I read somewhere yesterday that it wasn't a planned murder but I can't find any reference to it now so I'm wondering if I misread it. If it's a change to his usual MO then it may be that he went into the apartment to burgle it and she disturbed him which resulted in him killing her either intentionally or by 'accident', or it may be that his MO was escalating from assaulting little girls towards abduction and murder (the statement yesterday did specifically mention "little girls" rather than "girls", "underage girls", or "teen girls"). I'm sure these are all matters that the investigation will uncover and I hope her parents are spared the worst level of details once it is all uncovered.

I've not read the entire thread, so not sure if this has already been said...but for me I think this "unknown" will only continue - even if they charge him with her murder. He's clearly not going to talk, or else he would have done so already. So, where's the body? What did he do to the poor girl? And maddies parents have said they will not believe she is dead until they have concrete proof...which I fear they may still never have.

I hope this is the guy (the evidence released - although circumstantial - is certainly the most I have seen for any suspect!), and will admit here that I have always had suspicions towards the parents. Not because Kate didn't cry or Gerry has shifty eyes, but because there appeared to be a lack of any sign of a break in and I know that statistically it is more likely to be a parent than a randomer. However, my guess would have been at the same theory the Portuguese police went with, that she had died by accident when left alone and been hidden.

I understand they are parents and mn is supportive of parents so have frowned upon speculation (though their litigation re it doesn't help their general perception and only adds fuel to those who view it as a coverup) but I want to get across that anyone who has had suspicions of the parents is not automatically some sort of stereotypical crazy conspiracy theorist who will look at any conviction of anyone else as a cover up. I hold my hands up if I was wrong, but does it not occur to any of those who knew all along that she was taken and murdered by a child abuser, how much "easier" it is to think of a toddler dying accidentally than to think of the alternative? If someone else took her, it is nigh on impossible she was taken for a happy-yet-illegal adoption.

People suspecting the parents isn't really the problem. People keeping those thoughts to themselves or mentioning it once or twice isn't the problem. People, in the absence of any evidence either way, posting all over Reddit MN Twitter etc that the parents know, theorising on fucking fridges etc are the problem.

I think a lot of the blame and criticism of the parents would have been alleviated if they had been more forthright in saying they felt leaving the kids unattended in an unlocked apartment was a big mistake with hindsight. Most people have massive sympathy for them anyway and would hope to see some kind of closure for the family.
But the last interview I saw ( think it was for 10 yr anniversary ) they were still saying that they had done nothing wrong and were in no way to blame. Better really to say nothing at all to be honest because that only fans the flames for those who blame them anyway.
I truly hope they can find some closure this time around. They deserve that .

I didn't ever think it was anything to do with either of the parents until I read on here a year or two ago about one of the tapas 7 (dp) and a conversation overheard between him and gm by one of their former friends I think her last name was Gaspar. That deeply unsettled me.

Yes Ive read this too. It unsettled me too. If you google the Gaspar Statement it’s all detailed in there.....

That statement and the fact there were no signs of an abduction/break in makes me question It all.

If someone else took her, it is nigh on impossible she was taken for a happy-yet-illegal adoption sadly even more vanishingly unlikely in this case because surely someone looking to take a child to play happy families would have gone for one of the twins. Why take an almost four year old who can loudly insist her name is Maddie and shout you aren't my Mummy when there are not yet 2 year olds in the same room who are way less likely to be able to protest, remember their form life etc?

How bloody sad that today is the first day I have heard of Inga Gehricke.
Disappeared 8 years almost to the day after Madeleiene as well.

Whatever his involvement in both cases, this man is one sick fucker.

On another day it would have been perfectly safe.
That's the thing, though. There could have been umpteen instances where nothing untoward would have happened, but the fact that it happened at all shows it actually wasn't "safe".
People do all sorts of crazy, risky stuff with no consequences all the time, it's just dumb luck, not an indication that it's perfectly safe.

I'm very sceptical of the claim that leaving a three-year-old and two babies alone all evening was normal in 2007. My mum's friend has two nephews - one went to prison for murder at the age of 19, the other died of a drug overdose in his early thirties. Their aunt said she doesn't make any excuses for the murder, but says it was always obvious those boys were going to end up the way they did, because their childhood was so appalling. The example she gave is that sometimes when she visited her brother, one of the (very young) boys would answer the door, because their parents had gone to the pub and left them in the flat. So, even by the early 80s, leaving small children alone to go out drinking was seen as a red flag for severe neglect.

I don't believe Kate or Gerry killed Madeleine, and of course they didn't deserve to lose their daughter. But I think some people are so over-invested and desperate to defend them that they're rewriting history.

Many resorts and hotels both abroad and in the UK offered a listening service for parents who wanted to leave their children in the room while they went out in the evening. Here in the UK, Butlins operated suchba service up until 2005 and Centre Parcs were still running theirs in 2017. I think Haven may have operated one too but we never went there so I can't confirm. Point is, businesses would not have been running this service if there was no demand for it so obviously there were a fair number of parents leaving their children in rooms in the evening and it was considered to be within the realms of acceptable.

says it was always obvious those boys were going to end up the way they did

Maybe it was self-fulfilling prophecy from everyone writing them off as wrong 'uns from the get go. If everyone think you're bad, you may as well prove them right.

My eldest was 1 on 2007 and there was no way on hell I would have left him or any child on thier own! So no I don’t think it’s was the done thing in 2007!!

I was taken into care in the 80s because I was left alone at the age of 4 with 2 younger siblings and something caught on fire. Luckily I was able to take my siblings next door for help but just goes to show that you never know what will happen no matter how safe you think it is. Those kids could have woken up and fallen headfirst into the toilet or got hold of some cleaning products or medicine or tried to climb for a glass to get a drink and fallen, or a million otter things. They weren’t old enough to be able to deal with such incidents.

Good for you, here's your medal.

How does retrospectively picking apart their parenting and allocating blame to them help? Will it make their child magically reappear?

@AlternativePerspective

But the reality is that in around 99% of cases where a young child goes missing it is either the parents or someone close to the family who are responsible.

Even when they’re on holiday in a foreign country?

I think it's a mistake to say that leaving your kids was always seen as wrong or always accepted. Clearly it's always been a divisive issue.
I also think them being a well to do couple makes people more sympathetic. I dont think they would have as many defenders if they were a working class couple who had nipped out to go to McDonalds.
I remember being pretty appalled at hearing she was left alone when the case first emerged. But as people have said, I'm sure her family will regret it the rest of their lives.

In 2009 I met DHs kids, then 3 and 7. DH's sister, who is a GP, had her 40th in the Lake District. We stayed in a sort of hostel wit about 10 other families. We took up the entire ground floor. On the first floor were an assortment of backpackers etc. The party happened at night in a rented hall about 100 yards from the hostel. Every single parent left their sleeping kids in unlocked rooms in an unlocked building that they couldn't even see! A majority of the parents were doctors of various descriptions. I told DH I thought they were insane and I made DH take turns sitting in the hallway. Several small kids made sleeping appearances. One male backpacker wandered down the hallway at one point. The whole thing still makes my blood run cold.

Those kids could have woken up and fallen headfirst into the toilet

I worked in a hotel during the turn of the century & we offered a listening service for guests, it was regularly used and guest would go to the bar or have a meal - it was much further from thier rooms on the first and second floor than the distance Madelines parents were. Nobody seemed to be concerned, yet when a child was abducted everyone then was up in arms about the parents rather than the abductor

Just catching up on this thread. This post stuck out for me:
Just to add (really enjoying the discussion everyone!) I don't particularly think the parents did it, or really subscribe to any other theories on what happened. Just a little skeptical at this stage of this particular lead, but we'll see

It’s not a bloody whodunnit

bold fail

Those kids could have woken up and fallen headfirst into the toilet

WTF!😂

Unless you're keeping your child in a permanently sealed bubble in an empty room and they are in your line of sight 24/7 then no decision you make for them is 100% risk free. We are all making the best choices we can with whatever benefit-v-risk information is available to us and chancing that it works out fine.

I think people turn into utter dicks over "I would never do that with my DC!" not because they consider themselves to be superior parents but because it rattles them to be reminded that we are all one or two variables away from a decision turning out to be a disaster.

Those kids could have woken up and fallen headfirst into the toilet

In a very crowded field, that might be one of the weirdest posts I’ve ever seen on a MM thread here.

Yes, I'd agree @ivykaty44 I worked in a hotel in the early 2000's where we offered a 'baby listening service.' Basically, you left the phone off the hook in your room and we did the same at the other end, and occasionally as we went past we'd pick it up and see if we could hear anything! We didn't remember very often and loads of people used it! I'm horrified at the thought now!