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]

Why is this thread being derailed by people who insist on having their say about the decision to leave the children alone that night? It has all been said thousands of times, no one has a single new or interesting thing to say on the matter.

This thread should be about the new suspect and the German investigation. Is it really that hard to stay on topic?

The whole case should have always been about the abductor and perhaps then it would have been closed a long time ago. Rather than the whole terrible fiasco that followed this childs disappearance.

I hope they find evidence, but he hasn't got any reason to confess really has he and, unless they find a body, it's been a long time for any sort of evidence which might lead to a conviction without a confession to stick around.

I can understand why many people do take against the McCanns from the interviews they've given and the priorities they've had at different times. I doubt they'd be people I'd choose to be friends with. However, the conspiracy theories require just as much suspension of belief as the idea of a mystery abductor in the night.

I agree, if you want to slag and blame the McCann’s again and again rehashing the same old boring arguments whilst asserting that you are somehow superior because you would never leave your child in a hotel room alone and that it’s that that led to Madeleine’s abduction or possible death then start your own thread.

But before you do, google “Mumsnet Baby Listening Service”, check the dates of the threads and see for yourself just how common it was around the 2000s for even holier than though MNers to leave their children (even 7month olds) totally unattended whilst they dined even further away than the McCanns and co, whilst totally out of eye shot and not performing 30 minute in person checks. There are even MNers who left their children or were looking for baby listening services after Madeleine went missing, as late as 2017. And before anyone judges me, no I’d never have been comfortable leaving a child. Plenty did though and none deserved to have a child taken by someone with bad intentions. They could not have known.

Let this thread be about the new developments and leave the family alone. Do you not think they’ve been punished enough?

Well said NameChange84

I'm utterly shocked he wasn't a suspect to begin with!!!

@EmeliaLily

He was questioned back then but presumably he had an alibi and there was insufficient evidence. Also it was by the totally incompetent Portuguese police who seemingly couldn’t be trusted with a missing cat let alone a three year old taken from her bed.

100% agree Namechange84 ...too many whiter than white parents on here and social media!! Sadly Maddies parents and siblings have a lifetime of what ifs ...I cannot comprehend what they have had to think about every day of their lives. I really hope the twins have had a fairly happy childhood and hope that they do not have any MH issues now they are teenagers.ie anger toward their parents/guilt that they were left unharmed. I think about this family regularly 💕

"The whole case should have always been about the abductor"

Perhaps there was no evidence of an abductor?

"Also it was by the totally incompetent Portuguese police"

Followed by the incompetent Met & incompetent investigators hired by the McCanns?

The recent information that the OP posted is one of the top headlines on the BBC News website. It's not something that's hard to find.
www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-52935728

It's also highly unlikely that the German police have released all the information they have that had led them to this suspect.

Even when they’re on holiday in a foreign country? all small children who go missing/are killed.

The suspicion always starts with those closest to the victim. Always. That’s not to say that the parents are always responsible, but it goes a long way towards why people suspect them.

As to the weird conspiracy theories, there are whole websites devoted to pretty much every conspiracy theory about every incident that ever happened. And I think it’s safe to say that anyone who chooses to spend time on a website/fb group/reddit discussing the merits of any particular conspiracy clearly has far too much time on their hands.

Media have now named the owner of the other telephone number. Hang on I'll find a link

www.standard.co.uk/news/crime/madeleine-mccann-german-suspect-phone-number-a4460916.html

Why was this man extradited to Germany for crimes he committed in Portugal? OR have I got that wrong?

That poor older American lady being raped.
Was he only caught fairly recently ?
The Portugese police have a lot to answer for if he was not investigated.
An Irishman, a witness, spoke of seeing a man carrying a child at around the time Madeleine disappeared.
I wonder was it this German man he saw ?

@BankofNook

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.

She didn't think they were wrong 'uns, though, she says they were lovely little boys. But she says they had such traumatic childhoods that it was inevitable they would grow up to be very troubled.

[quote Cadent]@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?[/quote]
I expect so, yes. I doubt children are more at risk of being abducted on holiday than they are at home, or that abusive parents are less likely to kill their child abroad. I don't believe the McCanns killed Madeleine, but statistically they were the likeliest culprits.

"An Irishman, a witness, spoke of seeing a man carrying a child at around the time Madeleine disappeared."

I think someone came forward pretty quickly didn't they to say that he was the man in question carrying his own daughter?

That poor older American lady being raped.
Was he only caught fairly recently ?

As I believe from the news, he was in jail for drugs offences in 2019, then convicted with that whilst in jail, so yes only recently.
There seems to be a court battle to do with it though at the moment.

@diddl

"An Irishman, a witness, spoke of seeing a man carrying a child at around the time Madeleine disappeared."

I think someone came forward pretty quickly didn't they to say that he was the man in question carrying his own daughter?

There were 2 sightings of 2 different men carrying young girls, I think.

One confirmed (the Irish tourist) he was carrying his daughter that night, and I believe still had the pyjamas she was wearing to prove it was her that was sighted.

The other sighting was made by someone, Mr Smith, who was adamant it was Gerry McCann he saw after seeing news footage of him carrying one of the twins down from the plane when they returned to the UK. He said he was carrying the twin in the same awkward way he saw a man carry a child past him in Portugal.

I believe it's doubted to be Gerry though, because the timing was off. He was either at the tapas restaurant still at the time Mr Smith saw a man carrying a child, or in the apartment after Madeleine was discovered missing (I can't remember which of those 2, sorry, but it was in a documentary).

@diddl

"Also it was by the totally incompetent Portuguese police"

Followed by the incompetent Met & incompetent investigators hired by the McCanns?

But the subsequent investigations had lost the vital first 48 period. Important in any investigation but surely even more so in a holiday destination where potential witnesses would be leaving the area over the coming days.

Soubriquet I'm not clicking on the link, but I assume that's part of the deep state/Qanon/VIP paedophile ring conspiracy theory. It's bonkers.