To think the Met spending £5 million on Maddie McCann is unfair on others who have missing children

[Ilovemyself]

I know how retched I would feel if I were in the McCanns position, and would want no expense to be spared in the hunt for answers.

But I can't help but think that this case has been so high profile that other cases must have funding cut or not even be followed up as the budget is limited.

I honestly don't know what the answer is, but it does seem this case has benefitted in ways others wouldn't.

I feel bad for thinking its unfair on others, but just can't help wondering how other victims of serious crime feel.

alisvolatpropiis this was a point I tried to make but people just want names. But for the cases that don't get the publicity you can't name them.

I guess ethnicity must be one of the issues surrounding who we hear about ( although I hadn't thought of it before). And I guess in some of these cases it will be a family member that has abducted them to take them to their country of origin. This is just the case with Elsa Salama. But it seems many think that this is not such an important type of case judging by the dismissive responses about why is the same effort put into finding her.

The mechanics of how a child goes missing is immaterial. It is the effort or publicity that goes into finding them that makes a difference.

OP I do not understand the constant comparison you make of the McCann case with that of Elsa Salama. They are wholly different. Her father may not even have committed a crime when he initially took her (if it was an arranged access visit), only a civil wrong (Hague Convention etc) when he failed to return her. The father is in prison for contempt of court for failing to return her or disclose her whereabouts.

English law has done all it can possibly do for her at present, and there is every likelihood the little girl is being cared for perfectly well by his family, she's just (wickedly) being kept away from her mother.

The cases are chalk and cheese, comparing them is (sorry) irrational.

YANBU

A bit of well timed PR from the Met to deflect from the damming report on Azelle Rodney's killing/assassination.

Eldritch. They are the same in as much as a child is missing. In the case of Elsa the police say that as it is in a foreign country they will not be able to follow it further whereas in the McCann case they are happy to go abroad.

They are both alleged abductions but one includes family members and the other doesn't. So intact the cases are bilberry similar.

They are not at all similar.

Apart from anything else, have you seen what's going on in Egypt at the moment? It's not exactly going to be an easy time for western police to start interfering.

The biggest difference is that there is no work to be done on finding out who took Elsa. That is already known. But we don't know who took Madeline, so there is a job to be done in finding that out.

If we knew who the abductors were in both cases and the British police were searching for one but not the other, then you'd have a point. As it is, you don't.

But we don't know who took Madeline, so there is a job to be done in finding that out

we don't know she was taken by anyone at all. That is pure supposition by her parents, eagerly embraced by the tabloid press, keen to foster the idea that there are opportunistic child abusers lurking behind every tree.

Exactly compos! It's stated as fact when it isn't a proven fact. And even if this is what happened, there is still a valid debate to be had about whether the Met has been justified in ploughing resources into a 2 year review when most unsolved cases don't get one, and now embarking on a costly further investigation.

Incidentally, for anyone still dismissing the fact that the parents didn't cooperate with the idea of a reconstruction: read the files. There are all sorts of anomalies which would have been addressed through a reconstruction. Eg: there is a witness who reported standing at a particular spot and seeing someone at another spot. It was subsequently found that her line of vision could not have taken that spot from where she'd believed she was standing. Also, a witness claimed to see a man walking by carrying a bundle while other people in the close vicinity didn't see him

Like I've already said, a degree of inconsistency is normal and to be expected. How many of us would remember exactly where we were standing at a specific time last night, what colour shirt some passer by was wearing etc? Nothing sinister about inconsistencies but that's exactly what a reconstruction is for: to try to determine a time line of events as accurately as possible, ruling out things which cannot have happened and which are the result of simple memory lapses

Cloudsandtrees. I take your point about the troubles in Egypt but you are wrong when you say they know where she is - they don't. Here family have abducted her and no one will let her mother know where she is.

If they had started to cooperate with the Egyption authorities in the way they are trying with the Portuguese when the case was new they may have actually got her back by now.

Therefore the point is totally valid!

I have just noticed that an earlier post has been deleted which was not a theory/accusation, merely stating a fact.
The McCanns really do seem to have some special status where no hint of criticism will be tolerated......

Completely over the top MNHQ and biased....

Odd isn't it toochoos, it won't be long before this thread goes pffft like the rest

Agree toochoos .I'm just amazed its lasted this long and that other facts that people have written haven't been deleted!!

Odd and actually makes people have less sympathy/more theories I think.
I will never understand how there was not a prosecution for child neglect..
This does not take away any sympathy I have towards the poor child and actually the whole loss for the entire family.

I expect this post will be deleted as well.

Yabu. I personally spend £1 million of tax payers money being spent doing up waity Katie's new house insulting, looking for a missing child- not so much!

we don't know she was taken by anyone at all.

You are right. We can't be 100% certain that she was taken. She may have woken up and wandered off, but even if she had, scared and sleepy three year olds don't tend to get very far on their own.

She may have got lost on her own, but the whole area has been extensively searched and it is highly likely that she would have been found if that had been the case.

We have no idea what caused that night to be the last time she saw her family, that's the whole point.

We do know what caused Elsa to be taken from her Mum though. I'm not saying we shouldn't look for her if there are reasonable leads to follow, obviously she deserves anything possible to be done for her. But it's still not the same as the McCann case.

I think it's impossible to draw exact parallels between cases but the wider point is that there are hundreds of thousands of missing children whose last movements are uncertain and where we don't know who they are with or where they are, and there is no other case which has had anywhere near the publicity and resources given to the McCann case. Who knows what leads might be uncovered if other cases were funded for the 2 year review which this case has had?

It's not helpful to try to draw comparisons between specific cases but its totally valid to discuss whether this situation is equitable and morally right.
And as many of us have pointed out, the 'special status' of the mccanns is something which doesn't sit comfortably with a lot of people. They believe that the public and to an extent the Met are being manipulated which calls into question the validity of the decision to spend the money on the case.

I've been told off for commenting on this thread so I will try not to say too much.

But not to say too much. Dinah Nicol, Vicky Hamilton, Becky Godden-Edwards, Heather West, Allison Chambers, Shirley Ann Roberts.

Suffice to say that there will be a lot of teenaged girls missing who've met the same fate and also won't become 'famous' until their bodies are found.

Should we be looking at spending money on this one case or joining the dots with other cases?

Why after all this time do people want to mull this over and criticise the MCanns? What is to be gained in that' putting it out there in a public forum - other than to revel in making sure they keep on getting a kicking. You don't like them and think they should be made to keep on being punished (as if they aren't) - ok we get it.

Abu
And disrespectful
Unless you know all the facts in every case (which you don't) then it it is not appropriate to suggest that an investigation should not take place.
Unless your point is that unless all cases can be solved then neither should this one. Which would be a fucking stupid point.

But why shouldn't they be criticised? Ultimately the fact their child is missing was because of their decision making. It isn't anything to do with liking or disliking them.

People still 'mull it over' because how vast sums of public money are spent, and how cases are publicised (or not) ARE matters of public interest.

Nothing to do with whether people 'like' the mccanns or not (stupid point really as most of us don't know them)
And as for 'punishing ' them .... Hmm, I then they're already being 'punished ' enough , if you want to use that terminology

And as for the ridiculous point about some people not wanting this case to be solved just because others aren't.. Well, maybe other cases would be resolved more rapidly if they had the personal involvement of the prime minister and huge costly reviews like this one has.

And actually we have ALL said we'd like to see the case resolved... We just don't believe it's going to happen through throwing another 5 million quid at it

Well, thankfully you lot aren't in charge.

£5 million really isn't that much in terms of national budget. Local councils can spend that on refashioning a small town centre. There's plenty of public money being spent somewhere that could be better if redirected.
I feel desperately for anyone who has had a child go missing. Almost unimagineable horror.
I can't bring myself to argue with any plan to find the truth in this or any other case.
Besides. Madeleine's case is of enough public interest to be worthy. Information uncovered in her case, be it evidence about a perpetrator, the mechanics of her disappearance, or the process itself has the potential to benefit other cases.

Emily - your last point is valid. But why is this one MORE valid than others? There are other cases where it may well be part of a wider 'ring' - we don't know, because they don't get the numbers of police working on them, full inquiries, the PM taking a personal interest, getting an audience with the Pope, the money spend on them. If we spent this sort of money on every child that went missing (and why not adults, are they less important) who knows what we might find in terms of paedophile rings and human trafficking.

But they don't spend this money or put this much effort into others. That is the main point we are making. Any criticism made of the McCanns on the thread is mostly incidental.

And if £5 million ain't that much, why are so many libraries, theatres sports centres having to close down?

I think the main point is conveniently passing a lot of people by