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i found this about madeleine

286 replies

loopylou6 · 09/08/2007 21:33

Intercepted telephone calls and emails between the McCanns and their friends have "confirmed the death of Madeleine" say police, according to one Portuguese newspaper today. The intercepts are said to have been made in a joint operation conducted by Portuguese and British police officers.
Diario de Noticias reports investigators have already concluded that the missing four-year-old was killed in the apartment where she slept in Praia da Luz.

It says that Maddy's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann (right), and their friends who were holidaying at the Ocean Club, will be brought in for further questioning. Police are awaiting new tests from the McCanns' Renault Scenic.

According to another paper, Jornal de Noticias, police want to examine inconsistencies in the statements of Kate and Gerry McCann, who were interviewed separately late into the night early on in the investigation. In particular, they want to focus on a three-hour period in which only the McCanns saw Madeleine.

Respected news agency Lusa quotes one police source saying that they think "there's light at the end of the tunnel" and that the authorities have "an idea of what could have happened" to the four-year-old.

Police have known "for a month" that Madeleine had died in the apartment, it is widely reported. The tabloid newspaper 24 Horas says that the police are looking for Madeleine's body in the sea, helped by English sniffer dogs. They have intensified searches around the nearby town of Lagos and along the Algarvian coast, it says.

Blood found in the apartment two days ago has arrived in Britain for DNA analysis: a result can be expected inside 48 hours.

OP posts:
binklehasflipped · 09/08/2007 22:54

well if it isnt, it darn well should be desi. We were in Portugal two weeks ago and the taxi drivers were, to put it kindy, maniacs. They did have mercedes with rather cool built in booster seat for dd though..I made sure I buckled her up before shutting the car door because they were off like a shot

Desiderata · 09/08/2007 22:54

... of course, I am tempted to say more on what a person of normal intelligence would do with regards to leaving small children alone and unwatched in an open apartment ... but I won't.

I'm far too good and kind for that

binklehasflipped · 09/08/2007 22:55

Have to say, no mention at all of Madeleine that I saw in Portugal, apart from a small poster on the ladies toilet door at departure gate at Faro

Desiderata · 09/08/2007 22:55

I know! I was there a month ago. I read about their driving standards, so we hired a car instead!

White knuckle rides, I believe!

Desiderata · 09/08/2007 22:56

I saw loads of posters in early July. Almost every shop-front had a pic.

binklehasflipped · 09/08/2007 22:56

totally! I'd lost all bloodflow to my face through gritting my teeth by the time we'd got to the hotel

binklehasflipped · 09/08/2007 22:58

Might depend whereabouts you stayed as to coverage of it I suppose - where we you? we were near vale de lobo

Desiderata · 09/08/2007 22:58

It's terrible, isn't it? I've always been a nervous passenger at the best of times. And Portugal is kind of the worst of times!

paolosgirl · 09/08/2007 22:59

Have just come onto this - I read in an UK paper today (can't remember which one) that the apartment had been left unlocked so that they (ie the McCanns and their friends) could all take turns to pop back and check on the kids. Did anyone else see that? If so - could negligence be argued?

I don't think for a minute that the McCanns had anything to do with it, but I can sort of understand why the local people feel some animosity to them, sadly.

Desiderata · 09/08/2007 22:59

No, we were mid-way along the Algarve. Not particularly close to the event. Maybe it's true that the more local outlets have taken the posters down, given the passage of time.

houseofhormones · 09/08/2007 23:02

Nobody know what really happened but I don't understand how people can say , absolutely that the parents were 100% innocent of any wrong doing

We don't know them personally so how can you say that?

I don't know what to think but that has been from the start. I think it is an extremely unusual case. But we don't know if the parents or the parents friends had anything to do with that sad night. We don't know if she was even abducted nor do we know if she was murdered or suffered a tragic accident

I do know I found the media circus/hype distasteful as well as the fundraising.

Other high profile cases (Sarah Payne, Ben Needham, Holly & Jessica etc) those parents acted with such grace and dignity in light of the most horrific circumstances.

So we don't know anything for sure and I'm not sure how some can sit at home and say they do, but I have a feeling in the next few weeks there may be some answers, I hope so anyway, for all concerned

binklehasflipped · 09/08/2007 23:03

unfortunately, I think negligence is irrefutable (sp?). If, for example the child had wandered off half asleep out of apartment and into swimming pool and near drowned I think we would be seeing a completely different set of circumstances legally re the Mccanns - however as it is - they cant be punished anymore than they are being by the torture of not having the child with them so different situation so far.

paolosgirl · 09/08/2007 23:09

Houseofhormones - you're right - no-one can say 100% that they weren't involved. Personally, I can't bring myself to think it as it would be so hideous, that I prefer (if that's a word I can use here) not to beleive it iyswim.

LittleBella · 09/08/2007 23:09

Oh so now they haven't been dignified enough.

What does that mean?

Have they not had enough stiff upper lip or something?

I do think it's a lot to ask that parents going through anguish should display enough dignity to please us. I expect they feel like tearing their clothes and hair and screaming. That they don't actually do that in public, given what they must be doing through, is quite enough dignity for me, but perhaps I have very low standards.

Desiderata · 09/08/2007 23:09

I agree, little binkly person!

Desiderata · 09/08/2007 23:10

LittleBella .. you're very aggressive.

Just an observation.

LittleBella · 09/08/2007 23:16

D'you think so Des?

Perhaps I am about this issue. But TBH I think there are some things it's reasonable to be aggressive about, and people using the anguish of parents whose child is missing as entertainment, is one of them for me. Speculating on the very unlikely possiblity that they murdered their daughter (because after all, that's what parents do, isn't it?), criticising their demeanour, finding it odd that the McCann's are not the same as me and don't behave in the way I think I might behave in their circumstances, is so unreasonable tht imo it is excusable to be aggressive about it. I make no apology for being belligerent in the face of some of these posts. They just irritate me, they're so pointless and speculative.

houseofhormones · 09/08/2007 23:21

I meant dignified in the way the were seen in those terrible days following their tragedies and since

They didn't jaunt off around the world, they held press conferences and did the grieving in private.

A lot of this backlash has come about in the way they have acted and the biggest issue people have is the fund (in part to pay legal fees?) I know lots of people turned off the sympathy due to this. Our media is notorious for bigging people up then laughing as they bring them down. The McGanns were either badly guided or..well I don't know the 'or' it has been a very strange situation

We don't know these people so why defend everything they do so vehemantly?

paolosgirl · 09/08/2007 23:25

Would we have defended them so much if it had been a young single mother leaving her 3 young kids to go out on the razz with her pals?

You bet we wouldn't.

LittleBella · 09/08/2007 23:36

Oh FGS

Because I know nothing about them.

Nothing

And I don't have the need to speculate wildly about their character, their motivation or their actions.

I just don't understand why so many people revel in the chance to speculate about whether they're a Bad Lot and appear to believe that they know more about them than I do. They don't, they know only what the media has told them.

I find it bizarre. Hence my perceived vehemence. It's not that I think they're wonderful (they may be, they may not be, I have no idea) it's that I think people who find them so fascinating that they want to speculate wildly about them are really very strange. Sorry but I do. Sorry for the vehemence.

paolosgirl · 09/08/2007 23:42

I think there is a psychological reason for this (someone more informed will correct me, I'm sure) - as far as I can recall it's common to pass judgement as a means of protecting yourself when these hideous situations occur. By saying that you wouldn't have done X/behaved in such a manner, you effectively persuade yourself that because you wouldn't do what they've done, that 'thing' can't happen to you.

Countingthegreyhairs · 09/08/2007 23:49

I'm too tired to be posting really but I agree with LittleBella. I'm not defending their actions on the night, but if my dd went missing I'd do ANYTHING to get publicity; particularly if my dd had a distinctive feature such as a Madeleine McCann's eye that could lead to a member of the public recognising her. One could interpret the McCann's publicity campaign as an effort to do everything they can possibly do for the love of their daughter, in unbearable circumstances.

As others have mentioned, there's no point in speculating - we don't know who's guilty - but until we do, would it hurt to have some compassion, and at the risk of getting flamed, I find Sherlock Holmes humour (even if it is mild) to be pretty distateful in a thread of this sort.

Desiderata · 09/08/2007 23:52

LittleBella, honestly, it's fine. You're quite correct to feel the way you do. This is one of the first times I've posted on MM threads, because I feel pretty much the same.

But with the passage of time (and this is life), it becomes easier to say things.

I don't think that many people on this thread have been judgmental, tbh. But it's a curious case, and people have a yen for such things, however obnoxious that may sound in print.

I'm on the fence. I believe that the little girl died on the night she went missing. I believe that in the majority of cases, this is the truth.

Please don't feel belittled in any way. You have put up a spirited defence, but with regards to most posters, you're preaching to the converted.

houseofhormones · 09/08/2007 23:54

People will speculate about a case that is so very unusual.

Some will say there for the grace of god of leaving 3 small children, others will say it's something I would never do and a discussion is born

I belong to a number of forums and here is the only one where the majority of posters are 100% on the side of the parents and their actions since

Maybe its because most are mothers of young children and this is just so very terrifying, because of the original reports. This is every parents worst nightmare

You can be empathatic but why the stand against anyone that critisises actions of these parents? I too think we would have seen a very outpouring if they hadn't been white, middle class, also if that darling baby had wandered off and had a tragic accident but been found straight away

I fall into both groups, this family has had a huge loss and deserve empathy but also deserve some critisism over their actions leading up to and since this tragedy.

Maybe if they had acted differently and not taken the advice of the PR people, people wouldn't be feeling the way I (and others)feel

Pan · 10/08/2007 00:02
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