Nobody ever seems to look at these odd characters who hit the phones the moment there's a big news story.

Police are always "delighted" when thousands hit the phones - but are they really?

Do they appreciate all the work chasing up "leads" - 99% of which are from total loonies?

I cannot imagine the man hours all those 8000 must have occupied (man hours NOT spent finding the truth).

I don't doubt MOST of those callers felt they had genuinely helpful contributions to make but, as I found when I went through the hundreds of discarded calls from people when my case hit the headlines, a huge percentage are barking mad or, at best, seriously deluded and deranged.

When will police, CPS, judges admit; the media coverage usually does far more damage than good. I wonder how many thousands - millions - of "helpful" calls the police and parents have had about Maddie McCann. Not done a lot of good, has it?

Yes there is the chance of finding the needle in the haystack; I'm not condemning the principle - simply wondering why nobody appears to question the sanity of the majority of callers/claimants/accusers/witnesses.

I think, if asked, any honest police officer would say - around 99% of callers are not only NOT helpful but are from unbalanced individuals (many of whom can easily be found online).

In the past the police dreaded these public pleas because of the very reasons JK says- nutters by the score and time wasters hog the phones.

But it's another bit of proof that media sensational nonsense now drives public and authority opinion.

Whatever happened to Maddie she is no different or any more or less important than the 100s of other kids who go missing every year-in the USA tens of thousands...but the media have crafted the Maddie tale into one of monumental importance...for the media the disappearance of Maddie is the gift that keeps on giving.

I would hazard a guess...the British police know absolutely fuck all about her disappearance and probably less than the local Portuguese police did...but the media beast must be fed and obeyed or they too- the plods- will feel their lash.

Yes; extraordinary how the vast majority of callers inspired by media coverage are time wasters and quite bonkers; like the Twittersphere, it's proved just how many members of the public crave attention.