Carl wrote:
If the police really do believe the Mccanns are guilty of killing their daughter why have they not been charged after hours of intense questioning.
The Portuguese police are an absolute joke and should be ashamed of themselves.
The latest phase of this investigation with the Mccanns being classed as official suspects surely shows how desperate the police in Portugal are to finding an end to this sham of an investigation.
It now seems very unlikely that Madeleine will be found alive and my own instinct says she was probably taken by some sort of sick paedophile ring before being abused and killed.

How do you arrive at ANY of those conclusions?
In what way are the Portugguese police "a joke" (except that The Sun says so - because they won't "play ball" and feed them info)?

The girl was almost certainly killed by her parents - just as the vast majority of children who are harmed are subject to the abuse by someone close that they know (often family members).

ALL the news at the moment is coming from the McCann family !
The full story must be even more damning !

Anthony wrote:
Do we even have a right to know the truth as many seem to think? I am not suggesting that the media shouldn't report stories of this nature, but surely the only rights we have are to be kept informed of issues which affect our lives directly as part of humanity.

This is a private and personal human tragedy connected directly only to those concerned and/or implicated. I do not regard it as any of my business. Can our desires to know the truth be attributed to anything other than our own personal curiosity?

Well, whose fault is that? The police have kept quiet (as required by Portugal law) and ALL the salacious bits are being fed (hourly?) by the McCann family !

THEY were the ones who sought universal publicity - they can hardly complain now they have got it !

You are quite right, ITK. The McCanns are guilty of either actively courting publicity, or at least allowing themselves to be manipulated by the media. That does not alter my instinct that it is none of my business, and I have no desire to formulate theories about what happened to the little girl.

If others feel differently, I wouldn't criticise that.

Anthony wrote:
You are quite right, ITK. The McCanns are guilty of either actively courting publicity, or at least allowing themselves to be manipulated by the media. That does not alter my instinct that it is none of my business, and I have no desire to formulate theories about what happened to the little girl.

If others feel differently, I wouldn't criticise that.
I really don't think "guilty" is the appropriate word to describe their involvement with the media.

Oh well, thanks for taking time out to exercise the high degree of pedantry required to criticise one adjective used in my previous post, zoo. Maybe I could employ you to vet all my subsequent posts for such lapses. My use of punctuation, for example ,can be somewhat lacking at times. Who knows, after a year or two of your proof reading, you may have me upto the literary standards expected of a successful author, or even journalist.

Meanwhile, back to topic, an innocent little girl is probably dead, and I still don't think it is appropriate for us to be using tabloid methods to be pointing fingers at those we consider, without any full knowledge of the circumstances, to be "guilty".

People often believe the picture which is first painted for them by the media. The media told us all that Michael Jackson was a kiddie fiddler, therefore many people believed that he was. The media paint the McCanns as wronged saints, therefore many people can't believe it's possible for them to have done anything wrong.

The media pipes and most people jump to the tune.

I've no idea what happened to little Maddy. We only have the word of the parents that she was in the hotel room at the time they said she was. Might be true, might not. Their behaviour was weird, leaving three very small children in a strange hotel in a strange country for at least an hour and refusing to take advantage of the hotel's baby sitting service. All parents know how long an hour is to a very young child. Not many parents would have behaved that way. But that just makes them iffy parents, it doesn't make them killers. It just raises a few suspicions that things were not quite right.

The pedo ring is another media hyped conclusion. Apart from the fact she's missing, there's no evidence for that at all. It's just that pedophiles are the popular topic, like witches once were. She could just as easily have been taken to sell into slavery in the East. Young blonde white girls probably fetch a high price. We might never know.

It's natural for people to speculate, but I'll reserve judgement on whether the parents are guilty of anything. Hopefully if an arrest is made it'll be based on clear evidence and not just suspicion.

Moving slightly away and picking up on a point from NancyD, about how long an "hour seems to a small child."

I hadn`t thought of that until now, but do recall that much from probably an earliest memory.
An hour used to seem like a day when very small.

On the news... "they are glad to get away from the media pack"!

What naivety.

You court the media, you get the media, you never lose the media.

Even I know that.

The only sense is to learn how to USE the media.

JK2006 wrote:
On the news... "they are glad to get away from the media pack"!

What naivety.

You court the media, you get the media, you never lose the media.

Yep - they have abandonned their long (free) summer holiday, err, sorry, that should read "search for their missing daughter" - and are heading home.

Strange, isn't it, how the thought of having your collar felt tends to focus minds?

In the know(Self proclaimed name) I'll tell you why the Portuguese police are a joke.
It took them several days to put border controls in place AFTER Madeleine was reported missing by her parents, surely that is the first thing that should have been done immediately. This was one failing amongst many others and no I did not read that in The Sun newspaper.
As for the paedophile ring, that is my own personal opinion, like your own personal opinion is that the parents are the killers. I do not proclaim myself to be an expert I have my opinion you have yours.

Hello Mr In the know. A question for you, Why have you not been in touch with the Portuguese police seeing as you obviously have some kind of first hand knowledge that the McCanns killed their daughter?
Perhaps you witnessed them do it, could you please let us know what method was used as you are such an expert on this, have they confessed to you?
Perhaps you would also be better off living in Portugal as you seem to think their police have been doing such a great job with their investigation.

Carl wrote:
Hello Mr In the know. A question for you, Why have you not been in touch with the Portuguese police seeing as you obviously have some kind of first hand knowledge that the McCanns killed their daughter?
Perhaps you witnessed them do it, could you please let us know what method was used as you are such an expert on this, have they confessed to you?
Perhaps you would also be better off living in Portugal as you seem to think their police have been doing such a great job with their investigation.

No special knowledge - just common sense !
The behaviour of these parents was quite extraordinary - rather than wanting to look for their daughter they seemed far more interested in flying round Europe and doing interviews (and meeting the Pope).

I see they have come back to the UK "for the sake of the twins". Who was looking after these twins during the last four months when they were on their European tour?

Now they "cannot speak because of Portugeuse law" but still manage to issue a press release every single hour !

In case you want to buy Maddie merchandise I've included a link !

http://store.findmadeleine.com/

Carl wrote:
I'll tell you why the Portuguese police are a joke.
It took them several days to put border controls in place AFTER Madeleine was reported missing by her parents, surely that is the first thing that should have been done immediately. This was one failing amongst many others and no I did not read that in The Sun newspaper.

and why would they do that?
Children go missing all the time - and most are found (locally) within an hour or two.

The Portugeuse police probably also know the same FACT that the British police do - that when children are harmed it is usually by someone they KNOW - not a complete stranger !

There is NOT the slightest evidence that she ever left the country (although the Sun did their best to feed this rumour - I wonder why?)

As for the paedophile ring, that is my own personal opinion, like your own personal opinion is that the parents are the killers. I do not proclaim myself to be an expert I have my opinion you have yours.

Based on what evidence?

The evidence for an abduction by a paedophile? One damaged window. Weigh that against the evidence that has accumulated against the parents. Maddie's blood in the apartment plus the same blood in a hire car they used. Added to that many inconsistencies in the McCann's versions of their actons on the night their child disappeared. I have never subsrcribed to the line that 'everyone is innocent'. Some people just get away with it. I'm with ITK on this.

The McCanns certainly went on a rocky road when seeking so much media attention-the low point: getting involved with that rediculous TV vigilante and opportunist John Walsh in the US. None of it has led to the slightest hope of finding what has happened to poor little Madeline. It's ironic that the former suspect Murat has hired Max Clifford-that's who the McCanns should have looking after them.

As for "blood in the car"-remember Lindy Chamberlain the Dingo Lady. It was supposed blood in her car that got her wrongly convicted and banged up for a few years after a forensic "expert" from the UK testified. Years later it was proven that the "blood' was simply red paint.

veritas wrote:
The McCanns certainly went on a rocky road when seeking so much media attention-the low point: getting involved with that rediculous TV vigilante and opportunist John Walsh in the US. None of it has led to the slightest hope of finding what has happened to poor little Madeline.

But it did divert attention AWAY from the family (the obvious suspects in most cases)?

Forensic technology has moved on a bit since the Dingo Lady days. However, the blood 'evidence' can't be that conclusive since the parents have not been charged. Their 'suspect' status was created partly to allow a certain form of questioning, and to ensure, under Portugese law, that they could not make comments on the case to the media. It might mean no more than that. The deal on offer suggests that the police may believe one or both parents to be involved but that there is insufficient evidence to pursue a conviction.

The big question re the blood in the hire car is, if this car was hired several days after the girl's disappearance, where had she been hidden before being allegedly put in the car, and how did they transfer her undetected, considering the close scrutiny of their movements by a variety of media. Would this mean that there was another accomplice?

So many questions. So few answers. Although, the Portugese police do keep their investigations under wraps, so maybe they have other evidence which has not been revealed as yet.

Al

This "we cannot speak because of Portugeuse law" is a farce - the McCanns (or their family) seem to issue a new press release every hour ! In fact - we would not know ANY of what we currently know if it were not for the McCann family.

Looks like it's "game over" !

I see Maddy's parents have hired a lawyer who is an expert at STOPPING extradition (and once defended mass murderer General Pinochet) !

I wonder what will happen to the millions raised for the "fund"? Will the gullible fools ask for it back - ot will they be too embarrassed?

I was not going to comment on the disgraceful behaviour of our gutter press but i find myself compelled to speak.

If Maddie was hidden by the McCanns then how come the Police did not find her. Do you think that 5 weeks from her 'death' that it would have been easy for the McCanns to move her without detection, without a strong smell. Surely the Police would have more evidence of this.

As for the behaviour of the McCanns 'let he who has suffered a sudden violent death of a baby cast the first stone'. I see humans haven't changed much in 2000 years. How else would you react ? Wouldn't you go to the Pope, Church, Lourdes if in their shoes ?

Their actions don't show guilt. My point is at this stage is that nobody knows. I think the headlines are deliberately mean't to deceive and to send subliminal messages to the fickle 'mob' to 'crucify' the McCanns. I'm not defending them but i won't attack them either.