Madeleine McCann

[Maria]

Hi Clare:

I know the McCannīs have been critizised about the publicity campaign they launched to find their daughter. Did you know that there is another case dubbed : The Italian Madeleine McCann ? I did not know that one until recently when they thought they had found her. The reason we do not know about this Italian case, is precisely because this other little girl did not have the same level of publicity that Madeleine had. Nor the other four disappearances that took place in Portugal not far away from where Madeleine disappeared.

[anna]

Mornin' all.

Oh deep joy...now the McCanns are "Parents of the Year"....

Maria....I know you mean well,and think we are talking about people of a little higher than your normal joe,so there are reasons for their actions etc....but
Only you Maria.....only you!!...I feel like you'd even have an explanation for the un-explained!(deep sigh).

I am most concerned about a point that Maria has raised,that I had overlooked,will be back on the boards later,as I am interested in getting other womens reactions as to what they would do faced with a certain situation.

ANNA.

[anna]

P.S....

Incidentally Maria,
You are a valued friend of mine,and this is the only subject we haven't seen eye to eye on..
I would just like to say that your views on this situation show that you are a very compassionate woman,and I think thats a very good quality to have nowadays.
We only differ,as I am trying to look at this situation from a non emotional viewpoint...because it is after all a criminal case....if I didn't do this, I would probably share your view.
Apart from the fact,that there is an aspect of me that knows that there is something that I cannot explain....and I am not alone,so know that isn't incorrect....that tells me that there is much more to this than meets the eye.
As far as I am concerned personally,there were no clues to suggest that this was an abduction.....and the McCanns are trying too hard to convince,which seems strange,when they don't have to do anything,but sit tight and observe, as the whole thing works it's way through.
ANNA.

[claire]

Maria...I think that this whole publicity business is one of the key things that is odd about this case. I don't think that people, in general, believe that someone could go from the sort of crazed distraction resulting from a missing child to the cool detachment necessary to launch, and sustain, a publicity campaign of that nature. For sure, you'd want to do everything you could. But old Gerry sitting blogging about what the press said or didn't say about them is just so mercenary and calculating. Having a 'strategy' to deal with the police who you also expect to do their best to find your missing child? My God! That's almost unprecedented.

[Maria]

Anna:

Thank you for your kind words of friendship, I really like you too and I return the same feelings.

Claire,

Well I have to say that at the beginning I too also questioned the publicity but then I thought: " Maria suppose your child had gone missing, would you be happy staying at home wringging your hands and eating your nals or would you try to do something positive about it ? I think the easiest thing would have been to stay at home and have a nervous breakdown whilst waiting for others to do something. Then I realized that the publicity was definitely a positive move, as there was every chance someone could have seen something and would come forward with an important clue or could have jogged peopleīs memory about something they saw which could well re-unite them with their missing daughter.

Anna and Claire,

Personally I was an over protective mother to the point that my family and friends would make fun of me. My mother would say if Maria could breath for her boy she would... Everyone was very amused when my son was born and no one would be allowed to see him unless they wore disposable rubber gloves and a mask to see him and they thought I was exaggerated in the degree I cared for him, nothing sharp was allowed in my house, the knives including the cooking ones were blunt. All the sharp table corners and furniture were covered with foam. The electricity sockets were protected with plastic and the walls were all covered with carpet. The medicines and dangerous toxic cleaning liquids were way out of reach and locked. No plastic bags, no glasses just plastic cups and anything you could think of that it could be potentially dangerous I had taken care of. So it may seem strange to you that someone like me, perhaps should be more critical of the McCannīs since it took me a great deal to relax about my own boyīs security and well being. Maybe I just feel sorry this whole thing has happened to them, it must be awful.

[Maria]

Anna:

Well some people are saying that the McCanns killed their daughter but given that they did not have a car at the time... how can anyone explain what did they do with Maddieīs body ? considering the whole world had their eyes fixed on them. I think it unlikely that they took a taxi to dispose of it.

Anyway... I will wait to see what is it that is bothering you that is hidden etc.

Best wishes,

Maria

[Jeff Leahy]

Personally I was an over protective mother to the point that my family and friends would make fun of me. My mother would say if Maria could breath for her boy she would... Everyone was very amused when my son was born and no one would be allowed to see him unless they wore disposable rubber gloves and a mask to see him and they thought I was exaggerated in the degree I cared for him, nothing sharp was allowed in my house, the knives including the cooking ones were blunt. All the sharp table corners and furniture were covered with foam. The electricity sockets were protected with plastic and the walls were all covered with carpet. The medicines and dangerous toxic cleaning liquids were way out of reach and locked. No plastic bags, no glasses just plastic cups and anything you could think of that it could be potentially dangerous I had taken care of. So it may seem strange to you that someone like me, perhaps should be more critical of the McCannīs since it took me a great deal to relax about my own boyīs security and well being. Maybe I just feel sorry this whole thing has happened to them, it must be awful.

Its strnge isnt it. I just took 'George' everywhere with me when she was born. I had a harness, A nappy change and a spare bottle and off i went. She must have done more recording studio's than any other baby in history?

Not that I ever remember her being much trouble for the first 6 -7 months. Only when she started to crawl..then she was trouble..well not trouble but off and active...but i dont remember letting her out of my site..we just went where i did..whatever I was doing

Were we weird parents Maria?

Seemed natural to me.

Pirate

PS She's just finished with the new boyfreind so I have her back this weekend!!!! she'll probably want to go shopping

[halomanuk]

Basically it doesnt matter how protective a parent you are,you would NOT leave children that young in a foreign place on their own - to go and have a meal for God's sake !!!


The whole point,IMO,of having a FAMILY holiday is to make it a family holiday.

Basically i would never never leave my 2 daughters alone and go out - the guilt of not spending time with them would be enough to ruin the evening.

[joelhall]

Basically it doesnt matter how protective a parent you are,you would NOT leave children that young in a foreign place on their own - to go and have a meal for God's sake !!!


The whole point,IMO,of having a FAMILY holiday is to make it a family holiday.

Basically i would never never leave my 2 daughters alone and go out - the guilt of not spending time with them would be enough to ruin the evening.

what he said.

[Limehouse]

Maria...I think that this whole publicity business is one of the key things that is odd about this case. I don't think that people, in general, believe that someone could go from the sort of crazed distraction resulting from a missing child to the cool detachment necessary to launch, and sustain, a publicity campaign of that nature. For sure, you'd want to do everything you could. But old Gerry sitting blogging about what the press said or didn't say about them is just so mercenary and calculating. Having a 'strategy' to deal with the police who you also expect to do their best to find your missing child? My God! That's almost unprecedented.

Hi Claire,

I think I can perhaps explain the McCanns apparent emotional detachment the McCanns display in public. They are trained for it in their jobs. This might explain how they could switch from emotionally crazed to detached. On the surface, they are professional and detached, but that doesn't necessarily mean that's how they really feel. I see it in my daughter often (she is a paramedic) but I know that she cares deeply.

What is surprising to me is that professionals trained to that level thought it was risk-free and acceptable to leave their children alone.

[Maria]

Pirate:

Yes ! when children start crawling it is a very tricky time and the first up right steps even more. I remember when my boy started to crawl at great speed all over the house. Once he accidentally pulled down the table-cloth and all the plates with food and glasses with drinks came crashing down the floor in one sweep ! So from then on... no more table cloth !

It is amazing how the most inoquous utensils like a table cloth suddenly become lethal, luckily as all the glasses were plastic as well as the plates then nothing happened just a mess of food and drink. Your language becomes: No. Donīt do that, No,no,no donīt touch that. The key word is always no and it is frustrating for the baby.

[cappuccina]

Exactly, LImehouse! This is why, in the US, they would now be in jail, and their remaining children cared for by relatives. There is something fundamentally and seriously wrong with these people.

They are, unfortunately part of the growing number of "parents" who have children for the wrong reasons, and view children as an - unfortunately - expendable commodity.

I will say it again; the McCanns need to be arrested.

[Maria]

Hi Claire,

I think I can perhaps explain the McCanns apparent emotional detachment the McCanns display in public. They are trained for it in their jobs. This might explain how they could switch from emotionally crazed to detached. On the surface, they are professional and detached, but that doesn't necessarily mean that's how they really feel. I see it in my daughter often (she is a paramedic) but I know that she cares deeply.

What is surprising to me is that professionals trained to that level thought it was risk-free and acceptable to leave their children alone.

Limehouse:

This is very true. To be a doctor, nurse or paramedic you need to have a profesional detachement, it does not matter how good you are in medicine if you do not have that, you simply have not got the mettle necessary to become a doctor.

My sister against my fatherīs advise became a doctor, his professional opinion was that she did not have what it takes to be a doctor, she was too sensitive and he thought she would not be able to have this professional detatchment in her life to let go, but against my fatherīs advice, she studied and graduated with honours and she later worked in a hospital for five years until one day... one of her patients, who was a mother of two and had an anurism had asked my sister not to let her die as her two boys would be left without a mother. This lady had to be urgently operated by her colleagues on a day my sister was not in the hospital often my sister was at that hospital even when she was not supposed to be there because she could not let go of her patients. Anyway, the patient died and my sister felt terrible she was not with her when all this happened, the relatives of this lady knew how much my sister had cared for her and so they invited her to the funeral; that was crunch time for her she was unconsolable she had identified herself far too much with her patient with the two children, as she herself is a mother of two and she could not cope. She left the hospital unexpectedly with her life in turmoil and after two months she felt she could not continue anymore and she resigned her post. A month later, my mother saw an advert for BAYER where they needed a qualified doctor in medicine, who was fluent in Spanish, German and English, and could travel to Europe, it was as though they were describing her. She got the job and she now works in clinical analysis in New Jersey, she has not looked backed, this was nearly 19 years ago.

[anna]

Hi all,
Yesterday,thanks to Maria's post,I discovered that Jane Tanner's room was closer to the McCanns than I thought,and wondered why she didn't go there as soon as she found Maddie gone.
I went to have a look in general around a few sites and found some interesting facts,including one startling fact that might suprise you all that concerns the twins.
The McCanns kids and Ella from their group were the only kids in the afternoon session that started at 2.30pm.They painted,did collage and went swimming.Kate takes Maddie to the area next to the Tappas bar,and spends more time with her than is originally thought.Maddie goes for high tea with the rest of the kids at 4.30 in the Tappas Bar resteraunt..according to Catriona Baker and Maria MJ,a cook....no nanny feeds the children.
David Payne is the last one to see Maddie alive after 5.30,when she leaves the creche.He spots Gerry playing tennis and asks where Kate and kids are,is told the appartment,he goes there and returns 30 mins later.
The McCanns leave the appartment and arrive at the Tappas Bar at 8.40.
(one set of parents have a baby monitor that has a range that can cover the distance between their appartment and the bar,so never check on their kids but rely on the monitor!!!!)
According to the resteraunt staff:They asked for food from 9pm onwards.(There was one person who ordered steak..it had to be re-heated as he was away from the table for some considerable time).
On that night,someone curiously checks on the appartment every 5 minutes from 9.30-10,leaving the rest unchecked,according to the police.
The McCanns say Maddie taken between checks...giving tight time frame,Tanner's sighting is to give it plausability.It all goes well,apart from
one problem...the fly in the ointment that is Jezz Wilkins...who spots Gerry and as it would look odd to ignore him,Gerry stops to talk.Which puts 3 people in the road....when this abductor chooses to strike.Neither men say they see Tanner...they are on opposite side of the road.Her sketch places them in the wrong position on wrong side of road.
Oldfield who originally said he offered to check on kids...then admits he only listened.According to Gerry's scribbled timeline there was no Oldfield check at 9.30.
Now this get's really interesting......Kates discovery at 10pm
Miss Pennington is the first on the scene after Kate raises the alarm"They've taken her"...she says she is in the appartment just after 10pm.She states THE TWINS WERE NOT THERE.....I assumed that one of the friends had already taken them to another appartment.
Oldfields appartment is next door,easy for twins to be slipped back to 5a just in time for arrival of GNR.Twins in deep sleep in cots minus sheets & blankets on a cold night.Police note this.Now believe that they were moved so appartment empty,to be prepared and cleaned as a crime scene.
Mrs Fenn offers to phone for police,Kate says they're already called.GNR not contacted until 10.40.
Fiona Payne says Kate kept putting her hand infront of the twins mouth,to check that they were still breathing.
A few facts...anyway.
ANNA.

[Limehouse]

Hi Anna,

With respect, I don't personally think things posted on internet sites consitutes facts.