Madeleine McCann

[quasar]

Madeleine McCann has made front page news in my country at the moment. Detectives have put out an identikit of a woman they are looking for. She has an aussie accent and looks similar to Victoria Beckham. A witness has come forward to say she said something on the night of her kidnapping indicating her envolement.I dont know why the unnamed witness took this long to come forward - he's done a bit of a hutchinson. Anyway, they are taking it seriously and think that she holds the key to the puzzle. Q.

[Mrs. Fiddymont]

I've heard about this too. I really really hope this leads to something. I can't imagine what it's like to have a child missing with no clue where she is/what happened to her. Poor baby. :-(

[Faith]

There's been nothing posted on this thread for a very long time now and I was wondering what are member's feelings now on the case ? Has the lifting of their arguido status convinced you that the McCanns are indeed innocent of any involvement in their daughter's disappearance or has the hoopla they have surrounded themselves with made you even more suspicious ? Your thoughts please.

[louisa]

My views on the Madeleine McCann case are set out below.

I would not directly accuse anyone of the child's murder but I have grave misgivings about the parents, for the following reasons.

The day after Madeleine went missing her mother was photographed jogging along the beach. The child's father was photographed playing tennis.

Now if that was my child I would be out scouring the streets, even if I thought it was futile, I would have to do something.

When Mrs. McCann was interviewed in Portugal she was faced with 40 questions. To each question she replied 'No comment'.

Here are some of the questions that were put to her:

"Was Maddie hyper active and too much of a handful for you to cope with?"

"Were you in negotiations with another family member for Maddie to be adopted by them?"

"Did you kill Madeleine"

As stated Mrs. McCann replied 'No comment' to all of the questions. Surely a simple 'No' - especially to the above three questions could not have harmed her case?

I feel that the British police treated the McCanns with kid gloves and did not give full co-operation to the Portuguese police, hence a lot of important points seem to have been covered up, or ignored.

[Haskins]

On BBC this Monday, Crimewatch are presenting up to date evidence and a new police re-construction. Let's hope it leads to something.

[Beaufighter]

Agreed.

I shall watch Crimewatch with some interest tonight.

I will be particularly attentive to the reconstruction regarding the open window in Madeleine's room. I have always understood that this could not have been opened or forced from the outside but there seems to be no reason why the abductor should want to open the window once inside the apartment. There was a front door which could be opened from the inside and there was the patio door by which the abductor had presumably entered.

[Haskins]

Yes I wondered what the point of opening the window would have been too. Also it's agonizing to think that, when Gerry McCann checked the room at about 9:25, the abductor was very possibly in the building, hiding, having been disturbed.

[Haskins]

Sorry above time should read 9:05. I just watched the Crimewatch programme. Scotland Yard are to be commended for their hard work and they have done well to seemingly eliminate the man in light trousers. But, to be honest, I don't really see that any breakthrough has been made. They are now placing more emphasis on the man seen at 10:00 pm by the Irish family, but this isn't new information and that man may have been equally innocent. But I suppose it is good that they are still trying.

[Beaufighter]

It did not seem to take it much further except to exclude the Jane Tanner sighting circa 9.20 pm and to make the Smiths sighting at 10 pm more relevant to the inquiry. How much further the two photofits are going to take the investigation we shall no doubt see. But the Smiths sighting was in poor light and obviously made several years before being asked to do the photofit.

From reading around the case it seems that Martyn Smith originally came forward with the identification that the person carrying the blonde child was not Robert Murat, an early but now excluded suspect. Smith, some months later, stated that the man he saw resembled Gerry McCann both in looks and the way he carried the child. There were however plenty of witnesses to put Gerry McCann elsewhere at 10 pm.

I wish that the programme had said one way or the other whether the police had discounted the possibility that the abductor entered via the children's bedroom window. Crimewatch gave the impression that the entry into the McCann's apartment was one of the spate of burglaries in which entry had been obtained through apartment windows. Yet I have read elsewhere that the window could not have been opened from the outside without force and that there was no evidence that the window had been so forced.

I still believe that the window question holds the answer to the profile of the abductor. If the abductor had entered through the window, then this would seem to indicate that the abduction was not pre-planned or carried out to order, as any pre-planning would have revealed the fact that the patio doors had been left unlocked.

[Haskins]

Yes, but unfortunately there simply isn't enough evidence to reveal any further light on the window. I think that the abductor(s) may have opened the window to provide quick access to the car park and reduce the risk of bumping into someone when coming back out the door

I recall Mrs McCann saying in an earlier documentary that the morning of the abduction, Madeleine had asked an unusual question along the lines of "Mummy why did you not come when we were shouting?" This makes me speculate that the abductors could have been conducting some kind of reconnaissance the night before.

Also I do wonder if, when Mr McCann checked the room at 9:05, the abductor was already inside somewhere hiding. Mr McCann said that he had noticed the door was ajar, even though it had been shut when he originally left Madeleine.

[louisa]

This is my theory....

I've followed the case of Maddie McCann right from the beginning. It all seems very fishy to me. The seven friends of the McCanns (who were in the restaurant on the night of the 'abduction') kept altering their stories. As events progressed, the police wanted to seize their telephones and laptops but I don't believe this was ever done, mainly because of the public sympathy for the McCanns. The british police were treading softly because of all the high profile people that became involved, Richard Branson (amongst others) was donating money to the 'find Maddie' campaign. The public seemed outraged that the McCann's could possibly be considered suspects.

I became interrested in the case on the second day when photos were in the papers of Kate McCann 'occupying her time' jogging on the beach and Gerry McCann playing tennis. This was the day after Madeleine had gone missing! I thought it was very odd behaviour. If you look at YouTube videos of Kate McCann you'll see no emotion there, but then of course everyone grieves differently etc.

In Portugal Kate had to go to the police station and answer 40 questions. One of the questions was "Did you kill Maddie?" Another question was "Is it true that you were trying to get a relative to adopt Maddie because you couldn't cope with her?". Kate McCann answered "No comment" to all 40 questions. She could have simply answered "No" to a lot of them.

My theory is that Kate and Gerry gave Maddie and the twins drugs to keep them asleep whilst they went out with their pals. They had probably done this before. This time Maddie just wouldn't wake up - an accidental overdose.

The conspiracy of friends began. One of the McCann's doctor friends (they were all doctors) removed Maddie's body to his own chalet (and from there disposed of her from his boat a few days later).

Once the alarm was raised you can imagine the hullaballoo that ensued inside the McCann's apartment with the friends and the police swarming around. However, the twins slept on. They were still asleep hours later when they were carried from the apartment.

[Abby Normal]

This is my theory....

I've followed the case of Maddie McCann right from the beginning. It all seems very fishy to me. The seven friends of the McCanns (who were in the restaurant on the night of the 'abduction') kept altering their stories. As events progressed, the police wanted to seize their telephones and laptops but I don't believe this was ever done, mainly because of the public sympathy for the McCanns. The british police were treading softly because of all the high profile people that became involved, Richard Branson (amongst others) was donating money to the 'find Maddie' campaign. The public seemed outraged that the McCann's could possibly be considered suspects.

I became interrested in the case on the second day when photos were in the papers of Kate McCann 'occupying her time' jogging on the beach and Gerry McCann playing tennis. This was the day after Madeleine had gone missing! I thought it was very odd behaviour. If you look at YouTube videos of Kate McCann you'll see no emotion there, but then of course everyone grieves differently etc.

In Portugal Kate had to go to the police station and answer 40 questions. One of the questions was "Did you kill Maddie?" Another question was "Is it true that you were trying to get a relative to adopt Maddie because you couldn't cope with her?". Kate McCann answered "No comment" to all 40 questions. She could have simply answered "No" to a lot of them.

My theory is that Kate and Gerry gave Maddie and the twins drugs to keep them asleep whilst they went out with their pals. They had probably done this before. This time Maddie just wouldn't wake up - an accidental overdose.

The conspiracy of friends began. One of the McCann's doctor friends (they were all doctors) removed Maddie's body to his own chalet (and from there disposed of her from his boat a few days later).

Once the alarm was raised you can imagine the hullaballoo that ensued inside the McCann's apartment with the friends and the police swarming around. However, the twins slept on. They were still asleep hours later when they were carried from the apartment.

Hi Louisa
Not a bad theory, although I would leave out the friends knowing and helping.
I tend to suspect the parents in cases like these until they are unquestionably exonerated. The parents probably had something to do with it and even if not they should be thrown in jail for leaving there kids alone like that and also giving them sleeping pills. Total effing morons.
And if those pictures of them Jogging/playing tennis are accurate the day after there child is missing then they definitely had something to do with it or are total sociopaths.

[Haskins]

This is my theory....

I've followed the case of Maddie McCann right from the beginning. It all seems very fishy to me. The seven friends of the McCanns (who were in the restaurant on the night of the 'abduction') kept altering their stories. As events progressed, the police wanted to seize their telephones and laptops but I don't believe this was ever done, mainly because of the public sympathy for the McCanns. The british police were treading softly because of all the high profile people that became involved, Richard Branson (amongst others) was donating money to the 'find Maddie' campaign. The public seemed outraged that the McCann's could possibly be considered suspects.

I became interrested in the case on the second day when photos were in the papers of Kate McCann 'occupying her time' jogging on the beach and Gerry McCann playing tennis. This was the day after Madeleine had gone missing! I thought it was very odd behaviour. If you look at YouTube videos of Kate McCann you'll see no emotion there, but then of course everyone grieves differently etc.

In Portugal Kate had to go to the police station and answer 40 questions. One of the questions was "Did you kill Maddie?" Another question was "Is it true that you were trying to get a relative to adopt Maddie because you couldn't cope with her?". Kate McCann answered "No comment" to all 40 questions. She could have simply answered "No" to a lot of them.

My theory is that Kate and Gerry gave Maddie and the twins drugs to keep them asleep whilst they went out with their pals. They had probably done this before. This time Maddie just wouldn't wake up - an accidental overdose.

The conspiracy of friends began. One of the McCann's doctor friends (they were all doctors) removed Maddie's body to his own chalet (and from there disposed of her from his boat a few days later).

Once the alarm was raised you can imagine the hullaballoo that ensued inside the McCann's apartment with the friends and the police swarming around. However, the twins slept on. They were still asleep hours later when they were carried from the apartment.

A lot of people believe in that theory Louisa, but I feel compelled to comment that there is no evidence for it. It is true that the original Portugese police investigator accused the McCanns, but he was removed from the case, was later convicted of perjury in connection with another case, and is now widely discredited.

If there is any basis for your theory, when Kate McCann checked on the children at 10:00 pm and discovered the worse she would have had only minutes to dispose of the body before the whole village was searching for Madeleine.

Some have speculated that an accident occurred before the McCanns went to their meal but, if that was so, they would have to have played out a calm charade for two hours, knowing all the time what had happened. That just stretches credibility, as does the idea that all their friends were in on it. (Why would they agree to cover that kind of thing up? Who would , particularly at such short notice?

The Tapas 7 did offer slightly different evidence accounts, but 7 different people always will.

Some of the 7 didn't really help much, I don't think, by, making wild accusations against Robert Murat. That did have something of a pack mentality about it, I have to say.

But I think the case against the McCanns is pretty non-existent, except in the realms of speculation, and even there it is stretched pretty thin.

[miner2049er]

You should read the book that the McCanns tried to ban, "The Madeleine Foundation" which goes over all the evidence, including the sniffer dogs that detected death and blood in the apartment, in the rental car and on clothes.

It also goes over the 48 questions mentioned above.

Also, just my opinion, but if the McCanns had been jobless and from a council estate, they would be in prison by now and would have no public sympathy at all.

[Haskins]

You should read the book that the McCanns tried to ban, "The Madeleine Foundation" which goes over all the evidence, including the sniffer dogs that detected death and blood in the apartment, in the rental car and on clothes.

It also goes over the 48 questions mentioned above.

Also, just my opinion, but if the McCanns had been jobless and from a council estate, they would be in prison by now and would have no public sympathy at all.

Also there is a TV version of that book on YouTube. It's not very, er, objective though and neither the British or Portugese police interpret the sniffer dogs as indicative of the McCann's guilt. I think it's fair to say that if either did the McCann's would still be suspects.

But I daresay you are right about the McCann's background. It was because they appealed to middle england that the story became so huge. Having said that, this wouldn't explain the massive global coverage and I remember that the Shannon case had a lot of national coverage as well, even though Shannon came from a jobless family on a council estate.