Little Madeleine

[debih]

I'm with Frank on this, I have always thought that

I completely echo that.

[debih]

Well said

And that

[KateLMead]

I always had the feeling she was buried in the vicinity of the church where building was going on close by the hotel. Let us pray the child is found to end this misery of her loss.

[Kaz]

Yes indeed.................poor little love xxxx

[moondancer]

I absolutely hate the way the McCann's are idolised and feted by the media and the authorities. As far as I am concerned they are, and should remain, prime suspects and be treated as such.

.

In my own head I am 100% certain they don't know what happened to her; why would they keep pressuring everyone to search if they were guilty of anything at all ?

And as for being" idolised and feted", is that their fault ?

Why should they be condemned because of huge media interest ?

I don't understand the hatred that this couple have, and are still, receiving

Usually I'm the first to be sceptical about parents, but in this case they are genuine grieving parents who have had their most precious little girl taken away, and my heart bleeds for them, it really does.

[Nanna]

I absolutely hate the way the McCann's are idolised and feted by the media and the authorities. As far as I am concerned they are, and should remain, prime suspects and be treated as such.

.

In my own head I am 100% certain they don't know what happened to her; why would they keep pressuring everyone to search if they were guilty of anything at all ?

And as for being" idolised and feted", is that their fault ?

Why should they be condemned because of huge media interest ?

I don't understand the hatred that this couple have, and are still, receiving

Usually I'm the first to be sceptical about parents, but in this case they are genuine grieving parents who have had their most precious little girl taken away, and my heart bleeds for them, it really does.

That's exactly what I feel. Thanks for putting into words for me M x

[Workingman]

I have made it perfectly clear, on a number of occasions, that I do not hate the McCanns. Hating the media circus surrounding them and the case of Maddie is not the same thing. Clear?

"Stranger abductions" are as rare as hen's teeth. The SOP of police forces the world over is to suspect the nearest and dearest, along with family and friends - all of them go on the list. They are only removed once their innocence is confirmed. The McCanns have never been formally removed from the Portuguese police's list even though the case is closed.

That they are idolised and feted in the media is wholly their fault. One of the first things they did was to phone the media. They hired Clarence Mitchell, PR man/Spin doctor, for a reported £75,000 per annum to put their side of the story across. That story changed from the initial locked door and jemmied window break-in to unlocked patio doors and no damage at all to any window or shutter once the police version came out.

I cannot say with 100% certainty what happened that night, but I can say that for me there are too many discrepancies and inconsistencies for the McCann's version to be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth.

[cromwell]

In my own head I am 100% certain they don't know what happened to her; why would they keep pressuring everyone to search if they were guilty of anything at all ?.

That makes sense.

I don't understand the hatred that this couple have, and are still, receiving.

I don't know if it's hatred, maybe something like "Not them again"; factors like
1. You left your kids alone, it's your guilt, not ours.
2. As WM says, there is a perception that if this had been Joe Soap and his missus from Sunderland, not a heart surgeon, they would have been met off the plane by the social services and charged with child neglect, not the poor Gerry and Kate treatment.
3. Similarly, Scotland Yard wouldn't have been pursuing the case seven years later if her parents weren't who they are.
4. There are other children who go missing every year; many don't even get a mention in the papers, never mind the Maddie phenomenon.

Like you, I believe that they are genuine. But I think a lot of people want them to just shut up and go away now, however harsh that sounds. My own belief is that there is no evidence to say that the girl was even abducted. She may have just wandered off; also that she was dead shortly after her disappearance.

[moondancer]

That they are idolised and feted in the media is wholly their fault. One of the first things they did was to phone the media. They hired Clarence Mitchell, PR man/Spin doctor, for a reported £75,000 per annum to put their side of the story across. That story changed from the initial locked door and jemmied window break-in to unlocked patio doors and no damage at all to any window or shutter once the police version came out.

.

Someone had kidnapped their baby ! I would have phoned the devil if I thought that would help.

[moondancer]

There are other children who go missing every year; many don't even get a mention in the papers

.

Name just one British child Cromwell, under the age of 10.