The Portugese police have now finally decided not to do anything re the parents (having made them "official suspects") and have now resumed their regular (?) line of enquiry and are rattling the "usual suspects", ie, the local pedophiles and other ne'er do wells. Also the police evidence upon which they made the parents official suspects has been found faulty.
I don't believe the parents are anything other than totally distraught parents doing their best to recover their lost daughter. They published a photo of her - she has an unusual eye with a line in it, very distinctive. That would be helpful if she had wandered off and got lost; but it might also have signed her death warrant - if she were still alive.
The parents are getting a lot of church and community support, both in Portugal and in the UK.
I have followed it, if I recall correctly, they had said they could see their room from where they were. I believe and put their child down for a nap and locked her in the room. When they went back she was gone. Maybe it was wrong to do that, but I do NOT believe they did anything to their daughter.
Heck, my sister was WOW with Rob!n A (as a leader) and she would tell them to leave their kids ALONE while they went witnessing -- that God would watch them. My sister refused. I do not think she was a bad person, just too trusting. That is how I see these folks.
They couldn't see the room (from reports I've read, some of which tend to fiction) but it wasn't far away and the complex was very close to where they were dining, just a couple of minutes' walk. It was a holiday location and clearly the parents felt relaxed in that environment. The parents said they checked back every 20-30 mins that the kids were okay and the kids were always asleep. Until one of them was missing...
Many parents go out and leave their sleeping toddlers (if the kids normally sleep through the night and have no particular problems) while the parents take a brief break, so although it wasn't ideal, it wasn't heinous.
I feel deep compassion for these people. Can't imagine how much time they must have spent in "If only" land. Think I read somewhere that they now accept that Madeleine might in fact be dead.
Not closing on the parents - recently charged "official suspect" is the girlfriend of the very first suspect, Robert Murat, who I believe is alleged to be a pedophile.
After all this time it would be amazing if the child is still alive but stranger things have happened.
Don't know if this made it to US papers. The McCanns took proceedings against the noisiest news group that was printing stories against them and even before it got to court, the news group caved in. They have paid a substantial sum (now apparently noted as £550,000, which is significant in UK terms, maybe not US terms - the news group also has to pay all the costs) and have put huge front page apologies on all the newspapers printed by the news group.
Below is a synopsis from a website, not from the newspaper itself. if you Google "Daily Express" you'll probably find something.
Of course, it proves nothing except that the McCanns had been seriously defamed. Regrettably, it does not bring back the little girl.
McCanns accept £550,000 damages
Kate and Gerry McCann's £550,000 libel award over false newspaper allegations that they were responsible for the death of their daughter Madeleine will be used to help fund the search to find her, the couple has announced.
They were not present at London's High Court for the settlement of their action against Express Newspapers when a judge heard of the "untold distress" they had suffered as the result of publication of more than 100 defamatory articles.
In a statement read out on their behalf after a hearing before Mr Justice Eady, the couple, whose four-year-old daughter went missing from the family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on May 3 last year while her parents dined at a nearby tapas bar with friends, described the allegations against them as "grotesque".
They said: "As part of our settlement, Express Newspapers have also agreed to pay damages, by way of a donation of £550,000 to the fund that was established to help find Madeleine. We feel it is entirely appropriate that the search for Madeleine will now benefit directly out of the wrongs committed against us as her parents. We hope that the Portuguese authorities lift our arguido status in the very near future so that everyone can focus on finding our beautiful little girl, Madeleine."
The couple said: "Express Newspapers rightly acknowledge that we are innocent of all allegations that we may have been involved in Madeleine's abduction and we would like to reiterate that there is absolutely no evidence that Madeleine is dead or has been seriously harmed. We embarked on this course of action reluctantly, indeed with a heavy heart, as we did not wish the pursuit of it to become a distraction from our sole aim - finding Madeleine."
Earlier, the couple's solicitor-advocate, Adam Tudor, told the judge that from the late summer of last year until February this year, the Daily Express, the Sunday Express, the Daily Star and the Daily Star Sunday, which have a combined circulation of several million copies as well as a substantial online readership, published more than 100 articles which were seriously defamatory of the couple.
He said: "The general theme of the articles was to suggest that Mr and Mrs McCann were responsible for the death of Madeleine or that there were strong or reasonable grounds for so suspecting and that they had then disposed of her body; and that they had then conspired to cover up their actions, including by creating 'diversions' to divert the police's attention away from evidence which would expose their guilt.
"Many of these articles were published on the front pages of the newspapers and on their websites, accompanied by sensational headlines.
"In addition to the allegations referred to above, the Daily Star published further articles (under the headlines 'Maddie mum sold her' and 'Maddie sold by hard-up McCanns') which sought to allege that Mr and Mrs McCann had sold their daughter in order to ease their financial burdens. A further article alleged that Mr and Mrs McCann were involved in 'swinging' or wife-swapping orgies."
Mr Tudor said that, as Express Newspapers now acknowledged, all of these allegations "were, and remain, entirely untrue".
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Tom Strange
haven't heard about it... what's up?
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GeorgeStGeorge
I believe it's another case of missing child, parents presumed killers.
George
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doojable
Here's an article:
Madeleine McCann Missing
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Rocky
Is there any other plausible scenario?
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Nottawayfer
It's hard to say with what that article entails. What have you read that makes it a plausible thought Rocky?
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Twinky
The Portugese police have now finally decided not to do anything re the parents (having made them "official suspects") and have now resumed their regular (?) line of enquiry and are rattling the "usual suspects", ie, the local pedophiles and other ne'er do wells. Also the police evidence upon which they made the parents official suspects has been found faulty.
I don't believe the parents are anything other than totally distraught parents doing their best to recover their lost daughter. They published a photo of her - she has an unusual eye with a line in it, very distinctive. That would be helpful if she had wandered off and got lost; but it might also have signed her death warrant - if she were still alive.
The parents are getting a lot of church and community support, both in Portugal and in the UK.
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excathedra
why these parents left their three babies alone while they went out to dinner, i'll never understand....
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Dot Matrix
I have followed it, if I recall correctly, they had said they could see their room from where they were. I believe and put their child down for a nap and locked her in the room. When they went back she was gone. Maybe it was wrong to do that, but I do NOT believe they did anything to their daughter.
Heck, my sister was WOW with Rob!n A (as a leader) and she would tell them to leave their kids ALONE while they went witnessing -- that God would watch them. My sister refused. I do not think she was a bad person, just too trusting. That is how I see these folks.
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excathedra
a lot more to it than that dot
no way could they see the room from there
and there's so much other stuff but i'll just wait and see....
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Dot Matrix
wasn't it on America's most wanted? I think they showed where they were and the room was in their view...
Anyone recall? I may be wrong.
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Twinky
They couldn't see the room (from reports I've read, some of which tend to fiction) but it wasn't far away and the complex was very close to where they were dining, just a couple of minutes' walk. It was a holiday location and clearly the parents felt relaxed in that environment. The parents said they checked back every 20-30 mins that the kids were okay and the kids were always asleep. Until one of them was missing...
Many parents go out and leave their sleeping toddlers (if the kids normally sleep through the night and have no particular problems) while the parents take a brief break, so although it wasn't ideal, it wasn't heinous.
I feel deep compassion for these people. Can't imagine how much time they must have spent in "If only" land. Think I read somewhere that they now accept that Madeleine might in fact be dead.
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excathedra
i think they are closing in on the parents
may not happen today or tomorrow, but in the next few months....
(from all my sources, ha !!!!!)
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Twinky
Not closing on the parents - recently charged "official suspect" is the girlfriend of the very first suspect, Robert Murat, who I believe is alleged to be a pedophile.
After all this time it would be amazing if the child is still alive but stranger things have happened.
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excathedra
time will tell dear twinky
if i'm wrong, i will say i'm sorry
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excathedra
time is starting to tell
portuguese police will be going to england now to question some folks
(sadly i believe dear little maddy has been dead since the beginning of may at the time of her staged abduction)
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Twinky
Don't know if this made it to US papers. The McCanns took proceedings against the noisiest news group that was printing stories against them and even before it got to court, the news group caved in. They have paid a substantial sum (now apparently noted as £550,000, which is significant in UK terms, maybe not US terms - the news group also has to pay all the costs) and have put huge front page apologies on all the newspapers printed by the news group.
Below is a synopsis from a website, not from the newspaper itself. if you Google "Daily Express" you'll probably find something.
Of course, it proves nothing except that the McCanns had been seriously defamed. Regrettably, it does not bring back the little girl.
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