The Sun Shines On Madeleine McCann
MADELEINE McCann is still missing.
“WE HAVEN’T GOT A CLUE,” says the Sun’s front page. The paper quotes Chief Inspector Oligario Sousa: “We have examined many leads, but each has now been discontinued. Everything that we have looked at so far has been discounted.”
At least this is what Sousa is telling the Sun. The Portuguese police have not involved the British press in all aspects of the hunt for Madeleine McCann. Sousa is not a recognisable face to British readers and TV watchers from press conferences. The E-fit picture of Madeleine was not made available to the Sun.
So instead of the Sun saying how tireless Portuguese police work is, by a process of elimination, moving ever closer to solving the mystery, readers get an altogether less positive headline.
The message is that the Portuguese police haven’t a clue, and this despite the McCanns thanking them for their hard work. And this in light of what the Mirror calls an “official news blackout”.
What will get results is the Sun’s poster, which it tells us is “a big hit”. The poster is “flying around the globe”. Thanks to the Sun, 15,000 posters of Madeleine’s face were handed out at Saturday’s Celtic v Aberdeen football match.
“Maddie cops are back to square one,” says the Sun. Although they are not. The Portuguese police have ruled out suspects and possibilities.
But no matter, because the Sun will crack the case. Or at least spread the anxiety, remind people that a girl has gone missing and that it could have been your child.
But the Sun is not alone. Here’s Tony Parsons in the Mirror. He has lost sight of his child:
“My wife and my daughter were in the school changing room packing up the tutu after ballet. I was waiting right outside, kicking around a ball with the kid brother of one of my daughter’s friends. Eventually my wife came out alone. ‘Where is she?’ my wife asked. ‘Isn’t she with you?’ I said. And that’s how it happens.”
Parsons’ child was found in a classroom. She was “chilling out”. Nearly all children are found. The theft of a child is extremely rare.
Parsons is a victim of the anxiety of what is routinely called “every parent’s worst nightmare”, and he is helping to spread the virus of fear.
Meanwhile, away from Parson’s ballet trauma and a football match in Scotland, the Mirror leads with yet another picture of Madeleine McCann’s parents. More time for readers to see the strain “etched” on their faces. “PRAY FOR MADELEINE,” says the Mirror’s masthead.
There is no news of Madeleine McCann. But the papers continue to report without any need to inform or educate, to spread the fear and compete to show which of them cares the most…
Posted: 14th, May 2007 | In: Madeleine McCann Comments (80) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
Comments
June 25th, 2007 at 6:41 pm
If you care so much about poor little children then give to oxfam. Or is it only cute blond haired little white girls that matter
Incidently none of you actually think she’s alive right?
June 22nd, 2007 at 12:48 pm
she’s such a sweet little girl i dont see why some sick bast**d would take her.
i think that when they find her and when she comes home safley that the man should be tied up put in a room with her dad for 1 hour so he can do whatever he likes to him! And not get arrested or charged with it!
June 20th, 2007 at 5:51 pm
^ HOW DARE YOU SAY GIVE UP.
June 20th, 2007 at 5:50 pm
give up.
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with the wandering.
FiND MADDiE!
June 18th, 2007 at 9:43 am
[...] Should police have attended? Should police have sealed off the area? Pointing The Finger The Sun thinks they should. It thinks it shameful that Sousa has “blamed” the McCanns for “his bungled [...]
June 17th, 2007 at 2:18 pm
find maddie
June 14th, 2007 at 9:42 pm
“The people responsible for her disappearance have been parading themselves on TV for almost 2 and a half weeks!” - Ross
Translation:
Ross thinks that little children are all fair game to him and his ring of twisted vermin and any parents who give him a chance to snatch their children deserve it.
June 10th, 2007 at 9:55 am
[...] politicians and footballers offered help and displayed how much they cared. Parents hunted paedos. Empathy was all. But Madeleine McCann is a story, one with a single thread. And now that has been [...]
June 7th, 2007 at 11:23 am
ross- you speak on every forum so negatively,
also you keep saying you dont give a f*@k about the missing girl,
why do you torment yourself on these forums then?
May 25th, 2007 at 9:05 pm
why is everyone so sceptical. you can see the torment on the parents’ faces. i believe, as has been said here already by someone, that many of us have left our kids unattended even for a second. children have been taken from their own homes when the parents are a few feet away in the same house. it may be rare but it does happen. they may be ‘responsible’ for this but they certainly seem to realise their error now. hindsight is a wonderful thing as they say.
May 21st, 2007 at 9:47 pm
The people responsible for her disappearance have been parading themselves on TV for almost 2 and a half weeks!
May 20th, 2007 at 10:45 pm
Of course there is a possibility that she wandered off on her own, although this is speculation as well. However, if she wandered off on her own, she likely would have been found already. Being four, it’s not like she could drive away into the sunset. She couldn’t have gotten very far on her own at all.
I’m sure it’s an avenue the investigators explored. Now they have to broaden their lines of inquiry into other directions, because it is their job to do what they can to bring Madeliene home, and see that whoever is responsible for her absence is brought to justice.
.
May 20th, 2007 at 11:02 am
Pure speculation.
This case is a missing person’s case. Until the Portugese Police state otherwise, there is the possibility that the child wandered off by herself. As her parenst were off on the piss I think that this is a distinct possibility.
Again, the UK press has shown themselves to be utter scum. They are using this family to sell papers.
May 19th, 2007 at 8:52 pm
There are not enough words in my vocabulary to describe how i feel about some of these horrific opinions - obviously from ‘people’ who have no children. GET A LIFE! I have a 3 year old daughter and Maddies abduction makes me feel physically sick every day for the parents, but more so for the little girl herself. It seems the focus has been taken off her. She will be so unfamiliar with everything around her - my heart breaks just thinking about this. If there is a God please please return her safely
May 19th, 2007 at 8:13 pm
I am in America, and Madeleine’s story touches us here too. As a mother, it is the worst of all possible fears.
What bothers me about Madeliene’s case, is the laws and policies of the Portuguese investigators. I don’t want to throw mud, but it would seem to me that in the case of a child abduction, getting the word out quickly is very crucial. I also wonder what makes Mr. Murat the focus of the investigation. I heard that he was making journalists on the scene uncomfortable with his behavior, and that one journalist in particular said his involving himself in the investigation as he did reminded her of Ian Huntley.
Ian Huntley didn’t specifically target his victims, or plan his crime in advance, as Madeleine’s abductor seems to have done.
If the police can’t comment publicly about this case specifically, I think they should at least be informing the public about what type of person likely would have commited a crime like this. It is most likely a white male, since child abductors rarely cross racial lines. Whoever took Madeleine was very well organized, no doubt closely watching and timing the situation. This suggests a person of some intelligence. He probably looked like a person who fit in at the resort, or certainly he would have drawn more attention to himself. I think whoever this was felt very comfortable in the area.
Yet I doubt he was a holiday guest. I don’t think he would’ve been hanging around for a room checkout, do you?
Also, whoever has Madeliene is likely not following their normal routine, or at least was not in the days immediately following the abduction. Does this person have a job? If so, they would have had to call in sick, or something. Did this person take Madeliene to his residence? If not, where? Another hotel or resort? A boat? An RV? If this person didn’t just bring Madeleine home, he must have access to some other temporary “home”.
So, If Mr. Murat did take Madeleine, where is she now? She would have been located already. I believe whoever took Madeleine still has her. I believe she is still alive, and certainly they are not hanging around the Algarve waiting for the police to come knocking. Remember, this individual planned this carefully. He was very intent on not being caught. Somebody out there probably has the key to this mystery, and they just don’t know it. I understand the Portuguese police must adhere to the laws they have sworn to uphold, but they also must do whatever they can within the bounds of those laws to educate the public and help bring Madeleine home.
May 19th, 2007 at 9:57 am
[...] – the papers discover a new angle of investigation: her sister. “MADDIE COME HOME,” says the Sun’s headline. “Tot hugs Maddie’s cuddle cat.” And there is Amelie McCann holding on to her [...]
May 15th, 2007 at 5:06 pm
I am also hoping that this child will be returned to her family. I have two children myself (although much older than Madeleine) but still the thought of one of them going missing like this still sends me into all sorts of emotions.
However although GM’s comments have drawn anger from people here, I don’t entirely disagree with them. I have a different slant in that I do think the parents have to take some responsibility for what has happened. Is there any reason the children could not have gone with the couple to the restaurant? Or the couple just simply not gone and had dinner at the complex instead? Could they not have simply paid childcare for a couple of hours while they were away? There are a lot of questions and I’m sure what I have said here is not going to be popular with a lot of people. My apologies now. However I feel they are valid questions and I would like them answered.
Mainly though I hope to God she is alive and will be returned to her family soon. There are lessons for everyone to learn form this, especially for us parents.
May 15th, 2007 at 8:59 am
The Portuguese police have handled this case very badly, and, much as I hate to say it, the British press have actually done more to raise awareness and solicit information in this instance. I find the tone of this article and some of the comments here extremely inappropriate, considering we’re talking about a real child. “Nearly all children are found, ” you tell us patronisingly. Well, that’s OK then is it? I’ll remind you of that when it’s your child that’s missing.
May 15th, 2007 at 8:59 am
Anonymous,
They could perhaps focus on the different areas to be searched, or even do something practical like try to organise local people into doing searches in particular areas, this at least would be something useful rather than spotlighting someone’s tears. This would give them both something to report and allow them some sort of legitimate pride in trying to do something. They have enough people already there.
If this ends up overlapping with the police activities then this would be the fault of the Portuguese legal system for not allowing a co-ordinated approach between investigative agencies (and I have little doubt that most journalists fall easily into this category).
GM
Your comments are insidious and nasty, and are based on speculation, and is also one of the few things that the Portuguese police have ruled out.
May 15th, 2007 at 4:19 am
Anorak, I urge you to check into GM and find out who this person is. Having reread his/her comment above, I feel the anger and psychotic nature of the comments require investigating. Why would a person post such language such as Madeleine is “a nobody, the parents are nobodies, the family is nothing?” Why say the amount of money is “sickening” and that the family “don’t deserve” the money?????
I find these comments hugely suspicious! Please act on them.
May 15th, 2007 at 1:14 am
I agree with you Alex. GM, Do you have children? God I only hope not, and you Diane for that matter!! Everyone I personally speak to has huge sympathy for the family.
If you’re so bloody sick of hearing about it Diane, piss off away from websites such as this. You say you’re sick of hearing about it, yet you continue an interest.
People like YOU make me sick. You selfish pair!!!! How dare you!!!!
I only hope and pray that somehow, this innocent, beautiful little girl will arrive back in her parents arms safe and sound, and that the absolute bastards who have taken her will rot in hell along with you 2 for your foul, disgusting opinions…..
May 14th, 2007 at 11:52 pm
Wtf ban that bastard gm for such a vile comment
May 14th, 2007 at 11:34 pm
GM… you are a sad and sick individual. There is NOTHING to suggest the parents had anything to do with this. You are pathetic.
Can any parent say that they’ve NEVER given an abductor the chance to snatch your child? Even if you’ve never left your child alone in a hotel room, have you never popped into a shop while leaving a child in the car for 5 minutes? Have you never allowed your child to ride their bike in the street, or play in the garden? Have you watched their every moment while they’ve been outside just simply ‘being kids?’ Have you never allowed them over at a neighbour’s house or at a kids party where you’ve allowed other parents you barely know to supervise them? Have you never been distracted checking out the merchandise in a shop while unaware your toddler has wandered off to the next aisle?
None of us are perfect, even those who might think you are.
May 14th, 2007 at 11:21 pm
maddy stay strong everyone will do thr best to get u back to ur mummy and daddy we need u to hold on just a bit longer little one! mum and dad we hope u get ur little girl back use dont deserve to be put thru this! wee all wish u guys the best and we hope the best for maddy. everyone thr is a band on bebo wed like everyone possible to show they care and join this band leaving the love aswell. http://wee-maddy.bebo.com(copy and paste that into ur internet search box thanks)
May 14th, 2007 at 10:37 pm
little maddie l hope you will come back from the over people i wish you can come back to your mummy and daddy and brother and sister.
May 14th, 2007 at 10:14 pm
madeline plz cum home
May 14th, 2007 at 10:13 pm
every1 plz hlp 2 find this girl. sum ppl think its all a big joke but imagine how thyre family r feelin at this difficult time.so plz keep ure eyes peeled. : )
May 14th, 2007 at 8:12 pm
well i think gm has no right to say wt they are they do not kno the family or the little girl and how they are feeling it sounds like a big joke to them. which is sick wot would u do if it was your family.
May 14th, 2007 at 8:01 pm
God help us all…
May 14th, 2007 at 7:28 pm
GM’s comments are pretty harsh, but to be honest, I think they’re true. Everyone I talk to is pretty much tired of hearing about this girl.