Finding Madeleine McCann’s Body - “Vermoedelijke Vindplaats”
IS Madeleine McCann dead? A letter to a Dutch newspaper. And a map showing where her body can be found. It’s credible:
Police in Portugal are investigating an anonymous letter and a map claiming to show where missing four-year-old Madeleine McCann’s body is buried.
The letter, sent to Dutch paper De Telegraaf, identifies an area 15km (9.3 miles) from where Madeleine vanished.
It strongly resembles another letter sent to the same newspaper last year, accurately pinpointing where two missing Belgian girls were buried.
Ch Insp Olegario de Sousa said officers were “checking the information”.
Next to a cross and two question marks, the sender writes “vermoedelijke vindplaats Madeleine” - this is the place where Madeleine can probably be found.
A murder investigation. And still only one suspect.
One day on and “BURIED UNDER ROCKS,” says the Mirror’s front –page headline.
The paper notes how the handwriting on the letter is the same as that on the paper giving the whereabouts of Stacey Lemmens and her sister Nathalie Mahy who went missing in Belgium last year.
As the Sun reports, the note says Madeleine is buried “north of the road under branches and rocks, around six to seven metres off the road” in an spot near Odiaxere, close to the Algarve resort from where the girl went missing 42 days ago.
The Mail says the author of this letter and, most likely, the one concerning the Belgian sisters, is unknown to police.
A certain Abdullah Ait-Oud, a convicted paedophile, has been charged with their murders. He denies any involvement. Although police believe he acted with an accomplice who has not been traced.
“MADELEINE IS BURIED HERE,” says the Express on its front page. Portuguese police are searching the area…
Mr McCann says:
“We were extremely disappointed in the publication of the anonymous letter in The Telegraaf claiming to know where Madeleine is buried.”Although all information will be taken seriously, we were very upset that the credibility of this letter had not been examined and, more importantly, published before the Portuguese police had an opportunity to investigate the claim, and search the area if appropriate without massive media attention.
“We feel strongly that this was an irresponsible piece of journalism and, even if it were true, is insensitive and cruel.
“One can imagine how upsetting it is for Kate and I to hear of such claims through the media and if every piece of information was published like this there would be nothing else in the newspapers.”
Read the update here - no body found…
Posted: 14th, June 2007 | In: Madeleine McCann Comments (274) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
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June 16th, 2007 at 1:08 pm
Well, that’s it folks - seen enough on here, so it’s bye bye to the Jonathan and Hopeful show!!
Going to have another look at the other Anorak Madeleine threads - much more interesting, real people there, less fantasy and less cringeworthy amateur detective theories.
“jonathan Says:
June 14th, 2007 at 4:16 pm
Dark Horse: yes it is a gripping story. I sometime get this crazy idea I should get on a plane and go and help…”
YES PLEEEASE JONATHAN, PLEASE DO.
Jonathan, your morbid fascination/fixation/fantasising about this case is unhealthy. Do you think about anything else, or do you do anything else but post on here? Don’t you have somebody who needs you? Posting on here about the McCanns is more important to you than your own family then?
You, more than most on this thread, really do need to get a life of your own.
June 16th, 2007 at 12:59 pm
I agree, however it seems unlikely that whoever took her would be silly enough to buy child products that could identify them. They would probably use normal off the shelf products. As for clothes, they would probably use charity shops.
I think the best that can be hoped for is that someone who knows the abductor sees them doing things that are abnormal to their usual routien. However even that is slim.
One problem is that is is very easy to make a little girl appear to be a little boy. A hair cut and colour change, with boys lothes and a hat of some sort is all it takes. I remember watching an old war film where people did such a thing to stop nazi’s killing the girls while boys were put to work.
I know this sounds defeatist, but it is reality.
However I live in the hope that no news is good news and she is still alive and being looked after by a childless couple, who will sooner or later make a mistake and be caught.
June 16th, 2007 at 10:35 am
Ok. A fund isn’t offical police investigation. Not sure that we ever questioned the police progress of the Japanese or back packing cases. Both have had closure. Each case is different, right? In any event, fair reasoning from both sides and an interesting debate. The Madeleine case is current and we can simply decide what we each think is most appropriate.
Changing empasis, is there anything we think the police should be doing?
Example. If Madeleine if being held locally, why not check local pharmacy and doctor records for sedative prescriptions? Local child related shop purchases? Quite a task, but it seems they are out of leads.
June 16th, 2007 at 10:05 am
jonathan - I hear what you say, but a missing child is a missing child irrespective of the circumstances as to why a child is missing. If more resousces were put into helping to find Madeline, the parents of other missing children would want to know why she is receiving preferencial treatment to their child. They after all do not have a help find Madeline fund.
I fully agree that this country wastes money hand over fist, but that is irrelevant to this case because the crime took place in Portugal. We overed no help in the back packing murder a few years ago, or the girl who was murdered in Japan, so why should Madelines case be any different. The fact that it is far more high profile does not give it any more importance to any other crime against a British subject committed overseas.
We all want Madeline found safe and well, but we have to keep the proper perspective on the case, otherwise too much interference could actual be detrimental.
June 16th, 2007 at 9:40 am
Hopeful: Sorry, I mean’t to say up top in my last post that whilst there are mixed feelings about it, parental fault shouldn’t be the deciding issue. Thats got to be seperate from Madeleine’s current needs.
June 16th, 2007 at 9:03 am
Hopeful: The number of stranger abducted children in the UK is actually quite small. As far as I can remember all the recent cases got closure if not a conviction. The Needham case from Kos and this one remain ‘missing’. One of the lead PJ detectives has been charged over allegedly beating the ‘convicted’ mother of another still missing child. Evidence may have been tampered with to fit their case etc. That is very worrying.
I don’t think we have to send a huge team but I think we need to put more pressure from PM level to have more involvement. Press criticism has made it difficult for the PJ to accept help. The Algarve is a nice place but Portugal isn’t the leading European country in terms of economics, infrastructure and standards. They take plenty of EU assistance/grants etc.
Additionally, the UK is currently risking troops and spending vast sums on questionable foreign military action. Why exactly are we fighting the Taleban? They aren’t Al Qaeda? Sorry, getting way off topic….
If you don’t want to sign it then don’t. Its the choice we have!
June 16th, 2007 at 12:54 am
keep your faith!! we will find her, xxx.
June 16th, 2007 at 12:52 am
Surely children that go missing in this country through no fault of the parents demands greater attention than a child who goes missing as a result of the parents negligence in a foriegn country, (that is not to say some resources should not be made available).
June 16th, 2007 at 12:52 am
just a few words to say how we all feel!! we know she’s out there somewhere doing fine and being treated well. lets just hope and pray she will be back very soon to see her brother and sister that i’m sure she misses so much and of course her mummy and daddy. all the best, kerri and jamie, dublin, xx.
June 16th, 2007 at 12:05 am
Minor detail, but how many are abducted 3 yr old girls and how many are voluntary runaways? The latter should be helped more, but thats a different topic.
June 15th, 2007 at 11:56 pm
77,000 people go missing each year in the UK, if more resources are made available to the McCanns, then the same would have to be done for the others. Where would the money come from?
June 15th, 2007 at 11:35 pm
Irrespective of any parental discussion, we can all do something pratical by signing the petition to the PM for more UK resource to me made available in this search.
http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/HelpMadeleine/
June 15th, 2007 at 11:31 pm
jonathan - I think the media and public would have warmed to them for putting their children first in light of their inital mistake. In addition it would have given the media at the press conferences more questions to ask about how the person doing the tour felt about being seperated from the rest of the family, thereby given more exposure.
June 15th, 2007 at 11:18 pm
Hopeful: Don’t disagree with point of view from the twins’ perspective. I have the same sort of distance between my own family units. The MacCann family was there for a while before the travelling started. Imagine if KM or GM hadn’t gone? What would the headlines then say? I’m sure they took advice on this. The sad part is that Madeleine is probably still in Portugal and we all think she isn’t because of all the theories and then there’s the PJ rules and legal system which seem to inhibit solid door to door style police work.
June 15th, 2007 at 10:52 pm
Why did they both need to go? One could have gone while the other stayed with the twins. Having lost their sister, they then lose their parents for prolonged periods too. They are too young to realise anything other than the people they usually live with have all gone. As for the extended family, the McCanns live in Leicester while the rest live in Scotland. How many times in their short 2 year lives will the twins have seen their extended family? They are probably as good as strangers to the twins.
June 15th, 2007 at 10:34 pm
Hopeful: I agree jogging seems weird but then KM probably had to ‘do’ something. I take the fund raising on face value. As for the ‘tour’ - you can’t do what they have done and hope to look after two young children at the same time. They have close, trustworthy family support to look after the twins.
Maybe I’m naive and simply believe that two high earning doctors with a comfortable life and three lovely children aren’t the money grabbing, manipulative, possibly guilty of who knows what people that some conspiracy fans are posting about.
June 15th, 2007 at 10:31 pm
Left open or not, it doesn’t really matter now. I’m sure they’ll never do it again.
I can’t imagine what they were thinking leaving them alone, with the door open,(if they did leave open).
Blaming them is futile. Nobody blames them more than they blame themselves, but please remember that the abductor is the evil one here.
I am so so sad for the parents. As time goes on this will get harder and harder for them. Everyday will bring further confirmation of their poor judgment.
It upsets me that they are suffering so much right now and I feel reallu uncomfortable with some of the comments Ive seen on various websites. The cruel comments being directed at the McCanns are quite heartbreaking. Living with themselves must be hard enough without stupid chavs hurling insults at them. It sickens me.
I believe in karma. What goes around definitely comes around.
June 15th, 2007 at 10:14 pm
The above article confirms that the McCanns were not the only ones who left their door unlocked. Everyone in the party did the same.
June 15th, 2007 at 10:04 pm
Just checked the weather for that night. Daytime max was 20 with min of 13. Unlikely doors were actually left open?
June 15th, 2007 at 9:58 pm
Police in Portugal are working on the theory that Madeleine was snatched through patio doors left unlocked by her parents as they dined just 40 yards away.
Until now, it was believed that shutters at the front of the apartment had been jemmied open by the little girl’s abductors.
But Chief Inspector Olegario Sousa, spokesman for the investigation, has confided in British former Chief Inspector Albert Kirby that neither the windows nor their shutters had been tampered with.
The above can be found at
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/news/news.html?in_article_id=454466&in_page_id=1770
The biggest problem is that Gerry McCann left the door open, then Kate McCann lied. She also went jogging the morning after the abduction. Gerry McCann has constantly smiled for the cameras. They then started a fund, and used money from that fund to tour other countries while their two remaining children were left in Portugal. Can anyone honestly say that these events are the actions of a couple grieving for a lost child.
If I had had a child abducted, and I do know what it is like to lose a child, I would not let my remaining children out of my sight.
June 15th, 2007 at 9:46 pm
Ted: I’m genuinely unsure beacuse there are so many conflicting reports. The closest I could find to your suggestion was comments from a former Scotland Yarder. He claimed they were open and Madeleine could have wandered off. In my search I also found a Daily Mail article from 25th May which says:
“When Kate went in about 10pm she immediately knew something was wrong because an internal door banged shut as she opened the front door - meaning a window was open somewhere.”
Implications is a suprising through draft. Means patio doors were at worst case unlocked but not opened? Do you have a better link?
June 15th, 2007 at 9:09 pm
Jonathan - police and Mark Warner spokespersons denied forced entry. The doors had been left open by whoever was supposedly checking on the kids.
June 15th, 2007 at 8:50 pm
There has been very little media about this in the US. It’s very interesting and thought provoking to see the posts here, which I perceive to be
very possible scenarios and reasonable opinions. Hopefully those who disagree so disagreeably on other forums will allow those with different perspectives from theirs to express their opinions here.
June 15th, 2007 at 8:20 pm
Hopeful etc: Open or unlocked door? Quite a difference? Here is the comment from the bbc at the time:
“Mr McCann told the girl’s aunt, Trish Cameron, from Dumbarton near Glasgow, that at about 2200 that night they had found the door open, with the bedroom window and shutters jemmied open. “………
“They think someone must have come in the window and gone out the door with her.”
The PJ have never any supplied detail so we will have to take GM’s word for it for now.
Quite a different story?
June 15th, 2007 at 6:56 pm
Correction to my last post - that should be MISSPELLED I think, no hyphen. However, MISSPELT it definitely is not Ms Jones!
Re the McCanns criticising the media regarding the disclosure of the letter - they have used the media for six weeks now, and have succeeded in keeping the story front page news - almost to the point where it seemed to be the only event in the world worth reporting on - to the tabloids at least.
Its a bit rich now for them to criticise the very people they have courted and encouraged and, indeed, seem to have desperately needed.
Soon, no doubt, the media will turn against the McCanns - and this in turn will increasingly sway public opinion against them too. The power of the Fourth Estate should not be underestimated. We have seen it happen time and again.
As someone rightly said earlier, the newspapers know their readers, and know exactly how to pander to their audience’s morbid need to become personally involved in these outpourings of “public grief”, which seem to be occuring with increasing frequency.
Newspaper publishers will do whatever they have to do to sell newspapers - that’s their job.
June 15th, 2007 at 6:37 pm
in reply to hopefull you could have a very good point,the mcanns are walking around with smiles on there faces i know for a bloody fact if god forbid it was happening to me i would have to be sedated or something,i know they have to carry on for the sake of the other kids but theres just no way that i could do it.and like you say if you look at the facts closely the finger of blame points to the them,oh and the sick and twisted monster who toook her.but lets face it if they hadnt of left her on her own this would not of happened and she would be safe.
June 15th, 2007 at 6:20 pm
No idea where you got that from chezza_girl, because its wrong. It was reported on day 2 that the abductor got in through the open door. The fact that the window blind was initially thought to have been disturb was disregarded as it was determined that it had been distrubed from the inside.
That is part of the reason some people think the McCanns had something to do with the alleged abduction. When the facts are looked at very closely, it is not an unreasonable assumption.
June 15th, 2007 at 6:16 pm
Jean Jones Says:
June 14th, 2007 at 3:14 pm
“And to those who say spelling etc doesn’t matter - spelling always matters, whatever the context. There are still a lot of people around who don’t rate the arguments of someone who can’t spell properly. And so, to me and many others, do the way people are referred to and addressed. Doesn’t everyone hate having their name misspelt?”
Er - that’s MIS-SPELLED dear. You can bet your life that everybody will be dissecting your posts now, and any irregularities will be jumped on. Serves you right - what a tight-ass you are!
June 15th, 2007 at 6:04 pm
There was actually signs of a break in
June 15th, 2007 at 5:51 pm
Why are so many people blind to the facts and consequences of those facts. Yes the person who took Madeline is the scum of the earth, and will be brought to book eventually, but if the door had not been left unlocked she would not have been abducted.
Who left the door unlocked, Gerry McCann, when he made the 9.10pm check. He is therefore responsible and no one else. Also people seem to forget the fact that the checks weren’t even regular. The next check did not take place until 10pm, 50 minutes later. Who in their right mind leaves 3 children under the age of 4 alone in an apartment, whether locked or not for 50 minutes. Anything could have happened in that time.
What if there had been a fire. The children would have had just 4 minutes to live. During that time they would have either breathed in smoke and died gradually, or from the intake of superheated air in which case their small lungs would have literally cooked in the young bodies.
With the door unlocked Madeline could have wandered off although that is virtually impossible as the door would have been too heavy for her to have opened if she could have reached the handle.
The point is, Gerry McCann who now parades in front of the camera smiling, (it made me sick to the stomach to watch the Morroco walk about yesterday), was the person responsible, and no one else.
Those of you who say that we should have compassion for the McCanns are wrong. They were out socialising while their children were left at risk from untold dangers. Why should we have compassion for them?