Secrets And Suspect Evidence For Madeleine McCann
“PRAY for Madeleine,” instructs the Mirror’s masthead.
But there is no news of Madeleine McCann within the paper that wears a yellow ribbon on its sleeve in an overt display of caring. (How long will the ribbon feature? And will it last longer than the Mirror’s post-Iraq invasion WMD counter?)
But there is news in the Express. In “Find the Arab’s yacht” readers learn of a girl resembling Madeleine seen being taken aboard the boat of a “wealthy Arab family” in Malta.
We learn that the island’s “overstretched force” is “desperately” trying to trace the boat.
But tracing a boat is not a tricky thing, especially if the spotter can recall the vessel’s name. But they can’t get close enough. The Express says security guards are blocking their way.
Back in Portugal, an “official” tells us: “It is a distinct possibility that Madeleine has been held captive on a vessel like the one seen in Malta so we are very keen to track the boat very quickly.”
It is possible. Just as it is possible she is not on the boat and the people who thought they’d seen her got it wrong. Possible that the security guards were under orders to repel all borders.
Toscano Knows
Or that Madeleine is not with an Arab family touring the Mediterranean but the victim of a French sex offender.
The Express make mention anew of Antonio Toscano, the “television investigator” who claims to know all. He is also a “private investigator”. He may also be a chancer after the massive reward and fame. (Read Madeleine McCann’s Wearside Jack And Toscano’s Suspect.)
Toscano says he is “100 per cent certain” the Frenchman took Madeleine.
“I’m not willing to make any of the names public yet,” says Toscano. The police need time to work on the information I’ve given them… Every other lead has fallen down. The police are now working on the first credible information they’ve had since Madeleine went missing.”
So the sightings in Malta are not credible, or incredible, even? So too the sightings in Morocco, the Dutch map and man and woman in Portugal? Which makes us wonder why the Sun, which had an “e-fit over Madeleine McCann” when the Portuguese police thought better of bringing it into the investigation, is not demanding Toscano reveals all he knows?
Why do the public not know the identity of this prime suspect? We know all about Robert Murat, the “creepy” bouncy castle fetishists, the case’s only suspect. Why not this?
Madeleine McCann is missing and there is speculation, opportunism and grief…
Posted: 27th, June 2007 | In: Tabloids Comments (43) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
Comments
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July 4th, 2007 at 5:14 am
Initially when this poor little girl was taken, I avoided any news coverage of the story because my own child turned four within a few weeks of Madeleine, and I felt very strong empathy for the McCanns. I have since checked in on the story, hoping for news of her safe return or at very least, the capture of the perpetrator. I wonder how many of you who are so flippant and funny in your postings have spent significant time with a four year old recently. My own four year old is proud to be able to finally reach the light switch and panics at the sight of bandaids, after having one pull part of a scab off. My child skips when happy. I would not have ever left wee ones alone for that long. However, even if I had only turned my back for a second and lost my child, I would be reliving that second in horror until I held the child in my arms. I would not be satisfied by any police effort after so much time had passed with no news. The greatest fear most parents have is that something or someone outside of the parents control will inflict harm upon their child. It is so cynnical and sad that so many people look at this family’s misfortune and act as though they are benefitting from it. If someone had my child and wanted everything I had to ensure their safe return, I would hand it over without hesitation. The McCanns would have to be monsters to have ever said to themselves, “let’s make a few bucks off this whole thing.” They don’t strike me as being monstrous. They do, however, strike me as being not very aware about how they appear to the world, and were reckless in their decision to leave their children alone. But it so easily could have been different. Madeleine could have been resting peacefully when they returned. And no one would have ever known. No mothers would be upset at Shrek viewings, no one would be looking for a tear drop eye, it would be a relaxing family trip where the kids lay sleeping while the parents talked and laughed and drank.
This situation sucks. I blame whoever came in and took little Madeleine from her bed. And I feel worst for the girl herself. Shame on anyone who thinks it’s funny or that people are such cookie cutter outlines that the fact that the parents were eating tapas when she disappeared is cause for their condemnation. Granted, when I heard that, I said outloud,”couldn’t you order in?” But I also assumed that no one has felt these feelings more often and more cutely than the McCanns themselves, and that given the unpleasant possibilities of where she is right this minute, Madeleine was much better off where she was, with her Mom and Dad.
As far as Murat goes, if he is truly innocent, I feel sorry for him, and in that case, I hope for his sake that the offender is found and his name is cleared. But in regards to him being innocent until proven guilty, that luxury exists in court, not unfortunately before the trial. It is the job of the police to be suspicious. And to search for evidence to convict suspects.
The press however, has an obligation to report the facts dispassionately, and if Murat has been tried wrongly in the press and has suffered injury from their misinformation, than he should have some sort of legal recourse for that, at the very least they should be required to print a retraction at worst they could be sued for libel.
If Madeleine is recovered, she will need her parents and a lot of time to heal from what she has endured. If she is not found or is not found alive there is no money on earth that will ever be worth it, and millions of anonymous posters will be able to say exactly which flaws each person involved exhibited and why they are in part to blame for the little girl’s demise. But Beckham, and JK and Bryan Adams will go home eventually, and the money will not roll in, and the sad parents will be left alone in the dark to face the empty bed and the toys and well wishes never claimed by little hands. Let them hold their hope while they have it, and let them continue their hunt for their little girl. You don’t have to give them anything. But why do you find it so fun to try to take away?
June 29th, 2007 at 6:56 pm
anonymous Says:
June 28th, 2007 at 1:42 am
“Gerry, John, Hal
sad scary fuckers god help you lot quick
what knob heads”
anonymous - you’re getting better. There were actually two words in that sentence of yours which had more than one syllable. Well done!
Is that why you use the name “anonymous”? It has FOUR syllables!! Impressive or what … ?
June 28th, 2007 at 8:49 pm
Thanks for saying how clever I must be sherry. It is very nice of you but you didn’t have to, really. Flattery will get you everywhere.
Only thing sherry, you didn’t say - what is it you are for - your purpose - your raison d’être. Please tell
June 28th, 2007 at 9:11 am
ABE- you ask me “can you enlighten us all please” (re my purpose), so YOUR purpose is clearly to speak on behalf of EVERYONE. How clever you must be!
June 28th, 2007 at 7:20 am
If they find her tomorrow, where does the money go? No doubt it will be needed to cover all the “expenses” that have been incurred.
This all leaves a nasty taste. Pity they didn’t show so much interest in her when they had her.
June 28th, 2007 at 1:42 am
Gerry, John, Hal
sad scary fuckers god help you lot quick
what knob heads
June 27th, 2007 at 11:28 pm
sherry - can you enlighten us all please. Just what exactly are you for? I mean, everybody should have a use - to be useful, to have some purpose, there must be a reason why they have been brought into the world …..
Just what is YOUR purpose sherry - what are YOU for? Would love to know.
June 27th, 2007 at 10:48 pm
I believe that robert morat is innocent until proven guilty .I also believe maddies parents are probably living in hell at the moment and narrow minded people passin comments like the ones that are being passed is like water off a ducks back to them as there only concern is gettin there daughter back .I truely believe that that what goes around comes around so lets just hope that maddy is found safe and all those idiots out there get there just desserts.
June 27th, 2007 at 10:43 pm
HAL you said:
“…Which, in itself, is a miracle of such epic proportions that (in the words which Bugs Bunny uses to close out his cartoons), “That’s all folks”– and let’s not forget that most apropos, “What’s up Doc?”– just may be the coffin nails in the miracle market…”
It is obvious that you were keen to use these Bugs Bunny soundbites (as the paragraph seems utterly pointless otherwise, and is incredibly clumsily written), so you must think they are VERY clever and amusing- but the fact is that this paragraph has absolutely no meaning and doesn’t make any sense. Perhaps next time you should decide WHAT you want to say before you pick out your clever little witticisms.
June 27th, 2007 at 9:28 pm
Claire - I think you mean child molesters, not paedophiles. There’s a difference.
June 27th, 2007 at 8:17 pm
what about toscano? did he really show up in portugal?
June 27th, 2007 at 7:39 pm
Funny , but Joanne seems to have resigned her keyboard, finally!
June 27th, 2007 at 6:28 pm
claire Says:
June 27th, 2007 at 5:36 pm
I think of this poor little girl every day waiting for a miracle.
Claire, the only miracle you’ll get to see in this flight of fancy is the miracle that so many people were gulled, over so many, many days, into making so many donations to the MMI retire-to-Portugal fund (”Donations of £823,010.23 have been received to the fund to date”).
Which, in itself, is a miracle of such epic proportions that (in the words which Bugs Bunny uses to close out his cartoons), “That’s all folks”– and let’s not forget that most apropos, “What’s up Doc?”– just may be the coffin nails in the miracle market.
June 27th, 2007 at 6:28 pm
Penny an interesting though about the sightings being “staged” to keep the case high profile. I actually think though it is a case of tourist and locals a like “mistakenly thinking” that they saw Madeleine. If you go out to your own town center you would pretty likely see quite a number of todlers that match Madeleine’s description. It is interesting to note that once one Malta sighting made it into the local Maltese paper then others quickly followed. As one Maltsese policeman said, the one report of a sighting has had a snowball effect. Some sightings may be due to geniune concern for Madeleine but I suspect many othere’s are more motivated by the huge reward money on offer.
It’s funny how one unsubstantiated report by Ray Roberts who saw an Arab looking man with a small girl ,with what looked like a black wig has now brought forward one person who said she saw a girl with a black wig in the local supermarket on her own……yea right, Madeleine is really going to be allowed in a supermarket on her own !!
And now this sighting with an “Arab” family…….. hmm, instead of stowing Madeleine below deck the “Arab” family choose to get Madeleine off the boat onto the tourist hotspot of Malta and then get her back on board!
Even if in the highly unlikely event it was Madeleine and her abductors on Malta, wouldd really have left it this long from the initial newspaper sighting to make their getaway!
If you go on the Sun forum, there were actually posters on there that actually thought this “Arab yatch” sighting was credible and was the strongest lead yet, when I posted the reasons why I didn’t think it was very likely, I was roundly and jumped on some posters, saying my comments somehow were damaging their hopes and I should shut up!
This type of mentality seems to have taken hold on many tabloid readers who are believing every single reported sighting just because it appears in the paper! The media themselves also know that there paper sells more copy when they have a picture of Madeleine on their front cover, so they publish anything regardless of any substance to the story.
Remember the “Madeleine buried under rocks story”? The Mirror, the Express and a couple of other tabloids ran that as their front page story, knowing that even if it wasn’t Madeleine they could still have the headline, “Madeleine not found under rocks” the next day!
It just goes to show the old adage, don’t believe everything you read in newspapers is as true today as it’s ever been!
June 27th, 2007 at 5:36 pm
Neb,,I said PAEDOPHILES should be SHOT not ROB and i should hope the rest of the world thinks the same!
so please get your facts right.
im not saying Murat had anything to do with madeleines dissaperance,
police obviously have their reasons fo their actions raiding houses etc..
No one can say that someone is is 100% innocent of a crime,unless you know 100% who is,I think of this poor little girl every day waiting for a miracle.
June 27th, 2007 at 4:10 pm
Neb Says:
June 27th, 2007 at 2:58 pm
My apologies to anorak and to everyone using this site for a very long post below
Neb, those keyboard chimps who are following the playbook can’t drop the guilty tag which has been affixed to Mr. Murat until they’re directed to.
It’s an online version of good cop, bad cop, only it’s played out as pray for and bless the Clan McCann, and damn that _________ (fill in the blank) Murat.
It’s not that they can’t see, it’s that they won’t see–at least not until the playbook is updayed.
Those unpaid keyboard chimps (and yes, some are likely being paid for posting 24/7) will be having pangs of conscience, so their confessional boxes will be packed.
For the paid posters, the 24/7ers, it’s only a job and any residual regret is quickly washed away with a few pints and a couple of knock, knock jokes after their shifts are over.
June 27th, 2007 at 3:36 pm
I agree with you Penny
June 27th, 2007 at 3:05 pm
Any possibility that these are “staged” sightings to keep her media profile high? I’d be doing absolutely bloody everything if it was my child - BUT - I would not be doing what the Mccanns are doing. I would have been paying every low life crim within 50 miles to sniff out info and turn on one of their own. She’s not at Wembley Stadium or the Vatican and she’s not being paraded around the Mediterranean for the amusement of holidaymakers. IF she’s alive, she’s carefully hidden and most likely being abused. Prayathons might make the faithful feel better, but merchandise and balloons are not going to stir one iota of compassion in the bastards who have her and other kids, and they are too smart to let her be seen. This case destroys me, but I really dont think she’s alive.
June 27th, 2007 at 2:58 pm
My apologies to anorak and to everyone using this site for a very long post below, which is a cut and paste of a news article. I am posting this in relation to a series of comments by users over the past few days about Robert Murat. Several users said he was a paedophile, and one person said he should be shot. They said these things based on news articles they had read. Some newspapers are finally treating the story with greater responsibility and balance. The article below from the Sunday People is one example. I hope that those who were so ready to condemn Robert Murat before any formal accusation or trial will read this and reflect upon it. I’d welcome any comments from ‘Clare’ and other users if they have any additional thoughts on the subject.
HIS ONLY CRIME IS TRYING TO HELP
MISSING MADDIE SLURS HAVE RUINED ROB’S LIFE, SAYS AUNT
Exclusive by Rachael Bletchly
THE Brit accused of kidnapping four-year-old Madeleine McCann has begged his family: “Tell the world I am innocent.”
Dad-of-one Robert Murat is still the only official police suspect in the hunt for Maddie, who vanished 52 days ago from a Portuguese holiday apartment.
But last night his aunt Sally Everleigh told how new DNA evidence will reveal her nephew did NOT snatch Maddie.
And she told how his life has become a “living hell” since he was named as the prime suspect - despite acting as an interpreter for cops in the aftermath of the youngster’s disappearance in the resort of Praia da Luz.
Sally, 56, said: “Robert is completely innocent but his life has been ruined by the most disgusting and cruel allegations imaginable.
“His only crime was wanting to do anything he could to help find a missing four-year-old girl.
“As a father himself, he knew Kate and Gerry McCann must have been going through hell.
“But, suddenly he was accused of taking Madeleine himself - and branded a paedophile, a pervert and God knows what else.”
She said Murat, 33 - whose daughter Sofia is Maddie’s age - has been driven to the brink of suicide since he was arrested 11 days after the tot vanished.
And Sally told The People how the divorced businessman:
INSISTED no child-porn was found on computers seized by police from the home he shares with mum Jenny, 71:
DENIED accusations he was involved in depraved sex acts;
REFUTED reports cops found sick videos when they searched his home;
DISMISSED claims he is part of a bizarre love triangle with his girlfriend and her ex; and
OFFERED to take a lie detector test to prove his innocence.
Murat confided in his aunt during a series of tearful meetings at the guesthouse she runs in Burgao, just a few miles from Praia da Luz.
Sally said: “Rob feels he has been the victim of character assassination and doesn’t know how or when he will be able to get on with his life.
“And he is worried sick how all of this will affect Sofia as she grows up - is she going to get bullied because her dad is ‘that Maddie man’?
“He says he met the McCanns very briefly and offered to help them in any way he could.
“But he says he NEVER set foot in their apartment.
“He feels bitterly sorry for the McCanns and is desperate for Madeleine to be found.
“He truly wants if for their sake - NOT just because it will help put him in the clear.”
Murat’s German girlfriend Michaela Walczuch, her estranged husband Luis and Russian business associate Sergey Malinka were also quizzed by cops after Murat’s arrest.
Sally said: “Michaela is a lovely woman and she and her daughter adore Rob.
“But she still lives with her husband - so people wanting to blackenRob have said they must be involved in some kind of threesome.
“The truth is she’s a Jehovah’s Witness and, because of her religion, she has to wait until their divorce comes through before they begin a sexual relationship. They haven’t even got that far.” Sally also slammed reports that Murat criticised Maddie’s parents for leaving their daughter in the apartment while they went out to dinner.
She said: “Rob has NEVER blamed them - he couldn’t be that cruel and he hasn’t got a bad bone in his body.
“Everything he says is twisted because people believe the sick gossip.
“If the police would allow it, he says hewould happily take a lie detector test to prove his innocence. But would that put an end to this?
“He has had hate mail - really awful stuff - and he thinks he will get physically attacked in the street.
“Someone went up to his mother the other day and shouted, ‘Give that child back!’
But she’s 71, for God’s sake.
“People Rob has known for years have snubbed him in the street and others are spreading the rumours they’ve heard. The lies about him have been scandalous - total fantasy.
“Police are meant to have found child porn on his computer - but the only pictures of a child are of his own daughter.
“Some reports say videos of ‘extreme sexual violence’ were seized - but no videos were taken at all.
“Hearing some of the accusations was such a shock that he actually passed out.
“We have had to call a doctor out twice because he has fainted.”
Sally went on: “Robert has gone through some very dark moments and wondered if there was any point carrying on.
“But then he says, ‘I’ve got my daughter to think about’. He can’t let her down. “It’s just so hard hearing the scandalous stuff people have made up about him and knowing he is not able to defend himself.”
Murat, who has lived in Portugal with mumJenny since his break-up with wife Dawn two years ago, was quizzed by cops for 11 hours over Maddie’s disappearance.
He willingly gave a DNA sample - and sources have told relatives it will prove he was not at the McCann’s apartment.
But he will remain an official suspect until police formally hand back paperwork linking him to the inquiry.
Meanwhile, Portuguese law bans him from talking publicly about his ordeal.
And his family have not spoken out for fear of hampering the police investigation - and the McCanns’ campaign to find their missing daughter.
But nowMaddie’s parents have handed over the publicity campaign to a professional.
And a family member said: “We feel we can stand up for Rob without treading on anyone’s toes. We feel the time has come for the British government to put pressure on the police to clear his name.
“The police have no evidence against him - so why does he still have this black cloud of suspicion hanging over him? British officials seem to have washed their hands of Robert and he has had to suffer the most awful slurs.
“At times he has been so low we have worried that he is suicidal. I’ve seen him curl up in a foetal position with his head in his hands and just cut himself off from the world.”
Sally told how Murat recently looked after her business while she and hubby Ralph - Jenny’s brother - went off for a few days.
She said: “The guestswere regulars and friends and Rob seemed to get a boost from their support. He could keep his mind occupied instead of all the terrible worries.
“We got back last week only to bewoken at 7am by a police raid.
“They searched the place on the night Robert was arrested in May but for some reason they came back again - and found nothing.
“Therewere 20 police and two dogs and they spent more than three hours searching our house and grounds.
“All the guests had to get up and show their passports.
“The police seemed almost apologetic when we asked how long all this was going to go on and said, ‘Not much longer’.
“We don’t blame them for doing their job. But we believe Portuguese law needs changing so in future no one has to suffer like Rob has.
“He is 100 per cent innocent and the victim of an appalling injustice and character assassination.”
No member of Murat’s family has been paid for this article
June 27th, 2007 at 2:48 pm
You’re right it won’t stop the sightings but what’s more infuriating is how seriously the tabloid media are taking certain sightings or is that just to shift more newspapers?
June 27th, 2007 at 2:45 pm
karla, I would be guided by the local Police in the event of my child being lost stolen or mislaid. It wouldn’t be for the same reason though, I would have had a babysitter and carefully vetted their background. So guilt wouldn’t be a primary reaction.
June 27th, 2007 at 2:38 pm
KL, exactly. But that will not stop people ’seeing’ her
BTW, OBL was last ’seen’ in Cyprus……
June 27th, 2007 at 2:21 pm
Like I’ve mentioned already, the chances of Madeleine being in Malta or on a yatch sailing the Meditteranean in high tourist season is as likely as Bin Laden being there!
June 27th, 2007 at 2:13 pm
The police must be the only people in Malta who haven’t seen her.
June 27th, 2007 at 2:13 pm
if gerry/waiter would please be so kind to answer a question: what exactly would you do, if your kid is lost/abducted/wandered off?
I could not sit at home, I would like to take some action. I would probably search the area with friends every day. Going to police each and every day to ask. and - if I would have the possibility - I would use the help of the press and tv.
June 27th, 2007 at 2:12 pm
It could be , allegedly, just a Mediterranean tourist bait?
With the high reward there are likely to be many hoax ’sightings’ especially in an area where so many English children are taken on holiday, some maybe, genuine mistaken identity. But its likely to increase dramatically in August and early Sept in the school holidays.
June 27th, 2007 at 1:53 pm
The “Arab boat” in the Express story has been directly lifted off a report published on the Functiopix website!
http://www.functionpix.com/index.php/article/Madeleine_McCann__Fresh_sightings_and_photographs_in_Southern_Europe/1428/
If you read the original functionpix article you will see how vague and pretty unsubstantiated this story is.
For a start there is no specific location given out. No information like yatch name given out. No statement from any of the “several witnesses” No statement from the Maltese police, no details of how the “witnesses” knew they were in fact an Arab family. Also they vaguely mention “security guards” but don’t mention if they were boatside security or private personal security.
Another “error” in the article which has been changed in the Express article, an unnamed PORTUGUSE security official (What’s a security official??) states the words “HERE in MALTA!” Aside from the fact that the Express seems to have just copied the report from Functionpix, Functionpix is hardly Reuters!
As already stated it’s highly unlikely that Madeleine ever was on the island of Malta. Given the numerous numbers of unspecifics that the FunctionPix article gives, then I rather think that the story is poorley researched or indeed fabricated.
June 27th, 2007 at 12:53 pm
After all they will not find her at the bottom of a glass , nor poolside.
( ‘gerry’ and ‘waiter’ are two different people, both equally sick of the charade being played out elsewhere and applauded by the gullible)
June 27th, 2007 at 12:36 pm
I think Gerry is an all round decent chap who, like the rest of us, are pissed off with her parents treating this as some media merry go round.
Still I suppose that when the merry go round stops, they have to get off and live with their actions.
Better they get out of the public eye and do a bit of soul searching.
June 27th, 2007 at 12:20 pm
Get a life Gerry !
June 27th, 2007 at 12:12 pm
Binoculars , sir? or a telescope?
And tranquillisers for the agitated?