Madeleine McCann: Call Off The Dogs, Kate McCann’s Tears And Fatima
MADDYWATCH - Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann.
THE TIMES page 9: “McCanns send to US for help against evidence of sniffer dogs.”
Gerry and Kate McCann have consulted lawyers working on behalf of Eugene Zapata in Madison, Wisconsin.
In October 1976, Zapata’s wife, Jeanette, went missing. Her body has never been found. Last year sniffer dogs were brought in and Zapata was charged with her murder. The case went before Judge Patrick Fielder who said the evidence – dogs had picked up the scent of a corpse in Zapata’s basement – was inadmissible. He said the dogs were unreliable.
The dogs have yet to make a comment.
DAILY MIRROR front page: “MADDY JUDGE: LET ME TELL ALL.”
Pedro Daniel dos Anjos Frias wants to “speak freely” about the case.
Pages 6 and 7: “Mum’s tears at 11am Mass.” Once again the Mirror is all eyes for Kate McCann’s eyes. She is crying.
In church, Father Keith Tomlinson narrates the parable of the Prodigal Son. An eight-year-old child called Molly Earp reads “Jesus please continue to love and protect us, until she is found.”
And then Jesus can have a rest and the police can resume normal duties…
Pages 8 and 9: “On the beach Gerry gave Maddy loads of hugs and kisses, he was a perfect dad..The next time I saw him was about midnight..I saw a man alone, desperate. He was crying and screaming her name over and over and over again.” Words from a “WAITER AT MADDIE’S LAST MEAL” before she vanished.
THE SUN front page: “Maddie ‘gag’ lift.” Friends of Kate and Gerry McCann are hopeful of being allowed to speak out and defend themselves. A judge has asked for a lifting of Portugal’s secrecy laws.
Pages 6 and 7: “AGONY TO COME.” The Sun produces a picture of Kate and Gerry McCann’s wedding day. They are holding Kate’s goddaughter Ellie. There is also a new picture of Madeleine McCann “looking angelic”. Have you seen her? Or are you watching the parents?
THE EXPRESS front page: “MADELEINE. POLICE TO SEARCH SHRINE FOR BODY.” The McCanns went to Fatima. The McCanns car clocked up 1,709 miles in the fives weeks after their daughter went missing.
THE WORLD’S GREATEST NEWSPAPER Pages 2 and 3: “Hand in hand, McCanns go to family church.” The “devoutly Catholic couple” are leaving for church from their “£600,000 home”. Kate McCann is carrying Cuddle Cat.
Pages 4 and 5: “1,000 letters each day in support of the McCanns. Between 500 and 1,000 letters a day arrive at the McCanns’ home. “There are some crank letters,” says a spokesman for the family, “but that’s inevitable.”
None of these letters are believed to point to the whereabouts of Madeleine McCann.
Alex Cayles, a former neighbour of the McCanns, says “I never heard Kate or Gerry raise their voices to their children or anyone else.” Can the same be said of any parents of three very young children?
DAILY MAIL front page: a picture of Kate McCann smiling.
“MADELEINE:
• Doubt cast on sniffer dogs
• Police frontman quits investigation
• Branson funds the McCanns’ defence
• Witness’s vital new evidence”
Pages 10 and 11:2 “Maddie: Is the case crumbling?”
Chief inspector Olegario Sousa has resigned “in disgust” at the way in which fellow Portuguese officers have been briefing the media behind his back.
DAILY STAR front page: “MADDIE MUM ON MURDER RAP. Now cops claim to have found ‘a motive’.”
The Star says police have read Kate McCann’s diary and “claim it reveals she had a motive to kill”.
Pages 4 and 5: “DID KATE HAVE A MOTIVE?”
Well, we haven’t read the diary, but…
“The idea that Portuguese detectives are looking at my daughter’s most personal thoughts and taking them out of context is terrible,” says Kate McCann’s father Brian Healy.
Pages 6 and 7: “HUNT AT HOLY SHRINE.” Is Madeleine McCann’s body buried at Fatima, one of the Catholic Church’s holiest sites? The Star says the couple went there three weeks after their daughter went missing.
We wonder. Is she? Or is she buried in Germany, America, London or Morocco, places also visited by the McCanns?
DAILY TELEGRAPH: “New allegations against McCanns - As the McCanns begin a new campaign to clear their names, further allegations emerged over the weekend.”
Oh?
“The hire car: The Renault Scenic hired by the McCanns 25 days after Madeleine went missing. New claims centre on its high mileage. Between May 27 and July 3, it was driven 1,700 miles, with police looking into the possibility that it may have been used to dispose of a body…There were also reports that detectives were waiting for permission from a judge to seize and dismantle the car to search for ‘traces of skin’.”
THE GUARDIAN: No Maddy news today.
Madeleine McCann The Public Spectacle
Posted: 17th, September 2007 | In: Madeleine McCann Comments (1,074) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
Comments
September 17th, 2007 at 4:09 pm
533 OK. Indeed I as a mother of a serious croud wouldn’t poke fun at the Pooh whom we love.
September 17th, 2007 at 4:08 pm
Topper, How do you suppose that you can tell me what I do and dont read???? or even more amazingly…what I ‘REALLY believe’??
In the report that I have posted on 292 it actually states how the famous press reports originate. I dont buy into any of this anti pro Mcann nonsense.
I have only one point of view that is that there is no evidence to support the theories that they somehow killed Madeleine and made it back on time for tea.
It beggars belief in the extreme. However if there is credible evidence to support this and not some daliances of a few illusional people then I will more than happily support the call to bring them to book.
In view of the fact that there is neither proof, evidence, motive nor intention of the crime I will continue to push for a full and thorough investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine and her recovery.
Its simple how can you have a murder trial without a body or evidence or even witnesses unless you can extract/beat a confession out of someone.
I also demand that the trial of Joana (2004) be reopened and reinvestigated.
These children deserve as much.
September 17th, 2007 at 4:08 pm
522 Judith C - You are right. She is listed under, ‘Healy’. Of interest is the fact that she is registered as a GP, but not as an anaesthetist. There seemed to be speculation that she was an anaesthetic specialist. I don’t doubt that she had some anaesthetic training, but she is by no means a specialist.
September 17th, 2007 at 4:07 pm
Stevo….
Kate to Pope:
“Er, this is a bit downmarket, your all-powerfulness - I mean we came here in a private jet, you know.
Ratty (conspiratorial grin): “Ecco la bambina”
Kate: “…Could we maybe go somewhere a bit more private, I’ve got a few questions about mortal sin I need to discuss.”
Ratty: “Do you like my new shoes. Prada…”
Gerry: “Yes, very nice. Look, Special One, we thought maybe you could also help with this thing we’ve had since May 3 of living in a parallel universe, with everything we say or do analysed by the world media, giving us this idea that we should have immediate access to world leaders and stuff. How long did it take you to adapt, and what’s the best thing to do when you say something, then realized you shouldn’t have?”
Ratty: Vee haf vays off mekking you tok! (Shit, why did I have to say that… they’ll be off to the C of E, with those offers of fast-track canonization) ..Just joking… Goodbye, see you at the Person of the Year awards!
September 17th, 2007 at 4:07 pm
582 - Canada yes brings a whole new meaning to the word bad mother…..
and fathers
September 17th, 2007 at 4:06 pm
Canada,
How far away from your home is the video store? Why did you not take your children with you, or incur a late penalty? You say that your town only has 4000 people - how many does it take to steal a child? I assume it is not a gated community, so what about the threat from outsiders. How did you get off, did your policeman husband pull some strings.
You must watch your children 24/7 -
September 17th, 2007 at 4:05 pm
529 OK then - I misread and thought you were poking fun at the Pooh.
September 17th, 2007 at 4:04 pm
358 SI_p…..
Thank you so much for the Portuguese perspective.Sadly you are right about UK being Tabloid driven ,and our Government tending to follow its leaders..Tabloid in what they think is general public opinion.There should be no government interference in this case at all.
However not everyone in UK bothers to read tabloids as sane people know they are mostly fiction dressed as fact.
There seems to be a huge reluctance for UK public and its press to want to even contemplate a fairly well to do bunch of doctors may have something less than savory to do with the missing child.
Has it been a normal class family with no heavy political friends or famous backers this would have been news for about 4 days tops. Until an arrest was made.But the parents in this case whether on advice ,or by their own idea ,made this and themselves in process, into a “cause celbre”, or PR ,and spin ,and in doing so have created a story that is bigger than its worth given millions of kids go missing across the world every year and nobody is there to speak for them except Amnesty who do not do PR on such cases.
I do not think for one moment that your police is any more inefficient that our own her in UK and think they are being painted as village clots for purposes of discrediting for reasons other than poor policing.
September 17th, 2007 at 4:02 pm
http://media.guardian.co.uk/mediaguardian/story/0,,2170504,00.html
Muck-raking stories
In the early days the McCanns were allowed to set the rules for the press. They decided what happened, and when. The British media succumbed, largely, to a bout of communal sympathy. Police had said it was a kidnap. Robert Murat, an expatriate Briton, had been declared a formal suspect. He, as the McCanns do now, denied any involvement. That did not stop, however, pages and pages of muck-raking stories about him from appearing in newspapers in both Portugal and the UK.
The McCanns’ early success with the press can be put down, in part, to the media experts they found working alongside them. The Mark Warner company, whose holiday apartments they had been staying in, already had a deal with PR company Bell Pottinger. That meant that Alex Woolfall, the company’s crisis management head, was in Praia da Luz the day after Madeleine disappeared. When Woolfall left 10 days later, the Foreign Office stepped in. Media handlers arrived from London. They included former Daily Mirror journalist Sheree Dodd and, later, former BBC man Clarence Mitchell. Both Woolfall and Mitchell are remembered by reporters as key and immensely helpful sources as the McCann phenomenon took off.
After they left, however, things started going wrong. Portuguese newspapers started to publish unsympathetic stories at the end of June. As Portuguese journalists caught the mood music from police the relationship disintegrated further. Sandra Felgueiras, a feisty state television journalist obsessed by the family’s supposed use of Calpol, became a particular bete noire.
September 17th, 2007 at 4:01 pm
521 Innocent people don’t need to stay a stitch up ahead of the police, they are innocent.
Oh, I forgot, the Teflon 2 are NOT innocent, they are GUILTY of CHILD NEGLECT at the very LEAST.
September 17th, 2007 at 3:58 pm
515. I LOVE Winnie the Pooh, too. And if you must know, I must think hard like Winnie the Pooh to figure out why KM would take the Cuddle Cat to work with her.
September 17th, 2007 at 3:57 pm
I totally love your forum, its very entertaining. My 2 cents worth (which, by the way is at par with the Yank dollar now):
Even though everyone reacts differently to trauma, I believe there are still human emotions that are always there such as fear, upset, crying, confusion, even numbness, but the way the McCanns have behaved look like they are looking for their family dog. Also, the McCanns stated they would help the police with any questions they would have. They just want to find Maddie. Why then opt for silence during an interrogation? Even if they didn’t like the question, they should have an answer for them, even if its just ” I don’t know.” Also, the McCanns state that they cannot say anything because of Portugese laws, who cares. If I was accused of something so horrible as killing my own child, I would be telling anyone who would listen to my side, I wouldn’t care about the consequences. Many people think the McCanns are guilty because the scenerio does not make sense. Their explanations don’t make sense. My husband is a police officer. He always told me that if someone is lying, they have a hard time remembering the original lie. He says you must ask the accused to explain the timeframe from front to back, back to front, middle to back and middle to front. How can Gerry first state he entered through one entrance that night, then change his story and state he entered a different way. People who tell the truth go through memory recall to answer questions, unless of course, you are lying. And also, why has noone had a lie detector test? Although not admissable in court, it is a valuable tool to eliminate someone as a suspect. In Canada we have a case of a missing girl as well. The father took a lie detector test to eliminate himself as a suspect. Police use this tool all the time. It helps direct the investigation. One more quick note: I left my 10 year old daughter and twin 9 year old boys alone for a minute while I went up the street to return a video. Our town has only 4000 people. While I was out, a collect call came in and my son had answered the phone. The operator thought he sounded young so when I came back, I had the police question me about leaving my children alone. They had a complaint from the operator. I had to explain myself. The McCanns repeatedly left their children alone at the resort. Can doctors not understand that children can maybe hurt themselves when they are alone, fall, have an accident in a diaper and look for their parent, bad dream etc. What about a fire? I think they refused the monitor and babysitting because they needed an excuse to say why they did not see or hear the “abduction.” I would really ask them to explain why they would not use the resort service of babysitting or monitoring. Is it really easier to have to walk 100 yards or is it 150, 50, 75? to check their kids every 15 minutes. Why can’t anyone measure by the way?
September 17th, 2007 at 3:55 pm
520 Could not Universal McCann be affiliated with McCann Ericcson the advertising agency that has been around for years? After all the advertising industry changed in the late 80s from being one stop shops to becoming specialist buying shops, production houses etc.
September 17th, 2007 at 3:54 pm
521 ~ Jon…. no seriously mate, they’ve been doing fk all….and as for other things on their plate…. shouldn’t have had their kids on their minds instead of going out on the piss….
September 17th, 2007 at 3:53 pm
Stevo,
Fishing is quota restricted - as strictly as only 17 days a year for some catches - an official police authorised trawal could open the whole Algrave up to thousands of otherwise idle trawlers - the whole Algrave could be trawledl, metre by metre in days at no cost to the police - the fish caught in the process would pay for it all.
This is the break-through everyone has been waiting for and you heard it here first!! Blimey How did I think of it
September 17th, 2007 at 3:53 pm
Jon 521 - you’re absolutely right. They’ve done a lot.
And what better couple of ambassadors for the cause of missing children than two selfish bastards who have ABANDONED their 3 kids in an appartment whilst going out for drinks and quiz at the local tapas bar? Hummm?
September 17th, 2007 at 3:53 pm
(517) Topper. I totally agree with you. And Paulo Reiss has said in Gazeta Digital that Sousa has denied Martin Brunt’s version of why he (Sousa) is no longer the PJ spokesman.
http://gazetadigital.blogspot.com/
September 17th, 2007 at 3:52 pm
520. Blunger
Totally bizarre. From whose site did you get this info?
September 17th, 2007 at 3:51 pm
(504) Miss Match. I think Mrs.McCann’s maiden name was Healy not Healey (I may be wrong) but if not, she might perhaps still be on the GMC list?
September 17th, 2007 at 3:50 pm
RE: 503
Quote:
“That was before I realised that you were doing fuck all about child abduction and everything about directing a really bad script. Clever but no ending could be sharp enough.”
Response:
Incidently they have been campaigning for faster responses to be implemented between all countries when a child has been reported missing.
They have also been involved in the six point procedure Code Madeleine that.
Not a lot granted, but then again maybe they have other things on their plate like trying to stay ahead of a stitch up by the PJ and media.
September 17th, 2007 at 3:49 pm
Universal McCann (from their site):
“The UK’s largest media negotiation point.
Group billings of over £1bn.
UK’s largest buyer of TV airtime.
Over £250 million worth of press expenditure.
UK’s largest buyer of cinema
Over 14% share of UK media market”
These people spend £250m pa with nespapers ?
“Largest buyer of TV airtime” ?
Could THIS explain our media’s McCann worship ?
Even if the name is a coincidence, with no family connection, could the government be exerting media pressure via the MMU-UniversalMcCann route.
This McCann company looks like it could exert more financial pressure to keep our media in line than any other.
September 17th, 2007 at 3:48 pm
514 - Seymour
I didn’t realise the fisherman couldn’t go out fishing all the time. Thanks for the info.
September 17th, 2007 at 3:47 pm
I thought I’d just read that Kate’s brother was the other person authorised to drive the hire car and that his name was Michael Wright. If her maiden name was Healy ….. don’t follow this.
September 17th, 2007 at 3:46 pm
Jon, why have the PJ been reacting to what the public are saying? I don’t understand that. I think you read too many press articles with “sources close to the investigation” and you really believe that someone in the PJ is actuall talking to the Sun, the Mirror, the Express etc. I really don’t think they are. I reckon the vast majority of stories are fiction.
And how qualified do you think Ms McGee was in judging the quality of forensic examination? And how qualified is the Sun to give an independent view on what happened or not on the night of 3 may. Why can’t we just agree that we don’t know? Simple as that, we don’t know.
September 17th, 2007 at 3:46 pm
Hello, I’m new to this site. Think it’s great
491 Maybe they have been reluctant to spend the money. If they were charged and found guilty, couldn’t they also be done for extortion under false pretense? Have they actually used any of the money pre this 80K? And what have they used it for?
I think cuddlecat is used to send out coded messages to accomplace(s) as in:
Ear stroking - “they’re listening” to us
Ear cocked - “they’re listening to you too”
Can’t imagine what leg or tail stroking could be….
Under high stress such as after being interviewed and on first trip out with the twins in UK, cuddle disappears or is visible in bag. When things are going their way re publicity, cuddle comes out again.
Yes, this is one Anorak who is probably losing it!
September 17th, 2007 at 3:45 pm
509
I LOVE Winnie the Pooh and if you must know, he does think hard about things, and I resent the implication that he doesn’t in your post!!!
September 17th, 2007 at 3:43 pm
You have misunderstood - they can only trawl out of season if on official police business - if they are, then the trawling will pay for itself as they could keep and sell the fish as a geninue by-produce of a police sauctioned business.
Any reward would just be icing on the cake - I am really on to something big here.
Let the fleet set sail - I expect that it will assemble either off Cape Vincent, or off Cape Trafalgar
September 17th, 2007 at 3:43 pm
503 - You are right. I googled her and was given a spelling of ‘Healey’ for her maiden name hence the confusion. Apologies.
September 17th, 2007 at 3:42 pm
497 Are we sure of the year of graduation?
506 Is this the key, the name was misspelt?
I would look myself, but its difficult at work, which is now piling up on my desk. I seriously need to catch up before I leave at 5
Will look for the answer of the “graduation” on the forums.
September 17th, 2007 at 3:38 pm
Hmmm… I googled “Universal McCann”.
Found this
http://64.233.183.104/search?q=cache:xJ2Ml51yhnoJ:forums.mirror.co.uk/viewtopic.php%3Ft%3D7349%26highlight%3D+%22Universal+McCann%22+MMU&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=2&client=safari
It is a Daily Mirror “readers comment” from Aug 21st that is now erased, so the link is to the Google cache.
The writer had noticed (as I did above) the strange reference to Universal McCann in the FT article on Mitchell and the MMU.
He says:
“it now turns out that the findmadeleine.com website was not in fact created by a young lad at the helm of Infohost Ltd but by River Media in Liverpool. One of River Media’s directors, Brian Child, was previously the CEO at another company in the McCann Group, McCann Erickson.
McCann Erickson is an advertising agency with a big London office. Its .com website doesn’t throw up very much but its .co.uk site (which incidentally has a picture of Madeleine on its first page) says this “When truth is well told it is energetic, convincing. Truth and the telling of it will single out your story from the crowded advertising pages, endow it with the gift of vitality, create from it the buying impulse.”
I don’t buy into the rest of his stuff, but this interesting if it proves true. Do our suspects have family connections with this media company. Does Mitchell ?