Madeleine McCann: Missing Hours, Found Again And A PR Disaster
MADDYWATCH - Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann.
THE SUN front page: “MADDIE DAD AGONY. Fiend hid from Gerry. He was already in room he tells cops.”
A source close to the family says: “When Gerry went to check on Madeleine at 9.05pm he realised the bedroom door was open. Gerry is firmly of the view the abductor was already in the apartment.”
It’s another theory.
“When he went in he saw Madeleine was asleep but the bedroom door was slightly open. He thought, ‘That’s odd’ because he had left it firmly closed. But all the children were asleep. So he just went in and closed the door again and came out about 9.10pm.”
Good to hear Gerry McCann joining in the mood of speculation?
“Gerry is convinced the man must have been hiding, and once Gerry went through the patio doors the only way out was through the window. The front door was locked so the kidnapper took Madeleine and climbed out the window.”
DAILY MIRROR front page: “HOW SHE WAS TAKEN. The McCanns’ story.”
“Stolen to order after being spied on for days
Abductor hid in flat as Gerry looked in on kids
He got in through patio doors and out by window”
Gerry is a “heart specialist”.
Says a source: “When Gerry leaves, the man realises he has only a few minutes. He thinks the only way to get out without being seen is through the window.”
And: “Initially he thought Madeleine might have got up and gone to the toilet, or to get a drink or something.”
So what has changed? Why a new theory now, with a new spokesman on hand and the McCanns named as suspects?
DAILY STAR front page: “SEVEN HOURS TO KLILL MADDIE. Police probe her ‘lost’ final afternoon”
DAILY EXPRESS front page: “MADELEINE: THE MISSING SEVEN HOURS.”
Police sources reveal that “despite exhaustive inquiries they cannot confirm the whereabouts of part-time GP Kate, 39, and her daughter after 1.29pm on May 3”. A source said Kate’s movements were “unaccounted for until she sat down to have dinner with friends at a tapas restaurant within their holiday complex at around 8.40pm”.
The last photograph of Madeleine was said to have been taken by Kate at 2.29pm on May 3.
DAILY MAIL: “McCanns: What we really did in the missing six hours.”
“Madeleine had high tea at 5.30pm with staff at the Kids Club. She was picked up shortly before 6pm by Kate and Gerry.”
The friend insisted: “Kate was never alone with Madeleine that afternoon. There were always other witnesses present. These details were all given to detectives during police interviews, so they know what Kate and Gerry said happened that day.”
So no missing hours, then?
THE TIMES front page: “MADELEINE McCANN: Matthew Parris laments a PR disaster.
“The fatal flaw of David Cameron and Kate and Gerry McCann” - Our correspondent looks at the baleful influence of the marketing men.
“Look what they’ve done to Kate and Gerry McCann. Here were two people deserving of the most intense public sympathy. On a superficial level they got it – by the media bucketload. Yet did you not sense from an early stage an undertone of irritation at the couple? I’ve sensed it everywhere I go: not a sign of doubt about their innocence, which most of us take for granted, but a feeling, nevertheless, that they in some way invited trouble – though we banish the thought as brutal and wrong.
“Which it is. So why the ungenerosity? I believe it is because Kate and Gerry McCann have allowed an impression to arise that they and their advisers are marketing their own tragedy. Where we would have expected to see parents distracted and disorganised by grief, we have seen a professionally run campaign to find out what the media want, and give it to them.
“This has been done for a most defensible reason: to enlist the entire European public as amateur detectives in the search for Madeleine. But now her parents have ended up looking like film stars in a Hollywood weepy.”
“Put up or shut up, Madeleine McCann police told” - Friend of McCanns counters claims of ‘lost’ six hours before girl vanished
DAILY TELEGRPAH: “Madeleine McCann: Gerry certain he was in bedroom with kidnapper”
THE GUARDIAN: “From prime suspects to hounded victims - how parents turned the media tide”
Posted: 22nd, September 2007 | In: Madeleine McCann Comments (1,536) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
Comments
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September 22nd, 2007 at 2:14 pm
thats was my next question was there any bedding taken from the room or did the abductor take his own blanket with him
September 22nd, 2007 at 2:14 pm
http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,11021-2006410749,00.html?channel=Sun+Exclusive&clipID=1347_SUN3743
September 22nd, 2007 at 2:13 pm
262. Julie. Is that “made available” as in Live on the website or available for download (i.e a Podcast) because Sky News won’t stream to an IP outside of the UK?
Even though it is unlikely to be unbiased I would like the opportunity to watch.
September 22nd, 2007 at 2:13 pm
260 - Brenda. Yes you have. And he also had to force the window lock, put Cuddle Cat on a high shelf and arrange the blanket over M before legging it home to his house down the road.
Ooops - update that. Murat now in the clear, must have been legging it to a waiting boat/car/van/bicycle.
Oh - and he might not have had to bother with the blanket because I forgot he did/didn’t have one over the child.
All this in 5 minutes. Clear as mud if you ask me!
September 22nd, 2007 at 2:12 pm
you’ll love it.
just a sec.
keep u quiet for 20 mins.
September 22nd, 2007 at 2:11 pm
268 Firestar … no I didn’t … who was debating?
September 22nd, 2007 at 2:10 pm
Andy (265) … see 262
September 22nd, 2007 at 2:10 pm
262
did you watch the video debate on the sun’s site?
September 22nd, 2007 at 2:09 pm
262
julie
‘A web version of the programme will be available on Sky News Online on the same day.’
September 22nd, 2007 at 2:08 pm
that airs on day 150
September 22nd, 2007 at 2:08 pm
256.
As I don’t have Sky News here in Spain is there anyone willing to record the programme and post a torrent of it somewhere or otherwise make it available for download?
Thanks.
September 22nd, 2007 at 2:08 pm
jt 160
I just checked the link you gave. It is interesting that there were those inconsistencies in what Murat gave as alibis. I suppose there must have been obvious inconsistencies that the police were checking because they called back some of the tapas bar friends to try to help check his alibi that night.
HOWEVER, I think it is really important not to get caught up in these stories. The trouble is, no report is ever accurate. Even journalists who quote directly from the person they are interviewing choose which bits to quote and the results can be very misleading. Early on in the investigation Murat suffered what the McCanns have been going through, trial by media speculation etc. etc. Journalists tried to dig up and publicise every bit of dirt they could find (or couldn’t find) on this man, and that includes Sky. On this particular thing they were disgraceful. I actually remember Gerry McCann, in the middle of all the hype about Murat,
being pushed by a reporter to give his view on the suspect. He just said that he assumed the principle would be observed that everyone is innocent until charged and proved guilty in a court of law. If innocent, Murat went through hell at that time.
I think we just have to assume that the PJ have done their stuff on this suspect and found no evidence for involvement. By the way, when the British reporter reported her suspicions to the police about Murat, they said they knew all about him and had viewed him as a suspect from the start. She has been blamed by many for pointing the finger at Murat but the police already had their suspicions. Even this reporter has been bad-mouthed in this whole business, unfairly I think.
The same things about “inconsistencies” are now being said about the McCanns and friends. It may well be that such inconsistencies are either in the reporting or leaks to the press rather than in what was ACTUALLY said, or they may have an innocent explanation. People don’t always remember everything exactly. Presumably that’s what happened with Murat’s reported “inconsistencies”.
Somebody said they heard he was about to be cleared of arguido status anyway?
September 22nd, 2007 at 2:08 pm
258
i believe they only accept arse-licking comments
September 22nd, 2007 at 2:08 pm
Firestar (256) … I believe that for those of us who don’t have access to Sky News, the same programme will be available on their Internet site … think I read this yesterday?
I wonder how impartial this programme is going to be !?
September 22nd, 2007 at 2:07 pm
243 - Donated money. Think you will find it doesn’t matter if M is ever found - dead or alive because the fund can also be used (legitimately) to ’support the McCanns’. As I said a few days ago….follow the money.
I really don’t think they care if she is found. However, they do care greatly about their reputation and lifestyle.
Except for the fact that they are clearly not psychopathic (!) they sure act like it.
September 22nd, 2007 at 2:07 pm
so the abductor climbed out of the window between 2 and 4ft from off the ground turned round closed the window without waking the child knowing full well there had just been an adult in the room to check on the children …have i got my facts right ?
September 22nd, 2007 at 2:07 pm
256 firestar
And when do they start writing the script? I suggest 8:25 pm Sunday 30 Sept.
It would be churlish not to have the latest storylines on show…
September 22nd, 2007 at 2:07 pm
Does the mmc web site take comments or emails
maybe we could all send them a message explaining what we see is flawed etc………
or just post a link to this page
see what crap they start spouting denying our ludricous theorys and opinions
September 22nd, 2007 at 2:06 pm
if it was me i’d say
at last they’ve cleared him
now lets wait a day or 2 for them to clear us and then go look for madelline.
September 22nd, 2007 at 2:05 pm
‘Madeleine: the search for the truth’ - can be seen on Sky News TV at 8.30pm on Sunday, September 30.
September 22nd, 2007 at 2:04 pm
245. Julie.
I had the same thought. How will the McCann PR machine answer this and what spin will they put on it?
It’s strange, to me, that for the past couple of days a source from the McCann camp has been trying to bring Murat back into focus regarding the abduction and now this bit of news almost in direct response.
September 22nd, 2007 at 2:04 pm
Sky News is to air a special half-hour programme on Sunday, September 30, on the search for missing Madeleine McCann.
September 22nd, 2007 at 2:03 pm
242 i doubt that they were checking properly either, i was just think of different theories that could have happened. Even though i think they are guilty i am open to the possibility that i’m wrong.
September 22nd, 2007 at 2:03 pm
250 Julie
JCB more like..
September 22nd, 2007 at 2:03 pm
237 firestar
I had a limited company once and you have 2 years before you are required to publish your first set of accounts. This is not unconnected to the fact that many limited companies seem to the dissolved after 1 year 11 months…
In the case of companies that leave no stone unturned, 2 months seems more realistic!
So we will never know. They refuse to disclose how much they pay the teenagers to run the web site too - which is their choice…
September 22nd, 2007 at 2:02 pm
http://master-of-fate.spaces.live.com/blog/
http://www.jmnoticias.com/index.php?action=fullnews&id=297
The first article shows the woman with the child in the blanket!!! Two pixs under Murats Car hire receipt!
I hope it function! I can open the pages without problems!
September 22nd, 2007 at 2:02 pm
I think they need to use some of the money from the “fund” to buy themselves a new spade. The one they’re using to dig a hole for themselves is getting rather worn out!
September 22nd, 2007 at 2:01 pm
speaking of indiana jones, has the digging started at the temple of doom yet?
September 22nd, 2007 at 2:00 pm
the times could run it with their mc’cann loving jounalist
indiana knight and the window of opportunity.
September 22nd, 2007 at 1:59 pm
244 Brenda - according to statements from staff at the resort the window WAS NOT open!