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
September 22nd, 2007 at 9:34 pm
Plod:
“To their credit some of them have learned to type and use computers and logged in here”
When do the children (the underage conspiracy theorists, devout teenage believers, and biology GCSE failures) go to bed?
This is the lowest level of discussion I’ve seen here since first visiting two weeks ago.
Maybe it’s the lull before the storm. I doubt it, though.
September 22nd, 2007 at 9:33 pm
654 - Stevo, I agree that it doesn’t look good, but I beleiv they have for whatever reason, holding it together for the cameras, which makes tem appear unnatural, because frankly, it is.
Anecdotally, we hear that they have broken down in private. There was one story from a tv interviewer a few weeks ago that I can associate with. Kate was interviewed and was her normal ‘cold’ self through the interview. When it finished she excuse herself and a few minutes later, the interviewer overheard he sobbing uncontrollably in the ladies toilet.
Their behavior has appeared odd, because we insist on tears and want them to fit our model of what a grieving parent should be.
We want our pound of flesh.
But not everyone is like that.
September 22nd, 2007 at 9:33 pm
660 - EmmaV
I know but all along since May 3, I’ve been a serious doubter of the McCanns because of their body language. A lot of people in here don’t think the body language is significant but in my opinion it is. Show me any televised child abduction case where the parents are acting as well-rehearsed as the McCanns and I’ll take on board another opinion. But…in all the cases I’ve seen - the parents are emotionally distraught. The McCanns act like they’ve lost a dog and talk about it all like they are spokespeople instead of the actual parents.
September 22nd, 2007 at 9:33 pm
657 - Simon. My apologies. You said ‘killed’ which of course could be accidental. Just want to make sure that by suggesting an accidental overdose (my hunch) that I am not then considered to be suggesting cold-blooded murder.
September 22nd, 2007 at 9:32 pm
656: Stevo
The private detectives from Dutch company called Strongwood were saying that she was autistic – I don’t know why.
http://www.strongwood.net/news/07-08-2007-1525.asp
From their web site:
While profiling involved people and researching our facts the team concluded that Madeleine could have been died before 19:00 we also found that Madeleine is a kid with a disability (autistic) which could explain her behavior and explain some witness declarations.
I myself think she might suffer from CHARGE syndrome
September 22nd, 2007 at 9:31 pm
647 Carmen.
I tried but it hasn’t come thro’…..probably the info on there is a little too ’sensitive’…don’t you think?
September 22nd, 2007 at 9:29 pm
657 - Simon. Please be careful with your language. Accidentally overdosing a child with sedatives may not be considered murder, probably man-slaughter or even death by mis-adverture (where are the judges when we need them?).
Please suggest what else they could have done with them? I don’t get what you are trying to imply.
September 22nd, 2007 at 9:29 pm
622 Vera
Interesting indeed for two reasons. You have added some evidence to two things that I recently wrote entirely as hunches. First that the “powerful friends” junta covers freemasonry in a textbook fashion. Secondly, that I suggeted a couple of days ago that the press (at the time blindly Pro McCannics) would change their tune as the lies got too silly. That Daily Mirror entry is one of the first of many I feel.
History shows that friends in high places will dump the minnows when it gets too hot. And gerrykins is surely just a tadpole in a very big and murky pond. getting another tame medic to prop up the nuclear industry is easy. Next time they may even go for a radiologist on the gravy train.
September 22nd, 2007 at 9:28 pm
Stevo - who knows how they are going to react to anything that happens to them - look at the clip on this story and the interview with the mother of the missing girl. Joanne Coombs went on to commit suicide last week at the same spot her daughter died
http://itn.co.uk/tags/joanne_coombs.html
September 22nd, 2007 at 9:27 pm
655 - I think the technical term is ‘police cock up.’
The blood traces were found after other holidaymakers had stayed at the apartment.
September 22nd, 2007 at 9:25 pm
572 - Ade
Not all Turner Syndrome girls have heart troubles. My daughter has Turners and there are a few varieties of the syndrome. The worst cases of Turners are where the girls have the pronounced webbing of the neck and in between fingers. Those girls are the ones likely to have the heart defects. Madeleine doesn’t have any visible webbing so it’s safe to assume she doesn’t have the worst type of Turner’s Syndrome.
September 22nd, 2007 at 9:25 pm
651 - Agreed. Noone would think of cheking the twins for sedatives that night. Too many other things to think about.
But after the event, two sleeping twins in all the hullabaloo would seen suspicious.
Knowing this, why would they just leave them there, sedated, in an unlocked room, having killed one child.
September 22nd, 2007 at 9:22 pm
563 - Lilith
How do you know Madeleine was autistic and mentally retarded? If you have a valid source for that can you let us know?
September 22nd, 2007 at 9:22 pm
(653) Simon:
Ahh, I didn’t know that (the other guests), thanks for that bit of information, Simon! I’m a bit surprised they let other guests in, I know they couldn’t keep it empty forever, but…if they were still trying for a shred of DNA evidence, it is odd.
September 22nd, 2007 at 9:21 pm
Yesterday I was in the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC. The sights in there are horrendous as you’d expect. It did not surprise me one bit to see grown adults and children crying out loud at the things on display. I stood next to a lady watching the video of some perverted SS doctor who performed experiments on children. We both had tears in our eyes and looked at each other and said nothing except shaking our heads as we walked away.
This is why I find it absolutely impossible for two caring, loving parents to be so robotic and not shed a single tear on any interview or TV appearance. Frankly, it is not possible. No matter how hard you tried to stop yourself, if you had genuinely lost a child, you would be emotional to the point of tears. Kate and Gerry McCann have NEVER shown real tears or had the quivery lip typical of this kind of incident - IF it was 100% genuine.
September 22nd, 2007 at 9:16 pm
644 - Just re-read your post and realised I misunderstood. Apologies.
The apartemtn was scrubbed during the weeks after May 3rd as it was used for other guests.
September 22nd, 2007 at 9:16 pm
619
The forensic evidence of regular sedation could be shown - that it happened on that night wouldbe very difficult.
With the right sample it can definitely be determined whether from a corpse or living person.
630.
Agree totally - who says there isn’t such evidence? - only the tabloids/PR. One born every day - to their credit some of them have learned to type and use computers and logged in here!
September 22nd, 2007 at 9:16 pm
Simon 646. If all three were sedated but M was accidentally overdosed and died, what else could you do with the twins but let them sleep it off.
With all the hullabaloo that would have been going on, I doubt anyone thought of checking them for sedatives.
September 22nd, 2007 at 9:16 pm
(646) Simon:
I do not suggest they were sedated, I just stated why people would believe so and stated it as a possibility.
Once again, one explanation for leaving the twins asleep could be that if they were awake, they could have repressed memories (or something) or cry and need attention.
September 22nd, 2007 at 9:13 pm
Ade - I think I almost prefer Gerrykins to Gerrypops. But Gerrypops goes so nicely with Katepoo. And I love the McCannics. Its good to smile.
September 22nd, 2007 at 9:12 pm
644 - It’s on record, as far as we can beleive a lot of what we read.
I will try and find the link for you.
September 22nd, 2007 at 9:11 pm
Kate accidentally kills Maddie with sedatives. She and Gerry and/or O’Brian and or AN Other think quickly and come up with a plan that they feel they can execute through that evening.
Wanderer suggests (613) that the twins could have been sedated too, which is why they slept through the night.
I tend to agree with this.
So why would you leave your twins, sedated in bed, when you just killed your kid with sedatives?
September 22nd, 2007 at 9:09 pm
627 633
I reckon this Murat ruse has got them rattled and I’m pretty sure they don’t know what to do. Could this be where prat Mitchell gets the chop? The PJ simple have to sit idle and do nothing while the McCannics stew and hopefully do something stupid (again). So far they have kept their mouths shut but I think Gerrykins may well lose his temper and blow it.
I still think the Murat story will dominate tomorrow and push them into second place - which Gerrykins will find hard to handle. This especially when letting Murat off must surely transfer more pressure to McCanClan and the tapas 9 junta. remember the tapas 9 junta have not yet had the individual, personal scrutiny of the fragrant couple - we don’t even know what the elusive David Payne looks like. They may find it difficult to handle the attention about to bear on them and their ever-changing statements. We may even move into the territory of having individual names associated with leaks rather than “close sources”. Interesting times ahead, I fear
September 22nd, 2007 at 9:08 pm
(641) Simon:
Who said the apartment was scrubbed and scrubbed? Surely that wouldn’t fit into Gerry’s timeline (that an abductor was there when he checked on the kids, then ran with Madeleine once Gerry had left).
September 22nd, 2007 at 9:07 pm
(637) Simon:
That’s the thing, I don’t think they took a sample of the twins hair that night, and I doubt they did until they really started to suspect the McCanns for 28 days? (maybe I’m wrong) And since then, I think they would be smart enough to not sedate anyone, if they were…
September 22nd, 2007 at 9:07 pm
622. Vera.
I wonder if having so many friends in high places is one of the reasons why nobody has come out of the woodwork to speak about the past of Mr and Mrs McCann.*
Usually in a case as well known as this the papers or tv manage to find one or two exs or aquaintances willing to dish some dirt. Even if it is usually crap from school days.
But there has been nothing. The only character references we have for the McCanns have come from their family and paid ensemble.
Is someone putting the squeeze on people to stay quiet or are there really no skeletons in the McCanns past?
*apart from these two.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uklatest/story/0,,-6925138,00.html
September 22nd, 2007 at 9:03 pm
635 - Or the police found nothing.
Best guess, even if the cat had been through the wash, traces of all sorts of stuff, incriminating or otherwise, would still show up.
After all, the apartment was allegeding scrubbed and scrubbed, but traces of blood were still found.
September 22nd, 2007 at 9:02 pm
604 - Most cases of coloboma are not connected with other health problems.
I tend to agree with you there as well.
I have a friend, with brown eyes, who has one normal eye, and the other one is partially orange in color. she has no other conditions related to this, just two eyes that are not identical and don’t match. That’s not unusual.
So the disfigurement in Maddy’s eye, may indeed be local to that one eye with no other clinical findings.
September 22nd, 2007 at 9:02 pm
632 Simon
OK! Sorry, very poor joke and in somewhat bad taste. I apologise.
Must look at Portuguese press tomorrow to see if I’ve been implicated yet myself. It could well happen. I do keep looking for evidence and it gets in the way of the investigation.
September 22nd, 2007 at 9:01 pm
634 - Judith C. That would have been me. Thanks for clarification. And in case you missed it. I mentioned that ‘Trust No One’ AND ‘The Truth is Out There’ were slogans for the x-Files. Very apt.