Madeleine McCann: Blonde Child Seen In Morocco
MADDYWATCH - Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann.
DAILY MAIL front page: “Could this be Maddie?”
Readers see a picture of a child being carried on a woman’s back - “The intriguing picture being probed by Interpol.”
Pages 10 and 11: “Could this really be Maddie?”
This is the picture of a girl “in the clutches of a group of Moroccans”. The picture was taken four weeks ago near Tangiers by Spaniard Clara Torres.
DAILY MIRROR front page: “MADDY IN MOROCCO?”
Readers see the same picture. The Full “astonishing story” is on pages 4 and 5.
Pages 4 and 5: “COULD IT BE?” Less the full story than another question.
“GERRY: I KNOW WE WILL BE CLEARED” – Gerry McCann says he and his wife “wanted to be eliminated from the enquiry as quickly as possible”. Some news.
THE SUN front page: “MOROCCO PHOTO SENSATION. IS THIS MADDIE?”
The picture is “sensational”. It has been described as “convincing”, but by whom is not said.
Pages 4 and 5: “GERRY & KATE: IT COULD BE HER – MADDIE PARENTS HOPE AT SIGHTING SENSATION.”
Clara Torres is talking on Spanish radio. She looks at the photo. Says she: “It sent shivers down my spine.”
DAILY EXPRESS front page: “NOW A ‘PHOTO’ OF MADELEINE IN MOROCCO.”
‘Photo’ is placed in quotes lest readers mistake the picture for a ‘SNAP’ or a ‘SHOT’.
Spanish Government official Jose Herrero Arcas says: “The National Police received a photograph by email taken by a young Spanish couple who believe it shows Madeleine McCann. The quality of the photograph is not very clear and it was taken from around 200 metres away. However, the National Police are taking the claim seriously enough to have sent it on to their colleagues at Interpol. I cannot give any more information than that.”
DAILY STAR front page: “MADDIE – AMAZING PHOTO IN MOROCCO.”
Pages 4 and 5: “MADDIE SEEN IN MOROCCO – Bombshell new photo is probed by Interpol.”
THE TIMES front page: “Police start investigation into ‘picture in Morocco of Madeleine McCann’.”
Page 5: “New photograph shows child like Madeleine on African woman’s back.”
A source close to the McCanns tells one and all: “The McCanns are not going to get their hopes up until the photograph has been sent for forensic examination.” And, dare it be said, a DNA test.
DAILY TELEGRAPH front page: “Is this Madeleine in Morocco?” The search for the missing child has taken a “dramatic turn”.
Page 9: “Gerry McCann is “confident” he and his wife will be cleared. A source tells us: “It is very unlikely that British police would question the McCanns on behalf of the Portuguese now.”
Robert Murat responds to claims by nanny Charlotte Pennington that on the night of Madeleine’s disappearance he was by the McCann family apartment: “I certainly was not there that night. At no point was I there.”
THE GUARDIAN & THE INDEPENDENT no Maddy news today.
Posted: 26th, September 2007 | In: Madeleine McCann Comments (1,153) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
Comments
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September 26th, 2007 at 3:38 pm
452,
I think you can easily google that yourself.
September 26th, 2007 at 3:38 pm
455
Had Moderation have ASKED me where I got that information from, I would have explained, but she didn’t, she shot me down.
Maybe more people should research the PSYCHOLOGY behind why people act the way do, and READ more books on CRIMINOLOGY, as I am NOT stating an opinion here, I am stating what I have read regards the PSYCHOLOGY behind these types.
September 26th, 2007 at 3:38 pm
sorry I meant 409
September 26th, 2007 at 3:37 pm
I guess this will come across as a lazy reflex comment that betrays my irredeemably cynical nature, but it does strike me as being a little too convenient that this picture has suddenly emerged now. This is what disturbs me about this whole case, the feeling that we all being manipulated in different ways, as if someone in Hollywood was writing the script. Real life is untidy and yet the official events are way too neat. Little Madeleine tells mummy that “this is the happiest day of my life” only to vanish into thin air an hour later … it’s pure soap opera. The McCann’s are under pressure and magically, days after a new press spokesman is appointed, a photograph that takes the pressure off the parents magically appears.
I hope I’m wrong about this (as I’ve said before, I don’t know what to believe.) But everything is too stage managed for comfort.
September 26th, 2007 at 3:37 pm
Please don’t say they have started making Maddie rucksacks already.
There is always someone ready to make a profit from a situation.
September 26th, 2007 at 3:36 pm
Moderation
You are NOT a PhD in Psychology are you? Or are you, on top of being an author and journalist.
YOU say it is so, so it must be.
NO, YOU ARE WRONG.
Psychologically, paedophiles and child abusers are millions of miles apart, I don’t care how many films you have watched, you have not, I think, spent over 10 years researching this area for a dissertation, nor are you considered an authority in this area, and yet, instead of RESEARCHING what I say, and reading books to see if what I say is correct, you immediately say that you have watched films and you are an expert.
GET A GRIP - ever heard of JACK OF ALL TRADES, MASTER OF NONE? Methinks that is you, who knows EVERYTHING according to you!
Still waiting for you to post how you KNOW that the priest wasn’t missing, despite the newspaper report which quotes others as saying he was.
September 26th, 2007 at 3:36 pm
407 sss I hate to say it but moderation is right. That was a stupid thing to say, and not at all correct. But then again, that is just my opinion.
September 26th, 2007 at 3:34 pm
I think the McCanns are innocent (what would they do with the body?)
I think they’re lying about the timeline because they can’t face the idea that they left Madeleine alone for some opportunist to come in and get her and that’s why the PJs think they’re guilty and probably why they’re reactions are so odd (Kate numb, Gerry perky and going all over the place).
I think Madeleine is probably dead (she’s too famous to keep alive, and if she is alive she’ll be locked up somewhere where she can’t be seen).
I think the McCanns P.R. machine is OTT and detrimental to their case.
All speculation, but I expect Jon will start SCREAMING IN CAPS AT ME.
September 26th, 2007 at 3:32 pm
442, this is what the Spanish woman (3rd sighting at end of May) apparently said after she reported her sighting to police. Taken from gazeta digital who referenced the Daily Mail.
“.. the non-identified Spanish woman tried to talk with Spanish and Portuguese Police, but both police forces refused to take her statement and told her “that Madeleine was presumed to be dead.”
Their non actions speak louder than their words.
September 26th, 2007 at 3:32 pm
450 - My understanding is that KM refused to answer approximately 40 out of 42 questions while she was still a witness. Once she became an adguido she did not have to answer anything.
Also, please explain - I am confused. What exactly have the Portugese claimed they are guilty of? Is there a link you could post up. Thanks.
September 26th, 2007 at 3:26 pm
267
Moderation
You left out the main reason Moroccans come here. Maybe you haven’t read of the massive drug busts along the Algarve coast. Even the CIA Factbook calls Portugal the gateway for drugs from not only Morocco, but Colombia. I’m sure more has gotten through than has been confiscated. One of the biggest busts, however, was from some Brits. : ) Just having fun with the latter…
September 26th, 2007 at 3:23 pm
441,
perhaps because the McCanns are suspects and the Portuguese claim that they are guilty and if they answer certain questions it can possibly be twisted to fit in with the PJ theory. A lawyer would have adviced them to skip certain questions. I would do the same thing for fear of being wrongly interpreted.
September 26th, 2007 at 3:23 pm
(443)
Portia.
This is the video link you want (KM looking down as she’s asked what she would say to her daughter if she were watching). It’s right at the very end of the video.
http://news.sky.com/skynews/video/videoplayer/0,,91210-1279448,.html
September 26th, 2007 at 3:21 pm
My cousin a Pathologist cant understand why the results from the self styled foremost DNA lab in the world,are taking so long.He says he would expect full and complete results within 24 hours,48 at the most for such simple tests within very narrow known parameters.
September 26th, 2007 at 3:21 pm
440. nononethere, have the police actually stated she is dead? My understanding was that they stated the evidence they had supported the hypothesis of her being dead, but they had not discounted other possibilities.
Remember, we are not privy to the forensic evidence, so there might be good reason for them to consider one hypothesis above others.
September 26th, 2007 at 3:21 pm
437.DeeDeeDee. At the time of the Moroccan sightings the mcCanns went to Rabat to campaign but they didn’t travel to the actual town where the sightings happened, Marrakech. I as a parent - and many others - find it strange not travelling to the actual place of the sighting (2 sightings!) to show the girl’s picture around, to ask people etc. One of the many reasons for ordinary blokes to question the parents’ innocence in the first place.
September 26th, 2007 at 3:19 pm
437,
‘gang of moroccans’ is the title the paper chose to sell copies. No other paper used that phrase. They do not look like a gang but they do look odd because they are all dark apart from this little girl. If this little girl is not Madeleine police should still investigate to find out who she is.
September 26th, 2007 at 3:18 pm
431. But we still don’t know what evidence the PJs have, so you can’t say they’re wrong to think she’s dead.
And they must be looking for a body - a conviction is difficult to secure without a body - esp when most of the British press are still on the McCanns side.
I don’t know why you think the PJs would be reading this forum and not watching Sky or reading the Daily Mail (which will only print negative things in order to denounce them as disgusting and astonishing).
When a Brit is accused abroad our press tend to support them - remember Louise Woodward and the shaken baby? I think that was the first time yellow ribbons were tied to trees and railings in a hometown to welcome (hopefully) someone back. Kate and Gerry are not easy targets.
September 26th, 2007 at 3:17 pm
Last night I once again went through the archives looking for the video on KM where she is asked about what she would tell Madeleine if Madeleine could hear her and then KM smiles and looks down and says something like we all love her…
Didn’t find the video, but I had to click on dozens of links and one of the links was the exact same photo that is being circulated today. Exact. So I noted the date on the comments - it was Sept. 9. Anorak would still have it.
Should have bookmarked it. Oh well.
September 26th, 2007 at 3:17 pm
I am unconvinced that the Police actually said to the witness that Madeleine was dead. They may think this, but I doubt they would state that to a general member of the public so unequivocally.
Sounds like a good story, though, for the tabloids to stoke the emotions.
“We are the angry mob, we read the papers every day. We like who we like. We hate who we hate. But we’re also easily swayed.”
September 26th, 2007 at 3:16 pm
426 - Jon. You are not going to get off so lightly this time. Why will the McCanns not help the PJ by answering their questions. You keep reminding us why YOU think they are inefficient. I have asked you TWICE (224) and (295) to explain why you think the McCanns are not answering the PJs questions and helping them in their enquiries.
Why will you not answer this?
September 26th, 2007 at 3:14 pm
434,
well the previous person who spotted a maddie look a like in Morocco reported to police and there response was that we beleive she is dead and they DID NOT follow it up. The PJ have just spent the last 2-3months claiming that she is dead, so I underdand why this tourist may have thought surely it can not be Madeleine. Until of course she read about the 2 other Moroccan sightings after the Pollard woman.
September 26th, 2007 at 3:14 pm
jon thats your spin on it, so much for being contrite. But as I say if it’s speculation you’re after fair enough. I shall not patronise you by explaining the difference between a) an observation b) a fact c) an opinion d) speculation.
September 26th, 2007 at 3:13 pm
where is everyone-
the anti mccanns i mean?
September 26th, 2007 at 3:13 pm
Reasons for taking the photo as stated earlier could be the odd dress, but a ‘gang of morrocans’ is extremely rare in North Carolina. Do they really look like a ‘gang’?
But I sure think the timing is odd. Even odder that the Jetsetting Duo have not booked a flight to where the pic was supposedly taken. If any of us had a gut feeling or instinct that our missing child was in North Africa - where would we be right now? And what would we be doing?
Funny how the pic has conveniently overshadowed the report of the dogs smelling death on one of the Tapas 9 though hasn’t it?
September 26th, 2007 at 3:12 pm
428-
puzzled
i did actually smile at that puzzle
as i knew when i typed it in it would appear again!
September 26th, 2007 at 3:12 pm
431. Well, Jon, hopefully the truth will come out some day. It’s equally possible that too much is being made of this photo and the bad guys are just taking a breath behind this cover up incident.
September 26th, 2007 at 3:10 pm
I really hope it’s Maddie!!!! But WHY did this tourist wait sooo long?? I can understand if she didn’t know who maddiew was at the time..But she said she thought the little girl resembled Maddie but thought it was impossible..I have a hard time believing that she waited this long to show police..Doesn’t see very true.
September 26th, 2007 at 3:10 pm
429-
i missed that portia-
was it the morrocan one you mean?
September 26th, 2007 at 3:09 pm
Portia Says:
September 26th, 2007 at 3:06 pm
The exact same photo was posted Sept. 9 on this web-site.
? I missed that - is this the same photo exclusive in all the news today that you say was here on sept 9?