Madeleine McCann: Ben Needham Is Missing, Operation Predator And Maddie’s Cops
MADDYWATCH - Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann.
DAILY EXPRESS front page: “McCanns warn: We’ll sue over claims we drugged our children”
Page 7: “Madeleine parents: We have never sedated our children” – The “slurs” are “outrageous” and “hurtful”.
The theory that they sedated all of their children is a “wild theory”. It appears in Portuguese newspaper 24 Horas, a source for “some of the more outlandish reporting”. The Express reproduces the outlandish reporting for its readers to digest and marvel at
“Grim hunt for images as child-porn ring is smashed” – Operation Predator is a clamp down on child porn in Portugal. A friend of the McCanns says: “This shows the scale of the problem in Portugal and appears to show that the Portuguese police seem to be looking in the right direction. It may provide vital leads”
But the raids were not directly connected with the Madeleine case. Operation Predator was six months in the planning
THE SUN front page: “Maddie: cop raid on pervs”
Page 7: “McCANNS’ DELIGHT AT PAEDO SWOOP” – Kate and Gerry McCann are “encouraged” that 300 Portuguese police “smashed” a 80-strong paedophile ring
“’FIND OUR KIDS TV’” – Kate and Gerry have backed a TV channel that features the 150,000 UK children that go missing each year. Pictures of missing children will be shown at GP surgeries, shopping malls and hospitals
Page 37: “MISSING BEN AGONY – We were too working class to get help like Maddie’s family” – The mother of Ben Needham, who disappeared 16 years ago on the Greek island of Kos – sees haves and have nots
“I was 19,” says Kerry Grist. “Just an ordinary girl from a council estate and people thought, ‘She will just go away in a few months, have another child and forget about it…I don’t think people thought Ben was important enough.” Or the media didn’t…
Kate McCann is a doctor. Gerry McCann is a heart specialist. Both Madeleine and Ben are blonde
DAILY MAIL page 5: “Huge porn swoop offers hope of a Maddie clue”
“Could Ben still be alive?” – Ben Needham disappeared from near his grandparents’ farm house
Says Mrs Grist, Ben’s mum: “Madeleine’s parents are middle class people with important jobs and seemed to have had a publicity machine behind them straight away”
DAILY MIRROR page 15: “WHY STAY IF SHE HAD SOMETHING TO HIDE?”
A pal of Kate McCann says: “She could not tear herself away [from Portugal]. What mother could leave the place where her daughter vanished? …If she had something to hide why would she hang around in Praia da Luz waiting for the police to come knocking on the door?”
We don’t know. Why?
DAILY STAR front page: “MADDIE POLICE ARREST 80 PAEDOS”
Madeleine McCann does not have her own police force – not yet. But the police working on one case are Portuguese, like the police in her case. It’s an “EXCLUSIVE”
Page 7: “MADDIE COPS RAID PAEDOS” – The Star sees Gerry McCann leaving his home in a car. “STRAIN” reads the caption
DAILY TELEGRAPH page 17: “Madeleine police turn spotlight back on paedophiles”
“Missing children TV hopes to jog patients’ memories” – Ben Needham is missing. Xiao Xiao is missing. Lee Thomas Wedge is missing. Leanna Petrenko is missing. Abigaile Sommerville is missing. Andrew Paul Gosden is missing
THE INDEPENDENT page 24: “Mother in plea to missing son” – Ben Needham is missing
THE TIMES page 11: “Madeleine police return to kidnap theory”
German and Dutch police are believed to have been asked to trace and interview guests staying at the Ocean Club when Madeleine went missing
THE GUARDIAN: No Madeleine news today
Posted: 11th, October 2007 | In: Madeleine McCann Comments (1,683) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
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October 11th, 2007 at 8:07 pm
Thelma
Tony bennett posted the two 24Hora articles re GM not being the father ealier today. I remember there being coverage that GM falsified a birth cerificate, can’t remember where but it was a while ago.
It will be interesting to see how this plays out. The 34Hora response to GM threatening to sue is interesting and sounds defiant to me.
October 11th, 2007 at 8:07 pm
Thelma wrote:
Wendy,
I would say that possibly JM is unaware that he is not MMs biological father… it makes things very interesting
errr..Thelma - who is JM?? You mean Gerry McCann?? He is GM. Not JM. No one will know who you are talking about.
Facts…just the facts ma’am!
As in General Moron
October 11th, 2007 at 8:07 pm
Columbo was married.
October 11th, 2007 at 8:06 pm
Columbo was married.
October 11th, 2007 at 8:05 pm
826 - Peter O
Actually, I hadn’t noticed the screen when I initially looked but I revised the post to say I had noticed it on both photos. The arch facing the steps is exposed and it has a railing on it - something you know kids love to climb on.
October 11th, 2007 at 8:05 pm
Columbo says:
“gotta go my wife is makin the meatballs.”
Columbo wasn’t married….LOL!!
Woops
October 11th, 2007 at 8:04 pm
Wendy,
I would say that possibly JM is unaware that he is not MMs biological father… it makes things very interesting
October 11th, 2007 at 8:04 pm
Something really interest to me last night. I was reading around the Internet and found a few other forums where people are talking about Madeleine… What really amused me is that on May 5, just two days after Maddie went missing, people on these forums were holding the EXACT same conversations with the EXACT same theories, the EXACT same rebuttals. We’re really very boring. We’ve been having the same argument for five months without having cracked the case (with the obvious exception of Harry Hindsight, who knwos what happened)
October 11th, 2007 at 8:04 pm
I wonder if Madeleine did have a nasty accident between 6-7pm and was put to bed by Kate after cleaning her up. She may have known it was an accident but she may have been terrified of telling Gerry that because she felt the story wouldn’t be believed. I can imagine the pressure to conceal that to be incredible. I think the pressure to conceal it from doting grandparents would be even more incredible.
October 11th, 2007 at 8:02 pm
24 Horas has been notoriously bad about printing absolute bullshit and calling it news, and retracting what they print today by tomorrow morning. I put NO stock in that particular report, especially if they are admitting the twins’ biological father is for sure Gerry. If that is the case, K and G would have had NO reason to use donor sperm. Besides which, I really think Madeleine LOOKS like Gerry. But whatever. It’s still beyond me why anyone believes a single word that has been printed about any of this. Several people have said that we know only two things here — 1. Madeleine is missing; 2. Parents left young children alone. In truth, we know only one thing: Madeleine is missing. It now appears possible that they did not leave their children alone; instead, perhaps they were with four other children and possibly even Russell O’Brien. So we know absolutely nothing about this case except that Madeleine is missing.
October 11th, 2007 at 8:02 pm
This might be a really stupid question, but they have found DNA who according to the McCanns is the twins DNA, or is transferred by the flip-flops etc of Maggie.
It must be possible to distinguish the DNA of Gerrys, and so the twins (his biological children - or the DNA of Madeleins, of wich he claims to be the father but other sources seem to dispute.
Since some people seem to think Gerry is not the biological father, can’t they rule out the twins DNA , and make sure it is Madeleines DNA that has been found. Sorry if this sounds confusing.
October 11th, 2007 at 8:01 pm
585 Stevo Says:
In my earlier post I gave a link to a photo of the archway by the steps to the apartment. In it the archway was exposed to the street below. Look at this photo of the archway. It has a safety screen up against it:
Any comments?
++++++++++++++++
Can you date the two photographs? ASS-U-M(E)ing that the one without the screen is the latter photograph, has it possibly been removed as part of the forensics evidence?
October 11th, 2007 at 8:01 pm
Gerry’s Blog:
Day 17: 20.00 We put the kids to bed.
Day 26: we were surprised to hear they were tucked up in bed by 7.30pm
Day 93: We were all very tired and we managed to get off to bed at 10.30pm
Why then put the kids to bed by 7pm on May 3 if you intended going out at 8:30pm? 7pm was clearly too early…
October 11th, 2007 at 7:58 pm
Sorry Im late. Was doing a bit of Horizontal jogging with Krissie!!!!!!
October 11th, 2007 at 7:57 pm
I wonder…..if one of the 40 questions that the McCanns refused to answer was whether or not Gerry was Maddie’s father. That would have obviously led to this speculation and pursuing this lead…
If he were the Father, then they would have said definitively “Yes” and the PJ would have then squashed this theory that he was not her Biological Father.
I would ask an Attorney this question: If Gerry or Kate had said that Maddie is Gerry’s biological/genetic daughter, during the inquisition back in early September in Portugal - and it turns out that he is not the real Father - what happens then? I mean, it’s lying under oath, correct? And what is the punishment in Portugal for that??
Also, my next question would be - is there any reason, if Gerry is the biological Father of Maddie - to refuse to respond to that question? In essence, leading this investigation astray and down another path? Is it possible that the McCanns could have avoided that question - refused to respond - inorder for the Portuguese press and the PJ to start making slanderous and libelous remarks against them, only so that the McCanns can then turn around, and say it’s not true, that Gerry is indeed the Father of Maddie and here’s the proof. Now we’re going to sue your asses off??
Could this have been the next phase of the masterminded grand money making schemes a la McConn’s and their power house of protectors??
What is going on here?? I think that it’s possible the PJ and the Portuguese press were set up on this one. Then when the McCann’s prove them wrong, it all backfires on them, and the suspects start calling the shots and sending the Portuguese back to their humble bearings.
I just feel strongly that Maddie is Gerry and Kate’s real daughter - and that there’s a chance that the McCanns may have not answered that question - to manipulate exactly the scenario thnat is going on here today in the Portuguese press. Waiting to turn the tables on them…..this is a very skilled team and they truly leave no stone unturned when it comes to plotting and scheming….
What do the Lawyers here think of this?? Tony Bennett??
October 11th, 2007 at 7:52 pm
The 4 little piggies are becoming more and more important.
October 11th, 2007 at 7:49 pm
814 - Wendy
You may be right. It’s just that I can’t go with the far-fetched theories and I think whatever happened was simple but it just escalated out of control very rapidly. A fatal fall after some horseplay fits the bill for the cause. I think the only sticking point is what was the catalyst to turn things critical. All I can think of is death.
October 11th, 2007 at 7:49 pm
Thelma
If Pedro Tadeu is on the up and up, and the sources provided accurate information, that sure opens up a whole ‘nother can of worms, to be sure!
October 11th, 2007 at 7:47 pm
817 Dave
Yes. I know about triangulation but soothsayer said it was accurate to within 10ft. Read my post and you’ll see that was what I challenged…not that you can’t triangulate. It turned out it was accurate to within 50-100m.
October 11th, 2007 at 7:46 pm
811 - Peter O
I’d trust you to look after my kids anytime. You’re as thorough as I’ve always been.
I’m coming round to thinking that a bad fall accident happened to Madeleine in the early evening while Gerry was playing tennis. I think this was around 6pm-7pm. I think that it probably overwhelmed Kate and she put Madeleine to bed after cleaning her up. Maybe she was still alive at this time but death followed. This would allow all alibis to stand up to the stories we’ve read in the papers. The bit I can’t figure out is where it went “critical”. In other words, at some point in time, they would have had to hatch a plan. Gerry would have come in and been getting washed/showered after tennis and I’m having a problem thinking how/when things would escalate. Forgetting that part for the moment, once it had been decided on the path to take, the rest of the evening could also tie in with the alibis and stories. It’s not far fetched but it is significant enough to want to cover it up.
October 11th, 2007 at 7:45 pm
Stevo are you the pilot guy who hadn’t heard of triangulation using phone masts.
October 11th, 2007 at 7:45 pm
815 Thelma
Thanks for the translation! What do you think?
October 11th, 2007 at 7:43 pm
Hi this is from
the paper edition 24hors.
DECLARATION
I want to declare here: the news making the headlines in today’s cover is really relevant. The fact that it has been proven — according to sources this newspaper has in the PJ and in the Instituto de Medicina Legal [national forenscis intitute] — that Gerry is not Maddie’s biological father explains a big part of the problems that this investigation has been facing, namely that, by doing DNA testing, it found contradictory results. While this fact was not cleared, given the testimonies and the other evidence gathered so far, the police could not, in any way, ever find out what really happened.
I also want to declare here that we considered the possibility that who gave us is this information might in any way be instrumentalizing 24horas to defend its own interests. After we made that consideration, we came to the conclusion that the the main issue — the veracity of the news — was not in any way put in doubt, not least because our journalists checked it with two different, unrelated sources. These are things that we do every day. But today, given the sensitivity of the issue, I want to declare that, as usual (and as we are the only newspaper that does it sistematically and not only when that can avoid us a legal suit), if we find out we were fooled by someone or that we made a mistake, we’ll be here to correct it in the headlines.
Pedro Tadeu
October 11th, 2007 at 7:43 pm
812 Stevo
I honestly do not think that a fall would be reason “enough” to go to such lengths. If the parents are guilty they must be hiding something worse than that.
October 11th, 2007 at 7:41 pm
Can anyone make sense of these postings. They are in order! I promise .:
firestar Says:
October 11th, 2007
“i just gave you two facts, where they changed stories on record.
you waffled again.
i.e. i was right.
all mouth, no substance”
no one is innocent until proved guilty.
that’s waffle again.
they are either guilty or not.
ignorance of the law isn’t a defence.
“if any reasonable minded person would believe them to be arseholes, they’d be guilty.”
And finally…
” find it hard because my finger keeps trying to type ‘arse’ ”
Really?
October 11th, 2007 at 7:40 pm
We have sensed a family issue with the grandparent who says “my daughter” (is it Kate’s mum?). Is there an internal issue there from an incident in the past?
October 11th, 2007 at 7:38 pm
496 Diamond in the rough Says:
This gets more and more outrageous!!!! Who would leave an 11 month old baby alone???????
++++++++++
Now, before anyone gets on my case I am not condoning leaving children alone in a locked, unlocked apartment, while you and your friends dine elsewhere on the site..
Just to make the point, we have a child younger than this who is now asleep, just after 7.00 PM and who will not awake until 5.00-6.00 AM in the morning, usually nearer 6.00. She’s in the room next to where I am, so I can listen out. If I went to our shed/outbuildings to get something, I’d take the baby monitor with me and I would probably double check both children when I came back. If what I wanted to do/fetch outside was going to take any longer than a couple of minutes I’d probably wait until my wife got back later this evening. Now, maybe I’m unusual, I certainly would be in the company of the McCann’s and their friends!
Now.. Given their apparent attitude to baby sitting arrangements I could well imagine that if they “knew” a little child usually slept through till the following morning THEY may be prepared to risk leaving her in the apartment… I wouldn’t.
And as an aside, has it been alluded to in the press in recent days that in fact someone was checking on the children more often than every 30 minutes? i.e. I thought part of the current round of leaks suggested that abduction was impossible because all the children were together and were being checked so often that the apartment(s) was/were more like Paddington Station at rush hour? That being the case, it would suggest that the checking every 30 minutes or so is complete fabrication in order create ‘time windows’ when an abductor could seemingly have taken Madeleine.
October 11th, 2007 at 7:38 pm
feels like the calm before the storm.
October 11th, 2007 at 7:38 pm
Here’s another important reason why I think my new accident theory is quite feasible…
Family!
Imagine being on holiday and your grandchild has had a bad fall. Imagine being told it was because the parents were socialising and regularly left your grandchildren alone in the room. It would be incredibly heartbreaking to be told of this and then to learn that the carelessness caused your baby grandchild to lose their life through negligence. Isn’t that pressure as bad as the pressure you’d have if your career was going to be in tatters?
October 11th, 2007 at 7:37 pm
Stevo
Going to get a glass of wine and mull over that one.