Madeleine McCann: 4650 Articles, Christian Ridout Was Here And Lawless Morocco
MADDYWATCH - Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann.
DAILY EXPRESS front page: Poster blitz in Morocco”
“More than 11,000 letters and posters have been distributed in remote parts of the North African country to jog the memory of someone who may have seen the little girl”
A spokesman says: “E-mail is great within larger towns and cities, but there are still a lot of people who do not have Madeleine’s picture or the phone contact details to report sightings or information”
Do you have Madeleine’s picture? Do you know the phone number?
DAILY MAIL: “Letter blitz on remote Moroccan mountain villages that Madeleine McCann campaign cannot reach”
“Agents [of Metodo 3] have distributed photographs of the little girl with an appeal in French and Arabic to call with information about her whereabouts. But it has proved difficult to reach all of the isolated communities where a child could have been taken, many of which are in lawless, mountainous regions”
Those lawless Moroccans…
“Madeleine: Private detectives hunt for British barman known as DJ Shifty, accused of grooming an under-age girl for sex”
“Part-time barman and disc jockey Christian Ridout, 32, allegedly sent the British girl obscene text messages when he worked in an expats’ pub 200 yards from where Madeleine disappeared. When the 12-year-old’s mother discovered the explicit messages, Ridout - also known as DJ Shifty - left Portugal in a hurry”
A suspect?
Says the paper: “By coincidence, the Ridout family were next-door neighbours of the family of Robert Murat, the chief suspect in the Madeleine hunt, when the Murats lived in the nearby village of Almadena. The night after Madeleine went missing, a British expat walked into the Plough and Harrow pub in Praia da Luz, still owned by his parents Tony, 57, and Jill, 58, and asked: ‘Where’s Christian then?’ Locals have disparagingly nicknamed the pub ‘The Plough and Paedophile‘ and the missing man is widely disliked in the tight-knit community”
So where is Christian? Well, he left Praia da Luz a few years ago. His mother says she has not seen him for two years. Says the girl’s mother: “I went in to see them just before Madeleine disappeared and they confirmed they’re still looking for him. ‘No one knows where he is, but he could have been back to this area”
Or not…
THE SUN front page: “Publicity blitz for Maddie in Africa”
“Many still don’t recognise her”
Help make Madeleine McCann the world’s most recognisable face
“Despite a massive campaign highlighting the seven-month search for their daughter, experts believe many in the north African country still lack the crucial information they need to help trace her”
Many?
“Now a silent army of volunteers from the Helping To Find Madeleine campaign have given their time over the festive period to flood businesses across the nation with 11,500 letters and posters”
Not so silent
“The initiative comes after the McCanns’ Spanish detective agency pin-pointed Morocco as the most likely place little Maddie may have been taken”
Can you pinpoint a “likely place” to an entire nation? Is this detective work or guesswork?
Kate and Gerry McCann are “doctors”. Fact
Kate pins on badge of hope: “ANGUISHED Kate McCann returned to church yesterday – with a badge of hope bearing a picture of missing Madeleine pinned close to her heart”
A new merchandise push?
One “worshipper” at Kate’s church says: “Every mother wants to cuddle her children at Christmas – it’s heartbreaking that Kate has been denied that. The badge is a symbol of hope that could help focus new eyes on the hunt for Madeleine”
“347 new Maddie calls combed” - The McCanns’ spokesman Clarence Mitchell says: “We are pleased with the calls and they are continuing to come in. Every single call is much appreciated and we are going through them with a fine-tooth comb. Any that need to be acted upon swiftly are being acted upon swiftly. We don’t go into detail because if there is any significant information”
DAILY STAR: “TECS: MADDIE BEING HELD IN MOROCCO”
“More than 11,500 posters appealing for information about the youngster have been sent out to the furthest reaches of the north African country”
Francisco Marco, the PI hired by the McCanns, says: “Morocco is the perfect place to hide a kidnapped girl”. He has said this before. Is Morocco the perfect place? Why not Algeria? Or Malta?
DAILY RECORD: “Maddie Poster Blitz In Morocco”
“Schools, supermarkets and medical centres are being blitzed with thousands of photos of the missing four-year-old. And letters written in French and Arabic are being sent to towns and villages in the most remote parts of the country”
Madeleine in Morocco. Or not. Again… Isabel Gonzalez saw her. Mari Pollard saw her
Clarence Mitchell says: “Anyone who puts effort into assisting us in any way, we are incredibly grateful for, and it sounds like they have done a fantastic job. I have no doubt that it is this kind of effort and initiatives that will lead us to finding Madeleine”
Gerry and Kate McCann are “doctors”
THE GUARDIAN: “From Mr Bean to Shambo the bull, the media obsessions of 2007”
A review: “Almost nine months after she vanished, we know a lot about Madeleine McCann and her family. We know the legal implications of being named an official suspect in a Portuguese criminal investigation. What we do not know is who took her, if she is alive and whether any trace of her will ever be found again. A total of 4,650 articles have appeared in British newspapers since she disappeared on May 3”
THE SCOTSMAN: “Madness, badness, hate and heroism - Robert McNeil continues his unique take on the events of 2007 with a look back at the second three months of the year…”
“Hell also visited the parents of three-year-old Madeleine McCann on 3 May when the toddler disappeared from their holiday apartment in the Algarve. In the ensuing months, Kate and Gerry McCann used the media to keep the case in the public eye. The Portuguese police did the same, but their efforts were directed more at casting doubts on the McCanns and their friends. Supposed sightings of Madeleine were reported periodically, but each time hopes were dashed”
THE TIMES: “Hundreds ring hotline after Madeleine plea”
Yesterday in the latest entry on his internet diary, Mr McCann wrote: “Madeleine should not be spending Christmas away from her loving family. The person who took her has it in their power to end our suffering and will be able to appease their conscience that they have done the right thing – especially at this time of year. Kate and I would like to thank everyone who has taken the time to write to us and let us know Madeleine and our family are still in their thoughts and prayers. We still have at least one hundred cards to open! As always, every single one will be read and the support expressed helps renew our determination to find Madeleine”
The story, speculation and sensation…
Posted: 27th, December 2007 | In: Madeleine McCann Comments (1,081) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
Comments
December 27th, 2007 at 7:07 pm
569
Stevo Says:
December 27th, 2007 at 7:04 pm
563 Tinsel
Not on an airplane. Britain is an island remember. Most of the traffic going there is via boats or train. Remember the two guys who drove 2200 miles from Scotland to deliver the inflatable poster for the beach? Ferries go from the south coast of England to Santander in northern Spain on a regular basis.
***
Are you thinking O’B drove the body back?
December 27th, 2007 at 7:07 pm
510 chenier Says:
December 27th, 2007 at 6:09 pm
I am unable to find any paper supporting such a claim….
____________________________________________
And like all good narcissists, if you can’t find it, it doesn’t exist right?
December 27th, 2007 at 7:04 pm
563 Tinsel
Not on an airplane. Britain is an island remember. Most of the traffic going there is via boats or train. Remember the two guys who drove 2200 miles from Scotland to deliver the inflatable poster for the beach? Ferries go from the south coast of England to Santander in northern Spain on a regular basis.
December 27th, 2007 at 7:03 pm
564
Ian
lol
December 27th, 2007 at 7:02 pm
537 Judith C
Watch Michael Moore’s “Sicko” and realise how the US Pharmaceuticals are hardly regulated and can come up with new drugs to treat disorders almost at will. It helps their industry no end to have disorders that are supposedly cured with a new pill. The USA is incredibly dependent on medicine and it was a big eye opener to me moving here from Europe. The average American HAS to have a pill to fix a problem…it’s part of their culture here - the worst side of a supply and demand capitalist society.
December 27th, 2007 at 7:01 pm
544
veritablequandary Says:
December 27th, 2007 at 6:42 pm
*****************************
There must have been an awful lot of lobotomies and empty attics to tie them up in, judging by the number of ADHC’s (or whatever the acronym is) around, now that the ‘ailment’ has been recognised.
December 27th, 2007 at 7:01 pm
559
veritablequandary
Don’t know
But the simple fact ,that he was put in that “list” tells a lot
December 27th, 2007 at 7:00 pm
559 We all voted for him - I hope so, as the intention was to embarrass the hell out of the Scotsman newspaper that allowed the bastard to be nominated!
December 27th, 2007 at 7:00 pm
556
Yes i have often thought of the possibility that the body may be in the UK………………………
***
How would they have contained the smell or the fluids on an airplane? This is terrible to say, but remember, a dead body is something like a giant piece of rotting fruit. Not easy to hide in an airplane.
December 27th, 2007 at 7:00 pm
537
Judith C
Hi, Judith! Good Christmas? When I was at primary/junior school, we had ‘disruptive’ kids in most classes. One girl in my class was tied to her desk every day! Many more were lined up outside the headmaster’s study, waiting for the cane. Of course, poor parenting can be blamed on various sydromes but I am sure that some syndromes do actually exist. Some parents are able to recognise traits in their own children and help them before it becomes an insurmountable problem, others do need medical help.
December 27th, 2007 at 6:59 pm
556
blues
I think that it’s possible ,and that’s the reason , they feel so confortable to say to the P.J. ” Show the body” ,or whatever ,these monsters said
December 27th, 2007 at 6:59 pm
For the record, theres no such thing as an anti McCann, there pro-McCanns and the rest.
December 27th, 2007 at 6:59 pm
551 Can’t say No Says:
December 27th, 2007 at 6:51 pm
When we have G. for the “Scot” of the year ,nothing surprises me
———
did he win this contest?
December 27th, 2007 at 6:58 pm
I would like to see more boot-camps for reprobate teens. The days were in the UK when an ankle chain or tattoo on a woman used to be the marks of a prostitute. Nowadays in the UK, young girls are probably the largest smoking group, they outdo each other with ugly tattoos and they go out on the town trying to out-skimp each other. Sadly, there’s nobody at the top telling anyone how to behave anymore. The days of Reginald Molehusband and Public Information Films is long gone.
December 27th, 2007 at 6:57 pm
542
Ade Says:
December 27th, 2007 at 6:38 pm
531
tonite i am ade
as always
but sans doom as i have to finish off my demos, then burn some cds ready for saturday
then go to the big city tomorrow to seek much doom and some clothes
and rejoice that my name is not McConn
excellent fun to be had
———————————————————
There is, indeed, excellent fun to be had but I’m not sure about the big city bit….
Do they have big cities where Doom Bar is easily available?
December 27th, 2007 at 6:56 pm
Judith C Says:
December 27th, 2007 at 6:03 pm
There are hints being dropped - don’t ask me for links as I don’t have them - that Madeleine’s body might have been brought back to the UK in a bag. This made me think of an RTE interview I had seen in June. It was on “Crimecall”, interviewer Anne Cassin. When she asked Mrs. McCann: “Why do you want think it is important to stay here in Portugal?” Mrs. McCann replied as follows:-
“I feel closer to Madeleine here … which, I mean, might be wrong…she might be closer to the UK than here…but I do feel closer to Madeleine here….etcetera. ”
“….she might be closer to the UK than here…” What a strange thing to say! Was it a slip of the tongue? Mrs. McCann’s quite good at that.
I do have a link to the video if anyone would like to see it again.
——————————————————————————————-
Yes i have often thought of the possibility that the body may be in the UK………………………
December 27th, 2007 at 6:55 pm
EXTRACTS FROM THE NEWS PAGE OF ‘HELP TO FIND MADELEINE’ - PRESS RELEASE 21 DECEMBER 2007:
=====================
Friday 21 December 2007 - ‘Statement Morocco’
Helping to Find Madeleine (HTFM) with the full support of the Find Madeleine Campaign has undertaken a postage mail shot to over 11,500 businesses throughout Morocco.
Helping to Find Madeleine was set up back in early May following Madeleine’s disappearance.
Primarily we started as a small group of like-minded individuals who wanted to bring a wider awareness to the public at large, both in the UK and mainland Europe, about her disappearance, by asking people to put up a poster or distribute information.
Since that time we have grown from an initial group of 10 people to membership of over 200, and growing daily…
Our teams are working on four main countries: Morocco, Spain, Portugal and France. Recently a lot of work has been focused on Morocco…
We identified over 11,500 postal addresses to send a letter written in French and a poster written in Arabic. The majority are pharmacies, doctors, schools, farmers, vets, churches, hotels, companies, food stores, supermarkets and restaurants.
This includes areas all over Morocco including very remote areas in the North & South of Morocco. We have been advised that it is important to target large towns…The very rural areas have very few facilities so local farmers/ churches/ mosques/ pharmacies are the central theme to target in those areas.
The printing of the letters and posters for the mailing was undertaken by a local firm in Bristol, Paceprint UK, and Crossflight Limited, Colnbrook is undertaking the document mailing and logistics work to Morocco.
In addition, we have also provided over 200 laminated posters for display at airport check-in desks to the following international airports: Belfast, Birmingham, Cardiff, Dundee and Guernsey. In additional GB Airways has accepted delivery of posters in English, Spanish, Portuguese and Arabic for display at their check-in desks.
HTFM would like to take this opportunity to thank these businesses and everyone who has been involved in helping to complete this project.
Recent Events
- Sunday 9 December - The Compassionate Friends Worldwide Candle Lighting
- Monday 3 December - A Day of Fasting & Prayer for Madeleine & her Family
With thanks to all our members who have shown their commitment to Madeleine’s plight.
======================
December 27th, 2007 at 6:54 pm
546
Tony Bennett Says:
***
Tony, it makes sense that the McCanns would launch such a massive support campaign if they knew they had very little defense against physical and testimonial evidence left behind.
This leads me to believe that the McCanns were very much aware from May 4 onward that they were in the position to have to think defensively. It’s as if they KNEW they’d left a minute but clear trail, and it was only a matter of time before the crime could be reconstructed.
It’s also as if the McCanns think that if they can position themselves with a large, popular following, they will somehow be cushioned against legal action.
They are clearly fighting on all fronts as if it is inevitable that the crime clues will surface, the body will be found, and they will be charged.
They are getting ready, I believe.
December 27th, 2007 at 6:54 pm
539 Logic
Interesting.
One point about me is I’m old-school. Military upbringing and served in the military myself. When you see, eat, breathe discipline for most of your life and in all your formative years you recognise that discipline is the single most powerful way to raise or deal with a human being. What it boils down to is human conditioning. It’s why brainwashing works. It’s why numerous armies and peoples in history prospered for long periods of time. In my opinion, the lack of discipline is responsible for MOST of the problems we see today. Manners and things like that are ancillary to discipline but for me, doing as you’re told is the essential part of discipline. If that isn’t learned from an early age, it’s hard if not impossible to fix. The problem is that society has changed from being communal to being solitary. We have personal music players, mobile phones, portable televisions, too much choice and all these things are aimed at allowing humans to choose every aspect of their lives - in other words, to not do as you’re told. There’s no wonder most of the world’s problems stem from rebellion.
December 27th, 2007 at 6:53 pm
535
Meejician Says:
December 27th, 2007 at 6:32 pm
#
510
chenier Says:
December 27th, 2007 at 6:09 pm
496
Meejician Says:
December 27th, 2007 at 5:52 pm
———————————————————
Meejician gave a helpful response to Tony’s post, but has presumably overlooked my request for a citation to support the claim that ADHD has an identified genetic basis.
I am unable to find any paper supporting such a claim, but presumably Meejician has.
It would be good if this could be shared with us…
***********
Soz, just have to file some copy. Will be back later…………….
“ADHD gene traced
1995
Researchers close in on genetics of attention deficit disorder
A team of researchers from the University of Chicago Medical Center has found evidence of an association between attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), an extremely common childhood behavioral disorder, and a gene that regulates the actions of the neurotransmitter dopamine. The finding is reported in the April issue of the American Journal of Human Genetics.
Using a novel methodology, the researchers found an association between the disorder and a DNA marker that is very close to the dopamine transporter gene, which controls the intake of this important neural messenger by the nerve cells that respond to dopamine’s signal.”
There is more. This is an early finding……
————————————————————————————
Indeed there is more; regrettably, from Meejician’s perspective, the more consisted of a number of reserchers tearing the claim to shreds.
The state of play in 2007 is that the extreme genetic heterogeneity of children diagnosed with ADHD makes it clear that there is no single gene which could be said to be responsible for ADHD. For that matter, there is no known combination of genes which could be said to be responsible for the development of ADHD.
The history of medicine is littered with the claims of researchers to have identified a gene responsible for conditions; the vast majority of such claims are rebutted.
Consider, for example, the claims that there is an association between TPH2 gene polymorphisms and ADHD in the UK :
‘Tryptophan Hydroxylase 2 (TPH2) is the rate-limiting enzyme in the biosynthesis of serotonin which is exclusively expressed in the brain. Recent molecular studies reported significant association between markers mapped to TPH2 and psychiatric conditions including ADHD. We have examined four single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) two of which (rs1843809, rs1386493) were reported to associate with ADHD in an Irish ADHD sample. Transmission disequilibrium analysis revealed no significant association between any of these markers and ADHD. Dividing by the sex of the transmitting parent has also failed to replicate the previously reported paternal over-transmission of the associated alleles to ADHD probands. A larger sample size will be required to clarify if TPH2 alleles are or are not associated with ADHD.’
Karen Sheehana, Ziarih Hawia, Michael Gilla and Lindsey Kent
Neuroscience Letters
Volume 412, Issue 2, 29 January 2007, Pages 105-107
December 27th, 2007 at 6:51 pm
When we have G. for the “Scot” of the year ,nothing surprises me
December 27th, 2007 at 6:50 pm
546
Tony Bennett
They are there to “stay”
* Buy a wristband for yourself and your family (www.findmadeleine.com)
* Making a donation to ‘Madeleines fund’, which is presently funding the Private Investigators.
* Have Madeleines poster in your vehicle.
* Use ‘Madeleine’ luggage labels on your luggage if you travel
* Take laminated posters of Madeleine if you travel away from home, and place them in public places.
* Support the McCanns publically. Send messages of support via
____________________________________-
Well I’m going to join the list of other countries that dislike U.K.
lol
December 27th, 2007 at 6:48 pm
537
Judith C Says:
December 27th, 2007 at 6:33 pm
Ann, what’s your view on the fact that there were (apparently) no ‘attention deficit hyperactive children’ not so many years ago — say 30 or 40 and leading up to then? Do you think they were just not ‘discovered’?
——————————————————————————————–I think that many people suffering from behavioural problems including the AD/HD syndromes ended up in prison, mental institutions and were generally ‘mis-understood’ as it was a climate of ‘out of sight, out of mind’.
Hopefully, we have moved on from believing that children’s behaviour bad or otherwise is simply down to their ‘upbringing’.
December 27th, 2007 at 6:46 pm
534 Tony Bennett Says:
What Causes ADHD?
Doctors and researchers still aren’t exactly sure why some people have ADHD. Research shows that ADHD is probably genetic and that it may be inherited in some cases…
=========================
‘Probably’
+++++
probably is a perfectly good word
December 27th, 2007 at 6:46 pm
541chenier Says:
December 27th, 2007 at 6:37 pm
It simply encourages people to claim that the only problem is in the parenting skills of those people caring for the children….
____________________
Hmmm…who claimed that? Do you have a reference?
December 27th, 2007 at 6:44 pm
HAVE YOU RECEIVED AN EMAIL FROM ‘HELPTOFINDMADELEINE’?
If not, here it is in full:
============================================================
If you wish to join HTFM, you must respond to this email.
Hello, and thankyou so much for emailing.
My name is Jo Griffin, and I am the founder member of ‘helpingtofindmadeleine’. We are now a large group of people, who all wish to assist in the search for Madeleine in some way. In order to help you decide whether you’d like to join our group, allow me to tell you a bit about what we’re doing.
We are in touch with the McCann family, and their campaign manager, and our group works to compliment [sic] and work alongside that of the main campaign. The main aims of our campaign are to spread the word of madeleines abduction, and publicise/advertise the fact in as many ways, in as many countries as we can. It has been shown that the chances of recovering a child are much higher if the profile of the campaign to find the child remains high on the media and public agenda….ie, in the minds of the public. One in six missing children are recovered from a member of the public recognising them from a poster.
Furthermore, we refuse to allow Madeleine and her abduction to be forgotten, and by continuing to pursue the issue, we hope that Madeleine will remain in the hearts and minds of the public. This is why we are continuing to assist the search for Madeleine in this manner.
Our whole group is sub-divided into smaller groups, each with a leader, each member working together in their ‘mission’. The groups are working on targeting specific countries, and flooding that country with the campaign in a very organised and controlled manner. We’re not a support group, (although we ARE supportive!), and although we do have a group forum, its not a chat forum, its for the group to use for communication.
I am starting to let people know this before they join as people have previously joined, and have then never responded again when they realise that we are actually working quite hard to assist the search for Madeleine. There is a regular time commitment involved, and also, you would need to have access to a computer, (and know how to use it!) and a working knowledge of the internet. If you’re also enthusiastic and motivated, and have a belief that Madeleine can be recovered, you’re the kind of member we want! So, if you feel that you can commit some time and effort to assist in the search to find this lost little girl, you have come to the right place, and your efforts will be more than appreciated, by all of us at HelpingtofindMadeleine, and also by the McCann family, whom we are in regular contact with.
Should you think that you might like to commit some time and effort in joining us in assisting the search for Madeleine…please email me back. (No hard feelings if you feel this is not for you. )
If you cannot work with us for your own reasons, perhaps time restrictions and family commitments, but you still wish to do what you can, then please let us thank you for continuing to care about this litle girl, and also know that by doing the following things, you are helping.
* Buy a wristband for yourself and your family (www.findmadeleine.com)
* Making a donation to ‘Madeleines fund’, which is presently funding the Private Investigators.
* Have Madeleines poster in your vehicle.
* Use ‘Madeleine’ luggage labels on your luggage if you travel
* Take laminated posters of Madeleine if you travel away from home, and place them in public places.
* Support the McCanns publically. Send messages of support via
http://www.findmadeleine.com/support/send/
============================================================
December 27th, 2007 at 6:43 pm
537 Judith
is it related to the crap additives they put in food nowadays?
and the fact that many people don’t eat or cook real food?
is this why the TV is full of “learn yersel’ ta cook” programmes?
is it a govt propaganda ruse like the archers was when it first appeared?
will all be resolved now that doom bar is in plentiful supply?
we should be told
December 27th, 2007 at 6:42 pm
537 Judith C Says:
December 27th, 2007 at 6:33 pm
Ann, what’s your view on the fact that there were (apparently) no ‘attention deficit hyperactive children’ not so many years ago — say 30 or 40 and leading up to then? Do you think they were just not ‘discovered’?
———–
I suspect that some were beaten into submission.
Or maybe lobotomized.
Or tied up in the attic?
December 27th, 2007 at 6:40 pm
wow i dont beleeeeve it. i managed to shut big gob mclover garth up. my work here is done
bye bye
December 27th, 2007 at 6:38 pm
531
tonite i am ade
as always
but sans doom as i have to finish off my demos, then burn some cds ready for saturday
then go to the big city tomorrow to seek much doom and some clothes
and rejoice that my name is not McConn
excellent fun to be had