Madeleine McCann: Inside The Flat, New Clues And Bad Parents
MADDIE WATCH - Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann
NEWS OF THE WORLD (front page): “MADDIE”
More?
“WORLD EXCLUSIVE: FIRST PICTURES INSIDE FLAT”
“Maddie’s bedroom”; “front door” – the flat from Madeleine McCann supposedly went missing is for hire, and the NOTW has been to look it over.
Has the NOTW turned into a holiday brochure, got into the timeshare game?
Now the rest of the flat has been redecorated and is ready to welcome more holidaying families to Portugal.
Can the flat be rented by the minute, and because of its history does it come with a surcharge? For now, the paper wants to show readers “How fiend could have kept out of sight”.
Our detailed survey of the flat reveals a host of places Maddie’s abductor could have hidden when it’s most likely he was almost caught in the act by dad Gerry as he checked on her and twins, Sean and Amelie, at 9.05pm on May 3 last year…
Details. You have noted the door and the bedroom. Now look at the inside of a “WARDROBE”.
But our on-site reconstruction proves that if the kidnapper was already in the flat, as the McCanns fear, he had a full TEN SECONDS to conceal himself after hearing Gerry open the patio doors and enter the apartment.
Although if Gerry McCann moved slower than the NOTW’s estimated speed of 2.34 mph, the kidnapper might have had ELEVEN seconds, or perhaps even TWELVE seconds to hide.
But where to hide?
And he had no fewer than FOUR boltholes to choose from—behind Madeleine’s BEDROOM DOOR, inside her roomy WARDROBE, in her parents’ nearby BEDROOM or in the family BATHROOM.
What about under the BEDS, behind the CURTAINS, on the CEILING or in the SHOWER? Or in the BED?
If one year on, the News of the World found clues, surely the detectives could have established more AT THE TIME?
Clues. the NOTW has found doors and rooms. In one year of tabloid tales, much has been established.
The stillness and silence of the apartment now is just as it would have been after the McCanns left the children asleep in bed that fateful night.
All that can heard is the gentle click, click click of cameras, the sound of a reporter scrambling for a story and the trace of last night’s prawns in garlic butter…
IRISH INDEPENDENT: “Summer sun brings out first Bad Parent story”
“It’s hard to resist a little pain-free moral gloating sometimes, writes Eilis O’Hanlon.”
Like the first cuckoo of spring, the sighting of the first Bad Parent story of the summer is always a heartwarming, life-affirming event; and by a happy coincidence, the latest incarnation of this media phenomenon arrived bang on time, just as the weather started to hot up and our thoughts turned sunwards. At last we can say the holiday season has truly begun.
Normally, of course, it’s some foul-mouthed painted doxy from a sink estate in the north of England who hits the headlines after flying off to be with her Spanish waiter in the sun, leaving behind her gaggle of variously-fathered children in their council flat with only a tin of beans, the keys to the drinks cabinet, and Grand Theft Auto IV on the Playstation to occupy themselves until she gets home — if and when she can be bothered.
The Irish now see the English as the English once saw the Irish, albeit without the beer, bombs and potatoes.
The McCanns. The McGuckins.
The media phenomenon of the Bad Parent story, ritually trotted out to appease the secret guilt of other parents everywhere, is a curious one, no doubt about that. It can’t be much fun to be caught in the middle of the latest outbreak of media moralising, but it’s best just to put it down to experience and move on as quickly as you can.
THE SCOTSMAN: “McCanns ‘won’t mark’ Madeleine’s fifth birthday”
Family spokesman Clarence Mitchell said of the birthday: “Gerry will be at work and Kate will be at or around home. Sadly, for them it is just another day without Madeleine.”
Madeleine McCann: When will the anniversaries stop?
Posted: 11th, May 2008 | In: Madeleine McCann Comments (471) | Follow the Comments on our RSS feed: RSS 2.0 | TrackBack | Permalink
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May 11th, 2008 at 8:55 pm
Hi maria…. I’m not here either!
Maybe speak to mods and admin and change your name to Maria the First…. they will then know if someone else tries to do the same.
Someone did that to me for a while yonks ago but I think bozos like that have a very short attention span so it doesn’t last long!
May 11th, 2008 at 8:54 pm
Dr W and M and A
Sorry, Maria 2nd’s post might have said they had “killed there child”, or that people might be able to get away with “killing there children”. Can’t remember exact words and I think meercat pulled it. I don’t think Maria2 was actually suggesting they’d killed more than one of their children!
This is “Original Maria”. (But how do you know? That’s the point.)
(Crossed my mind to call myself “Holmes” …………………..)
May 11th, 2008 at 8:53 pm
282 - whoops
Don’t you dare !!!
May 11th, 2008 at 8:51 pm
285-and on the bright side for the McCanns they are meeting all sorts of people they would never have ordinarily met and seen a fair bit of the world too…
May 11th, 2008 at 8:49 pm
Perhaps if we don’t respond at all to the other Maria she will take her ball and go home-If we respond to the real Maria we refer to her as Original Maria-It’s not rocket science to tell ‘em apart. Genius.
May 11th, 2008 at 8:47 pm
It is questionable now that this child or any clues to her whereabouts have not as yet been put in place. Although I find the Mcannes to be without a doubt bad parents, I feel they must have answers soon, or, the person or persons who took Maddie will be able to commit this crime again, or it will remain one of the many mysteries in crime and murder or kidnap, whatever IF they had taken their children with them for their get-togethers and meal times and drinks times, she would still be alive today. That alone is their punishment and they will have to live with it for the rest of their lives.
May 11th, 2008 at 8:44 pm
279 Dr W
Hi. I know. Thank you. I saw Maria 2nd had been vile to Ciara. I’d be very happy to change my name to “Original Maria” (!!) but she might just “copy me” as kids might say!!
282 Whoops
That’s a thought!
May 11th, 2008 at 8:41 pm
Good Evening.
May 11th, 2008 at 8:30 pm
Maria-perhaps if we all changed our name to maria for a while the novelty might wear off-Give M&A a headache anyway!!!!
May 11th, 2008 at 8:28 pm
280
Gloria Smudd Says:
May 11th, 2008 at 8:23 pm
My boys have come home now, all MotoX’d out, tired, dirty but happy and I must now vacate this chair so that some motor-bikey things can be watched on eBay, bought and then left for me to fall over in the utility room. So, night all!
—————————————-
There has to be better reasons to fall over!
Good night, Gloria…
May 11th, 2008 at 8:23 pm
My boys have come home now, all MotoX’d out, tired, dirty but happy and I must now vacate this chair so that some motor-bikey things can be watched on eBay, bought and then left for me to fall over in the utility room. So, night all!
May 11th, 2008 at 8:22 pm
Maria,
Ciara and me were trying yesterday so hard to protect your identity against the other user, who became very angry with us for this ; maybe you would become “original Maria” now?
May 11th, 2008 at 8:12 pm
#
276
Gandolf Says:
May 11th, 2008 at 8:07 pm
If the door opens in there is not enough clearance at the bottom of the bed to allow this.
—————
I see what you’re getting at.
In that picture you cant see the door because it is hidden by the corner of the wardrobe.
What you see is only part of the ‘door opening’. The remainder is hidden by the wardrobe!
The door itself runs ‘in-line’ with the back wall.
I’ve probably made it sound even more confusing
May 11th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
262 - val
Edinburgh, Cardiff, Glasgow - my fav 3 cities in UK
Been 3 years since we’ve been to Cardiff. We were planning to visit Cardiff this year but plans on hold at the moment
May 11th, 2008 at 8:07 pm
If the door opens in there is not enough clearance at the bottom of the bed to allow this.
May 11th, 2008 at 8:06 pm
215
coolandcalm Says:
May 11th, 2008 at 5:17 pm
Hi Garth. welcome to the Carmen-Chenier mutual appreciation society.
Us plebs know nuffink about nuffink…..
———————————————-
Brill!
I’m not posting about the case any more, partly because there seems little to say at the moment, partly because I’m working on a particularly demanding project at work and partly because there’s another poster who uses the name “Maria”. Seems little point in bothering, although, so far, “her” posts have been late evening. She hasn’t offered to add “2″, for example, to her name, so I guess, if I change mine, she might just change hers to resemble it again! Mischief, clearly!
Should be obvious which are “her” posts, though. The other evening she suggested the Mcs had “killed there children.” (The comment was later pulled). I would not have said this and I also know the difference between “there” and “their”. They’re a bit of a giveaway, her posts, but I wanted you to be sure if you happen to see them, and also to know why I’m not going to be around, unless I notice Totje about, in which case I might repeat this message, or something like it.
Bye for now. Take care.
May 11th, 2008 at 8:02 pm
……….or in other words, its a mirror image of the door into Gerry and Kates room.
May 11th, 2008 at 8:00 pm
The door as you look at it is hinged on the left. If you were going into the room it would be hinged on the right.
Is that what you mean Gandolph?
May 11th, 2008 at 7:53 pm
How does the door open in past the bottom of the bed in that photo Garth.
May 11th, 2008 at 7:43 pm
270
val Says:
May 11th, 2008 at 7:39 pm
Thanks darlin……….. not seen that one before
Enjoy your dinner.
May 11th, 2008 at 7:39 pm
Garth / Gandolf
This might prove helpful, whoosh, clunk gone…….http://www.mccannfiles.com/id21.html
May 11th, 2008 at 7:35 pm
#
267
val Says:
May 11th, 2008 at 7:27 pm
261 Garth
The reason Madeleine didn”t go into Kate”s room was because Kate wasn”t there!!!
The conversation came up the following morning at Breakfast, presumably Madeleine
had cried herself to sleep before the McCanns returned.
Shall we call it quits, 1 all?
I”m cooking , not me, the dinner………so will catch up with you later.
——————–
Val
Quits? ………….. what are you talking about?
How did Madeleine know that her parents werent there? If you read the post by Chenier the McCanns claim that she would have gone into their bedroom had they been in bed or not. ( And in that they were referring to her habits back at home in Rothley)
You do see that dont you?
May 11th, 2008 at 7:28 pm
263
mary Says:
May 11th, 2008 at 7:12 pm
Maybe I am missing something but what exactly is the “shocking new evidence” revealed by the NOTW? The “abductor” could have hidden- who would have thought of that.
——————————————–
I think the ’shocking’ new evidence is the claim that if Oldfield had actually gone into the apartment he would have discovered that Madeleine had already disappeared
‘From the hall, where he looked into the room, our pictures show that Matthew could only see the bottom corner of Madeleine’s bed.
The twins’ travel cots were beyond on the floor in full view. Seeing them sleeping, he assumed—most probably wrongly—that all was well.
The telltale sign that the kidnapper could already have struck was the open bedroom door—for Gerry had closed it just 25 minutes earlier.
Our photos heartbreakingly spell out that if Matthew had only walked a few feet further into the room he could have raised the alarm 35 minutes earlier, giving the police a real chance of catching the culprit.’
May 11th, 2008 at 7:27 pm
261 Garth
The reason Madeleine didn”t go into Kate”s room was because Kate wasn”t there!!!
The conversation came up the following morning at Breakfast, presumably Madeleine
had cried herself to sleep before the McCanns returned.
Shall we call it quits, 1 all?
I”m cooking , not me, the dinner………so will catch up with you later.
May 11th, 2008 at 7:27 pm
265
chenier Says:
May 11th, 2008 at 7:24 pm
——————-
You keep chanelling Chenier.
I rest my case.
May 11th, 2008 at 7:24 pm
260
Garth Says:
May 11th, 2008 at 7:05 pm
257
val Says:
May 11th, 2008 at 6:53 pm
————–
257
val Says:
May 11th, 2008 at 6:53 pm
251 Garth
You still never commented on my point about the McCanns leaving the children!!!!
—————–
Give us chance…………. one thing at a time.
One thing i did notice was that Kate never said that Madeleine went crying into their room, which, if a child was that petrified, you would expect them to do. If that had been the case then im sure the McCanns would not have left the tots on their own the next night. Contrary to what many would have you believe.
—————————————
I have suddenly developed psychic powers and I am channelling a former poster:
The Star Chart!
‘These days it was rare for Madeleine to wake up at all once she was in bed. If she did, she’d normally wander into her parents’ bed, whether they were there or not. At home in Rothley, sometime earlier, they had begun a star chart for Madeleine staying in her own bed. The chart, still on display in the kitchen, was full of stars. ‘
The article was by David Smith in the Times, 16/12/07
I’m hoping that the chanelling will stop now…
May 11th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
Gandolph
If you take a look at the image here you can see the door to Kate and Gerrys room fully open. You can even see the hinges on the door. This just shows that the diagram you posted doesnt represent the layout correctly.
http://img47.imageshack.us/img47/2370/zzapartment5adpt5.jpg
May 11th, 2008 at 7:12 pm
Maybe I am missing something but what exactly is the “shocking new evidence” revealed by the NOTW? The “abductor” could have hidden- who would have thought of that.
May 11th, 2008 at 7:11 pm
249 Duncan R
Not just because I live here, but since they built the Barrage down the Bay area, all the
facilties are there, Millenium Theatre, Olympic size Swimming Pool,National Assembly
building, outrageously priced waterfront Apartments etc. Unless you have a car it”s a bit of a drag. What annoyed me and I e-mailed my MP about it, was the Assemebly spent £8,000,000 on promoting Cardiff as the Cultural City of the U.K., which
Liverpool won. We didn”t need to waste that money, we have a National Opera Company, world famous “Cardiff Singer of the Year, the Eisteddfodd, Hay Book
Festival etc. Have you been recently to Cardiff, your”e right it is vibrant, could do with
more Citizens making sure it is kept clean though.
May 11th, 2008 at 7:07 pm
Garth, the diagram shows the room door hinged on the right hand side and opening outwards, as you say it is not common practise in the UK, but we did see it in Menorca. Suppose it could be to do with their fire regulations, but that apart I have no idea, there were other earlier sketches German I think that also showed the door opening outward. I will just hobble over and check my laptop for them, this desk top is a bit slow.
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
This floorplan of Apartment 5A is not entirely accurate, as the walls to the front and side were staggered.
There were also windows in the kitchen and living area, to the side of the apartment, not shown on this diagram.
The 3D diagram, derived from the same plan, repeats these errors.
The door to the children’s bedroom has been the source of much debate as it plays an important role in the events of the evening of May 3rd.
Martin Brunt’s documentary, aired on 24 December 2007, confirmed that the door was hinged on the right, as a person enters the room, and swings into the bedroom - not the living area as detailed in this diagram.
Note: What looks like a wall, on the left of the photograph released 12 November 2007, is actually a wall-length wardrobe.