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Madeleine McCann

Madeleine McCann Category

News digests and reviews of the missing child in the news. Madeleine McCann vanished on Thursday, 3 May 2007 from a rented holiday flat in Praia da Luz, Portugal. Madeleine, on holiday with her twin siblings and parents Kate and Gerry McCann,became the biggest news story of the past decade. We’ve followed it closely ever since the story broke.

Madeleine McCann is ‘at college in Minnesota’

MYSTERY solved! Madeleine McCann has been located – and she’s alive. The Burnley Express reports:

Burnley psychic in hunt for missing Madeleine McCann

Phew!

A BURNLEY psychic medium who helped the FBI catch a serial killer has spoken out about the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

Go on…

Grandfather John Warne is convinced that the schoolgirl was snatched on behalf of an American, and that she is now living in Minnesota and attending college.

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Posted: 10th, June 2012 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (2)


Ben Needham, Madeleine McCann but not Charlene Downes: sensation points to alien abduction

YESTERDAY saw the relaunch of the pan-European 116000 missing children hotline at a Downing Street reception hosted by Home Secretary Theresa May. Tomorrow, it’s International Missing Children’s Day. Furthermore, www.missingkids.co.uk, the country’s official website for news on missing children, has been updated. A pre-summer holiday push is going on.

Which leads news hounds to Kate McCann, who was there. Which, in turn, leads to a story in the Daily Express:

‘NEW LIFELINE IN MADELEINE MCCANN HUNT’

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Posted: 24th, May 2012 | In: Key Posts, Madeleine McCann, Reviews | Comment (1)


Madeleine McCann: The kidnappers dismantled the door – really?

HANDS up who knows for certain exactly what happened to Madeleine McCann. There! The one with his hand up. Get him! Ooops! Sorry, Jerry Lawton, the Daily Star’s man on the Our Maddie beat. He played no part in her disappearance. But he knows what happened to he. As Lawton tells Star readers:

A BRIT holidaymaker claims child-snatchers tried to grab her son in a copy of the Madeleine McCann abduction.

We journey to Gumbet resort near Bodrum, Turkey. There:

Diane Charlton said two intruders were discovered inside his hotel room and half-naked Cameron, 12, was standing in the hallway.

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Posted: 16th, May 2012 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comment


Derek Acorah says Madeleine McCann will be reincarnated as Cheryl Cole’s baby

MADELEINE McCANN is dead. So says Derek Acorah. He tells the world: “She’s not on this earth any more.” But she in the celestial Sun, which leads with the opinions of a man who told us that Cheryl Cole and Ashley would have a baby in 2011, Michael Jackson is communicatingWorld Cup WAGS were going to jail and that Bournemouth and Brighton are about to be submerged beneath sea ice.

Still, Acorah hedges his bets and says that although Our Maddie is gone she is set to be reincarnated, most likely, perhaps, as Cheryl Cole’s baby.

“I know her parents are convinced Maddie is alive and I’m really sorry – but the little one has been over in the spirit world for some time. I don’t think she’ll be there long before she reincarnates. When children pass over who haven’t had full lives I believe they choose the time to come back in the same form again — as another little girl.”

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Posted: 15th, May 2012 | In: Key Posts, Madeleine McCann | Comments (15)


Madeline McCann: Karsten Mayer is the Media’s victim of the moment

ONE day all the men and women linked in print to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann will form a therapy group. Karsten Mayer is the current poor sod in the news. We heard that he and his family were staying on a campsite in southern Spain, a few days after the child went missing in Portugal. A “witness” says she saw a child who looked “identical” to Madeleine on the site. The witness was suspicious that the child wore the same clothes a whopping two day’s running. Karen Sisson, the apparent witness, says the child looked “groggy” and “alienated” from the rest of the group.

The Sun published this as being a “new clue” to Maddie. Sisson, we were told, was a “mum of two” and British. Twice we are told that the people with the identikit Maddie are Germans.

A witness said the groggy-looking child seemed alienated from the German family she was staying with in a caravan.

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Posted: 10th, May 2012 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comment


Madeleine McCann spotted in Fuengirola – the witch hunt for Karsten Meyer

THE “HUNT FOR MADDIE” is back on the Daily Express’ front page. The paper has picked up on the Sun’s story that Karen Sisson saw a blonde child “identical” to missing Madeleine on a campsite in Fuengirola, Spain.

The Express says the The Cabopino Campsite, is set in “sprawling woodland”. This suggest it an ideal place to hide a missing child. A look at the campsite’s website tells us that this “sprawling” place has two swimming pools, a children’s park, a football pitch, bungalows and a mini club for children.

The Express goes on to tell of the “mysterious girl” who wore the same clothes two days running.

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Posted: 9th, May 2012 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (5)


Missing Madeleine McCann stayed a Costa del Sol campsite for two weeks

KATE and Gerry McCann spent part of the weekend on the Liverpool 10K run in the city’s Sefton Park. The Press Association recorded the event and the Daily Express told readers that Kate McCann told the paper:

“Thankfully, this year, with the involvement of the Metropolitan Police things are looking brighter for Madeleine and the search, so we were ready to give it a go.”

The man leading the Met’s review of all the official data collated so far is Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood. He is hopeful but realistic, his words reminiscent of the Caterpillar in Alice in Wonderland, who when asked if the missing child is alive replies “Mostly hardly”:

“We genuinely believe there is a possibility she is alive.’

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Posted: 8th, May 2012 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (5)


‘Best Value’ Madeleine McCann is selling holidays on a travel site

WITH Madeleine McCann high on the news cycle, the people at Voucher Digg are using the missing child’s image to showcase their latest offer: holidays at lowcostholidays.com. VoucherDigg.co.uk, we are told is “the UK’s leading independent discount deal and voucher codes & vouchers travel website”. The caption beneath Madeleine McCann reads “Best Value”. One theory is that the child was kidnapped and then sold.

Can it be that its owners are the only people in the country who don’t know that Madeleine McCann is missing, and that she went missing on holiday..?

The blurb reads:

lowcostholidays.com can hardly give out this kind of offer. Hurry up for time is limited. Take the ones you loved and enjoy your life.

Is this for real?

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Posted: 6th, May 2012 | In: Key Posts, Madeleine McCann | Comment


Madeleine McCann: taking the ‘dreamers’ seriously

DID you know that 30 children have “gone missing” in Portugal since Madeleine McCann disappeared five years ago? The Sun says this figure “contradicts Portuguese claims her case was unique and abduction was rare”. We do not know how many of that 30 were abducted, or for certain if any were. Child abduction by a stranger does seem to be rare. But it does, of course, happen.

Madeleine McCann was 4 when she vanished. We do not know what happened to her. The facts end there. But the Sun says 30 children under 18 have gone missing in the Portugal in the past five years.

The Sun provides no source for this information.

The Star, meanwhile, has news of “CLUES”.

COPS ‘TOO BUSY’ TO INVESTIGATE 100 NEW MADELEINE MCCANN CLUES

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Posted: 4th, May 2012 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (2)


Madeleine McCann: A PR mistake with Antonio Castela

MADELEINE McCann: Five years ago today the child who became the media’s Our Maddie disappeared. The papers react to the sensational news that the Maddie Story is not dead yet.

The Sun (front page): “MUMMY, WE’ll HELP YOU FIND MADELEINE:

We see a photo of the family McCann, with the missing child and her younger twin siblings.

Page 4 and 5: “As the twins get older their desire to help the search for their sister will be even greater.”

One day they might ever read the details on the internet and join the ranks of armchair detectives. Right now twins Sean and Amelie are seven. Introducing them to the story in this way helps how?

Five years ago we told you that this story would run and run. Kate McCann agrees:

Kate, 44, said Sean had told her: “You know, Mummy, if you haven’t found Madeleine by the time we get older me and Amelie will find her.”

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Posted: 3rd, May 2012 | In: Key Posts, Madeleine McCann | Comments (6)


Madeleine McCann: What 72-year-old Antonio Castela saw

MADELEINE McCann: Gerry and Kate McCann have been on ITN News, Sky News and what 72-year-old Antonio Castela saw…

Says Mr McCann:

“We believe there is new information, but there is also a need to identify links between some of the old information. The investigation needs to be reopened.”

The Metropolitan Police have access to all the files on the case so far. Isn’t it up to them and the Portuguese to re-open the case based on facts? Also, what good does re-opening the case do if there are no new facts? The British police are not even half-way through their review.What instruction would the Portuguese investigators be given? Where would they start?

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Posted: 2nd, May 2012 | In: Key Posts, Madeleine McCann | Comments (4)


Madeleine McCann: In Brazil with a boy named Maddie

MADELEINE McCann: On Sunday the Sunday Express bellowed from its front page: “MADDIE: THE LOST CLUES.”

It’s a “WORLD EXCLUSIVE”.

James Murray writes:

CRUCIAL leads that could solve the mystery of Madeleine McCann’s disappearance are revealed today by the Sunday Express.

Great. But what about those front-page “clues”?

These vital clues were never followed up by the ­Portuguese police, according to Isabel Duarte, the ­Lisbon lawyer acting for Madeleine’s parents, Kate and Gerry McCann.

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Posted: 30th, April 2012 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (5)


Madeleine McCann and ME: The media experts muse on the missing child

MADELEINE McCann: A daily round-up of media mentions of the missing child, featuring Tony Parsons and Lorraine Kelly…

Tony Parsons (Daily Mirror): “Madeleine McCann and her parent’s love that will never die”

Seeing the picture of how Madeleine might look today brought home again the suffering of the McCanns, a mountain of ­unimaginable pain

Tony Parsons has written about Madeleine McCann before.

The human megaphone has wondered about where his child has gotten to; he has invited the Portuguese ambassador to “shut your stupid sardine-munching mouth”; he has seen Jesus; and he has seen a link between the missing child and the murders of Catherine and Ben Mullany on honeymoon in Antigua.

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Posted: 28th, April 2012 | In: Key Posts, Madeleine McCann | Comment (1)


Madeleine McCann: Stupid Portuguese police ignore ‘evidence’ and hurt Kate and Gerry (say tabloids)

MADELEINE McCann: Almost five years on and Our Maddie is still on the front pages. As ever, there is no news. There are no new facts. We are just watching the missing child’s parents and attacking funny foreigners, in this instance the Portuguese police.

The Sun (front page): “MADDIE COOP SNUB”

The missing child leads the Sun’s editorial of the world’s most important news moments. (What – no Rupert Murdoch, Leveson and all that hacking?)

Maddie insult

ARROGANCE is piled on incompetence as Portuguese police snub pleas to reopen the Madeleine McCann inquiry. They say they will act only on “credible and relevant” new facts.

But the Met Police haven’t found any new facts. So how is it a snub?

Scotland Yard officers have established no fewer than 195 fresh lines of inquiry and say Madeleine may still be alive.

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Posted: 27th, April 2012 | In: Key Posts, Madeleine McCann | Comments (3)


Madeleine McCann: distorting the facts with Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood

MADELEINE McCANN: She is alive. Fact. Well sort of. The Metropolitan Police have issued a photo of Madeleine McCann at age 9. Only, it’s not an actual photo. It’s a guesstimate likeness created by an artist. The Met either have no idea what happen to Madeleine McCann, or have an idea but want to use the upcoming fifth anniversary of her disappearance to support their endeavours at solving the mystery.

Also, tonight BBC  will broadcast Panorama – Madeleine: The Last Hope?. Catch it tonight at t 7.30pm on BBC One.

The tabloid press all lead with this picture of Our Maddie:

The Sun (front page): “Maddie age 9 – Image show her now”

Fact!. This is her now.

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Posted: 26th, April 2012 | In: Key Posts, Madeleine McCann | Comments (2)


Madeleine McCann: evidence she’s alive and a new photo

MADELEINE McCann: As the fifth anniversary of an innocent child’s disappearance in Portugal approaches, the media is talking about ‘Our Maddie’. On social media, Martin Brunt, of Sky News, tweets:

#McCann It’s thought Scot Yard has unearthed potential evidence to support idea Madeleine is still alive

Tantalising stuff. Only a lunatic would not want the child to be safe and well. But, as ever, facts are thin. The Met is investigating. But still reports exist in the mainstream media that allege the child is dead. Until we know for sure, it’s all guesswork and potential libel.

Claire Phipps, editor of the Guardian’s news desk, tweets: “Met DCI in charge of #McCann investigation says Madeleine’s disappearance was the result of ‘a criminal act by a stranger’.”

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Posted: 25th, April 2012 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (9)


Madeleine McCann: The Etan Patz connection

MADELEINE  McCann: Det Ch Insp Andy Redwood is talking to the BBC’s Panorama. The child is on the BBC’s News at 10.

The Irish Independent: “Madeleine McCann detective positive case will be solved.”

THE ongoing review of the Madeleine McCann case offers the “best opportunity” to solve the mystery because it is the first time information from all sources has been pooled, a detective has claimed…Det Chief Insp Andy Redwood said…: “Anything is possible, and clearly, within that material, the answer could lie.”

The Guardian then delivers the epic headline: “McCann officer hopes to solve case”

Unlike all other police in all other cases.

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Posted: 24th, April 2012 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comment


Madeleine McCann at 8 – photos and Sunday Express experts

MADELEINE McCann: To those of you who want to know what the missing child looks like at age 8, the Sunday Express has front-page help. No, not the sensitive headline Our Maddie’s head – the bit about a “HOLIDAY BARGAIN BONANZA” (Portugal can be nice). The paper’s good news is that the innocent child who vanished in Portugal almost five years ago looks bright-eyed and very much alive. The headline says:

MADELEINE MCCANN AGED EIGHT, AS US EXPERTS SEE HER

Mike Parker and Gerard Couzen tells readers:

This is an age-progression picture of Madeleine McCann as she would be now, aged eight.

Says who?

US experts, who work with police forces tracing missing people, created the image for the Sunday Express using FBI forensic computer techniques.

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Posted: 22nd, April 2012 | In: Key Posts, Madeleine McCann | Comment (1)


Madeleine McCann: Five years on the BBC Panorama sells the Our Maddie Mystery

MADELEINE McCann: The Radio Times is trailing its show “MADELEINE: THE LAST HOPE? – PANORAMA”. It’s broadcast on May 3 on BBC1.

The blurb states:

Five years ago this week, Madeleine McCann disappeared from a family holiday apartment in the Algarve, Portugal, and has never been found. Her parents, Kate and Gerry, are adamant that their daughter was abducted by a predator and persuaded Prime Minister David Cameron to order a review of the case by the Metropolitan Police. Here, the senior UK investigator talks to Richard Bilton about how he is working collaboratively with Portuguese police and explains why he believes he has the best opportunity yet to establish the facts.

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Posted: 20th, April 2012 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (2)


Madeleine McCann is spotted in Spain

MADELEINE McCann has bene spotted in…Spain.

Perth Now reports:

Spanish police are investigating a fresh sighting of missing British girl Madeleine McCann, nearly five years after she disappeared. A tip-off to Portuguese police earlier this month talked about a little girl with a “strong physical resemblance” to Madeleine in the resort town of Nerja, southern Spain, Diario Sur reported.

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Posted: 17th, April 2012 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (6)


Madeleine McCann: 1,300 deaths, Julian Assange and the Met’s new chapter

MADELDEINE McCann: Kate McCann’s new Maddie chapter and Julian Assange likens himself to Kate and Gerry McCann:

The Sunday Express leads with news. That news is surmised in a front-page headline:

YARD: WE CAN SOLVE MADDIE MYSTERY

Can. Not will?

SCOTLAND Yard detectives are confident they can solve the mystery of Madeleine McCann’s disappearance.

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Posted: 8th, April 2012 | In: Key Posts, Madeleine McCann | Comment (1)


Madeleine McCann: Matthew Baggott, Leveson and doing the police’s dirty work

AT the Leveson inquiry former chief constable of Leicestershire police, Matthew Baggott, now head of the Police Service of Northern Ireland, says he’s happy that he did not “put the record straight” over the media’s false and libellous reports about Madeleine McCann’s disappearance.

As This Is Leicester notes:

The inquiry has previously heard from Jerry Lawton, a Daily Star reporter, that Portuguese police were leaking DNA results wrongly implicating her parents with a hire car.

Lord Justice Leveson yesterday said Mr Lawton criticised the force, which he said knew the leaks were wrong, for not telling reporters off the record “don’t go there” with the hire car details.

The judge said he was concerned the force did not have the chance to respond and asked Mr Baggott if he would like to.

Matthew Baggott says he hands were tied and was unable to tell the media about “inconclusive” DNA tests conducted in Birmingham. You will recalls that Portuguese police had made false noises than the McCanns had hidden Madeleine in the boot of their hire car. Baggott says he was bound by law and a need to remain on good terms with the Portuguese.

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Posted: 29th, March 2012 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comment (1)


Madeleine McCann: The Smith family and media distortion

MADELEINE McCann: The Drogheda Independent looks at the The Smith family who saw a man carrying a child:

Below the headline “Local family may be key to new Maddie probe”, we are told:

A POSSIBLE sighting of Madeleine Mccann by a Drogheda family on the night she disappeared could be crucial in a new probe into her disappearence.

Go on:

Their statement is still regarded as being ‘ totally credible’ by sources.

And:

Their evidence has always been regarded as significant, although they couldn’t definitively identify the individual concerned.

Back in May 2007, the same paper wrote:

A DROGHEDA family who may hold vital clues as to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann have hit out at media distortion of evidence that they have given to Portuguese police.

Such are the facts…

Spotters: Karen and Robert Carter

 

Posted: 15th, March 2012 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (2)


Madeleine McCann: Martin Smith, Jane Tanner and a computer reconstruction

MADELEINE McCann is back in the news. In recent days the missing child has made it back to the top of tabloid news cycle. There is talk of a reconstruction of the night the child went missing.

The Express announces:

NEW PHOTO CLUE TO MADELEINE MCCANN CASE

We are told:

Detectives are still trying to work out who was involved in Madeleine McCann’s disappearance

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Posted: 11th, March 2012 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comment


Madeleine McCann’s kidnapper spotted in South Turramurra

MADELEINE McCann: Anorak’s look at the missing child in the news: Madeleine McCann’s kidnapper spotted in South Turramurra:

Australia’s Daily Telegraph reports:

Echoes of Maddie in abduction attempt of six-year-old girl at South Turramurra – Audrey has spoken out about the attempted abduction of her daughter, 6, at a park in South Turramurra last month.

And…

A DISTRAUGHT mother whose child was nearly abducted from a north shore park says she is haunted by the ordeal, likening it to the infamous Madeleine McCann case.

And that’s how she gets her child media coverage. Of course, we do not know what happened to Madeleine McCann. But she is the media’s benchmark for missing children.

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Posted: 11th, March 2012 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (4)