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Anorak News | Madeleine McCann And Blaming the Parents

Madeleine McCann And Blaming the Parents

by | 18th, June 2007

sun-poster.jpgNEWS from the Madeleine McCann crime scene: no news.

Nothing other than the obvious – Madeleine is missing – has been established in weeks of investigating, speculating and empathising.

And now the Express says that Portuguese police are blaming Madeleine’s parents for destroying evidence.

Chief inspector Olegario Sousa tells us that more than 20 people – friends, family, tourists, voyeurs – visited the McCanns’ apartment in the first hour after Madeleine’s disappearance.

Says Sousa: “The presence of so many people in the room where the little girl slept with her brother and sister could have complicated the work of the forensic team.

“At the worst, they could have destroyed all the evidence. This could prove fatal for the investigation.”

Sousa makes a valid point. Best that all possible crime scenes are preserved at the moment of impact. No-one should move or breathe.

Help Where You Can Get It

But this is not likely. Contamination occurs. Voices on the Anorak comment pages say that when a child goes missing parents will accept any help on offer; the more people who know of the situation, the greater the chance of finding the girl.

And then there are the police, who may not consider it an urgent matter. Children do wander off.

Recently, Anorak learnt of a girl who strayed from her apartment while staying on a Mark Warner complex in Greece. The parents were dining elsewhere. They were informed by baby listeners that their five-year-old was not in the room. A search found the child playing by the swimming pool.

Should police have been called? Should police have attended? Should police have sealed off the area?

Pointing The Finger

The Sun thinks they should. It thinks it shameful that Sousa has “blamed” the McCanns for “his bungled investigation”.

Insensitive, perhaps. But Sousa has not blamed anyone. Indeed, back on the Anorak comment pages some readers blame the parents for so much more.

Sousa is stating the obvious. With no leads, no clues, no-one stepping forward to claim the Sun’s reward (did they offer enough?) or respond to the Sun’s posters (are they too tame?), there is no news of Madeleine McCann. Perhaps if the local police had confided in the Sun things would be better?

All we do is to watch the parents, examine their snapshots and point fingers. We hear the Sun say how Sousa has “sunk to a new depth in his amateurish investigation”. He is a “buffoon”. His words are “craven”.

Keystone Kops

He has not found Madeleine. But he is right. And, if the Sun is right, then all British police who have an unsolved murder, abduction, missing person or paedophile case on their books are stupid and inept. And what of the British police helping to find Madeleine?

Is this what the Sun has learned after weeks of covering the story: police don’t always solve a crime; the Portuguese police are no different to our own; criminals are cunning and try to avoid detection; the McCanns are upset?



Posted: 18th, June 2007 | In: Tabloids Comments (98) | TrackBack | Permalink