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Anorak News | Madeleine McCann: Gerry McCann Against John Smeaton, Madeleine Alive And A U-Turn

Madeleine McCann: Gerry McCann Against John Smeaton, Madeleine Alive And A U-Turn

by | 8th, December 2007

madeleine_mccann-mum.jpgMADDY WATCH – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann

DAILY STAR front page: “MADDIE IS STILL ALIVE”

Madeleine McCann appears on only one of the newspapers’ front pages. And she is alive! Maybe…

“Madeleine McCann may still be alive and living with her captors, Portuguese police admitted last night”

In time they might admit that she could be hiding, playing gin rummy with Lord Lucan or learning the bagpipes

For now a police source says: “We do not have proof the girl is dead. If we had that kind of evidence we would not be considering the theory she was abducted. We are no longer sure that she is dead”

Says the McCanns’ spokesman Clarence Mitchell: “Madeleine did not die in the apartment. The police should be focusing on who took her – and finding her. They must also accept Kate and Gerry should be eliminated from the inquiry”

THE SUN: “There’s no proof Maddie is dead”

“Portuguese police made an astonishing U-turn yesterday — admitting they have NO evidence that Maddie McCann is dead”

And didn’t British police believe she was dead, too? One in the eye for Anne Enright. And hasn’t Paul Rebelo, leading the investigation, said all lines of enquiry remain open? But, still, the Sun sees a U-turn…

Do you remember Robert Murat? His lawyer Francisco Pagarete says that under Portuguese law, evidence-gathering against suspects could only last eight months. Mr Pagarete says: “At that time we will see all the decisions for all the defendants”

January 3 is eight months after Maddie vanished
January 14 is eight months after Murat was named a suspect

THE TIMES: “Decision due on Gerry and Kate McCann”

January is approaching

DAILY TELEGRAPH: “McCanns in plea to potential witnesses”

Not all the holidaymakers staying at the Ocean Club at the time of Madeleine’s vanishing have been located
Says Clarence Mitchell: “We would appeal to any UK residents who have still not been spoken to by British police and who were in Praia da Luz on May 3 to please come forward and to contact their local police or the confidential phone line based in Spain”
Call Metodo 3. But aren’t they focusing on Morocco?

DAILY EXPRESS: “MADELEINE PARENTS MAKE FRESH PLEA FOR WITNESSES”

Yesterday Gerry wrote on his blog: “We would like to thank everyone who has come forward with information. The smallest detail may provide a clue that leads us to find Madeleine. Someone, somewhere knows something and Madeleine needs their help”

GREAT SCOT! – “Gerry McCann has been nominated for a special award as Scot of the Year. The Glasgow-born cardiologist is one of 12 candidates for the honour put forward by a Scottish newspaper”

Can he see off Gordon Brown, John Smeaton and Alan Johnston, the BBC journalist who was held? The full Scotland on Sunday list is here

IRISH INDEPENDENT: “The girl Italians are calling ‘Luciferina — with the face of an angel’ – The investigation into Meredith Kercher’s murder took a twist this week with the extradition of a suspect from Germany. But the focus is on a beautiful middle-class American girl, says Mary Minihan in Perugia”

What has the murder of Meredith Kercher got to do with Madeleine Mccann’s disappearance?

Says the paper: ““Meanwhile, Meredith Kercher’s name is now as tragically well-known as that of Madeleine McCann” – Is it?

THE SCOTSMAN: “Scots tycoon attacks ‘scurrilous allegations’ as he comes out as McCanns’ secret funder”

The McCanns backer is: “Stephen Winyard, who owns the luxury Stobo Castle spa in Peebleshire, has spoken publicly for the first time since pledging £100,000 to help meet the escalating legal costs of Gerry and Kate McCann”

Says he: “Some of the reporting in the British press has been less than fair. The blanket coverage of every aspect of their lives, the littlest things that they do, creates, I think, the impression in people’s minds that they are somehow responsible for what happened to Madeleine”

THE GUARDIAN book review: “A Kind of Vanishing, by Lesley Thomson (Myriad, £6.99)”

“The disappearance of Madeleine McCann may have muted the reception of A Kind of Vanishing. If an actual crime is vividly appalling, the prospect of reading a fictional representation of a similar case will make one feel queasy. It would be a shame if this unfortunate coincidence were to obscure the merits of Lesley Thomson’s thriller”

Fiction and reality… Do you get confused?

Madeleine McCann:All the faction



Posted: 8th, December 2007 | In: Madeleine McCann Comments (943) | TrackBack | Permalink