Madeleine McCann: 200 ‘Maddies’ Abducted Every Year – Says Daily Star

THIS year alone – just in 2011 – the have been 200 “Maddie-style abductions“.

So says the Daily Star on its front page.

The hard facts of the disappearance of Madeleine McCann are that:

She went missing in Portugal.

And that’s it.

Anorak

Posted: 7th, August 2011 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comment

Madeleine McCann Spotted In India: French And Belgian Couple Help Police

MADELEINE McCann has been spotted in…India. She was with a Belgian and French couple.

To date, Our Maddie has been spotted in:

Canada,Italy, Sweden, Portugal, Spain, Morocco, Majorca,Belgium, Bosnia, France, Australia, Brazil,Wales, Malta, Italy, Germany, Austrialia, France, Dubai, Dorset, USA and New Zealand (by boat).

The Tribune India says the ‘sighting’ was on the 22nd July

Says Anorak reader Karen:

It’s now being reported as breaking news today on ITV Central and it’s also in the Mail:

“At one point an American man is said to have tried to take the girl from the couple. However the French woman and her Belgian husband insist that they are the parents of the girl.

Police in the city have taken swabs so that DNA tests can be carried out on the youngster.“

As she says:

Is it her or are all girls who resemble her going to be treated like this at some stage?

It would be nice if it’s her but what about those poor, innocent parents if it isn’t?

How long does it take to get the results of DNA tests?

The report says:

High drama prevailed in the busy Fort Road market of the city last night when three persons identified a six-year-old girl as Madeleine McCann, a British girl who went missing while on a holiday in Portugal in 2007.

Madeleine McCann would not be six. As reader June says:

Where are the parents? But its probably just another ‘sighting’ no names of the people involved at all.

But attempting to remove the child??? very bad form – not everyone will be that ‘sympathetic’ that its ok to do that.

The eye defect is miniscule anyway and you would have to get very close indeed to see it, and isn’t MM 8 now and not 6 as reported

Karen adds:

SkyPhilippa Philippa Hall (Sky News presenter)
Our producer in Delhi as spoken to police, who say they’ve not heard about the DNA test or sighting of Madeleine #mccann.

ITVCentral Leh police tell ITV News there is no child resembling #Madeleine #McCann in their custody and they are not aware of any such incident.

So where did the news come from then?

We do not know. We guess the local Leh police, who, reportedly, told the Chandigarh Tribune in India that they had taken copies of the girl’s “parents'” passports – and:

“‘It all depends upon the evidence like DNA for which help from Madeleine’s parents and the British police was required.’

Over in the Mail we learn from the McCanns’ PR Clarence Mitchell:

“Kate and Gerry do not believe the child seen in India was Madeleine. They have seen photographic evidence and concluded that it was not her.

“We remain grateful for people’s vigilance around the world. Madeleine is still out there and the search for her very much continues.”

“MADDIE IS STILL OUT THERE”

Anorak

Posted: 28th, July 2011 | In: Key Posts, Madeleine McCann | Comments (16)

Madeleine McCann And The Brazilian Code Gangs

MADELEINE McCann: Anorak’s at-a-glance news of the missing child in the media: the Brazilian kidnappers.

The Daily Star’s Jonathan Corke has news:

MADELEINE McCann’s abductors may have daubed coded messages on the outside walls of the family’s holiday apartment to indicate when she was alone.

Anorak

Posted: 17th, July 2011 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (4)

‘MADDIE FOUND ALIVE AND SAFE’: Madeleine McCann Wins Tabloid Award

MADELEINE McCANN: “MADDIE FOUND ALIVE AND SAFE.”

The Liverpool Echo ran a contest inviting readers to come up with their dream headline. What would be the best headline they could ever read? Ever. In the whole world. In the entire history of humankind. What would be the No.1 headline?

The headline was picked as the winner because it was “a headline that everyone would want to see”. It is “succinct but emotive”.

Anorak

Posted: 5th, July 2011 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (5)

Madeleine McCann: A European Tour, A Birdseye View And A Little Girl’s Nightmare

MADELEINE McCann is missing. But people are doing their bit to raise funds to help her parent’s, Kate and Gerry McCann, pay for private detectives and a media handler to look for her and keep her name in the news.

The Garratts Are Going On Tour:

A family is gearing up for a trip around Europe to remind people that Madeleine McCann is still missing.

Simon and Michelle Garratt, of Coalville, will be handing out leaflets and posters during their journey, which will see them average 200 miles a day and spend four weeks in a camper van. Starting in France, they are taking their four children, Jake, 10, Niamh, eight, Freya, six, and Eden, three, on the trip.

Simon revealed son Jake was the inspiration behind the idea.

He said: “It’s a mammoth task but we want to spread the word in the hope Madeleine is still out there.

“My son told me he wouldn’t like to go missing and then be forgotten, and he asked, ‘why can’t we do anything to help Madeleine?’ which got me thinking. We decided do something a bit challenging and different, and if people listen to us then we will have done a little bit.”

The determined family are planning to stop off at several holy places on the way and will light candles for Madeleine, who disappeared from her family’s holiday flat in the Algarve in May, 2007.

During their summer trip, they will be visiting France, Spain, Portugal, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Germany and Belgium.

Anorak

Posted: 27th, June 2011 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (2)

Madeleine McCann: On Tour In Amsterdam

IN “At last Kate McCann can smile again“, the Daily Express tells readers:

For once, grieving Kate McCann can find something to smile about. So often pictured as a sad, withdrawn figure, she and husband Gerry burst into laughter as they promoted her book about their lost daughter Madeleine.

But they weren’t laughing all day. The camera captures a moment in time. The news is thin and loaded. We are not told why they “burst into laughter”, only that they did. The photos of a sad withdrawn figure are also snap shots in time. We do not see the woman all the time. We see the photos the media thinks tells a story. We are just being invited to stare at the parents.

The couple were in Amsterdam to launch the Dutch edition of the book which they hope will help to boost the search for Madeleine across Europe.

Anorak

Posted: 24th, June 2011 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (16)

Madeleine McCann: BBC, Mirror And Sun Lied Over Goncalo Amaral And Still Fail To Apologise

MADELEINE McCann: Do you remember whan Goncalo Amaral told the Mcanns “Fuck The McCanns“? Yeah, you do.  We were sceptical. Tony Parsons told Mirror readers:

Maddy McCann cop adds insults to injury by Tony Parsons:

If, as has been suggested in Portugal, there was a “media circus” around the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, then it is the Portuguese police who are the clowns. Cruel, stupid, spiteful clowns. The Portuguese police were shown up as a bunch of clueless amateurs by the Madeleine case, and – shamed, embarrassed, infuriated – they turned their rage on the McCanns.

Even now, the Portuguese cops treat Kate and Gerry McCann with a grotesque lack of respect. Asked if he cared that he had hurt the McCanns, Goncalo Amaral told a BBC reporter: “No, f*** the McCanns.” A class act, that fat copper, who has sought to make money out of a stolen child – and the endless grief of her parents…

But it is also genuinely tragic that the Portuguese police did not seriously look for the bastard who stole her.And that’s because they have always been far too busy slandering that little girl’s parents.

Anorak

Posted: 18th, June 2011 | In: Key Posts, Madeleine McCann | Comments (5)

Another Madeleine McCann Spreads Fear In The Algarve: Daily Star Spreads Fear

MADELEINE McCann: The Daily Star’s Jonathan Corke says the Algarve is just waiting for another Maddie to happen. And only CCTV can prevent it:

BRITISH children on holiday in Portugal’s Algarve are still “wide open” to another Madeleine McCann-style abduction because authorities refuse to install CCTV.

She vanished in 2007. There have been no similar vanishing since. Why the fear now? And why only British kids?

Madeleine’s parents Kate and Gerry have long believed a camera network in the region may have helped prevent her disappearance or helped in the search.

Anorak

Posted: 14th, June 2011 | In: Key Posts, Madeleine McCann | Comments (6)

Madeleine McCann: Kate McCann Is Media’s Spokesperson For All Missing Children At Commons Inquiry

MADELEINE McCANN: To the Parliamentary inquiry into missing persons at the House of Commons in London, where Kate McCann is  in attendee. So too are Nicki Durban, mother of missing Luke Durbin, and Sarah Godwin, mother of missing Quentin Godwin.

The news media reports. Can the media make mention of any other missing children, other than Our Maddie? OIr will it focus on the benchmark of all missing children?

Politics.co.uk: “Kate McCann: Families with missing children are left in dark”

“If your house is burgled you are automatically offered victim support with emotional, practical and legal assistance. If your child goes missing you may get nothing.”

Nothing?

London Evening Standard: “Kate McCann tells ministers: we must do more to help families of missing people”

Anorak

Posted: 13th, June 2011 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comment

Madeleine McCann: Kate McCann Appeals To Creepy MPs

MADELEINE McCann: Kate McCann addresses the MPs.

The Belfast Telegraph says: “McCann plea for more family support”.

“Kate McCann will tell MPs about the heartache that families of missing children have to endure”

Are MPs that insensitive they cannot empathise? These are the MPs who wore yellow ribbons in the House of Commons in a mawkish display of pap emotion when the Our Maddie story was at its apogee and the politicians were tapping into the emotions of the mob.

Families of missing people are left with “unimaginable, unending heartbreak, confusion, guilt, and worry” when their loved ones go missing and need more support, Kate McCann will tell MPs.

Anorak

Posted: 13th, June 2011 | In: Key Posts, Madeleine McCann | Comments (3)

Madeleine McCann And The Psychic Mass Murderer Of Liberty Texas

LEO Hickman wants to know the answer to this question: “Do the police use psychics to help them?”

He asks in light of a psychic who told police in Liberty, Texas, that 30 bodies – men, woman and – oh, dear god – children – were buried in a pit.

The media went nuts. The AFP even spotted the actual blood and guts:

Texas police, acting on a tip-off, Tuesday found a mass grave containing “a lot of bodies,” including the corpses of children, US media reported.

The Liberty County sheriff’s office was combing the area after being told 25 to 30 dismembered bodies, many of them possibly children, were buried outside a house at the intersection of two roads, the Houston Chronicle said. “A lot of bodies” had been found on a property in Hardin, Texas about 50 miles (31 kilometers) northeast of Houston, a law enforcement source told CBS television.

Anorak

Posted: 9th, June 2011 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comment (1)

Madeleine McCann: Julie Myerson And Me

WHO better than Julie Myerson to review Kate McCann’s book Madeleine book in the New Statesman? Myerson is the ambitious and talented author who turned living with her three children into a Guardian column called Living with Teenagers and then wrote a book called The Lost Child: a True Story, in which she wrote about kicking her weed-smoking 17-year-old son out of the family home.

Under the headline “A very public agony”, Myerson – who turned her own agonises into an orchestrated spectacle with a cover price – writes:

One May afternoon in 2007 in Praia da Luz, Portugal, barely 48 hours before their daughter Madeleine disappeared, Kate and Gerry McCann took their three young children down to the beach. It began to rain, and the children were grumpy, but the promise of an ice cream worked its magic.

Anorak

Posted: 3rd, June 2011 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (4)

Madeleine McCann: Kate McCann’s Book Still Number 1

MADELEINE, Kate McCann’s book on her missing daughter, is selling well.

For the third consecutive week, Kate McCann’s Madeleine (Bantam Press) was the bestselling book in the UK… The book sold 30,895… at UK booksellers.

Anorak

Posted: 1st, June 2011 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comment

Madeleine McCann Is Wanted – Will David Cameron Now Find Michael Dixon?

MADELEINE McCANN: Michael Dixon is missing. His brother David has written to David Cameron. The letter is open for all to read. But it did not make it to the front page of the Sun. David Cameron has yet to use that paper or any to write an open reply.

Says David Dixon:

“It’s great news for all families of Britons missing abroad that David Cameron and the Met are helping the McCanns. Now we’re asking them to do the same for us.”

Anorak

Posted: 30th, May 2011 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (4)

Madeleine McCann: Star Spots ‘150 Maddies’ – And Only One Kate McCann

MADELEINE McCann: Anorak’s at-a-glance look at Our Maddie in the news: hundreds of Maddies and only one Kate McCann:

Daily Star (front page): “SCANDAL OF 150 MADDIES”

Jonathan Corke has news:

AN estimated 150 children a year are victims of Madeleine McCann-style abductions in Britain.

Having established by media opinion and best-guesswork that the innocent child was abducted, the paper continues to look at the facts:

But campaigners say missing pets are more closely monitored than missing youngsters. If the Government launched an in-depth probe into each case, as they have done for Madeleine, it would cost nearly a billion pounds.

Anorak

Posted: 22nd, May 2011 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (4)

Madeleine McCann: As A Ward Of Court Will Our Maddie Reappear Only To Vanish Again?

MADELEIENE McCann: How would the Metropolitan Police deal with Dr. Gerry and Dr. Kate McCann if they again demand answers and ask to see the evidence?

Almost three years ago and after the Portuguese Police had removed the Arguido (suspect) stigma from them, the couple tried to force Leicestershire police to hand over files which the police team, then co-operating with Portuguese police, was suspected to have amassed.

The action was brought by the parents acting in the name of missing daughter Madeleine. It was said to be so they could then hand the files to their private detectives – a company called Metodo 3.

Anorak

Posted: 17th, May 2011 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (12)

Madeleine McCann: The Met’s TV Show, A Backlash And Privacy

MADLEIENE McCann: Anorak’s at-a-glance look at Our Madie in the news: A Wembley show, the MET’s TV show and a backlash…

Daily Express: “CRITICS SLAM ‘WASTEFUL’ REVIEW OF MADELEINE MCCANN CASE”

Jenny Jones hit out at David Cameron’s decision to involve the Metropolitan Police and said the move would deny justice to other victims of crime while tying up police resources. A member of the Metropolitan Police Authority, Ms Jones has vowed to do everything in her power to stop the inquiry. Her comments echo disquiet expressed by fellow MPA member, Labour peer Toby Harris, who accused the Prime Minister of undermining the operational independence of the police.

Ms Jones said the McCanns were being given preferential treatment. “The police should not take this case up in this way,” she said. “It is ludicrous. This could take years and will cost millions. It is very unusual for police to step in like this and it is not an appropriate use of police resources.” Ms Jones, who is also a member of the London Assembly, said: “The Government is closing down the Forensic Science Service because there are not enough funds. This is a crucial part of police work.

“Although it is tragic and I feel for the McCanns, how can the Prime Minister justify spending millions of pounds on one case?”

Anorak

Posted: 16th, May 2011 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comment (1)

Madeleine McCann: Facing Facts With Lee Rainbow

MADELEINE McCann: Times is hard and members of the Metropolitan Police Force’s Governing body are rightly upset and confused by UK Premier David Cameron’s request the London Woodentops carry out a review of the strange case of missing child Madeleine McCann.

They want to know who is going to foot the bill? That answer is easy…everyone.

Cameron’s decision to involve Scotland Yard was defended by Downing Street officials as a whirlwind of complaint struck with cries of “Foul” around claims intervention was a “PR exercise”. Others say the move could take years and cost millions.

Anorak

Posted: 15th, May 2011 | In: Key Posts, Madeleine McCann | Comments (18)

Madeleine McCann: The Making Of Our Maddie – A Media Commodity

MADELEINE McCann: Anorak’s at-a-glance look at Our Maddie – the innocent child who became a media commodity.

The Sunday Times (front page): “KATE McCANN: ‘I REELED. THEY THOUGHT I HAD KILLED MADELEINE’”

The child’s face peers out from the cover of the paper’s News Review – section 4 of the swollen paper.

“THEY SAID I KILLED HER”

In the weeks after Madeleine McCann was abducted, her parents were beset by vicious rumour and bizarre offers of help. Worse was to come.

Anorak

Posted: 15th, May 2011 | In: Key Posts, Madeleine McCann | Comments (4)

Madeleine McCann: Who Pays The Met?

MADELEINE McCann is no longer on the cover of the Sun. Kate McCann’s book is out and Our Maddie is off the front page.

But the London Evening Standard persists. The Met is to investigate the disappearance of the innocent child. Good. The Met can be horrible sods but they possess the nous and means to go back to the beginning and review the facts.

Anorak

Posted: 14th, May 2011 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (9)

Madeleine McCann: Kate And Gerry Seduce Vain David Cameron To The Sun’s Self-Serving Campaign

MADELEINE McCann: Anorak’s at-a-glance look at Our Maddie in the news: Missing for 1,471 days, the innocent child is back in the news:

Daily Mail (front page): “CAN THE YARD FIND MADDIE?”

Hope so.

The Sun (front page): “EXCLUSIVE: CAMERON ORDERS NEW MET POLICE PROBE INTO MADELEINE CASE”

“PM: I’VE REOPENED MADDIE FILES”

David Cameron has taken the bait. “As a dad”, he had no choice. The Sun places their man at the centre of the story. This is personal. This is in the first person.

Theresa May, the Home Secretary, explains all in an open letter to the paper that backed the Tories at the last election:

FOUR years after she went missing, Madeleine McCann is still always in our thoughts. So I welcome The Sun’s role in making sure that her case is not forgotten. None of us can know what Madeleine’s parents, Kate and Gerry, have been going through. We can scarcely imagine the pain they have had to suffer or the pressure they have been under. We all want to see this beautiful little girl returned to her parents. That is why we have been doing everything we can behind the scenes in the search for Madeleine. Although it might not always be in the public eye, the British authorities have never given up on their work to find Madeleine.

Today I am pleased to announce that the Prime Minister and I have agreed with the Metropolitan Police Commissioner that the Met will now be using its particular expertise to review the case. The Met have skills, techniques and know-how which we hope can bring a new perspective to the case.

The Home Office will be providing the necessary financial support. Of course, the Metropolitan Police cannot promise that this work will lead to Madeleine being found. But it is right that we should do everything we can to help. It is my sincere hope that this new police involvement will bring closer the day that Madeleine comes home.

This is politics in the modern era: mawkish, opportunistic, emotive and ultimately self-serving.

Anorak

Posted: 13th, May 2011 | In: Key Posts, Madeleine McCann | Comments (39)

Madeleine McCann: Kate And Gerry McCann Launch A Book Called Madeleine: Photos

MADELEINE MCCANN: To the launch of Kate McCann’s book called Madeleine. Here are the photos…

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Image 1 of 10

Kate and Gerry McCann give a press conference in central London on their newly published book 'Madeleine' about their daughter's disappearance in 2007.

Anorak

Posted: 12th, May 2011 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comment

Madeleine McCann: Piers Morgan Interviews The McCanns

KATE and Gerry McCann are on Piers Morgan’s CNN show talking about their missing daughter Madeleine. As ever, we are watching the parents:

Anorak

Posted: 12th, May 2011 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (4)

Madeleine McCann: ‘As A Dad’ David Cameron Has To Find Our Maddie

MADELEINE McCann: Day 5 of the Sun’s serialisation of the Kate McCann book Madeleine. Today the book is overtaken by an appeal to David Cameron.

Sun (front page): “OPEN UP THE MADDIE FILES”

This is this “McCanns’ open letter to Cameron”

Having tried to gain mileage and reader interest in the book – including a delve into Kate and Gerry McCann’s sex life – the Sun leads not with the book but with an appeal:

Dear Prime Minister

As a devoted father and family man, you know the importance of children. Our beloved eldest child, Madeleine, was abducted from Praia da Luz, Portugal, four years ago. Since then, we have devoted all our energies to ensuring her safe return.

Anorak

Posted: 12th, May 2011 | In: Key Posts, Madeleine McCann | Comments (9)

Madeleine McCann: Day 4 In The Sun And The Psychic Hears Maddie Say A Name

MADELEINE McCann: Day four of the Sun’s serialisation of the Kate McCann book: a spirit, a well, a name, Gap top and questioning motives:

Sun (front page): “I fear this outfit may led to Madeleine kidnap”

We see the child dressed in a sun hat and sun dress.

MADELEINE McCann poses for her last photo in a pretty peach top her mum fears may have made her a kidnap target.

The kidnapper wanted the outfit?

Kate McCann, 43, recalls in her new book: “She looked lovely. I was following her with my eyes admiring her. I wonder now if someone else was doing the same.”

So. Not the outfit, then. That’s the Sun’s bonkers headline, blaming an outfit for the alleged kidnap.

Anorak

Posted: 11th, May 2011 | In: Madeleine McCann | Comments (17)