Madeline McCann | Missing Child | Portugal | 2007

[history_major]

A few years ago I did a project on the case for my Law class....I really wish I could find it because all of the evidence I had collected from various news sites completely pointed in the direction of the parents

[Concerned]

There is new news on a possible Madeline McCann siting. They are awaiting DNA

We can only pray.

A report has emerged from India that a young girl matching the description of missing British girl Madeleine McCann has been found.

Missing British girl Madeleine McCann is seen in this file photo. The British girl vanished May 3, 2007.

Madeleine McCann was just three-years-old when she was kidnapped from her family’s holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on May 3, 2007. The kidnapping sparked a worldwide search for the girl, and intense media speculation about the exact details of the night she went missing.

Madeleine would now be eight-years-old.

Clarence Mitchell, spokesman for Madeleine’s parents Gerry and Kate McCann, has reported : “Our private investigators are aware of the reports from India over the weekend about a possible sighting of Madeleine.

“We are liaising with the Indian authorities over the incident and await the results of the DNA test.”

The alleged sighting was made in India’s northern city of Leh, which lies alongside the Himalayas. The sighting was reported to have come from a British tourist, who alongside other witnesses claimed that the girl spotted had an uncanny resemblance to the much-publicized pictures of Madeleine.

According to the Chandigarh Tribune events became heated and an American tourist was said to have tried to take the girl from the couple she was with. The girl was being accompanied by a Belgian man and a French woman.

Local police were called to the scene and allegedly made copies of the couple’s passports. The couple, however, insisted that the girl was their daughter.

A spokesman for Leh police told local media: “It all depends upon the evidence like DNA for which help from Madeleine's parents and the British police was required.”

Madeleine’s parents continue to search for their daughter and are convinced she may still be alive somewhere. They recently penned a book describing the events surrounding her disappearance, hoping that the proceeds can help extend the search for Madeleine.

Portuguese police officially closed the inquiry into the girl’s disappearance in three years ago in 2008, and the McCann’s have since then relied solely on private detectives to continue the search for their daughter.

http://www.christianpost.com/news/madeleine-mccann-potential-sighting-in-india-52975/

The parents don't believe it is her after looking at a photo.  You can see a new pic of what an artist believes what she would look like today.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2019698/Madeleine-McCann-Hopes-dashed-sighting-India.html?ito=feeds-newsxml

[jobo]

I think that the little girl they are showing that could be Madeline, is too young.

[justice]

I just saw an article today in the Charlottetown Guardian, UK POLICE believe Madeline McCan may still be alive and they are going to release a photo.

[debbiec]

Britain Reopens the Madeleine McCann Case

By SANDY MACASKILL
Published: April 25, 2012


LONDON — Investigators with Britain’s largest police force said on Wednesday that they believe that Madeleine McCann, the British toddler who vanished while on vacation with her parents in Portugal, could still be alive. Her tragic story reverberated across the globe, and as the years have passed most have given up hope of ever finding her.

But a week before the anniversary of her disappearance, Scotland Yard released a statement saying its investigators had uncovered what they believed to be “genuinely new material,” as well as nearly 200 new opportunities for further inspection. Investigators said that they “now believe that there is a possibility Madeleine is still alive,” and have called for the investigation by Portuguese police to be reopened after an almost four-year hiatus.

Along with the statement, the Metropolitan Police released an “age progression” image ahead of what would have been Madeleine’s ninth birthday on May 12. The haunting image of a wide-eyed 3-year-old, relayed worldwide in the weeks following her disappearance on May 3, 2007, has been replaced by that of a 9-year-old with her blond hair swept in a side-part, created in collaboration with her family.

While the initial investigation by the Portuguese authorities was roundly criticized, the British inquiry has been aided by the fact that, for the first time since Madeleine disappeared from her bedroom in the family’s rented apartment in the Algarve region of Portugal, investigators have been able to review material generated by three independent investigations, all in one location.

The detective leading the review said that having access to the Portuguese investigation, inquiries by British law enforcement agencies and the work of private investigators hired by the McCann family presents the team with “best opportunity” of finally solving the mystery of what happened in the seaside resort of Praia da Luz.

Officers have so far identified 195 new items for investigation within the historic material, as well as having developed the new material. A Metropolitan Police spokesman appealed to “anyone who is able to provide direct information as to her whereabouts” to contact the authorities.

Madeleine was just nine days shy of her fourth birthday when she was abducted as she was sleeping along with her younger twin siblings while her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, dined with friends in a tapas bar 100 yards away.

Rewards totaling millions of dollars were offered by wealthy Britons, including J. K. Rowling, the billionaire author of the Harry Potter series, and Richard Branson, the airline tycoon. But the Portuguese police identified only one suspect, a 33-year-old Britain living with his mother in a nearby apartment. They also scrutinized the parents at one point, though it seemed unlikely to most investigators that they would harm their own child, particularly as the twins went untouched.

Despite the publicity created by an international campaign and continued claims of sightings (the latest of which came on the Costa del Sol in Spain last week), the official investigation by the Portuguese police was formally closed in July 2008. At the time, even Portuguese prosecutors faulted the country’s police for failing to uncover any clues in the girl’s disappearance.

In May last year, however, a separate Metropolitan Police inquiry, codenamed Operation Grange, was established after Prime Minister David Cameron responded to a plea from Madeleine’s parents. The objective has been to present to the Portuguese authorities fresh avenues of investigation, with a view to having the case reopened.

The task force, led by Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood, consists of 28 detectives from the Homicide and Serious Crime Command and seven civilian staff who have been working in “close collaboration” with a senior investigating officer from the Portuguese police.

While officers have made two trips to Spain and visited Portugal four times, most recently last week, the thrust of the investigation has been a methodical analysis of more than 40,000 pieces of information already collected.

Age progressed picture at the link.

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/26/world/europe/britain-reopens-the-madeleine-mccann-case.html

[SAP]

This is such a sad case. I would hope Maddy is still alive and being looked after by someone who was childless, and is being loved. This ruined the parents. Alot of info out of Portugal seemed to point at the mother early in the case, yet I can't help but think they don't know any more than we do.
The fact these young children were all alone while the parents partied elsewhere was certainly not in their favor; and may have been the reason they were under scrutiny.
I often wondered if someone had taken Maddy to "teach them a lesson" and it went too far; they feared jail due to kidnapping?

[D1]

Tapas Seven to be interviewed by Scotland Yard in review of Madeleine McCann abduction

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2096682/Tapas-Seven-interviewed-review-Madeleine-McCann-abduction.html]http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2096682/Tapas-Seven-interviewed-review-Madeleine-McCann-abduction.html#ixzz1zObtFRA4
[url]http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2096682/Tapas-Seven-interviewed-review-Madeleine-McCann-abduction.html[/url]

[GoArmy36]

The fact these young children were all alone while the parents partied elsewhere was certainly not in their favor; and may have been the reason they were under scrutiny.
I often wondered if someone had taken Maddy to "teach them a lesson" and it went too far; they feared jail due to kidnapping?

Leaving kids alone, I don't find suspicious at all.  In Finland, parents leave their babies in strollers out side of the movie theatre and go in and watch the movie.  They leave their kids in strollers or bassinets outside to have their nap.  There was a case here in Toronto not long ago, where a visiting family from Finland left their child asleep in the car seat, as they did not want to wake her up.  The police were called and the Fins were schooled on laws here in Canada.  That being said, still in secluded small towns in Northern Ontario, kids leave the home in the morning and they do not come home until it gets dark.  Where here in the GTA we would never think of giving our kids that freedom.  I don't feel judgement should be passed onto the parents.  From what I have read, it is very common practice in Portugal to leave kids alone.  They checked on them numerous times.  I am sure they feel enough guilt without having strangers from across the pond blame them.  Just saying!!!!

[SAP]

Excuse me but where do you see that I find that suspicious of the family leaving the kids alone while they partied? Also where did I guilt them? Just asking!! I do expect an answer, thank you, especially since you took a snippet and totally out of context.I have never suspected the parents and if you bother to read the whole thread you will see that others did so why zero in and lecture me?
There also is NO need to bold my snipped and taken out of context post, fyi.

[jellybean]

I too have travelled around Europe and have found that many parents would tuck their child (children in bed) and meet new found friends in the dining room. I would not do this in Canada?  Maybe yes or maybe no - it would depend upon where we were staying. .. er upon thinking it over --- in Canada maybe not!

While I don't wish to put words in anyone's mouth, my reading of it is this  -- Madeline was kidnapped. I also read that there is empathy for the family in their discovery that Madeline was missing. and one can only guess - their ensuing anguish which continues on even today, the parents wishing that they had never left their children alone. And I would too!! In no way, by my reading of it, did I see any blame placed upon them for doing so - other than they may have regrets for doing this, and that someone may have had designs on Maddy (my words)
My words - not the posters - but to me that was the message.

At the same time, another poster verified that leaving a child fast asleep in a hotel room in Europe is not uncommon - including leaving them outdoors in prams etc.  I saw that too.

Having lived  "on the economy" for 4 and a half years, I can tell you that sunlight does not always drift into homes, and they are great believers in fresh air and sunlight for their children.  Doctors prescribe it!!
Thus, baby is left outside in Pram for an hour or two to capture fresh air and sunlight.
Mom is usually in the house getting caught up on chores.  No one thinks anything of it.
In fact if neighbours did not see the baby outside, they would become concerned.
Different cultures totally -.

I was in Spain, as an example.  We were in a Resort and had our own Hacienda, and many parents were in the dining room at late night sitting, with their youngsers tucked in bed. We were all "foreigners" (tourists)
Nothing happened to them. - But, it only takes one time (Madeline) ------I doubt if parents feel as secure any more in doing that. Hopefully because of the unfortunate disappearnce of Maddie, parents will no longer continue to do.
Too many sickos out there!

[leonagleant]

When I travelled to Cuba with a baby I hired a babysitter referred by the hotel and I still wasn't comfortable about it as the babysitter was a stranger. The McCann's made a mistake of a lifetime and in hindsight everyone knows how risky it was but they must have been casual, trusting parents at the time. I think we can all understand how tempting it is to have an hour of freedom from the kids and they were checking on the kids from time to time.

[cana_nomad]

I actually found a post on someone's blog and she is based in New Zealand.  This woman commented on someone else's personal crime forum that she believes she saw Madeleine circa 2009 I believe and that she was positive it was her, eye condition and all AND the woman with her kept cutting off the girl when she tried to speak and saying she was homeschooled when this woman (she owns a shop where she saw them) was making small talk and asking the little girl why she wasn't at school during the time of day.  Problem is this woman was, IMO, an idiot because she did NOTHING about it- never called the police, never reported, nothing.  She admitted she did nothing.  I fired a response back at her asking how the hell one sits on this information and then proceeded to email the McCann's site myself with that link.  I never got an email response back so I don't know if they looked into New Zealand and then ruled it out or what.

Sorry but people like this make me mental.

[leonagleant]

Madeline could be anywhere and we can only keep her photo out there. I'm not a fan of age progressed photos. I think circulating photos of her own mother when she was at the relevant ages over time might remind people more of Madeline than a phony age progressed photo which can sometimes be really distorted.

[cana_nomad]

Leo, that is certainly worth mentioning.  I would be curious to see more age progression pics of the kids who have returned home released.  Jaycee Dugard's was and the pic looks spot-on.  You have to wonder about the accuracy.

However, I do see the point.  My entire childhood, I looked NOTHING like my father and a basic clone of my mother at my age.  Then, at age 13 I started to look like the women on my dad's side of the family in the span of only months, then back to looking like my mother again at 15.  Now, at nearly 30, I look like my mother yet with features of my paternal aunt mixed in AND my colouring has changed.  Then, you have my sister who also looked exactly like my mother but only until she was 6.  Then, a mixture of both, and now in her 30s, looks like my mother again, only blond (born brunette).

So I see the point in them- kids' looks change year by year right into the 20s and there is no guarantee who they might take after.  Though a better idea would be to see childhood pics of both mom and dad along with the age progression.

Anyone have any info on how common Madeline's eye condition is or if it self-corrects?  I am thinking whoever took her was not aware of the condition and would find it harder to hide it.   

[leonagleant]

I do know of one case where someone was found and looked nothing like the age progressed portrait, but it could have been because she was so young when taken (2 yrs) and adult when found. I would think the portrait can do more harm than good when it's not a good one.