Saturday 29 March 2008

Kate and Gerry McCann: Beyond the smears

From The Sunday Times

For six months David James Smith has examined the evidence surrounding the disappearance of Madeleine McCann for The Sunday Times Magazine. In this, the most comprehensive — and authoritative — investigation yet, he addresses the key issues facing Gerry and Kate.

That week in Praia da Luz, the week the McCanns were made suspects in their own daughter’s “death”, I was out there talking to them and to family and friends. I was at the home of the Anglican vicar Haynes Hubbard, sitting with him and his wife, Susan, while their own three children pottered around us. The Hubbards had flown in from Canada three days after Madeleine’s disappearance to begin Haynes’s tour of duty as the vicar of Praia da Luz. They had heard about Madeleine for the first time while changing planes at Lisbon airport, in a slightly unnerving encounter with an elderly Portuguese woman who had seized Susan’s arm and told her to “hold on” to the baby she was carrying, as a child had been taken.

The Hubbards had spent their first days at the resort fearing for their own children’s safety. Gradually they became friends with the McCanns, particularly Susan and Kate, drawn together at first perhaps by the McCanns’ need to find some comfort in religion. But mostly in Portugal the McCanns were enveloped by family and friends from the UK.

The McCanns were flying home that Sunday and had been to a farewell dinner that week at the Hubbards’. Susan told me that she and Kate had discussed how much one person could cope with. Kate seemed close to the limits of human endurance. Haynes chimed in: “And I don’t think she’s looking forward to tomorrow very much either.” The thought was left hanging there: how much can one person take?

Kate was to go to the nearby town of Portimao the next day, Thursday, September 6, to be questioned by detectives from the Policia Judiciaria (PJ). It would be Gerry’s turn the day after. For the media this would be a shocking new twist to the story – but not for the McCanns: the PJ had told them four weeks earlier they were going to be subjected to formal interviews and the McCanns had stayed on, instead of going home at the end of August as originally planned, waiting for the interviews to take place. Waiting. Waiting.

Finally, the PJ called. They told the McCanns they would be made official suspects – arguidos. The McCanns had noted the change of mood in Portugal, especially among the PJ, and the increasing viciousness of the Portuguese press. Some of the stories seemed so incredible and far-fetched – Kate, for instance, disposing of Madeleine’s body, or Madeleine’s DNA being found in the car the McCanns had hired three weeks after Madeleine disappeared – that I at first assumed they were the fanciful inventions of an unfettered press. I soon realised how well they reflected the thinking of the PJ. More recently I have discovered the stories were being fed to the press by the PJ, from the highest ranks. So much for judicial secrecy. One Portuguese journalist told me that segredo de justica – secrecy of justice – was like the speed limit. Everyone knows the law; nobody keeps to it.

It seems important to make it clear right away that I do not suspect the McCanns harmed Madeleine, nor do I think they disposed of their daughter’s body if, as the PJ believe, she died in an accident that night in their apartment.

This is not a mere prejudice on my part. I have spent a long time considering and examining every unpleasant scenario. The McCanns are not my friends and I have no axe to grind with Portugal, its police or its media.

To me, the McCanns are genuine people in the grip of despair – the accusations against them are ludicrous and a cruel distraction from the search for their daughter. That’s why I put the quotation marks around the word “death” at the top of the article. Madeleine may be dead, it may even be more likely she is dead, but nobody knows for sure. Nobody, not even the PJ, as we will see, can produce any persuasive evidence that she has come to harm.

That evening, Thursday, May 3, at just after 8pm, by their account, Kate and Gerry McCann were having a glass of wine together in apartment 5a on the ground floor of Block 5 of the Waterside Village Gardens at the Ocean Club. Their three children were asleep in the front bedroom overlooking the car park and, beyond it, the street. Madeleine was in the single bed nearest the door. There was an empty bed against the opposite wall, beneath the window. Between the two beds were two travel cots containing the twins: Sean and Amelie. Gerry had bought the wine at the Baptista supermarket, 200 yards down the hill. They had lived and worked in New Zealand for a year and that particular bottle, Montana sauvignon blanc, was their favourite. It was the sixth day of their week’s holiday in the Algarve and they were reflecting on the enjoyable time they’d had, how surprisingly easy it had been with the children.

When their old friend Dave Payne had invited them on a group holiday, it had seemed too good to resist. Dave and Fiona Payne had been on another Mark Warner holiday the year before, to Greece with Matt and Rachael Oldfield. The Algarve group would be completed by Russell O’Brien, Jane Tanner and Fiona’s mother, Dianne Webster. Six of the group were doctors. Gerry was a consultant cardiologist and had worked before with Matt and Russell. Kate had been an anaesthetist and was now a part-time GP.

The group first spent time together at Dave and Fiona’s wedding in Italy in 2003. Now they had eight children between them. Madeleine was the oldest, her fourth birthday a week after they would return from the Algarve. One of the attractions was that there were children for their own to play with. And the adults were a sporty group, a speciality of Mark Warner holidays; tennis had dominated the activities that week.

That might all sound very cosy and middle class, but that did not mean their lives had been easy or free of suffering – especially with the struggle to have children, eventually managed through IVF – or that they had been born into an advantaged world. Kate came from a modest Liverpool background and Gerry, the youngest of five, had been brought up in a tenement building on the south side of Glasgow.

The terms of the holiday were half-board, breakfast and evening meal, and the McCanns paid about £1,500. There had been some reduction when they had discovered that, unlike most Mark Warner resorts, the Ocean Club did not offer a baby-listening service. Instead, the group had asked for apartments close together, so they were all assigned to Block 5. The Paynes were on the floor above, the only couple with a functioning baby monitor. Russell O’Brien and Jane Tanner had brought a monitor too, but theirs wasn’t getting much of a signal from the Tapas restaurant 50 yards away.

The Ocean Club was not a gated, enclosed resort in the usual style of Mark Warner, but a sprawling complex open to the village of Luz and scattered over such a wide distance that shuttle buses were used.

Even though the resort was open to the village, it felt safe and secure, and in early May it was still very quiet. Gerry never saw a soul, except once, on the last night, on his evening checks, going back and forth between Tapas and the apartment, an even-paced walk of just under a minute.

As the McCanns endlessly repeated afterwards, if they had thought it was wrong or even risky, they would never have left their children. With hindsight, of course, they would never have done it and now they are riven with guilt, but we can all be wise after the event, and so many of us have taken similar chances at times, in search of a bit of respite from our children.

Gerry had knocked up at the start of the 4.30pm tennis-drills session, but had decided not to exacerbate an injury to his Achilles tendon, so had dropped out and waited around by the courts until the children came back from the kids’ clubs at 5pm for tea. That had been one of the most enjoyable times of the holiday, all the children together for tea, then the adults playing with them afterwards.

Gerry was in his apartment at 7pm, had a glass of water, then a beer, while the children sat with Kate on the couch having stories with a snack. The children were clearly shattered – the last thing any of them needed was a sedative and, anyway, it was not something the McCanns ever did. They put them to bed after a last story. The twins were asleep virtually the moment they lay down, Madeleine not far behind them.

These days it was rare for Madeleine to wake up at all once she was in bed. If she did, she’d normally wander into her parents’ bed, whether they were there or not. At home in Rothley, sometime earlier, they had begun a star chart for Madeleine staying in her own bed. The chart, still on display in the kitchen, was full of stars. At about 7.30pm, Kate and Gerry showered and changed and sat down to have a quiet glass of the sauvignon blanc. They were first to the table at the restaurant at 8.35 and spent some minutes talking to a couple from Hertfordshire – two more tennis players – at the next table, who were eating with their young children. As they chatted, Gerry thought how lucky he was, his children asleep nearby, he and Kate free to come and enjoy some adult time at the restaurant and not have to sit with their children, as this couple were.

The McCanns sat down after a few minutes and then ordered some wine. The Oldfields were next to arrive, then Russell O’Brien and Jane Tanner and, finally, always last, Dave and Fiona Payne with Dianne Webster.

That night their group ordered six bottles in total and two were still untouched on the table at 10pm. No more than half a bottle of wine each. The Portuguese magazine Sol reported that the group had drunk 14 bottles. Another Portuguese journalist told me a local GNR (national republican guard) police officer had described one of the group as being so drunk later that evening, they could barely stand.

They had just ordered starters when the routine of checking began. Matt Oldfield went first at 8.55 to check his own apartment and to hurry up the Paynes, who had still not arrived.
He was followed by Gerry, who entered his apartment at about 9.05 through the patio doors to the lounge. Earlier that week the McCanns had used a key to go in through the front door next to the children’s bedroom but, worrying the noise might wake the children, they began using the patio doors, leaving them unlocked.

When he entered the apartment, Gerry immediately saw that the children’s bedroom door, which they always left just ajar, was now open to 45 degrees. He thought that was odd, and glanced in his own bedroom to see if Madeleine had gone into her parents’ bed. But no, she and the twins were all still fast asleep.

Gerry paused over Madeleine, who – a typical doctor’s observation, this – was lying almost in “the recovery position” with Cuddle Cat, the toy her godfather, John Corner, had bought her, and her comfort blanket up near her head, and Gerry thought how gorgeous, how lovely-looking she was and how lucky he was. Putting the door back to five degrees, he went to the loo and left to return to the restaurant. That, of course, was the last time he would see his daughter.
As he walked down the hill, Gerry saw Jes Wilkins on the opposite side of the road pushing a child in a buggy. Gerry called hello and crossed over to talk. Wilkins and his partner were eating in their own apartment that night, but their youngest still wouldn’t settle. It reminded Gerry of the fraught time he and Kate used to have with Madeleine when she was a baby. In his memory, they could never eat a meal together when they went out, as she was always disturbing them and needing to be wheeled off to sleep.

As Jane Tanner walked up the hill, she saw Gerry talking to Jes and, as she passed them, she saw ahead of her a man walking quickly across the top of the road in front of her, going away from the apartment block, heading to the outer road of the resort complex. The man was carrying a little girl who was hanging limply from his open arms. The sighting was odd, but hardly exceptional in a holiday resort.

Her daughter fine, Jane returned to the table. At 9.30, Kate got up to make the next check on her children, but Matt Oldfield was checking too, as was Russell O’Brien, and Matt offered to do Kate’s check for her, which she accepted. Gerry teased that she would not be excused her turn at the next check.

In the McCanns’ apartment, Oldfield noticed the children’s bedroom door was again open, but that meant nothing to him, so he merely observed all was quiet and made a cursory glance inside the room, seeing the twins in their cots but, agonisingly, not directly seeing Madeleine’s bed from the angle at which he stood. Afterwards, he could not say for sure if she had been there or not. Nor could he say if the window and shutter had been open.

He would get a hard time from the police because of this, during his interviews not long afterwards, being aggressively accused of taking Madeleine – you passed her out of the window, didn’t you! – being suspected because he had offered to take Kate’s turn.

Jane Tanner, too, would be accused of fabricating or misremembering her sighting of this stranger with a child. There could be no answer to such an accusation – except that she was an ordinary, honest person who knew what she had seen. Sometime after 10pm, Rachael Oldfield would go to Jane’s apartment to tell her Madeleine had been taken and Jane would say: “Oh my God. I saw a man carrying a girl.”

It perhaps needs to be stated openly that all these timings and details, the way in which they weave and dovetail together, are based on witness accounts – corroborated not just by the McCann group but by others, such as Jes Wilkins – and that, despite suggestions to the contrary, there are no obvious contradictions or differences between them. Nor has any of the McCann group, at any time since, said they wanted to retract or change their statement.
That suggestion too is a lie.

Russell O’Brien checked his own daughter at 9.30 and found she had been sick. Jane returned to the apartment to be with her daughter, and Russell went back to the table. Russell would later fall under suspicion too, because of those few minutes he spent away from the table.

Finally, at 10pm, it was Kate’s turn to check the apartment. She only became alarmed when she reached out to the children’s bedroom door and it blew shut. Inside the room the window was open, the shutter was up and Madeleine’s bed was empty. Kate quickly searched everywhere and ran back down the hill and into the restaurant: “Madeleine’s gone, somebody’s taken her” or “Madeleine’s gone, someone’s taken her.”

Gerry stood up. “She can’t be gone.” “I’m telling you she’s gone, someone’s taken her.”
It was reported that Kate had said “They’ve taken her,” as if it was someone that she knew. She did use those words, but only later, back in the apartment, in her despair, as she said: “We’ve let her down. They’ve taken her.”

Matt went down to the 24-hour reception at the bottom of the hill to raise the alarm. The call to the police went in at 10.15. They arrived 55 minutes later. It is widely believed among the Portuguese media, and perhaps the police too, even now, that the McCanns called Sky News before they called the police. For the record, Sky News picked up the story from GMTV breakfast television, at around 7.30am the following day.

There was a latch lock on the sliding glass window, and the McCanns thought, but could not be sure, that they had locked it at the start of the holiday. They would later discover it was common for cleaners to open the shutters and windows to give the rooms an airing, so there was no way of knowing whether the window was locked that night or not and no forensic trace to indicate where and how an abductor had gone in and out. They could easily have used the front door, perhaps even had access to a key.

In the McCanns’ minds now, there is no doubt Jane Tanner saw their daughter being taken, but there was so little time to talk in the first few days that it was not until Jane saw the description of Madeleine’s pyjamas in the media, around Monday or Tuesday of the following week, that she told them the little girl she had seen was wearing the same design: pink top and white bottoms with a floral design.

While searches began, Gerry was worried about Kate, as she was so distraught and kept talking about paedophiles, saying Madeleine would be dead. He tried to be reassuring, but of course he was thinking the same things.

It all came pouring out of him at 23.40 – from his phone records – when he called his sister Trish in Scotland ranting and raving semi-coherently on the phone about Madeleine being taken, and Trish kept trying to get him to calm down. A sharp contrast with the way he would be later, particularly in public, once he had regained his self-control.

The detectives from PJ arrived at about 1am. By 3.30am they had gone and there was no police action at all, or none visible to the McCanns.

Four times that night they put in calls via the British consul; four times the message came back from the PJ, a message that the McCanns would never forget: “Everything that can be done is being done.”

One of the PJ officers had put on surgical gloves and begun trying to dust down the bedroom, but his powder was not working properly. He tried to take the McCanns’ fingerprints for elimination, but that didn’t work either. It all had to be done again the next day.

The twins slept on like logs, just as they always did at home, though even their parents were fleetingly worried – had they been sedated by an abductor? – that they should be quite so comatose. The Ocean Club gave them another apartment, but the McCanns did not want to be alone, so the twins were taken to the Paynes’ apartment, and Kate and Gerry went there later too, to try to rest.

They got up at first light and went to search alone on the open scrubland beyond the resort, wandering around, calling Madeleine’s name. It was cold and lonely – there was no answer.
Gerry had asked the departing PJ detectives at half three about contacting the media to make an appeal. One of the officers had reacted with surprising agitation, waving his hand emphatically: “No journalists! No journalists!” That, of course, was not quite how it worked out.

For many weeks, the McCanns enjoyed a good relationship with the Portuguese police and were treated to regular updates and a flow of information via the family-liaison officers sent out by Leicestershire police. The problem with the three Leicester officers was that they didn’t have a word of Portuguese between them.

The first public indication of police thinking came at the end of June when the magazine Sol published a story about the McCann group, casting doubts on their evidence and claiming they had undertaken a pact of silence. It was the first time the McCanns’ friends had been named in public, but Sol’s journalist Felicia Cabrita had their names and phone numbers and details from their witness statements. She had called them all, and at least one other witness, Jes Wilkins.
The information had been handed to Cabrita by the police – she says she acquired the material through good journalism, which in a sense it was – and her source is widely believed by her colleagues to have been the former head of the inquiry, Goncalo Amaral.

The PJ appointed an official spokesman, Olegario Sousa. He was apparently plucked from his day job – he was a chief inspector on the art-robbery squad – because he was the only one who spoke decent English. He was never directly involved in the investigation and was rarely told much of what was really going on.

Initial suspicion focused on Robert Murat, who made himself busy with police and journalists from the first day, offering his services as an interpreter, as he spoke both languages and lived across the road from the Ocean Club with his mother at the villa Casa Liliana. In fact, the man Jane Tanner had seen carrying a child was walking straight towards the Murat villa.
Murat later said to me that he told the PJ the press were suspicious of him, and they told him not to worry and to keep away from the press and work for them instead. He had signed papers to become an official interpreter and even sat in during the witness interview of Rachael Oldfield.
Leaving the police station in Portimao one evening, a week after becoming an official police interpreter, Murat became aware he was being followed. Shortly after that he was arrested and interviewed himself and made an arguido.
Murat always denied he was out the night Madeleine disappeared, but three of the McCann group claimed at the time they had seen him and still insist they were right. I was told there was at least one new independent sighting of Murat out on the night of May 3.

Bizarrely, the McCanns believe they were inadvertently responsible for encouraging the PJ to take them seriously as potential suspects, as it was them bringing in a South African “body finder”, Danie Krugel, that led to search dogs being used. The PJ agreed to work with Krugel, and an officer from the UK National Policing Improvement Agency was called in to advise on a search based on Krugel’s findings. It was agreed the British would supply some specialist equipment for spotting disturbed soil and also some search dogs, including one trained in human-remains detection (HRD) and one trained to detect the scent of blood.

Ultimately, only those who were there and involved know exactly what happened, but the McCanns wonder just how the search dogs were presented to the PJ and what claims were made for their success rate and infallibility.

All British policing techniques are meant to be practised uniformly by every force across the country and defined in written policy created by the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO). But the ACPO was unable to produce for me any policy relating to search dogs.
Gerry was initially optimistic at the prospect of the searches by these supposedly elite British dogs and techniques. The dogs then went on to search the apartments of the McCanns and their friends. A line-up of cars were also called in by the police, including the cars owned or used by Murat and the Renault the McCanns had been using, which they had hired on May 27.
Those who told me about the dogs’ searches say they involved little objective science. It has been suggested that the HRD dog was treated differently in the McCanns’ apartment than in the others. The dog kept sniffing and running off and it was called back on several occasions. Eventually it “alerted”, meaning it went stiff and stayed still.

Then the blood dog was called in and directed to the area where the other dog had alerted. Eventually this dog alerted in the same place – behind the sofa in the lounge, which is where the trace of blood was supposedly found.

The cars were lined up, not in a controlled environment, but in the underground public car park opposite Portimao police station. Again the dog was led quickly from one car to the next until he reached a Renault with “Find Madeleine” stickers all over it. The dog sniffed and moved on to the next car, but was called back. The dog was taken around the McCanns’ car for about a minute, as opposed to the few seconds devoted to the other cars. Then the dog went rigid, an “alert”, and the doors and the boot were opened. It was this that led to the recovery of some body fluids that the PJ suspected would contain traces of Madeleine’s DNA, and which led to the supposed revelation that her body must have been carried in the car.

The role of such dogs is normally intended to find a body or remains. Without any subsequent discovery the alerts amount to little more than an indication – or worse: in one recent case in Wisconsin a judge concluded that similarly trained dogs were “no more reliable than the flip of a coin”, after hearing evidence that they were wrong far more often than they were right. The McCanns’ lawyers are in touch with the defence lawyers in that case. The PJ had never attempted to obtain a “control sample” of Madeleine’s DNA. That had been left to the McCanns, who had found traces of her saliva on the pillow of her bed at home in Rothley and provided that DNA sample to the Portuguese police.

Whatever the public’s perception – based on a slew of news stories – at this stage there is no published evidence that Madeleine’s DNA, or any trace of her blood, has been recovered from the apartment or the car. Any suggestion to the contrary appears to be misinformation from the PJ. Some Portuguese journalists and, apparently, some members of the PJ believed the UK’s Forensic Science Service (FSS), based in Birmingham, had been deliberately delaying the tests. There are some who suspect the involvement of the British secret services.

In fact, both the PJ’s national director, Alipio Ribeiro, and another PJ official, Carlos Anjos, have both said openly that the police have failed to establish a perfect match. The PJ found several specks of what they believe to be blood in apartment 5a, including one sample that someone had apparently tried to wash off.

They found a trace of body fluid – that is, not blood – in the boot of the Renault and a tiny trace of blood in the Renault’s key fob. Some forensic tests were carried out at the PJ’s own laboratories in Lisbon, where tests on samples related to Robert Murat were also made. The tests on the traces that were potentially the most significant came to the FSS. One sample was said to have produced DNA that was similar to Madeleine’s. An exact match would be 20 out of 20 bands, this sample was said to be similar in 15 out of 20 bands. But in reality, that result was meaningless, as any family member could produce the same match.

Some journalists were told that more advanced tests were being carried out on the smallest blood traces – tests called low copy number profiling, which could produce DNA findings in the slightest of samples. They were a slow process, but did not normally take more than two weeks.
In late November, PJ officers and forensic experts came to meet police and FSS experts in the UK, amid claims the PJ were still waiting for further results. Leicestershire police have apparently paid for all the forensic tests being carried out in the case by the FSS – they are the client in the case, not the Portuguese. The PJ have used this as evidence that the British are suspicious of the McCanns too – even the McCanns think the British police doubted them for a while, until the forensic results emerged – but you might think the PJ would have wanted to be in control of their own forensic findings.

I heard that a PJ officer had been surprised to find a member of MI5 at a UK meeting about the case, and this made him suspicious that shadowy forces could be at work. The Sol journalist Felicia Cabrita mentioned the “mysterious Clarence” – Clarence Mitchell, the former government PR officer turned McCann spokesman – and I was told there was suspicion too about another government official, Sheree Dodd, who had acted as a PR officer for the McCanns briefly in the early days – had she come out from MI6 to help dispose of the body?
These theories might seem preposterous, but for those involved in the case in Portugal, they fitted a pattern in which the Portuguese government and in turn the PJ had felt the heavy weight of diplomatic pressure from the UK – a pressure that the police and the journalists very much resented, with its implication that the police were not doing their job properly. This could be one reason why the PJ were so ready to suspect the McCanns.

There seemed to be no doubt that the PJ really did think the McCanns had done it. I was outlined a scenario in which Kate had come back to the apartment and found that Madeleine had fallen from the sofa and hit her head – hence the blood – and cleaned up and hid the body somewhere in the apartment, and perhaps had not even told Gerry until the next day.
The police could not answer all the questions, of course. They were almost as unanswerable as they were unimaginable. Where would they have hidden the body? How would they have got it into the car 24 days later, and where would they have taken it? What kind of people would they have to be – what borderline personality disorders must they both share – to keep that to themselves for six months, maintain a facade in front of everyone they knew, and at the same time not hiding away but going out to ask the world to help find Madeleine?

I know the McCanns believe the PJ were oversold the value of the dogs. It was after the dogs came out that the PJ’s attitude towards the McCanns changed and it became harder for the McCanns to obtain a briefing meeting. They were disturbed when the press began reporting that the PJ knew Madeleine was dead. Finally, after pressing for a meeting, one was arranged for Wednesday, August 8, three days before the 100-day point after Madeleine’s disappearance.
When they arrived at the station in Portimao the couple were separated and both interrogated. Kate especially was given “the third degree”. Gerry broke down and cried, pleading with the PJ to share any evidence that Madeleine was dead. “It’s coming, it’s coming,” he was told.
The interviews caused the couple “incredible emotional distress”. But they agreed, if they had been guilty, they probably would have cracked and confessed at that point. The police said there would be no more briefings. The next time they saw the McCanns it would be across the table, for formal interviews.

What was doubly dispiriting, of course, was that while the PJ treated them as suspects, they were no longer looking for Madeleine. I was told the PJ had “abandoned the abduction theory”. It was open season now on the McCanns. The publicity was wretched.

The British press were not blameless either, often lazily repeating allegations and sometimes repeating them despite emphatic denials from the McCann camp. If you read the blog sites on the internet you would discover an even darker, nastier tone. The McCanns and their holiday friends were swingers, apparently. That allegation was even made on the Portuguese equivalent of the BBC by a former PJ detective, Jose Barra da Costa. When I checked with him, he said he had been told by a friend in the UK who happened to be a police officer. No doubt that officer had plucked it from the internet. It is not true.

During Kate’s interviews with the PJ in September, just before she was declared an arguido, she was separated from her lawyer, and he was presented with a long list of factors pointing to her guilt, including entries from her entirely innocuous diary and a passage they believed she had marked in a Bible (which in fact had been given to her and marked by the original owner).
The PJ also told the lawyer there was a 100% DNA match with Madeleine in the car and showed him a document that appeared to prove it. Possibly, this was the document showing Madeleine’s control sample of DNA. The McCanns feared even their own lawyer thought they were guilty. Kate was asked by the PJ to explain the dog alerts by her car. “You’re the police,” she said. “You tell me.” Kate asked the PJ: “Are you trying to destroy our family altogether?”

Gerry was asked the same questions the next day but could not answer. (Sometime earlier a Leicestershire officer had said to him, just stick to what you know.) Why did the dogs only alert next to material belonging to the McCanns? The officer was brandishing the dog-handler’s report. And then: “Your daughter’s DNA, your daughter Madeleine McCann, how do you explain that?” “Show me that report,” Gerry asked. “No. This is the report that matters – with the dog.” Of course, they could not produce a DNA match because there wasn’t one.

The McCanns took heart when Goncalo Amaral was forced to step down after making public criticisms of them and the Leicestershire police – he had made the criticisms in a phone call to a journalist contact, not suggesting the comments were private or off the record.

The McCanns hope that Amaral’s replacement, Paulo Rebelo, a more sober, conservative character, will take a wide view of the inquiry. He is said to have stopped leaks to the press, and has been locked away on the upper floors of the station in Portimao reviewing the evidence with a team of officers.

Meanwhile, the McCanns are back home trying to recover some kind of normality. How long can you put your life on hold? They have the twins to think of. Gerry has gone back to work half-days, and has finally told the British Heart Foundation he plans to go ahead with the research fellowship they awarded him, a week before he was accused of being involved in his daughter’s death. He had told me, weeks ago, about the six-figure grant and how it meant almost nothing in terms of professional advancement, but might one day help in the prevention and treatment of heart disease.

He had prepared the application in his own time, working evenings and weekends.
In other circumstances it would have meant the world to him but, right now, he had other things on his mind.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article3040094.ece

Posted by Tinks

218 comments:

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Tinkerbell43 said...

Morning All,

Sass you early bird! Thanks for posting the front page story, I will learn how to do it, promise.

Well if this is indicative of the questions Kate didn't answer, then I'm not surprised. She was asked to explain the dog alerts by the car!. Well if you are innocent and you know your daughter has never been in that car, how on earth can you answer. It is shameful that they are using this leak of her refusal to answer questions as a sign of her guilt!

Mandz said...

Hi Tinks!

I agree Tinks how can she answer that??? But why tell the world Oh she refused to answer "questions"?? Who is benefiting from these LEAKS???

Always the same always trying in my opinion to make them look GUILITY when we know and they know they are NOT GUILTY. How dare they inflict so much pain on one family? Even to this day it is OUR GOVERNMENT who is stalling? And it’s oh well we are not going to ask the McCann’s questions because they won’t answer??????

Where is there responsibility in all of this?

Tinkerbell43 said...

Mandz,

They've shown they can act when it is to the detriment of the PJ.

They weren't slow in coming forward to make Ribeiro answer for his "too hasty" comments, while all the negative smears against the McCanns have been allowed to go unchallenged. Scandalous behaviour, from the top down!

calcite51 said...

I remember this article when it was first published and thinking "My God, if this article is accurate the PJ's have a lot to answer for."

I never understood how anyone could say, the PJ's would not be asking the 40 questions because Kate won't answer them. To my way of thinking the 40 questions were out of bounds and there are NO answers. Definitely not because Kate won't answer them!!

Hope Mrs. Consecutive Numbers doesn't read this article because she will go on and on about the foooooooooooooorensic evidence and the dogs.

I would like to think at some point the British Government on behalf of Kate and Gerry will be taking the PJ's/Portuguese newspapers to task for the unsubstantiated rumors about the McCanns swinging lifestyles.

Since the Government of Portugal is reluctant to have an inquiry in their PJ's handling of this case, perhaps the UN should undertake this enquiry.

calcite51 said...

It is very odd that Alsabella has disappeared from sight. Hope the PJ's are looking for her.

Tinkerbell43 said...

What amazes me in this tragic story, is the way the McCanns are portrayed by some as child neglectors. Any sane minded person can see these poor parents are not in that category.

There is no history of child neglect or abuse and to suggest otherwise is ludicrous. You only have to look at these children to see they are happy, well loved and cared for and it is clear Leicestershire Social Services agree.

The holiday resort chosen was a child friendly resort with lots of fun packed activities for the children. The first few nights the children dined with them, confirmed by indepedant witnesses.

When the McCanns left the children that night, all 3 children were left soundly asleep, safely in their own beds. It was a decision they made as a group, based on how safe they felt and only they can answer that. The children were not abandoned, we know from independant witness statements the children were checked on very regularly.

All I have seen since, is a heartbroken family trying to do everything they can to find their daughter. They stayed on in PDL for 4 months trying to do everything they could to work with the authorities and raise the profile of their daughter. They were the ones who supplied the controlled sample of Madeleines DNA, it was them that requested the dogs be brought in, this is hardly the actions of parents trying to hide something sinister.

I would be more concerned at asking what is it the PJ are hiding!!.

calcite51 said...

By gosh, I think I've got it. The day Alsabella's site went down, everyone was getting along. jane and I had gone over to support Isis and Alsabella was afraid we were taking over her site - so she closed it down.

Tinkerbell43 said...

Hi Calcite,

I know to the anti's this article will be viewed as biased. Personally I think it is the closest account to knowing the true events in the absence of Kate and Gerry being allowed to speak out.

calcite51 said...

Has anyone heard about the five (5) PJ's who were going to court over the Joanna case? Has anything happened there?

Tinkerbell43 said...

Calcite, I doubt they have very far to look for her! They must be getting very thirsty with no-one to put the kettle on :0)

Tinkerbell43 said...

To anyone looking in, I'm off out now, have a birthday party to attend. See you l8r.

calcite51 said...

Tinkerbell - you could be right.

calcite51 said...

Ok, I have one more comment to make about Alsabella's site - maybe, just maybe it wasn't being run by a woman with two young children and a husband. Maybe it was actually being run by the 5 PJ's. I never quite understood how one person could be on 24 hours a day seven days a week.

calcite51 said...

Tinkerbell - have fun at the birthday bash.

Dobywallah said...

CALCITE:
It looks like you are almost on your own Calcite not Tinks has gone (or going). I have just read throught the long Sunday Times report on the PDL events 3rd May.
Very interesting, thought I knew most of what had happened but it seems I really knew very little at the end of the day. So much detail given in the report, very intersting!

calcite51 said...

I know Doby - I kinda use to being on my own. What's your take on Alsabella's missing blog?

calcite51 said...

I could go on vile's blog - but that blog is so out to lunch.

Dobywallah said...

Only popped in to say hello and good afternoon, saturdays always a busy day, for most of us I guess! May come back later if possible!

Dobywallah said...

You may well have a good point there Calcite, as you say how can one woman spend so much of her time running a Blog, not as if she was on it all the time but certainly more than seems credible. Very odd how it's gone out of action!

Dobywallah said...

I have noticed there is some sort of 'Signing in' or registering still attached but haven't tried that one out, don't know if it's relevant or not?

Dobywallah said...

Well, don't know if anybody's still hanging around but must go now, talk later maybe! Be for now.

Mandz said...

Hi!
I think she has up and gone because she is looking for attention as usual! She should have had the manners at least to inform her posters of what was going on. To leave them in such limbo is really rude IMO.


Wee Song for ya… well it is Saturday!

All my bags are packed I'm ready to go
I'm standin' here outside your door
I hate to wake you up to say goodbye
But the dawn is breakin' it's early morn
The taxi's waitin' he's blowin' his horn
Already I'm so lonesome I could die

So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you'll wait for me
Hold me like you'll never let me go
Cause I'm leavin' on a jet plane
Don't know when I'll be back again
Oh baby, I hate to go

There's so many times I've let you down
So many times I've played around
I tell you now, they don't mean a thing
Every place I go, I'll think of you
Every song I sing, I'll sing for you
When I come back, I'll bring your wedding ring

So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you'll wait for me
Hold me like you'll never let me go
Cause I'm leavin' on a jet plane
Don't know when I'll be back again

Mandz said...

What about the questions Kate did answer....GET STUFFED! Go Kate quite right....


***********************************

AMW Speaks With McCann Family

AMW correspondent Jon Leiberman spoke with Philomena McCann, the sister of Gerry McCann and the aunt of 4-year-old Madeleine McCann. Philomena confirmed to AMW that Madeleine's mother, Kate, had officially been named a suspect in her daughter's disappearance and was offered a plea deal through her attorney earlier Friday. According to Philomena, if Kate agreed to plead guilty to accidentally killing her daughter, the courts would "be lenient on her." Philomena says Kate's response was, get "stuffed".


Philomena said that though Kate and Gerry were demoralized at first, they are now going to begin "fighting back". Philomena says, "No one is even looking for Madeleine. I've had enough of their reputations being sullied. Kate and Gerry made it uncomfortable for the police the past few months so police just want to cover up their own incompetence by trying to go after Kate and Gerry." Philomena says she believes that Gerry and Kate will never be formally charged with any crimes because the "evidence is so weak".

Mandz said...

Thanks for this Dianeh!

Eyes for Lies:

I think the McCanns are perplexing people right now because of their lack of emotions outwardly expressed in this video. I also believe many people are judging the McCanns on their poor judgment call to leave three children unattended, alone in a holiday apartment. Both of these together, perhaps, are generating suspicion.

I believe the McCanns made an awful mistake in leaving their three children unattended, even if they were sleeping, and the McCanns checked on the children every 30 minutes. But they did it. They didn't think through the ramifications of their actions. I think all parents have made poor judgment calls to varying degrees over their life as parents -- it's just few parents get stuck with such devastating results.

For the McCanns to live with a mistake of this proportion is monumental and life-changing --if they accept the fact that Maddie may never come home again. It's devastating -- but why aren't they acting devastated?

For some, this may raise a red flag. For me, it does not.

What if the McCanns haven't accepted the outcome that Madeleine will not come home? What if they are choosing instead to live in the belief that she will be found -- that if they try hard enough -- they will be able to bring her home? Believing that Maddie will come back to them would lessen the pain -- in every respect. It would take away the focus that their mistake may have cost their precious daughter her life.

Would that account for their behavior? I suspect so. I am sure the pain of that last thought is so overwhelming, it could destroy someone's life. Denial is a powerful coping strategy for survival.

When I watch the McCanns speak, I see genuine emotions supporting the situation, their actions and words. I do not see anything that is out of character for someone who is choosing to focus on only one outcome -- the safe return of Maddie. While their emotions are not worn on their sleeves, they are clearly there. There is genuine sadness, feelings of pain, loss and duress -- yet there is a stoic optimism that they are clinging to perhaps to protect themselves from the devastating reality.

When I watch the two parents, they are motivated people. They are doers and goers. They are optimists and believe in the good of people. They were trusting people overall -- and they didn't walk around in the world with the belief it was a dangerous place. They weren't people who lived in fear. Instead, they looked at the odds and assumed they'd be just fine -- that they would be fine, if they took the basic precautions. I am sure they assumed the likelihood of their children waking up and getting out of their cribs -- was remote. They just never thought someone might abduct their daughter -- a thought they may regret for the rest of their lives.

As a bystander, when we are not directly involved and it is not our child, nor our circumstance or our pain -- it is easy for us to look at all of the potentials. But when our heart is entwined in the matter, and the horrific outcome only moves to devastate your life -- its not so easy to look at the worst case scenario. Many people instead go into denial.

I understand and trust the McCanns are honest, caring people who are paying a horrible consequence for failing to rationalize every worst outcome of their actions.

melbel said...

Coo, Thank goodness for that !
I got locked out and could not remember my password.
I have a habit of plucking them out of the air and forgetting them.
I e mailed sass and Google, but by a stroke of luck,got back in.
I had written a chuffing long piece, on this excellent article,which I read first time around and has moulded a lot of my thinking on this case.
Anyways, I accept that this is a sourced, substantiated article,by a newspaper, internationally well regarded, unlike the unspeakable rubbish, churned out by the DE and it's proprietor, the seller of pornographic magazines.
This writer can point out sources in Portugal and when saying that the leaks were from highranking PJ sources, I accept that.
Posters, seem to give two main reasons for believing the McCs were guilty.
The first was the evidence of DNA, said to be incriminating,in the car hired,3 weeks after the alleged event.
Portugese Police spokesmen,have stated that this cannot be definitely linked to Madeleine.
The UK laboratory,have been forced to say that the evidence,was misleading and overplayed.
Secondly,the refusal to answer questions.
The Portugese public, or some of them and some others, have been brainwashed, in my view, by leaks, rumour and speculation.
No UK serious newspaper or TV documentary, has pointed the finger,at the Mccanns.
Poor Aunt Philomena, was accused by some Portugese Legal student, on TWS,as lying, in suggesting that a bargain plea,had been offered, which is not possible,under their Portugese system.
Judging by past PJ form however, in beating up suspects or allowing them to fall down stairs, it is more than likely,that Kate received threats from the PJ and advice on how things could go easier, if she "co operated ",ie admit to something she had not done.
This has been one sorry episode for Portugal and there can be absolutely, no good reason why it is taking them so long, to get to UK.
They need to get over here, get the questions asked and release these people from the arguido status.
It is a good thing that the Mccs were still not sat in Portugal, awaiting the questions.
It does not matter, twopence,where the couple and friends are.
Do not blame the UK Police and UK politicians.
It is all over to you.
The world is watching, Portugal.
You have used leaks, spin and rumour, to discredit this couple and if your international reputation, is on the line, it is entirely your own fault and nothing. that anyone else,has said or done.
Nobody likes to see foreign people, criticising their institutions or Police, but the Portugese, need to get over this, because these criticisms,are not going to go away and will only get worse.

melbel said...

Kate was not always, with her solicitor,during questioning,as this article shows.
How the hell did the Sol journalist get personal details, name,addresses, phone numbers,etc ?
It is a b.....dy scandal and if Portugal does not hold it's own enquiry, into Police violation of the Secrecy laws, The EEC should do it instead.

calcite51 said...

Melbel - well said and you are right - I had heard that Kate was not always with her solicitor as well.

I think this investigation has been badly bungled from day one and the PJ have been critized and rightfully so.

I have to leave as my turn for the computer is up.

melbel said...

Hi and by, Calcite
Agreed with your posts, earlier.
Back to my cooking [cough , or should I say,my heating of foods ]?
Take care x

Anonymous said...

Hi all,

The weather here has been glorious, let's hope that this is the start of MY summer!!! Sorry to go on about it, but it is sheer blllllliiiiiissssss. Nothing like the sun caressing your body!lol

I hope the anti's read this article, maybe it will give them another perspective. I can only dream.

So much for the Mccann's 'fleeing' Portugal. They had already made their travel arrangemnents prior to them being formally interviewed. I think they had been more than patient knowing that they were most probably going to be made arguidos.

If the man seen carrying a child by Jane Tanner was in fact the abductor of Madeleine, then there are only two possibilities of where they disappeared to, bearing in mind that this road leads directly to Murat's villa. The villa occupies the plot at the end of this road.

1. a car was waiting on this road to whisk them away OR

2. the abductor took Madeleine to a property on that road, approx 50 yaards long from where JT alleges she saw the man. I cannot be sure but I think that it is only Murat's villa that actually hs access from this road. I will check mane.

Mandz said...

In my opinion they let DOWN a LITTLE GIRL AGED 3 YEARS taken from HER BED.

Words CANNOT describe how I feel about the whole case. Sick disgusting, sadness, nightmare..?? Beyond belief…

That poor wee soul did not DESERVE this NOR her Parents and extended FAMILY…They gave up looking after a few hours???? They abandoned the abduction theory allowing the MONSTER to get away with Maddie . How can they sleep at night? How could they go off home to bed??
Where and what has happened to Maddie McCann…Kate’s words are haunting “please do not frighten her”…… A mother’s plea to the abductor however the PJ refused to believe there was one.
My heart breaks for Maddie – no money no compensation could ever fix what they have NOT DONE..They had ONE chance however REFUSED TO BOTHER AND REFUSED TO ALLOW EXPERTS IN TO HELP???????????? WHY?????????

The thought of what they were all put through turns my stomach….

Mandz said...

Says it all...
Casa Pia:
Proceedings are still in the investigative stage, with seven suspects detained. More detentions are expected before the trial in September. Adolescents have claimed on television they were offered sweets, ice creams and visits to football matches, then were raped in lavatories or corridors, and recruited for sex parties with powerful "friends". Others, now adult, have told of chilling experiences long suppressed.

Casa Pia came under scrutiny 20 years ago when a young inmate died. He apparently threw himself under a train after running from a car. Officials found the home's doors open all night and youngsters in a cruising area for male prostitutes.

Four children aged between eight and 12, missing for a fortnight, were found in a luxury flat in nearby Cascais owned by a diplomat. They said Mr Silvino had taken them there.

Teresa Costa Macedo, who was the Secretary of State for Family Affairs at the time, ordered a legal investigation that dragged on until it was finally shelved. Mr Silvino was expelled from Casa Pia, then reinstated with back pay in the Nineties.

Rosa Ruela, of Visao, says: "Orphans were considered worthless in Portuguese society then. Child sex abuse was a minor offence, comparable to joyriding. The children were frightened and alone, an easy target. No one took notice of what they said."

Only in the Nineties did Portugal make sex with under-14s a crime punishable by jail; for minors between 14 and 16 the penalty remains a fine. Last September, the mother of an inmate accused Mr Silvino of sexually abusing her son. He was detained in November but insists he is innocent. Last week he indicated he might turn state witness and implicate influential "friends".

melbel said...

Hi Mandz and Helen
I am with you there, Mandz,from the bottom of my heart and you cannot begin to feel, what the McCs are going through,needing the PJ,but knowing what an almighty cock up, they have made.
They like to work in secrecy,[apart from their daily leaks, to pressure people],because that is what they do best,b...r all.
That is a great way, to take the pressure off yourself,by making sure your suspects, are gagged and cannot fight back.Their lack of any progress, does not fool many of us.
Why no regular public briefings or updates to the family ?
I would bet that the Mccs, have not heard a dickeybird, from them, for months.
I have discussed this case with friends, who are Police and detectives, and they agree that this investigation,falls a long way, short of what would be acceptable here, and they think the couple are stitched up.
They have accepted little real help from our side, preferring to blunder on.
More secure Police Forces, would be comparing notes, taking advice and offers of help, from foreign Police Forces.
I ,even recall, that the Mccs requested the extra forensic and dog checks, so hardly the behaviour of guilty people.

Looked at Vile's site,earlier and there was discussion about joncar, the very experienced retired senior police officer.
They think that he stopped using DE forum, as he had not believed that children, could die in an apartment.
I wonder if any of these nosey parkers, recall that Viv was banned and came back as Felicity, I believe, in my opinion,just to print personal details of joncar.
Not very nice, but not very nice person,either.
People should realise the character of the operator they are dealing with, over there.

melbel said...

Helen
I am a nitwit.
meant to say hello and stop gloating, cock,[Lancashire expression ]OVER YOUR WEATHER.
I am not cross, just pressed the wrong key again.
Tara, for now.

melbel said...

Shocking state of affairs,but then, Alsabella,said that these children were just street prostitutes.
Is that how they are viewed over there ?
It is no wonder that they are in the sorry state, they are then, with no paedophile register.
There is a lot, seemingly, going on beneath the surface, there.
They will have to come clean, re the McCs,as we will not let it lie.

melbel said...

Missed a word out, in what I wrote earlier, ALLEGED personal details.

Tinkerbell43 said...

Do you know what I found very poignant and it brought a tear to my eye, Madeleine's star chart was still in the kitchen, full of stars.

My heart aches for Madeleine and her family. Kates words echo in my head "Are you trying to destroy my family altogether"

Well Kate, due to your strength and determination they haven't and I hope when the time comes and you can finally speak out, I hope you expose this bunch and you are compensated for everything they have put you and your family through.

melbel said...

Hi Tnks
It is heartrending and this family,are a decent, loving family, under the sort of pressures, that are unimaginable.
How could people spend months, making accusations, that are a mismatch, to the evidence in the public domain,which is nil ?
Helen has seen the layout and geography of the apartment block and chilled me,when she said it was probably removal by car,or the road led up to Murat.

melbel said...

Mandz and Sass, or was it Jane ?
Docmoc,wizard et al, are very worried about your movements, when you have tea.
Notdoc,says that this is the signal for your activities, to plan lines of attack and Wizard, thanks him for clarification.
How come you never asked me to the Msn forum, whatever that is ?

archer said...

Hi Everyone

I found it very interesting reading the front article and being able to re-fresh my memory of events. Thank you.

Melbel - it's quite extraordinary that our 'known' Portuguese posters should repeat time and time again their country's 'love' for their children and how 'child' friendly they are!

Your post obviously alludes to a part of the 'dark side' that I had no previous knowledge of. It is truly tragic.

Of course, we ourselves do not deny that incidents of a very unpleasant nature have and do take place here. However, we are well known for the washing of our dirty linen in public!

It won't make things right,but I believe Portugal should take steps to at least discuss an overhaul of their archaic rules re secrecy in their judicial process. The abduction of a dear little child from her holiday home has given them a world-wide profile of the kind that they would never have wished for. They will also be conscious of the fact that the main holiday season is upon us and they would want this firmly buried, without their image being tarnished. Well, No Chance. Justice for dear little Madeleine and her family.

Tinkerbell43 said...

Hi Melbel,

I keep missing you. What sad individuals the likes of Docrot & co are. They're still displaying signs of extreme paranoia I see.

They are so gullible, no wonder the DX and the PJ lead them up the garden path so easily, they really do believe all they read!

Btw, I'm just going to put the kettle on, and it means I feel like a cuppa, lol.

Rosiepops said...

Hi Everyone

Brilliant story on the front, very interesting, especially as it is supposed to be 'nearly' time that the PJ are 'allegedly' to arrive in the UK! I am not holding my breath, I see that Leicestershire police have refused to comment and confirm their arrival.
If they are coming I see no reason why the British police would not confirm it.
This probably means that the PJ are still arsing about, what is the betting they do not come?

I also note that the questioning has gone from 7 to 9 again, do the PJ actually know what they are doing? or who they want questioned?
Can't they get anything right?

Tinkerbell43 said...

Hi Archer,

Will be back soon, just makng a cuppa, nudge, nudge, wink, wink!

Christabel said...

Hi Tinks, Rosie and Archer,
hope your all ok.
Tinks you would say cuppa when just come on, ok I'll go and make one and will be back in 5.

archer said...

OK.... I'm easily led - tea for me to then. (Had too much of the red stuff last night,and have had a bit of a headache all day! )

SeaWitch said...

Hello, everyone!

CUPPAS?????

Are you mad? I'm on the sparkly stuff and that's code for.....whooppeee!!!

The witch is back!!!

archer said...

Hi Seawitch

Beautiful avatar!

Can't stomach sparkly tonight. Enjoy!!

Tinkerbell43 said...

Hi, back with you. Couldn't have a cuppa without a ciggie!

Hey Seawitch, good to see you!

melbel said...

Hi Archer, Tinks,Sea,Christa and Tinks
Having to sign in with Google, each time,for some reason.
It was good post,Archer. Think it was from Mandz, the original.
Rosie, you know all and fountain of all wisdom.
3 arguidos, according to TWS, say PJ coming on 7th April and going home on 11th.
You are in the know,according to tws.
So there .

SeaWitch said...

Hi Archer,

I love your avatar, too. I have seen it on another website, perhaps where you got it from, and it's lovely!

I haven't visited for over a week and I've chosen to come back on a quiet night.... LOL!

Had a quick scan and see that there's been all sorts of shennanigans going on. I don't know about a week in Politics - a week on Blogspot's a long time!

Nice to see everyone ;-)

melbel said...

Nice to see Seawitch.
What is your view on likely reason for als'a blog disappearing ?

Rosiepops said...

Boom boom the witch is back, albeit a sparkly witch

archer said...

Seawitch

Have been 'off' a few nights myself,but I think its been a bit lively. What we 'see' is not all, of that I am sure.

Anyone want to enlighten us ?

Pretty please.xx

Rosiepops said...

christabel are you still here?

melbel said...

Oh, you meant that witch,Rosie

SeaWitch said...

Hi Melbel!

Always a pleasure to read you and your reliable words of wisdom.

Hi, Tinks,

You'd better be careful what you say about having ciggies, jane won't be far away!

And I'm on her side! LOL!!!

Rosiepops said...

hi Mel

I think that the queen's site has gone kaput because she has discovered something from one of her PJ friends.

here is a prediction, the PJ are not coming to the UK.
They will remove the arguido status from the McCann's.
they will make an official apology to the McCann's.
Sometime in the future the McCann's will sue the PJ.

This is why Arsebella has closed her blog and is now posting under the name of Ana. she just could not bear being proved wrong because to the antis this was only ever a game.

PJ what did you do to find Madeleine McCann today?

Tinkerbell43 said...

Hey Rosie,

Christabel probably came back and see I'd had a ciggie, so she crept back off for a crafty one herself.

Rosiepops said...

LOL Mel which witch did you think I meant?

Mandz said...

Hi All,

Tinks & Melbel I know it is honestly heartbreaking - the whole thing turns my stomach. I feel sick for Maddie and them.

What police force Allegedly packs up and goes home for the night..Re a MISSING 3 YEAR OLD????? That poor family..

Yes Melbel Alsa did refer to them a "just street children" no big deal eh???? What an attitude????

Rosa Ruela, of Visao, says: "Orphans were considered worthless in Portuguese society then. Child sex abuse was a minor offence, comparable to joyriding. The children were frightened and alone, an easy target. No one took notice of what they said."

melbel said...

Sure hope so, Rosie
They are still being pretty libelous, over yonder.
It seems a gross misreading of the way it looks that things are heading, imho.

Rosiepops said...

Pair of puffers lol

melbel said...

I am a slowcoach, Rosie.
I meant the alsawitch.

Anonymous said...

Good evening all,

I was thinking the same as Melbel, Rosie!!!LOL, but they do say that great minds think alike don't they?

Anonymous said...

Now now Rosie, that's not nice calling the anti's 'puffers'

Tinkerbell43 said...

Hi Archer,

Where to start! I think it started on Wednesday, Arepa came over and made some real abusive posts, one included a change in avatar to a photo of Gerry in an electric chair. After deleting a number of posts we had to turn Moderator on.

As you know this poster, was from Casa Crud, but even a few of the antis condemned Arepa's behaviour.

Thursday, I believe we had problems with Ana which we think is an alias of either Alsabliar or Clawdia who was acompanied by her partner in crime Bianca.

Sometime Thursday, Alsabliar closed down her bog! All of Cruds posters are now using Viles site to make their posts.

And thats about it in short!.

archer said...

Mandz

That is truly horrific. Do they have any prosecutions for these offences at all? If so, what did they deem to be a fitting sentence?

Mandz said...

Melbel…


Notdoc..…Squeak squeak……….

SeaWitch said...

Hello to you as well, Rosie. My kind of sparkly is a bit more potent than yours......;-)

Melbel,

I am mystified about Alsa's blog disappearing. I have missed everything that happened this week, and the last time I was online was a week ago, so I can only see what happened from this and Viv's blog, but there are too many posts to wade through to get the full picutre. I'm sure Alsabella will be back, though.

Since they share the same posters, I wonder why Alsa and Viv don't join forces? Claudia seems to be a moderator on both sites.

I have read the only thread left on Alsa's blog today and if she is sincere, I would certainly support her words. I try to look at the individual post or message and that is one I definitely agree with.

What is the general feeling, then?

melbel said...

Hi Mandz
It makes you wonder, what is going on,beneath the surface.
What happened in Jersey, is rocking them now, isn't it ?
Sweeping these things,under the carpet, is not an option,nowadays, with TV and internet,etc.

Mandz said...

Hi Archer!!

I honestly don’t know but I’m disgusted by it…

Rosiepops said...

melbel

I laugh when I read them because they really are failing to grasp what is actually being written, they take a story and completely ignore it and misrepresent it, they twist it until it says what they want it to say, it is a really strange phenomena over there.

Still Felicity is happy enough she has some posters and not just pity posters this time, but posters who are just using her until the Queen comes back in a mist of smoke machine drama, then all the posters will leave Felicity and run back to the palace.

I tried to read some of the posts from yesterday this morning over there but was put off by a couple of extraordinarily long posts by Felicity, God knows where she got them from, but if you were to read them in all their legal jargon it would have taken half a day! There is an anonymous taking the proverbial out of them which was funny.

A couple of other anons or the same one (who knows) pointed out that they thought these posters were disgusting and rude for taking over Viv's blog like this, especially the Portuguese Claudia and Alsabella/Marla/Ana as they were communicating to each other in Portuguese there were around 20/30 posts like this.

But guess what? We got the blame for sticking up for Viv and pointing out how rude and ignorant this was. Apparently this poster was from here and we got it for defending Viv, you couldn't make this up really could you?

I don't know if the poster was from this thread or not but as usual we got the blame for it.

Just gets more surreal over there daily, but I could not find any posts from Mrs Consecutive numbers! I wonder if Viv has asked her not to post her libellous comments?

melbel said...

Mandz
I had better get my false beard out, then, which I only ever wear,when working under cover.
I will also attempt a Scottish accent,but that could be tricky.

Mandz said...

Melbel,

Yes everything under the carpet hence secrecy law and the casa pia case will be in dare I say it "secrecy"..Look at Ala attitude when she referred to them as "just prostitutes street children" or words to that effect.

Tinkerbell43 said...

Hi Seawitch,

You ask what the general feeling is, I am not as good at putting things into words as Rosie, but if you get a moment, look back to Rosie's post yesterday at 16:28 and imo she sums it up perfectly.

Mandz said...

Melbel!

Teeehhheee!!!!!!!

archer said...

Tinkerbell

Thanks for that. I did see the disgraceful avatar of the electric chair! It made me feel sick to my stomach. (I seem to recall a poster - GrimReaper DX- would that the the one?)

Alsabliar - well she need bury her head in shame. Fed by the PJ I strongy suspect! Really I do!

I thought Bianca was being relativley reasonable when she posted here. Oh well, can't imagine their reaction when they are proved to be the t**ts we know then to be..

melbel said...

Rosie,there was a long post on today,about martin Brunt and forensics, from the numbers lady,but maybe Viv removed it.
I saw Viv one day,warning 2345,that Viv had to consider and protect her self, re allegations about Shannon's case.
I wish the antis would read the excellent article you all posted today,as when the journalist from this newspaper,claimed that the leaks, were from a high level in PJ,I believe it, as they will be sourced and could be substantiated.

Mandz said...

Rosie,

Mad Mad Mad....really....

Mandz said...

Are the SAS still looking for her and do you think Met3 will find her?
I’ve not been a great fan however I assume the McCann's must have good reason to restart the contract? I hope advisers are looking into what evidence they have.

Christabel said...

Well say no more, hope it was worth it Gonc.

The information had been handed to Cabrita by the police – she says she acquired the material through good journalism, which in a sense it was – and her source is widely believed by her colleagues to have been the former head of the inquiry, Goncalo Amaral.

Mandz said...

Going off for a cuppa....!



Big waves squeak......

Rosiepops said...

SeaWitch

I would support her words too if she was sincere, but unfortunately her words are just that 'words'.

She has written that in an attempt to lay the blame for the debacle her blog slipped into at anyone else's feet other than her own. I tried to warn her several times about her blog and she just deleted me each and every time so I gave up.

I cannot believe her words are sincere when I remember some of the most sickening comments to remain on her site and also some of the most vicious libellous ones too.

I also remember that open letter she penned to Mrs Healy and wondered how anyone, let alone someone who says she is a mother could actually write something as nasty, cold hearted and as callous as that.

I cannot understand either how she could use these two little girls in an attempt to get her own sanctimonious point across.

No one from this site has made libellous comments, so why try to apportion the blame on us and exonerate herself?

I believe Alsabella is sly and manipulative and I would not trust her as far as I could throw a grand piano and I do not say these things lightly, I say them because I genuinely believe them.

I also have not forgotten the many lies Alsabella has been caught out in. She talks abut anonymous posts on her site yet she was told the solution to stop these and ignored it.
She talked about the anonymous posters yet came here as anonymous signing as Marla and then outed herself, still she could tell the truth and admit she had to lie further and rope notdoc in to lie for her too. Shame I still have the post complete with the hyperlink leading straight to her profile and her blog 'The World According To Alsabella'

This is why I will never trust her because she is not genuine she is a liar.
Quite honestly I do not believe a thing she writes anymore.

melbel said...

It is sad, that the trail has been allowed to get so cold.
It is such a rural area, too, like where poor Ben Needham,went missing.
I went on a golfer's holiday, as a non golfer,one year and the other non golfing wife and myself,went on a "safari " and you were soon off the beaten track,into the middle of nowhere.[I am talking about Portugal,not to confuse }

SeaWitch said...

Tinks,

Thanks for that, I will go and look.

I do recall Alsa apparently drawing distinctions and minimising the abuse suffered by the Casa Pia children on the grounds that they were offering themselves up, and I had a discussion with her about it.

The bottom line is, the adult is always the responsible Idoesn't matter if the child offers him or herself on a plate, the duty and expectation incumbent upon the adult is not to exploit the child in any way. This is black and white, and there are no shades of grey.

Anyway, I shall go and read Rosie's comment yesterday.

melbel said...

Archer, you are spot on re Alsabella.
She must have been a team of people, with maybe a coordinator, as no one person, could sit night and day, the hours she did, firing out posts, like that.
She said she had children and hired help, but her hours were too long.
I think it failed,big time, if it was meant to influence and monitor behaviour and opinion.
I am surprised how sucky uppey,[new word] some British people were too. !

calcite51 said...

Hi, all. Tinkerbell, I saw your note about a thread of alsabella's blog - whenever I try to look at her blog I get a blank page -unable to find blog.

Rosie, I think you have a point and I did think of that one too - where she may have had an update from the police force - no questioning, apology to Mccanns, etc.

Rosiepops said...

Apart from all that you are right SeaWitch, Alsabella will be back but she is not really away, she is on felicity's blog posting as Ana and she brought Ana out the night before she closed her own blog.

She came here posting as Ana and brought Bianca with her to try and cause trouble, but I sussed her immediately and sent her away with a flea in her ear!

Apart from all her other well known IDs Alsabella is posting as Ana and also Marla, in fact watch out for any name that has a lot of As in it. I read an anonymous today pointing this out and it was absolutely correct! It is a trait where by people are trying to conceal their own Id they often subconsciously choose ID's with many of their own name's letters in it.

Laughable really the Lents she is going to, I think she is taking all this way too far. maybe the real reason she is away is because her hubby is sick and tired of her being on the PC 24/7? maybe her children need some love, affection and attention for a change? because honestly if you work out the amount of time she is posting on here for someone that says she has young children, what motherly attention are they getting form her exactly?

And sh has the cheek to criticize the McCann's? yeah right!

melbel said...

Hi Calcite
Think you have a point and there has been no action,for months,seemingly.
They cannot string it on indefinitely,at Portugese end and I should think that they would only get another extension, from the Judge [if allowed ],if there was damn good evidence and leads and not more of the same.

Rosiepops said...

Calcite,

I just checked and I can still get the sanctimonious self righteous cap trap she left up!

Rori Hegarty said...

Melbel,any baby news?

chinadoll said...

Good Evening Everyone,

I remember reading this article online, at the time it was posted.

The better quality newspapers and journalists, clearly take a different slant to the tabloids.

I guess their readers do too.

Anything new, my friends.?

melbel said...

Rosie. too right and Ana began to speak very good English, quickly, though she came on here, pretending that she had little English.
They must think we are a bit dim !
Some of the anons are hilarious.

Tinkerbell43 said...

Hi Christabel,

IMO I believe Gonc was responsible for a lot of the leaks by using selective Journalists. Even his own downfall was due to a phonecall he allegedly made to a Journalist contact.

Although the leaks have subsided a little, I doubt its down to Rebelo, its probably because the worst offender was taken off the case.

Anonymous said...

From what I have gleaned I think the arguido status can run for 12 months from date 1st given. That makes it September.

calcite51 said...

Ana, Alsabella if they are one and the same - does not matter, Ana's avatar was one of the sickest I had ever seen. And someone has to be very, very ill to even think of something like that.

Rosiepops said...

Melbel and Calcite

I think the PJ are just waiting for evidence to fall out of the sky.
They haven't any evidence and after all this time it is unlikely they will get anymore, unless please God that little Madeleine is found and if she if found alive it will be a very long time I would think before anyone could get anything out of her, if they ever could, poor little mite, I have to stop thinking this now because whenever I do I get so so so angry with the PJ.

Just how dare they do this to this poor child? how dare they treat her parents like this? How in God's name can they call themselves detectives? especially that Gonc bloke!

melbel said...

Hi Isis
I am slow on computer, forgive me.
Are you ok ?
here I am sat,pontificating on a Saturday night !
No news, yet,but nice of you to ask.
She got little aches and pains, but nothing much,yet.
It is exciting, though.
She wanted to know the sex, but her husband, did not and she could not have kept the secret, so did not ask. x

calcite51 said...

HelenM - are you hearing anything about the 5 PJ's?

Rosiepops said...

Christabel

are you around?

melbel said...

Isis, I told my husband, that I had it on good authority, that it was the European Song [not ] contest tonight, mistaking something you had said !

Anonymous said...

good evening guys

how are you all?

ARCHER

no you could never, ever accuse Blanca of posting reasonably at all. Far from it, she tried to destruct our blog the other night, no doubts at all.

SEAWITCH

Hope your computer survives with kiss of life...........

A. is on a damage limitation, saving skin exercise now. It is insincere nonsense on her front page, as you cannot say that and allow many libellous comments to remain, not allow any right of reply at all, even named to challenge the lies written about you, (me and Rosiepops namely e.g.) and show such bias with a front page of total garbage. It is a false front. No doubts on that one either.

MELBEL thought we would have news by now....?? Got a new computer yet?

MANDZ TINKS CALCITE ROSIEPOPS et al

I bought huge packet of ginger nuts, here you are.....now my tea?

Thank you it's lovely.

I need it. Had a puncture today in rush hour, couldn't find tyre fitter open, so had to slowly limp home 10 miles at 5 mph but think I have wrecked my wheel as well as new tyre........Oh dear ;o(((

I am not a happy bunny tonight. Not at all. Pass back the biccies now.....be good.

JUST SPENT AN HOUR READING BACK AS FORGOT LAST NIGHT TO TICK THE BOX TO GET EMAILED ANY COMMENTS. l LIKE TO READ THEM ALL, ESP. FROM DIANE AND CALCITE the night shift IN MORNING.....

Rori Hegarty said...

melbel,im good thanks,once the niggles start it cant be far off. Best of luck to mum and baby ,a safe delivery for both DV.Slán.

Christabel said...

Hi Tinks,

Yes Gonc is a gonna I think !
By the way all I think you may find that Ana is Claws not alsashite.

Anonymous said...

HELEN
GOOD EVENING

I am so sorry didn't see you when I was posting.....you were'hiding'. Have a lovely crunchy ginger nut with your tea..

Rosiepops said...

This from the article that Tinks put up today raises very pertinent questions!
turns out that the evidence they were waving in front of Gerry's nose was not DNA evidence at all, it was just this dog report, which is something I have been pointing out for months now and getting shouted down by the antis and at one point every time I wrote it the DX were pulling my posts! maybe they didn't like the truth either?
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Why did the dogs only alert next to material belonging to the McCanns? The officer was brandishing the dog-handler’s report. And then: “Your daughter’s DNA, your daughter Madeleine McCann, how do you explain that?” “Show me that report,” Gerry asked. “No. This is the report that matters – with the dog.” Of course, they could not produce a DNA match because there wasn’t one.

Rori Hegarty said...

Melbel, just caught your last post, ireland being represented by a turkey!!! Il not be watching !! Too embarrasing !

Anonymous said...

Calcite,
No news from here regarding the PJ. Only what's speculated in 24 horas, a Portuguese tabloid.

Anonymous said...

CHRISTABEL

YOU TOO SORRY DIDN'T NOTICE YOU EITHER WHEN READING BACK AS WAS POSTING.....

HAVE A GINGER NUT....EEEEKKK.

Who was it said our cuppa tea is a code? for what, a summit meeting? Good grief we have half the world to cover for that one. Hmmmm.

See Supertrolls site has some interesting comments to day.....

calcite51 said...

Hi, Isis welcome and how are you doing? It's always great to see you.

Rosiepops said...

Jane

I hope Helen's hubby is not a ginger! H emay object to his nuts being crunched lol

melbel said...

HI China
Nice to be on at same time and hope you are well.
It is a brilliant article and I wish everyone could read it.
What the DE group, have done to that poor family, is unforgivable and I reckon they got off light at what they got.
It has not,apparently dented their sales, though.

Rori Hegarty said...

Good thanks calcite,off to bed now as i have an hour less sleep tonight and im like a bag of cats today... according to other half !!

Rosiepops said...

christabel

no she is Alsabliar, if she isn't Alsabliar then Claudia was having a 2 hour conversation with herself in Portuguese yesterday.I don't hink even Claudia would find herself that interesting for two hours!

Rosiepops said...

Hi China

didn't see you pop up there.

Tinkerbell43 said...

Hi Rosie,

That always puzzled me, because I thought the only controlled sample of Madeleine's dna, was provided AFTER they were made Arguido's.

archer said...

Rosie

You have proved to be very intuitive, time and time again!

We post here as we choose. Of course we are faceless people behind our screens,imparting what we believe and feel. However what we 'give out' is part of who and what we are as people. There have been a lot of admirable traits here as well as the less so (on the other side - of course) Alsabliar may be a totally ficticious personna,from beginnning to end. Time and time again I have found it really odd that so many anti's have found it necessary to labour the point when giving time and attention to their 'alleged' children - to the point of suffocation. Poor souls. .
Notdoc and Bath-theory come to mind, but Alsabliar wins first prize.

Rosiepops said...

sorry China excuse my memory

hope you and the family are well x

melbel said...

Isis, the Irish are so well liked and do such a good hosting job, that I bet they wouldn't mind losing, as it is expensive.
I have a feeling they will do well.
Might as well give it a bash, as a lot of the new entry countries, vote for each other,don't they ?

Christabel said...

Rosie,

no change there then lol !

Tinkerbell43 said...

Hi China,

I didn't see you either my friend. Hope you are well. Not a lot new I'm afraid!

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
melbel said...

Nite isis. Sleep well.x

Tinkerbell43 said...

Hiya Jane & Helen,

Didn't see you come in! Hope you are both well.

Anonymous said...

OOOOHHH rosiepops

You are AWFUL!!!!!

;O))))))))

Mum21 said...

Good Evening All.
Just a quick visit from me this evening.
I am not so sure that Ana is either of them. A friend of theirs more likely...sent in as backup.
Claudia is no longer debating...but collecting useless information for her friend.
What I think is happening I will not post on here. But I will email you with my thoughts.

Anonymous said...

SOMEONE SAID HELLO TO CHINADOLL,



I CAN'T FIND HER????

IS SHE HIDING TOO? One of those nights folks.

Tinkerbell43 said...

Hiya Mum,

You've just reminded me, how did the poll finish up yesterday, I forgot to check ?

Anonymous said...

MUM21 good evening to you

I see your vote went through the roof last night to over 10%????

Where's your new avatar, still at the design stage??????

;o)))))))

Mum21 said...

Jane...yes it is still in the design stage. Not had much chance to work on it today. But will get to it as soon as I can

Anonymous said...

Hi Jane, thanks for the ginger nuts.

Your story about the tyre brought fond memories back of a trip to Spain and Portugal in 2003.

Travelling with hubby and number 1 son (i have only one son!!!) (oops and 1 daughter) on the outskirts of Barcelona , 70 mph when my hubby lost control of the car! We jhad a blow out, pulled over and hubby proceeded to change said tyre. I was told in no uncertain terms to get behind the crash barrier. Easier said than done!! Still have indentations in my legs from sitting on it!! You have to realise that our car was fully loaded, it was our intention to travel for 3 months. Without more ado the tyre was changed and the luggage and kitchen sink was duly loaded into the back of the car. My son, 18 years at the time asked his dad what he should do with the shredded tyre. My husband told him to put it anywhere. My son then LOBBED it down the embankment!!!! Still tease him about this and gave us many a laugh.

Tinkerbell43 said...

Night Isis,

Big game tomorrow, lets hope we take the full 3 points, we need them!

Rosiepops said...

Archer

i just get a gut feeling about things, am proved wrong lots of the time too. But with Alsabliar right fro when I started to post back in September, I noted her and had a strange feeling about her, too good to be true character. None of us are that perfect, I know I am not but I admit that.

But my gut feeling about Madeleine is that she is still in Portugal in or around PDL and I just get the feeling that she is alive and not too bad mentally, goodness knows why I think this, I know what my rational self says.

I just wish that the PJ would do themselves a favour and have one last massive pus in and around PDL right out of the blue and see what they can come up with this is a way out for them, out of the mess that Amaral created and Rebelo has I am afraid to say carried on with.

I have hoped for so much more from this man, maybe we expected too much and he is just not capable of handling this case?

archer said...

Hi Jane , Christabell, Isis and anyone else I missed. I was just out checking my garage!! But it's OK!

Rosiepops said...

Hi Mum

can you sit down today? Daffs not getting in the way are they? lol

melbel said...

Hi Jane
Hope you are ok,after your puncture.
You are right about being better, not knowing.
I could not get into site, for my usual morning rant,as google locked me out and silly, old, biddy that I am, I forgot my passport.
I usually make some daft thing up and forget it !
I am doing an experiment, to see if I can keep up with you all, in the evenings, but the posts come thick and furious x

Anonymous said...

found her at alst

22.23

HI CHINADOLL wysiwyg swymamwys

didn't see you must have been posting my 'stuff'..............

how's tricks? Daughter already moaning she's losing an hour tonight. I suggested just go to bed an hour early and you won't notice any difference.

answer? not repeatable.

2nd word. off.

yes, you got it didn'tyou china.

where's seawitch gone? hoovering her computer or opening more sparkling stuff????

Rosiepops said...

Christabel

Have seen any of the grannies?

calcite51 said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
melbel said...

Tinks
You may have covered this, but didn't they have to take a saliva sample to Portugal, re Madeleine,as the first DNA?

Anonymous said...

What has happened to Laz, Alroy and Doby?

anyone know?

calcite51 said...

Hurry up and read my last comment because I am trashing it.

ACOS said...

Very interesting posts.

Anonymous said...

Melbel,

Where do you live? Had not realised you needed a PASSPORT to get on this site. When did you implement that Rosie?

Jane, my hubby is not ginger, but I am sure that he would welcome any colour!!!

Rosiepops said...

Jane

I reckon seaWitch spilled some of the sparkly stuff into her new laptop lol She vanished in a sea of mist! (like last weeks steam!)

Anonymous said...

Calcite,

Missed it.

Rosiepops said...

Acos

Your welcome. Do we know you?

Rosiepops said...

helen

I have it, I can blackmail calcite with it lol

melbel said...

Evening,mum
You snuck in there.

Rosiepops said...

Calcite

Just read that and it is a load of balony Alsabliar is here as ANA.

ACOS said...

Rosiepops

I don't post much but like to read blogs.

archer said...

Rosie

I think he was brought in to do 'damage limitation'.

He did appear to quieten things down a little, but its difficult to know what else...due in part to their archaic laws.

I am not holding my breath, and I don't say that because things haven't noticeably been hurried up. It's the same establishment after all. Too many things to change, and by Portugal's standard it may take a long long time.

Anonymous said...

Mum21,
I would be interested to have your thoughts. You could get my e -mail from Sassy

Tinkerbell43 said...

Hi Melbel,

Yes, the controlled sample I believe was saliva which was provided by the McCs from Madeleine's pillow at home in Rothley.

melbel said...

HELEN
Pity the auld lass, I must be looping the loop, again.
I meant passwords, of which I have many.!
Fancy a team meeting at yours ?
I am green re the sun.!

Rosiepops said...

Acos

well you are welcome to read or post here, (whatever your views)

calcite51 said...

mum21 - me too, please - Rosie has my e-mail address.

Rosiepops said...

melbel

what is this about a passport? this isn't termianl 5!

melbel said...

hi Acos
What is your opinion about the case ?

Tinkerbell43 said...

Acos,

Good evening & welcome.

Christabel said...

Hi Rosie and all,

in and out at the mo.
Mum don't forget mine please.

Rosiepops said...

No I would lay money on Alsabella being ana as well as Marla.

too many A's in there for sure.

calcite51 said...

HelenM - didn't miss much - just a comment from Claudia to Gina saying that Alsabella had to take care of business and would explain all when she returns.

Rosiepops said...

China

Where have you gone?

ACOS said...

Rosiepops

Thanks for welcoming me.
I am confused and cannot understand what's going on right now.
Does anyone know why the Portuguese blog was shut?

chinadoll said...

Back again,

Got distracted with other stuff.

Rosiepops said...

calcite and Helen

That post was put up to deliberately mislead, why else would they discuss something on a blog which they could do via email?

They are so transparent.

melbel said...

Rosie, it was as bad as terminal 5, [where Leigh apparently took her daughter], as I was totally locked out and forgot my password.I e mailed sass to say that it would be a clone, if anyone with my name, posted and forgot to tell herthat I got back but I will e mail her, too.
If you have any group e mails, please add me to the list.
I am sometimes a bit slow in getting back to people.

Mum21 said...

Rosie.
I have sent out an email. I don't have Calcite's address...could you forward it to her please?
Perhaps you could let me have her address when you have a spare minute.

Mum21 said...

Rosie, I don't have an email address for Melbel either.

Anonymous said...

Calcite just been over to TWS saw that post. Won't hold my breath.

ACOS said...

Melbel & Tinkerbell43

Thanks!

Well, I cannot believe the parents could have killed Madeleine intentionally. An accident could have occurred but then it's difficult to understand why they would try to cover it up.
On the other hand, if what has been said is right, it seems difficult for an abductor to get away with it.
Like many I have questions, but answers don't come easily.

Rosiepops said...

Acos

No real idea only guesses I am a afraid, I have several theories, but if I was pushed, I would opt for the more simple of them.

Alsabella's partner got the hump because she was spending way too much time on the blog, after all she was on it almost 24/7, she says she has little children, well if this is so, this cannot be good for them can it? they deserve a little more time love and affection from their mother than they were receiving, by anyone's standards.

probably no more to it than this. I do have some more fanciful theories, like she was told to pull it because of the disparaging remarks and outright libellous comments that were allowed to remain up there, but who knows?

calcite51 said...

Mum21 - I did a change to my profile - maybe now you'll have my e-mail address??

melbel said...

Mum,I would love my e mail address to be passed on to you all.
I spend time on your website, love the poems,but have no sound on this old computer !
I think we both have sons getting married,this year.

SeaWitch said...

Oy, Rosie,

You are a cheeky devil! Actually, you are not far off the mark - I am a bit of a techno-twit and have been trying to work out this darned 'puter.

Got the measure of it now, it won't get the better of me!

Mum21 said...

Rosie..Just saw your post about Daffs.
Am sitting down with great difficulty. te he he

Anonymous said...

Mum have you got mine?

Anonymous said...

ha ha chinadoll

did the other stuff have a cork??

tee hee

so is seawitch...disappeared......

;o))))))))))))))))))))))))))))))

Mum21 said...

Got it Calcite
Thanks

calcite51 said...

Oh, Rosie - you're so modest. Acos, the reason that Alsabella's site is no longer is BECAUSE IT IS OUR FAULT. Everything is OUR fault - people were allowed to post anonymously - according to Alsabella and Claudia, it was US doing that - disrupting her blog.

When her blog members came over to our site, it was OUR FAULT. It's OUR FAULT, when it rains, snows or the sun shines.

ACOS said...

Rosiepops

Thanks for your answer

I rather go for the 1st. There are loads of other blogs full of nasty libellous comments and they don't seem to be bothered. Anyway, it was interesting to have different approaches for this case and read some Portuguese posters also.

Rosiepops said...

Acos, I have thought about your theory quite a lot, but keep coming back to this; "why would they seek to cover up an accident with such an elaborate web of deceit?" why not just say Madeleine had an accident call for help and say they tried everything they could to save her and if she did have an accident, surely this is what they would do as parents, let alone as doctors?

if she had an accident while they were away, why would they not just say she had an accident when they were there? no one would have been any the wiser.

The only simply and logical explanation is that the parents are telling the truth and Madeleine was abducted, probably a by a targeted abduction. maybe a ransom that went wrong, as this escalated far too big, or the abductors panicked after they took her?

Mum21 said...

Melbel...we do both have sons getting married. But my son is not getting married until early next year. Probably April or May.
I had given up all hope of him settling down...then suddenly out of the blue he met the right girl.
It seems it is never too late

Anonymous said...

Feeling a little pckish Jane, have you given all them gingers to Chinadoll?

Tinkerbell43 said...

I'm off now guys, dont forget to put your clocks forward!

Nite to all, take care xxx

Christabel said...

Well nite, nite ladies

archer said...

Night 'Belles'

The dreaded clocks - oh yes..

Anonymous said...

Nite Tinks and Christabel. Sleep well.

Mum21 said...

Nite Tinks
God Bless

Mum21 said...

Christabel,
Nite to you too.
God Bless

SeaWitch said...

Disappeared???

No Jane, just temporarily, er, visually disadvantaged!!!

;-)

melbel said...

Mum, my son gets married,in July, but abroad.The girl he is marrying, is a real sweetie and we get on really well.

chinadoll said...

Goodnight from me too

Anonymous said...

Mum have you got my e mail address?

archer said...

Night China - sleep well.

Anonymous said...

Good night Chinadoll, nice to see you.

melbel said...

Nite Tinks and Christa
Night to everyone else too,as I am turning in.
I am suffering from vertigo with whizzing the thingie up and down [scrolling, I mean ]
All the best to everyone and God Bless x x x

Mum21 said...

Helen,
Yes I think I have

Anonymous said...

Nite Melbel. Sleep well.

Anonymous said...

yes!!!

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