Missing Madeleine

[MANTIS01]

Do you let your children walk to school celtic?

If you do then please be aware that they could slip on jam on the way there.

[bhoywonder]

Ok, the only real facts we know are that two supposedly educated individuals were in a foreign country and thought it was appropriate to leave their children, the oldest of which was 4 unattended in a holiday apartment whilst checking on them every half an hour while they jollyed it up in a tapas bar accross the way. Anything could have happened while they were out i.e Maddy could have woke up and played with matches etc. Just plain stupidity what they done. Distateful post by me maybe but as a father, my feeling is they deserve all they get.

yeah this is a sorry painful saga

this post has no point


personally i think the portugese authorities want the McCanns out of their country and whenor if it comes to court and they are aquitted,they wont exactly feel welcome and leave///

[AndrewT]

Ok so this is the theory...

Despite being doctors the Mcganns overdose their daughter with sedatives so they can go and party.

Surely, because they were doctors - they would feel as though there was no risk because they thought they knew what they were doing.

During the evening they check on their children only to find they have killed Madeline. The emotion of this horrifying situation is quickly suppressed and a plot is hatched to cover it up. They do this so they don't loose their jobs...something that would naturally be at the forefront of their minds right about then. They get their daughters body and stuff it in the boot of their car before announcing to all their friends in the restaurant Maddie has been abducted.

Not merely the jobs, but losing their whole lives (children, careers, going to prison). When people are in extreme situations, you'd be surprised at the things they'll do.

They spin an elaborate web of lies to the Portuguese police and embark upon a frenzied media campaign to throw a red-herring to the rest of the world. While all this is going on they secretly dispose of the body in a makeshift grave in the hills of a foreign country....denying their daughter a proper and respectful funeral is an insignificant detail for the murderous duo.

'murderous duo'?? They're not Brady and Hindley. Once the lie has been started, it would have been impossible to stop it. At which point do you think they could have come out and said 'actually we killed her by mistake - sorry for all the fuss we've caused'.

They lie to everyone they know...including all their friends, parents and the rest of the family...a lie they will continue to tell for the rest of their lives. Of course the endless pain and suffering this causes their parents etc is a minor detail. Despite being deeply religious they have no qualms about travelling to the Vatican and duping the Pope....we've got to make this look realistic they think and of course God will understand come judgement day.

Yes, compared to the alternative, it would be a minor detail. The whole tour/meeting Pope thing just followed on naturally from the initial lie.

Rather than ask for a bit of privacy at this difficult time they decide to constantly push the media campaign forward, Gerry McGann writes a daily blog as an extra convincer, and they also secure a campaign fund in excess of £1m...happy days, we're gonna get some cash out of this.

The campaign fund was primarily driven by other family members/friends - not the McCanns themselves.

Of course the alternative would be...find your daughter dead, be devastated, phone the police/ambulance.

...go to prison, lose children, end careers, life ruined.

Anyone who believes the first scenario is living in cloud cuckoo land.

Don't think so - logically it makes sense. The major hole in it for me is the logistics of getting rid of the body.

[turny]

Ok, the only real facts we know are that two supposedly educated individuals were in a foreign country and thought it was appropriate to leave their children, the oldest of which was 4 unattended in a holiday apartment whilst checking on them every half an hour while they jollyed it up in a tapas bar accross the way. Anything could have happened while they were out i.e Maddy could have woke up and played with matches etc. Just plain stupidity what they done. Distateful post by me maybe but as a father, my feeling is they deserve all they get.

so basically what your saying is that any parent that leaves there kid unattended for whatever amount of time deserves there child to be abducted ad/or murdered or to have a fatal accident?

what they done was wrong but not deserving of the consequences and if you feel that by doing one you deserve the other you must have psychological issues yourself.

[TheChipPrince]

While I feel awfully sorry for her family and all connected, personnaly there is nothing I can do help, and dont feel the need or wish to see this story everytime i open the newspaper or turn on the TV. If and when she is found, either alive or dead my blood will probably run cold and i'll feel emotional, but at the moment, seeing this day in day out just bores me.

[celtic]

My daughter doesnt walk to schooll, she is 9 and not old enough imo. I am far from a perfect parent, I only have access to my daughter 2 or 3 times aweek, but have been in situations where i could have left her asleep at home cos i needed things from outside but would have been terrified to leave her unattended. Why has my post got no point as stated? I have only recently joined this topic. It MY opinion that they have got what they deserve. Not rejoicing just stating my opinion.

[fearisthekey]

My daughter doesnt walk to schooll, she is 9 and not old enough imo. I am far from a perfect parent, I only have access to my daughter 2 or 3 times aweek, but have been in situations where i could have left her asleep at home cos i needed things from outside but would have been terrified to leave her unattended. Why has my post got no point as stated? I have only recently joined this topic. It MY opinion that they have got what they deserve. Not rejoicing just stating my opinion.

Scenario: you are watching television in your front room. Your daughter is asleep upstairs. Do you lock front and back doors?

[celtic]

Ok, the only real facts we know are that two supposedly educated individuals were in a foreign country and thought it was appropriate to leave their children, the oldest of which was 4 unattended in a holiday apartment whilst checking on them every half an hour while they jollyed it up in a tapas bar accross the way. Anything could have happened while they were out i.e Maddy could have woke up and played with matches etc. Just plain stupidity what they done. Distateful post by me maybe but as a father, my feeling is they deserve all they get.

so basically what your saying is that any parent that leaves there kid unattended for whatever amount of time deserves there child to be abducted ad/or murdered or to have a fatal accident?

what they done was wrong but not deserving of the consequences and if you feel that by doing one you deserve the other you must have psychological issues yourself.


What are you on about Paul? psychological problems? They left their children alone, she was 3 nearly 4 ffs, they had the option of having a babysitter that was approved by the holiday company which they decided against for whatever reason. This is 2007, there are a lot of sick people out there that wait for this kind of situation to arise. If she was abducted as they state then they only have themselves to blame for putting their children at risk. ONLY MY OPINION, not saying its a right or wrong opinion but dont shoot me down and suggest i have psycological issues for giving my opinion.

I hope they find her safe & well (Dont think that this will happen tho sadly)

[celtic]

My daughter doesnt walk to schooll, she is 9 and not old enough imo. I am far from a perfect parent, I only have access to my daughter 2 or 3 times aweek, but have been in situations where i could have left her asleep at home cos i needed things from outside but would have been terrified to leave her unattended. Why has my post got no point as stated? I have only recently joined this topic. It MY opinion that they have got what they deserve. Not rejoicing just stating my opinion.

Scenario: you are watching television in your front room. Your daughter is asleep upstairs. Do you lock front and back doors?

I dont let my daughter sleep upstairs. She doesnt really know the couple well enough that live in the flat upstairs 

[celtic]

fear.

No i wouldnt lock the doors if my daughter was asleep up stairs. =...........

[Raindogs]

personally i think the portugese authorities want the McCanns out of their country and whenor if it comes to court and they are aquitted,they wont exactly feel welcome and leave///

Yep.

If Madeline was abducted it reflects badly on Portugal as a tourist destination as it implys your child could be abducted if you go on holiday there.  If the parents did it there is no stain on on the Portugese tourist industry.  They will have to leave after this.  Having said that I allways knew they would get around to interrogating the parents in this case (as they should).  In this country the parents would have been thoroughly investigated by now.  The Police have to investigate all possibilities and unfortunately it is often the parents who are responsible not a random stranger.

Personally I don't think the parents did it.  I don't believe it would have been possible for them to move a decomposing body with all the media attention around them.  

[fearisthekey]

fear.

No i wouldnt lock the doors if my daughter was asleep up stairs. =...........

Then would you "deserve everything you get"?

http://www.guardian.co.uk/child/story/0,,1675047,00.html

Would you describe this outcome as 'unusual' for someone who left their child alone like this? If so, how much more unusual was it from the way the McCann's left Madeleine? Madeleine was left in a locked apartment just across the way, with regular checks. She was little more at risk than the girl in the link. Could have happened to you. So would you deserve all you get for not locking the doors/keeping an armed patrol?

[celtic]

I dont see the relevance, firstly she wasnt upstairs, she was in a ground floor bathroom, presumably near a back door? She wasnt willingly left alone in a house / apartment, she was with her mother, she was unlucky that she was attacked. People who are asleep in their house at night with the doors locked that get burgled are unlucky, people that go out and leave the doors open for burglars to get in get what they deserve. U cant keep an eye on your child 24 hours a day, its impossible, but you can minimse the risk they face by not putting them in situations like Gerry & Kate McCann did.

[fearisthekey]

she was unlucky that she was attacked.

Getting your locked apartment broken into and your child abducted is, by comparison, an everyday run-of-the-mill situation, is it?
When the McCann's are blamed for this outcome I think it is often a result of outcome-guided thinking rather than an appraisal of the scenario they encountered at the time. If you were sitting having dinner with them would you say 'best go check she isn't being abducted'?

[Newmanseye]

OMG has the mental age of this forum gone to the preschool level, Bickering and one upmanship gets you no where people.

As for the McCanns,  Were they wrong to leave the children alone,  simple answer yes.

Did they deserve to have a child kidnapped/ disappear/ snatched, No

Would this have happened if they had been with their children as opposed to having a night out, probably not.

DO they deserve what they are going through, i.e anguish over a lost daughter, no they dont deserve that, should they face the legal consequences of leaving children unattended?  I say yes.