Feeling no sympathy whatsoever for the parents of Madeleine McCann will not be a way of making myself very popular, but hearing Kate McCann talking this week about how she thinks someone tried to abduct Madeleine the night BEFORE she was actually left alone to be taken from her bed, fills me with disgust rather than compassion.
As a woman, I put myself in the position of a mother and find it impossible to understand how this woman could leave a young child and two babies in their beds, in a hotel room in a foreign country, while she went out with friends, not once but repeatedly. Not only this, but she already had the suspicion that someone had been in the room and tried to take the children the previous night. How can one feel sorry for her? Kate told the press this week, on Madeliene’s eighth birthday, that on the morning the abduction happened Madeliene had asked why her mum and dad didn’t come straight to the children’s room when they were crying the night before. ‘I never thought for one minute that there was something sinister’ is what she said, ‘I just worried, had she woken up and nobody had been there? But obviously, when we discovered she’d gone, it just seemed very likely to me that in fact, somebody had maybe tried the same thing the night before and had been disturbed, maybe when the children started screaming. There was something about it that just didn’t seem right.’
Meanwhile, Gerry McCann seems almost dismissive of their own responsibility for their children; ‘Who’s thinking about child abductions in a little sleepy out-of-season tourist resort? It never entered our minds. We felt very safe – it was a family resort.’
I’m not a parent yet myself, but I don’t know how anyone could feel like that, let alone say those words after their child had been kidnapped while they drank and ate a meal with friends. How can you ever be off-duty when it comes to your children?
It fills my stomach with an uneasiness to hear it. The whole world is expected to be moved to tears with compassion for this woman, this mother, because she’s lost her child, but where my sympathy lies is with a little girl who was left alone in a room, taken by a stranger, and then who knows what happened to her? The fact that that little girl was probably crying for her parents, frightened, and then has potentially been through the most unbearable ordeal subsequently, is a tragedy. When I see Kate McCann crying on the news, clutching Madeleine’s cuddly cat, I don’t feel moved; I feel revulsion.
And, of-course, these new interviews and statements are not merely in honour of Madeleine’s eighth birthday. The McCanns have a new book to promote. With the title Madeleine: Our Daughter’s Disappearance and the Continuing Search for Her, and with the words; ‘All proceeds donated to Madeleine’s fund’ (which presumably means the McCann’s bank account) on the front cover, the book is the latest publicity stunt in a long line. My less cynical self thinks that any mother in that position, myself included, would want to draw as much attention as possible to their missing daughter’s plight. However, I’m inclined to think that the attention the McCann’s solicit isn’t necessarily in Madeline’s interest alone.
Many online commentators and blogs have expressed the view that the book will do little to actually find Madeleine, and that the price has already been reduced by half by Waterstones and other major retailers. There are many sceptics willing to broach the feeling that all is not right with the McCanns, and I tend to agree with them. After the initial welling up of empathy for the family, and the concern for a missing girl, cracks began to appear in the apparently perfect tragedy; none less than the McCann’s hire car, where blood was found.
I haven’t been able to make my mind up about the McCann’s, and I don’t really want to until we have real information and evidence about what happened, because none of us really knows one way or the other, what happened to Madeleine. From the first day the news story broke,I’ve always felt concern for Maddie, but have never been able to overcome a certain uneasiness about the parents. Whenever I look at them, or read statements they’ve made, I can never make myself forget a nagging feeling that something isn’t right.
I think it started with what Kate apparently said when she ran down back down to the Tapas bar, after finding her daughter gone. I can’t track down the exact quote, but I remember clearly from the media at the time, what she cried out was; ‘They’ve taken her, they’ve taken her.’ Now, to me, this feels odd. Firstly, the use of ‘they’ implies that there is a specific person in her mind. Speaking speculatively, I would imagine that were I in that situation myself, I would be more inclined to say; ‘Someone’s taken her’, rather than ‘they.’ Who are ‘they’? It doesn’t feel right.
I’ve always held the view that they had something to do with it, which was made all the more plausible in 2007, when the McCanns first offered to take a polygraph test, or lie detector test, as a publicity exercise to prove their innocence, and then staunchly refused when the moment came. What would Jeremy Kyle say? If you have nothing to hide, you have nothing to worry about.
Of-course, this is only my own opinion and gut feeling, but instincts often turn out to be right on the money. My only hope is that Madeleine is somewhere safe, and hasn’t been harmed. For a little girl to suffer would be horrific.
vikkilittlemore 
Never in a million years would I leave my Tinks unattended anywhere, let alone abroad. She means the world to us and I would protect her with my life, so would my partner. We would happily sacrifice nights out to ensure her safety.
I/we. like you, have very strong misgivings about the whole situation and agree 100% that something just is not right about all the outpourings that have come from the McCanns.
I/we feel no empathy or sympathy for these two crass parents. Our hearts ache for a little girl, who never deserved to be neglected by her parents, and neglect is exactly what it was and they should have been prosecuted for that if nothing else.
Brave post, but staunch supporters of the same opinions exist.
Thank you, it means a lot to know you agree. I was worried about a backlash about this article, and that people wouldn’t share my view, and would react angrily because of sympathy for the family, so I appreciate your support.
I agree with everything you said in your comment. At the very, very least, they are bad parents.
I think you will find that the overwhelming proportion of people agree with you.The McCanns wereguilty of child neglect, prefering to spend eveningssocializing with others, than upholding their parental duty of protecting their children.lt sickens me that they have not been convicted and seem to blame everybody else for Madeline’s disappearance.
I have to agree. It startled me as a parent to see nothing appeared to have ever been done about their very clear neglect of maddie…non of any of it adds up and I wonder why they have not delved more deeply into this pairs own antics and lead up to this whole situation. We may never know the truth but I wonder at times no disrespect intended to maddie why this case is so public when 1000’sof kids go missing worldwide every year…yes maddie deserves to be found..but half the time this case feels like a publicity stunt on her parents part…loosing a child in any circumstances is a nightmare…but having no closure is harder…i hope for maddies sake this comes to an end with the truth being revealed and her parents at least been given a firm smack on the wrist for their clear neglect.
And who is going to look for Maddie if her parents are banged up in prison? The Portuguese police were totally incompetant.
According to the McCanns? Where’s your evidence?
She won’t be alive
But as a parent would you not be able to rest until you knew with absolute certainty either way? Would you just give up and think “well she’s probably dead so I won’t bother anymore I’ll just forget about it?”
i have never thought the Macanns had anything to do with their daughters disappearance. i watched C/W last night. I have never been able to understand leaving 3 very little kids whilst you go for dinner. Now it appears that those checks weren’t really done properly also???? kate and Gerry macann made poor judgement all night. How could he go back to that apartment and see that the bedroom door has opened more, think that madeline had been up and about, and gone back out to dinner. That’s not natural. She was 3yrs old!! How could he go back out knowing that that little girl had been up and wondering around?? And kate macann now said she was never going to physically go into that room and check on those kids, she only went in when the door pushed shut in her hand and she noticed a window open??? and madeline was gone. were any checks done properly. why bother checking when your not really checking?? Bizarre!! A friend went to check and he never came back as his own child was unwell, did the macanns get a message back from him to say all 3 kids were fine??? They come across as uncaring.
And cold!!!!
They are a revolting pair who change their story whenever it’s convenient to them. Want to throw up? Read page 129 of their book.
Scotland Yard and the Portuguse police are re-opening the investigation into Madeleine’s vanishing. I don’t think that’s good news for them. I think they like to wail and act hard done by. I don’t think they want to answer questions under oath and turn over records. It’s the same thing with the lie detector–when push comes to shove, they want to deflect.
Thanks for your comment, I appreciate it. I agree with you, I think this new investigation could dig up some surprising truths. It will be very interesting to see how it pans out, and what happens.
I do not have any sympathy for the McCans what so EVER being a mum (of one child) now grown and has children of his own)
There was a so called incident according to the McCans the night before so WHY were the children left on their own? Why put them at risk If indeed that’s what happened.
I cannot begin to understand how they could do such a thing. I don’t know how they can call themselves parents and they are so cold and sinister looking, there is not a warm look about them at all. Children are the most precious gift a person could EVER have. I know i could never be without my son He has always come first and foremost in my life It IS time now to have another investigation and get the truth out as to what happened to poor Madeleine and they should start by talking to the McCans and this time get the story straight not leaving any inconsistency’s that makes them look so guilty changing the story over and over.
Hopefully new evidence will come to light, and the people responsible will be caught and punished
You said that perfectly! I agree with everything you said. You’re right about the cold look, I’ve always felt that. They’re somehow steely and robotic. I don’t want to pass judgement, because they might be innocent, but their neglect should still be accountable for, leaving their children.
Thank you very much for commenting, I appreciate the back-up.
Vicky,
Both of them come across as being completely devoid of any emotions. They appear to be coldly clinical at all their interviews. Not only in their verbal responses but also in their body language which has already been described as robotic. Kate McCann’s thousand-yard-stare has a diamond like aspect to it that would cut through anything. The husband is the control freak in this dubious duo, always careful to swiftly interject and stifle any remark from her, that may be at variance with what they previously agreed to say.
Even with this latest 2014 investigative venture, it is evident that the Portuguese Police are not much interested in assisting or liaising with their colleagues from Scotland Yard. Perhaps this is because they had covered all the crime scene ground and leads at the time of the child’s disappearance. Despite their best efforts they received nothing but heavy criticism and derogatory comments on their methods from the far removed British police and media.
How on earth David Cameron was able to insist upon a thirty-strong police task force be sent for an indefinite period to Portugal is beyond belief. The cost of this fools errand will inevitably be paid for by the taxpaying British public. Meanwhile, the McCann’s will continue to fill the coffers of the Madeline Fund (read their joint bank account) with further contributions from gullible British donors. The unanswered question is where are they getting all this political clout and influence from and why. The same assistance has not been extended to parents of other missing children abroad, so what makes them so special?
Hello Vicky, a very pleasant article. The image you have of Madeleine in the pool as much as the McCanns have wished us to believe this was taken in PDL , this image was taken somehere eles .
I seem to be one of the few who do not believe neglect ever took place and I also believe Paulo Rebelo discovered this when he took over the case, it was one of the very few things he did say apart from the investigation was pointing STIll in the right direction.
Reading through the files of people who stayed in apt. 5a complaints about maids knocking and just waliking in before being asked. May 2nd maid walked in and noticed one cot in parents room and another cot in the room Maddie is claimed to have slept in. The maid noticed the two cots were messy and the bed underneath the window. The bed the MccCnns claim Maddie had been taken from was unused , just inside the door. /It was a lie Kate did not argue with Gerry but she tried to confuse the two days and more or less called the maid a liar…because it was very important to show Maddie was taken from the bed nearest the door, to pass the twins would have been too cramped.
Gerry was asked where there two cots in speretae rooms ? he denied this..we’ll he would wouldn’t here. David Payne made matters worse when he was asked about the cots in the McCanns room he said they had three. We have another witness statement from anaother maid who was there on the 28th and TWO cots were delivered to the McCanns.
Wow you ought to be a detective! I take it your sources were sensationalist newspaper stories and google?! Wake up and show some compassion.
You need to look the word ‘compassion’. It doesn’t mean taking everything anyone says as gospel and it’s becoming a boring response to every comment you don’t like. I think most people feel compassion for the poor missing 3 year old who is god knows where, suffering god knows what. Think about that for a moment if you can bear to. I worked with sex offenders. If she’s alive she’s probably not having any fun.
Can I just be boring and repeat that to you too ‘ Wake up and show some compassion’ (multiply by ten) in the hope it echoes in your empty head
Just wanted to say DITTO – we both feel the same and have a terrible feeling, that all they have told us so far, is Lies!
The body language of Loss and grief is universal, crossing all Nations and Creeds and likewise the body language of Lies and untruths is also universal.
The blunt refusal to answer any Police questions and then the inconsistencies when they DO!
It is truly hard to be convinced of someone’s innocence when everything they say and do ‘SCREAMS’ that they are lying and concealing something.
If the truth finally does come out – this case may yet be proved as one of the most despicable and SICK hoaxes of ALL TIME. To have fooled the whole World for so long and in such a manipulative and deliberate way – to cover up their involvement in some way – is a total Betrayal to Madeleine, their twins and Betrayal of everyone in the World.
I Hope and Pray we are all wrong but…………………
Thank you for your comment, I appreciate the back-up. I agree, I hope the feeling is wrong.
My problem with this situation is how it has been allowed to be seen as within the bounds of reasonable parenting, to leave young children alone in an unlocked apartment.
I have no idea if these parents are guilty of anything to do with their daughters disappearance and I’m not calling for them to be charged with neglect. But I think that those people who’s job it is be in charge of children’s welfare should make it plain that, it is not reasonable parenting to leave children at risk like this, not just from possible abduction, but from the risk of being able to leave unlocked premises, or harm themselves within the premises.
They should make it plain that it wrong for parents to put their needs above their children’s needs. Otherwise some parents who have no problem with leaving their children, will always use the Mccanns case as justification for them doing the same thing.
I’ve always felt that, in any other circumstances, those twins would have been taken away from the McCanns by Social Services. In cases of neglect, where children have been left alone, they are immediately removed from the family and either go to another relation, or into care. I don’t think the McCanns have been treated like everybody else. Because of the news coverage and out-pouring of sympathy from the entire nation, they have never been held to account for the actions, and never been made to accept responsibility for what they did. If it was anybody else, they would, at the very least, have had the twins taken away, and perhaps even criminal liability for the neglect. In my opinion, they’ve been given special treatment, and been allowed to get away with it. What’s the old saying, I always think of when I see Kate McCann’s crocodile tears?, ‘Get away with murder’.
I completely agree. If the McCann’s were a lower class family from a council estate and did the same thing they would have been vilified by the press and the other kids would have been taken from them. Don’t have kids if you don’t want to look after them. I think they are somehow involved, maybe there was some kind of accident while Madeleine was alone and the McCann’s have covered it up, they don’t sit right with me at all.
Davy, very valid point but by “people whos job it is to be in charge of childrens welfare” do you mean like a doctor? someone who would have a duty to report a patient to social services if they admitted to going out for food and drinks and leaving 3 kids under 4 in a flat on their own? someone who is taught to identify and recognise abuse and neglect? theyre both doctors yet apparently the law doesn’t apply to them. valid point below if it was a younger parent, probably unmarried from a council estate then the rod would not be spared from the press
No normal parent would leave toddlers unattended – not because they are worried about scary bogeymen, but because of the harm that such young children can cause themselves in next to no time.
Fire, electricity, water, medicines, cleaning fluids, appliances that heat up – a young child should never be allowed near any of these things unsupervised, which is why parents of toddlers need to be on-site with eyes in the backs of their heads 24/7!
That was the first thing that people picked up on when this story first made the news, yet the McCanns have never addressd this point, which is screamingly obvious to anyone who has ever had to care for a young child. Why were the McCann children no danger to themselves?
After four years of denying that she sedated her children, Kate McCann attempts to suggest in her book that the ‘abductor’ might have sedated her children. Righto.
Gerry McCann’s statement that he thought the apartment in a family resort was ‘safe’ – how can any child be safe from harm when they are left alone?
And that’s before we even get to the police files, the shutters, the conflicting timelines, the PR circus, the fund, the dodgy detectives, the extradition and libel lawyers etc.
Exactly! The reason I have always been suspicious is because it just doesn’t make sense, it all seems so strange. Aside from anything, WHY would you leave such young children alone, night after night? That in itself is abhorrent, before you even get into the in-depth issues, and apportioning of blame. I will certainly be very interested to find out what really happened, and am looking forward to some answers.
Thank you very much for the interesting comment, I really appreciate it.
On the Tuesday night before Maddie went missing on Thursday, a woman in another holiday apartment near the McCanns’ heard a child crying for an hour and 15 minutes. Gerry McCann says that was 2-year-old Amelie. He also says that Madeleine cried on the Wednesday. Yet despite this, Kate and Gerry McCann went out yet again on the Thursday night and left the children alone.
It is absolutely ridiculous, IMO, to say or imply that an abductor did a run-through of the crime on the Wednesday but left without taking a child. In the rare cases where strangers abduct children, they often watch the family first, yes. But gaining entrance to the apartment, staying there long enough to make the children cry for an hour and 15 minutes and then just walking away to return the following night? Please, don’t insult my intelligence.
I have been extremely suspicious of the McCanns ever since six UK media outlets reported that they called no fewer than 6 friends and family members on the night of May 3-4 to say the shutters had been “jemmied” or “smashed” when the investigation showed they had not. If you’ve never stayed in Spain or Portugal in an apartment with security shutters, ask someone who has. You cannot raise them from the outside without damaging them and/or producing a loud, grating noise of metal on metal. I do not believe the McCanns are telling the truth about what happened to Madeleine. I only hope that as a result of the upcoming “review” we find out what really happened.
Thank you so much for you comment, I really appreciate it. You raise some very interesting points there, there are a lot of pieces of the jigsaw that I’m not as familiar with, as I’m not as ardent a Maddie follower as so many of the people commenting seem to be, I don’t have as in-depth a knowledge as you obviously have, so it’s very interesting to learn new pieces of information.
Thank you for the input, it’s making this blog post very interesting.
good article,and you are not alone in thinking the parents are not what they seem
Thank you very much for the support!
What a pleasure to read this article after the nauseating coverage in some sections of the mainstream media recently. I can’t believe the bias that has been shown towards the McCanns with some columnists pushing the view that the publication of the book answers all the outstanding questions and that anyone who continues to doubt the McCanns is a mad conspiracy theorist with too much time on their hands. The questions are very far from being answered but I hope that it will not be too much longer before they are and that whoever is responsible is brought to justice.
Thank you so much for your comment, I’m so glad you enjoyed the article. I completely agree, let’s hope we get some answers.
Hi vikki excellent article your views conincide with mine, just one small point you say they left the three bairns in an hotel room – but it wasn’t an hotel it was a block of flats, they were in a downstairs corner flat with two sides touching a road.
Just after Madeleine wandered off one of the relatives was quoted in a newspaper that at home they had difficulty settling Madeleine down and she was always getting up and wandering off, so they had a chart and if she stayed in bed all night the next morning she rceived a star. Knowing this would you leave her in that lonely dark room with the door open so she could get up and wander out of the flat onto a busy street? no neither would I.
You dont have to be a Mum to have a natural empathy with children Its an adults place to look after all children.
Great article and comments here Vikki. I just hope that there really will be a full and fair appraisal of what is known. Thus far there has appeared to be so much ‘covering up’ and so many famous people prepared to close their eyes to all the changing stories and discrepancies. I think that there is much more behind this story than two negligent doctors. But that is only my opinion.
Google the Maddie case files
The actual translated Portugues police files can be read at:
http://www.mccannfiles.com/
and a great bilingual blogspot at:
http://unterdenteppichgekehrt.blogspot.com
A thought-provoking analysis in many ways. Personally, I have no clear idea whether the child was abducted or suffered at the hands of one or other parent. I am, however, without doubt that the poor creature is now longer with us. What troubles me is the social changes we are seeing where some sections of the community see it as permissible to leave children of very young age in unsupervised and insecure conditions whilst the parents go off to eat, drink and make merry with companions and give little more than passing thought to the welfare of their children. It is curious that in more family friendly countries such as Italy, Greece and France etc, parents either take their children with them when they go to eat and socialise. Naturally this means that they tend to eat earlier than otherwise but these are family occasions. The McCanns and friends do not appear to subscribe to this family philosophy, preferring to come close to abandonment of their children in pursuit of their own pleasure. They do not deserve to have children.
I agree making that kind of mistake should be unacceptable and should be against law for all parents who have responsibility to protect children.
http://steelmagnolia-steelmagnolia.blogspot.com/2011/06/paulo-rebelo-investigation.html
Vikki, there are some links here your readers may be interested in. The McCanns have made us all concentrate on Gonçalo Amaral when maybe we should have been looking at Paulo Rebelo and what he may have discovered.
http://shadplay.blogspot.com/
Kansas we have another McCann fake abduction just about to take off. Hoping Captain Steve Young can handle the media circus.
your time is coming McCanns, be scared……….be very very very scared….
behind the scenes you time is coming!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! ha ha
sorry for you lose hi my name is eman im from kuwait i really love your kids they are beautiful im alwas ask why happe this and did u find the man ho d that
sorry for you lose hi my name is eman im from kuwait i really love your kids they are beautiful im alwas ask why happe this and did u find the man ho do that why he take Madeline McCann im sitll think bout why Madeline McCann not other one i see ever thing and brooking my hear maby happen for every one 😦 i really miss Madeline McCann cute girl she is angle
Do you think you could actually research before writing?
Try looking up the spelling of MADELEINE!
Then you can start to read the police files and educate yourself rather than speculating and gossiping.
Shocking
joseph spelling doesnt really matter here really does it because it is the subject that is important & i think that this writer has been quite leniant in opinion. there are so many things that just do not add up with these ‘parents’. the first thing that got me suspicious was when it came to light that kate mccan washed her missing daughters teddy. it is something that as a mum you just wouldn’t do. she carried that teddy around in front of the cameras supposingly because it was maddys favourite teddy & it would have been infused with maddys essence & smell, every dirty mark would have just added to that fact only it didn’t because she washed all that away. it just became a prop & she may as well have gone & bought a new one. it just goes against the purpose of holding something that belongs to a loved one. then on top of that there is the none cooperation with police, refusing to take a lie detector, flying off to the states in the search for maddy & leaving their other children, the cadaver dogs picking up the smells of death in their car & apartment & on the parents possesions. writing a book (which until there is some sort of conviction should not have been allowed). at the very least they should have been charged with neglect for leaving the kids unattended & even if they were perfect parents surely they would naturally feel ashamed & blame themselves but they seemed to be completely void of these emotions. they disgust me in the way they have used maddy as a way to get money & press attention. as a mum i wouldn’t care about being a suspect if i had lost my son, i would accept the process & volunteer everything i could to clear my name so the police could go in the right direction but these parents have not done that!!
Nobody other than McCann’s know what really happened and for whatever reason they aren’t telling. For me the most shocking thing is their arrogance, which doesn’t look like its going away anytime soon. They messed up big time, left their children alone but rather than hold their hand up to it, show some humility, they have very cleverly manipulated every single aspect of this circus (with the help of a PR team). Any normal parent would have to be sedated to cope with their child being abducted. Now they are all powerful!! they can ban anyone speaking out against them (Pat Brown, Criminal Profiler – her book was banned from Amazon). You’ve lost your child? would you be arsed with anything ever in life again? If you were innocent would you give a rats ass about finger pointing? They both protest far too much! RIP little innocent girl (I doubt you are with us), the truth will come out one day, always does.
Under what circumstances is it sensible to leave 3 children under 3 alone?
I am sure there would have been babysitters available. This is neglect pure and simple. I have sympathy for Madeleine but none whatsoever for their parents. I am infuriated that they still get the oxygen of publicity as if they have done nothing wrong. Grrrrrrr!
I dont understand how the dogs smelt a corpse and then it was all hushed up and the police drop the enquiry and say they are not going to look any further into this. The mccanns should have been questioned even more to get to the truth, any other parents would have been, they have been let off lightly and I dont understand why. Poor Madeleine her parents neglected her and what happened to her I just hope she is still alive and well, and the people that took her, (if they did) are looking after her…..
I could have sympathy for the parents if they actually put their hands up and admit they did a stupid, selfish thing in leaving 3 toddlers alone – but they seem a lot more interested in shifting the blame onto other people. Also, so many children go missing all the time, the same attention and focus should be given to all of them, not only the children of wealthy parents. The real victim is that poor little girl, not her selfish parents. I can’t understand how they’ve escaped charges of negligence at the very least.
Finally, I have found someone with the same views as myself. I’m almost 16, and I remember the news about Madeleine when everything first kicked off. I have very little sympathy for the McCanns and yes, I understand that no one would ever wish it upon anyone that their child was “taken” from them, however, you cannot justify leaving a small child and two babies, alone, abroad, in a hotel room. The children can barely speak up for themselves, let alone know what to do if someone appears in your hotel room and before you know it, is carrying you out the door/window, whatever. When I see Kate McCann crying on the news, it sickens me how she can act all broken hearted. Again, I understand she has had her child stolen from her, but she claims she “cared” & “loved” & “cherished” Madeline. It seems that she cared, loved and cherished her so much that she couldn’t even be bothered to take her children to the restaurant, a place which I’m almost positive the staff would have catered for the children in they best way they could have, as it is unheard of in family resorts not to have High-Chairs etc. Then she will cry to the media and expect the public to sympathise. It doesn’t quite add up. I have so many questions I want to ask the Mccanns. I know for sure that when I was that age, my parents would have never left me or my brother alone in a hotel room. They made sacrifices, just like the McCanns should have done if they “cared” about their children as much as they exclaim they do to the media.
Also, if any of you know, I may have read or seen something saying that there were fullytrained nannys available at night at the hotel? can you confirm or…? Yet again, if the McCanns “cared” as much as they say, I’m pretty sure that two doctors could have easily paid the costs for the childcare.
In my opinion, I think that there is something wrong with the whole sympathy-seeking speeches and they’re not as innocent as many think they are. I, like most people hope that this little girl is safe and well, however, if she is found when she is older, if I was her, I wouldn’t keep in contact with the parents, as they are the ones to have caused her this misery in the first place. Anyone who is willing to leave their child alone, abroad, should have their parenting skills questioned.
I know I’m only 15 and have no idea what it’s like to be a parent etc, it’s just my opinion. 🙂
Well said Leigh, and well done Vikki for this excellent article.
Yes, there were nannies available to babysit at night, which the whole group refused – the same nannies who looked after their kids during the day.
But, you’re letting the neglect thing cloud you judgement. The evidence suggests that there was no neglect. Madeleine was probably dead long before the time of the alleged abduction. The whole abduction and timed checks is a cover up for something far more sinister.
The whole flat had been meticulously cleaned, curtains washed, floor scrubbed etc. Blood had seeped through the grout of the ceramic tiles and had been contaminated with cleaning products. This could not have happened in a short period of time.
Madeleine was almost four, yet the photographs they circulated, of a two year old Madeleine who looked completely different were already prepared and were printed on a paper and a printer which was unavailable at the resort.
If Madeleine had really gone missing, the most likely explanation would be that she had wandered off alone, the door was left open, yet they immediately screamed abduction and did not actually go out to physically look for her, whilst many of the local people and police searched throgh the night.
Too many inconsistencies, along with constantly changing statements and stories, and the fact that they lied to the police from the start points to a much more heinous crime.
Read http://www.mccannfiles.com or look at Jill Haverns forum. All the information is out there along with the actual crime files, photographs and statements. Read them and you could never believe that they could ever be innocent.
Hi. Thanks for the fascinating info. I haven’t looked too much into any of the intracies, but it all sounds very disturbing. Thanks a lot. Vikki.
You are a disturbed individual Vicki. You have absolutely no idea what you are talking about and it shows in your analysis of the situation. Get a life and have some children and then you could actually make a comment on the whole affair!
Thank you for your comment. Whilst I respect your opinion, I’m interested to know why you feel that mine is invalid because I don’t have children. I feel I’m able to judge the situation based on what I would hypothetically do myself in that situation. I know with confidence that I would never, under any circumstances, leave three very young children alone in a hotel room whilst I went to eat and drink with friends. If I was blessed enough to have one child, I would not let them out of my sight for a moment, with no exceptions. Nothing is more important than your children.
Would you care to elaborate as to why you feel my point is so invalid?
Vikkilittlemore you must be the biggest idiot ever to have been born and make it to adulthood. You’re opinions are ridiculous and completely judgmental without any intelligence at all. It really comes across that you have a feeble mind and sooner you and people like yourself pass on and leave this world the better. It will make for a better world
Would you please be decent enough to elaborate? If you will put forward any reason why you disagree with my point of view, or offer any counter-opinion, I will give your argument all due respect. What shows a real lack of intelligence is to wish death on me for my opinion, without offering any opinion yourself, or dissection of my points.
On the contrary, Dave. I think it’s you who comes across as the “biggest idiot”, to use your own vernacular. Have you actually read the case files or seen the staggering amount of evidence that points to the fact that Madeleine tragically died in the apartment?
Clearly not.
You’re entitled to express your opinion or to disagree with the author of this blog if you believe the McCanns are innocent of Madeleine’s disappearance. However, the norm would be to support it with facts rather than just hurling insults.
One fact we can be clear on is that the McCanns DID leave a toddler and two babies alone in an apartment in a foreign country. As they themselves have admitted. That is grounds for child abandonment and neglect, whether you like it or not.
It was because they left a vulnerable toddler alone and unattended as to how she disappeared off the face of the Earth. They are responsible of that and should be held accountable for it.
David,
you said “Vikkilittlemore you must be the biggest idiot ever to have been born and make it to adulthood. You’re opinions are ridiculous and completely judgmental without any intelligence at all. It really comes across that you have a feeble mind and sooner you and people like yourself pass on and leave this world the better. It will make for a better world”
but in fact it is your opinions that sound ridiculous and unintelligent. People have different opinions and are entitled to them without someone wishing them dead!! How disgusting. Rather than offering an interesting argument to Vikkilittlemore’s point you chose instead to simply hurl abuse and insults. Grow up!
Why point the finger and someone for having the opion, that most normal educated people have! They neglected their children and should be prosecuted! In the same way others would be!
Have they not been punished enough?
No
They have not been “punished” at all. Punishment comes through the correct legal process and the McCanns have done their best to thwart this process at every opportunity, starting with the lies in their very first statements.They do spend an awful lot of time punishing other people thoug – for instance:
Goncalo Amaral singled out, despite the fact that the entire PJ held the same view, this was not just his theory. This was also supported by British police, indeed it was British police who first suggested the involvement of the McCanns, and it was British police who suggested bringing in the dogs.
Tony Bennett, a pensioner, singled out and threatened with prison and bankcruptcy for daring to speak out against the McCanns, in fact at the moment, he is the only person in the world who cannot discuss certain aspects of the case due to a court order that they brought against him.
Pat Brown, an American profiler and author, had her book, based largely on the Portuguese Police files, banned from Amazon due to threats from Carter Ruck acting for the McCanns.
The McCanns retain an army of lawyers, including one of the most expensive extradition lawyers in the country.
The McCanns almost since the beginning have employed “reputation management” consultants in both the UK and Portugal – hence all the spin!
All paid for by the gullible public.
If they were really grieving, or busy “searching” they would not have time to pursue people through the courts. The “search” is and always has been fictitious and nothing more than a marketing scam.
The fund was always intended to pay for legal expenses and of course for their mortgage, if you don’t believe me, do some research, it is all provable.
In reality, they did not even search on the night – as Kate confirmed in a TV interview – because it was dark – and have never searched since, because they know she cannot be found alive.
Do not believe what you read in the papers, do your own research.
They didn’t search because it was dark!!?! I have no words…..
In reality Helen, they didn’t search because they knew damn well there was no point in searching and they had to be there to “manage the scene”.
Unfortunately for Kate, the “it was dark” comment was all she could come up with in answer to the question and she was recorded live on TV saying this. Almost all interviews were scripted, and all questions must be seen in advance, this was a rare chink in their armour.
Do they sound like innocent parents?
Poor Madeleine – she deserved so much better.
Its always the same Vikki! You will need a thick skin to continue.
Attack the messenger, bully the messenger, ridicule the messenger.
Under no circumstances must they address the actual evidence, the lies, the spin, the dogs sniffing cadaver odour on Kate McCann’s clothes, their apartment, their car, but NOWHERE else. No other apartment, no other car, NOWHERE else other than places and items associated with the McCann’s were marked by TWO dogs, one trained to seek cadaverine, and one trained to seek blood.
The McCanns are as guilty as hell of something, we just don’t, at the moment, know precisely what.
Sadly, Madeleine McCann was dead long before we ever heard her name. Her parents know why!
Parents are as guilty as sin I hope there day comes if it happened in this country they would have been charged by now . yet you see there sickly faces pleading for her, when they know she will never be found , only they know where she is.
How can people comment and say things like any normal parent would act a particular way. Nobody knows how they would react in this situation.
How come nobody is condeming the other parents who also left their children alone.
I did ponder Kate McCann’s statement in the book that she said leaving her children was not out of the ordinary as she said it was just like leaving your child to sleep upstairs at a friend’s house if they were in the backyard.
I just don’t know and think we will never know the truth.
People can comment and say things like how any normal parent would act because any normal parent would not have left their children alone and unsupervised in a strange environment with an unlocked door and open window near a dangerous road and deep swimming pool to go out dining and drinking with other equally negligent parents.
Most people wouldn’t know how they would react in this situation as you say because most people would never be so negligent and allow such a situation to occur.
I for one was shocked that people do actually think it is ok to leave their children alone. It is never ok, NEVER!
Whoa! As a parent whose child spooked and ran off in a busy holiday park I take issue with “Nobody knows”. We sure as hell didn’t just stand there and say “we couldn’t run after him, it was too busy”. We shouted, screamed, ran frantically, cried, did all the things any normal parent would do when their child suddenly was missing, and didn’t stop until we found him. When our dog, let alone our child, went missing on a walk one night we searched until 4am even though it was dark, sick with worry. It’s not hard to speculate how a normal, caring, parent would have reacted in their place. Yes, some people have no empathy whatsoever, but they are not normal.
I don’t understand it at all… ‘Neglecting very young children’ ‘No real pain, anguish or desperation expressed in any interview i’ve witnessed’ ‘Too many contradictions’ ‘Parents have not yet been thoroughly investigated’
I could go on and on,
I know what i believe..
Hi Vikki, excellent article what amazes me about the Mccanns is why they are allowed such freedom to continue to solicit funds from the public for their fraudulent fund and silence the media and what makes them above the law. There is definitely a case to answer to their abductor story does not have one shred of evidence to back it up and five years later they are still peddling the same rubbish. They should have been locked up years ago their statements are full of inconsistencies. Tax payers money has been wasted with operation grange. One true fact that has come from the Madeleine saga is that far too many high racking individuals are corrupt otherwise this case would have been solved years ago and justice done. RIP Madeleine.
We are being hoodwinked by the circus that surrounds the Mcanns.(Savile anyone?)
Why.
All the fawning media, celebs etc. etc turning a blind eye (Savile anyone?)
Thank God for the internet.
Good article.
Top pictures look like two diffrent girls… if you look close up.
Some of Madeline,s photo’s she has puffy eyes… thats besides the birth mark… and some pictures she has no lines under eyes.
The word eeyore written on her pyjamis… brake eeyore in two ee stands for employee or refers to refugee… Yore as in the days of yore. Put ee and yore together then you wil get a clue… Refugee as in the days of yore, Could refugees be linked to this case… EEYORE
Thank you
Lu
There is no circus surrounding the McCanns. Yes, you are a woman, but you are not a mother. As a mother, I see the genuine pain and grief and fear and shock and everything else in Kate McCanns face. Leave this poor family alone, you bunch of sickos. How DARE you use this case to make yourselves feel important!
Shut the fuck up you idiot ,so you think it’s ok to leave kids on their own in an unlocked apartment in a foreign country night after night get a life looser I just hope you hav,nt got any kids !
Suzanne either your a supporter of child neglect or you are lacking any sort of responsibility like the McCann’s have done…i really don’;t understand why any parent would want to leave young babies alone in a room so many things could of happened to them… but instead the try and shake off any blame they get from the public?
This case is extremely sinister, and has many many inconsistencies. I thnk the whole ‘Tapas’ group need to be looked at as they aso left their children alone….WHY?
We as a family went in holiday to an apartment in Greece ,during that time one of our children had an earache, now there was a restaurant on the terrace immediately below the room which we ate in, we could see the room directly in front of us …..But would we leave a liitle innocent alone asleep while we are and drank …….NO .
Would any decent caring loving parent go for a meal in a tapas bar 120 yards away NO , surely one of the group ( most of whom were doctors by the way) would take it in turns to babysit All The Kids Together . Or surely the group would hire the resort’s baby sitters….as that is what the resort publicises ……..something is really off here.
And if God forbid a child did wander off in a dreamy confused state , would one really leave the remaining twins alone, if the daughter was not in her room…..a ‘normal’ reaction would be to sweep those babies into your arms and then run through the apartment and outside, as one would’ normally ‘ assume the child had wandered off to search for her parents! WHY would you cry that your daughter was ‘abducted by a paedophile’ that comment was thought out well in advance, to immediately place doubt in everyone’s mind……..and this has continued throughout the years ! Funded by a well meaning public.
Little Maddie , little soul , will never be found, something sad, dreadful, evil happened in that apartment room that night
I love your article I,ve been following the maddie case for ages , no way on gods earth was maddie abducted she died in apartment 5a and the so called loving parents covered it up to save their worthless arses from being banged up in prison because they knew that they would be found out that they gave their kids some form of sedatives to keep them asleep while they wined and dined and how would that have looked , I youngest son went missing for half an hour when he was 4 but in that 30 or so minutes I went totally to pieces I thought my world had ended but I was lucky a very nice person took him to the reception area to look after him the emotional turmoil I went through is something I hope I never go through again and I,m the father not the mother so I can’t understand how cold and robotic the mccanns are being ( it makes my blood boil just mentioning their names) I hope maddie is alive but the evidence indicates otherwise RIP maddie I hope the truth comes out soon , it’s a pity the mccanns can’t be forced to take the lie detector tests I,d love to know the results bring on Jeremy Kyle !
I just don’t get why they have NOT been prosecuted even by Social Services in their local town. It was blatant neglect and if it was you or me the SS would have the remaining kids away from us in a heartbeat labeling us ‘non fit parents’. Why do they get special treatment just because their ‘daughter was abducted.’ Yes I feel bad but NO I strictly REFUSE to feel bad for the parents. They didn’t do their job as a parent as far as im concerned. They didn’t protect their child no matter what and they should be prosecuted and held 100% accountable for it (even if they had nothing to do with it directly). I still feel however the mother knows alot more than what she is telling. The father at first did seem somewhat upset and bewildered by it all but the mother, I don’t know just something about her makes me wanna choke her until she tells me what happened because truthfully I fully believe she knows
It seems to me that the entire tapas group should be investigated for child neglect they all went out and left their children alone that’s why they,ve all stuck together with their stories, it also seems to me that they did,nt want their kids on holiday anyway, during the days the kids were put in the crèche so they could have grown ups only time together then put the kids to bed in the evenings so they could wine and dine in peace, what happens if maddie is found alive is she going to be returned to Kate and Gerry so they can neglect them again, and what happens if the police do find that the parents are guilty are the mccanns going to sue them before it goes to court , the simple fact is if maddie s been abducted its the parents fault for leaving them and if she died in the apartment is also the parents fault what ever way you look at the parents are to blame case closed , lock them up before the twins come to any harm through neglect !
I cant understand why they left there 3 babies alone, and never will, I have a daughter and would never leave her on her own to go out for a meal and a drink. Another thing I cant understand is that they thought Portugal so safe at night. I would have been more worried in a foreign country than at home, I cant see why they thought it was so so safe. I can always see the dangers, but seems Mccanns do not seem to see them. I would never leave children on there own anywhere day or night. totally agree with all points you made Vikki.
I just want them to find this poor child…hopefully someone has cared for her and has not hurt her. It would be a miracle but it could happen. Pray that it does.
Spot on there, I feel exactly the same. If nothing else they are guilty of child neglect, abandonment, and endangerment. What blows my mind is the fact they really dont think they did anything wrong!
How can any decent parent leave 3 children under the age of 4 alone like that?
Why havent they been prosecuted for leaving the children alone like that and not once but several times?
Are social services investigating them and if not then why not.
I find it disturbing that the McCanns do not take responsibility for their actions with the neglect of their three children. As doctors they would have known it was illegal to leave the children unsupervised, as intelligent people they would know the dangers of leaving children alone, and they must realize the error of their ways with hindsight. They know that they are not the only parents who treat their children in this way so why aren’t they making it clear that what they did was unacceptable and that they put their children at risk, and that they are paying the ultimate price for the choice they made? Surely they would not want other parents to make the same mistake as them or to suffer the same fate to say nothing of the welfare of other children who are at the same risk. I have always thought they should have been charged for their neglect, I wonder at what age they started leaving their children without adult care!
As for their guilt or innocence, they are guilty of putting their child in the danger that lead to her not being with her family so they are guilty. The question is, is anyone else guilty of any crime against Madeleine and if so were her parents complicit in that too?
They didn’t put her in danger by leaving her alone
“she was already dead”
why do you think they didn’t want childcare
As time has passed by, my knowledge has grown regarding this tragic case….the specific events…..the behaviour of those who were present during the night Maddy disappeared……. Kate and Gerry McCann’s actions, comments, public spotlight role, behaviour etc….at first I thought ‘that’s just the way they are’….and no matter how horrible or weird their actions may be…..until they’re proven guilty, there’s nothing more to say……..but no….I refuse to just ‘accept’ that because each parent is different….that we all grieve differently….that we all answer questions differently, that ‘s that and we should all show sympathy. I have a major gut feeling that I’ve had since day one and that feeling is shared by a nation…..we are not wrong!!! The sniffer dogs are not wrong!!! That poor girl. Justice will be done someday.
I have never understood the sympathy towards the McCains, I feel sorry of Madeline, but that is it. It’s disgusting to me that the parents have never been charged with neglect. Leaving children alone in a hotel room in a foreign country, while they go out and enjoy themselves? Absolutely pathetic. Can someone please explain to me why the parents have never been charged?
As a mother of 6, I am certain that the McCanns have worked the media to their advantage. She is cold and he is calculating and they are publicity seekers of the highest degree. Why have they consistently refused to take a lie detector test, why did they have syringes in the apartment, why were they sleeping apart and why did they not check on their children during a 2 hour period whilst they were drinking.?
It was reported by the McCann’s family that KM and GM were having marriage problems and this was suppose to have been a break for them, seems like there were also sleeping apart in separate rooms while they were on holiday according to the PJ files?
I do find their relationship very strange it’s like they are not really a loving couple but instead it’s all show for the cameras?
I do suspect that both the parents are very much implicated in Madeleine’s disappearance, it’s also very frustrating when the McCann’s have silenced many papers and other media with their involvement.with child neglect and lack of parenting skills?
…with BOTH parents being Doctors, there is a lot to lose if any negligence was laid at their doors… This has been my overriding thought ever since this debacle ensued…
I have just seen a quote from Mrs McCann ahead of the Crimewatch program ” we are not the ones who have done something wrong here”. If she truly believes that then she is seriously deluded. She chose to leave 3 chikdren under 3 unattended for 2 hours. Whatever else has changed in the story, that hasn’t.
A new round of media circus! I would like to know where all the money to fund the new investigation comes from. Taxpayer? It’s unbelievable.
Like previous contributors, I firmly believe there is something fishy about the whole story. It’s a huge shining example of neglect. I have been raging about it ever since the sad story re-emerged. My 4 kids are throughly fed up with me but they know that hey would never have been left like Madeleine and her 2 siblings, alone … I feel ill thinking of the 3 little kids alone … All has been said. I wonder, who drives this new campaign and why. Even the TV presenters must have their doubts, yet they have to be professional. I would say enough is enough!
My son is the age Maddie was when she disappeared and I am astonished that someone would leave a child of any age alone. I would never dream of leaving my child in the house for even a minute alone (seriously not even to put something in the wheelie bin outside). What I don’t understand is that if they were away on holidays with a group of friends why could they not have taken it in turns to babysit each others children on different nights if they were so desperate for a night out? They come across as very cold people. They never gave any consideration for their little children waking up in a strange room and calling out for their parents only to be ignored as they’re nowhere near. That is basically neglect. Not to mention the numerous dangers that could happen. What if there had been a fire? The children are too small to escape. Children can get injured so easily, falling out of bed, getting tangled in shutter cords, lifting/or dropping their younger sibling who is crying for attention. Their parenting skills were seriously lacking if they thought they were providing proper care for their children. Have social services investigated whether they are providing proper care for the other two children? Other people would have had their children taken away by social services for less. Mrs McCann may have said “we are not the ones who have done something wrong” but she is missing the whole point. Had she taken care of her children properly and not left them unattended maybe Madeline would still be here.
Well done for saying what so many think. The latest MSN post regarding the McCann’s shows how little public support the parents have.
The picture you have at the top of Kate and Gerry show’s Gerry has a remarkable resemblance to the man the police are now looking for see link – especially the picture on the right.
http://news.uk.msn.com/uk/police-seek-man-in-madeleine-hunt-1
Oh my goodness, I thought the same thing when I saw the e-fit photo. I thought that looks exactly like Gerry McCann right down to his nose. Makes me wonder if something happened when he said he went to check on the kids and then got held up on the way back talking to someone, they never said whether they verified this or if he was just making an excuse for being away for a long time. Very suspicious but I guess we will never learn the truth.
I get very irate as to the excuse of leaving Madeleine McCann alone to eat dinner and after the reporting and them returning to the UK – the subsequent Personality hopping they did afterwards (in the guise of keeping the profile up) – who goes and see the POPE (as an example). It appears to me that they were star gazed.
They are professional people and well educated. To date there is something not right even to this day.
I normally do not commit about these news issues and personal tragedies, however, they are very strange behaviours of fretting parents.
Any reasonable person understands the dangers and would put there children’s safety (i.e. ensure supervision) rather than thinking about there own pleasures and dining out.
Dreadful behaviour –
I agree with everything you say. I wish to god they could find her for her sake I want it to end in someway or another. Those parents are not fit to be parents and they are not the only people in the world to do this but they dont speak out EVER against it. After making such a dreadful mistake I would admit it and campaign against leaving children alone. I would never ever even consider doing that they did. They disgust me but I wish they could find out what happened to Madeline. I still dont think she was abducted.
Agree – My ongoing concern is that whatever the outcome – and I can only assume that Madeline is alive – is the damage mentally she may have gone through but the ongoing issues she will have all through her life.
How do you give back what is already taken and how do you manage the ongoing mental issues to come.
If the other dark reality comes to light – then surely there must be some legal capability that the parents need to face.
It appears through there actions that they have at the most part been cold and callus. I could even throw in calculating.
Again I cannot understand why they left her alone and during the campaign to the media for assistance to find her – the parents sought the favour of every celebrity (i.e. Richard Branson) in a very sick way for endorsements of some sought (this being either financial or self ego gratification – go figure). This is beyond the normal state of mind in the world of the bizarre.
Erring on the side of caution – The evidence on the parents behaviour still does not stack up with the plausible reasoning of despair and loss. At the start of this and during the years it appears the parents change their tact according to public opinion. As I said before this appears to be very calculating. The only thing I cannot work out is what agenda / motive / or course they are on or trying to set.
As stated before its about Madeline and how she will cope mentally from her ordeal both when they find her and beyond – and the parents are dead beats – and should be restrained from future decision in her well being.
At least I can take my hat off to the grand parents and it appears they show common sense.
Sick of hearing people’s disgusting conspiracy theories, belief that the McAnns are just out to make money and people calling for the McCann’s to be punished for neglect. Haven’t they be punished enough?!
Madeleine was kidnapped, her parents are desperately doing everything they can to try and find her including book publications, The only thing revolting is the high and mighty and nasty suspicious opinions in this article and in these comments. You’ve allowed your weak minds to be skewed by media geared purely towards selling papers. Be ashamed, be very ashamed.
I just want to make it clear with my opinion that I am not trying to enter into disgusting conspiracy theories.
As I live in Australia and I am away from the media that maybe bombarding the UK (I used to live in the UK for a period of 12 years – so I am aware what you all maybe going through).
Here there is a mere mention and updates – and my opinions were formed by the mere fact that I thought the whole affair was odd on how it was handled from the start.
May I remind the world of a similar media storm that took place here Called Azaria Chamberlain with similar odd behaviour pattern by the parent Michael and Lindy Chamberlain.
After a similar media event that is also happening in the UK and a divided nation – it took years – close to 20 years for the truth to settle.
Although the cases are far different – it maybe (like the Chamberlains) the parents of Madeleine are being coxed and being advised on how to react to the media. This only came out in the Chamberlain interviews 20 years after the fact and they now wished they never took the advice of the media advisors.
In any case I can agree with you Keepin5it5eal we must also give benefit of the doubt until things unfold in the future.
In summary it appears in some cases there has been poor judgement of the parents on how they have gone about publishing (i.e. the immediate world win tour to the pope and high profile celebrities such as Richard Branson) – maybe a little more tact was required as it did not look good at the time.
On the human side – there is no doubt that the parents are suffering and on the night in question made a bad judgement call, however, it still unthinkable that you would leave children (however safe and at sleep they are) alone with the occasional check. I just feel in what ever action they have taken there are still bad judgement calls being made at every hurdle.
I just pray that Madeline is found and returned to the UK as soon as possible.
every one has an opinion,who are you to tell any one to be ashamed,have you inside info proving she was kidnapped?
At the end of the day there are a lot of lies being said about the McAnn’s, and probably a lot of truths not being revealed. As with the Hillsborough disaster it’s been proven that you cannot believe everything the papers write. But one thing is obviously TRUE the McAnn’s left a 3 year old and younger twins alone in an apartment while they socialised. They say they went to check every half hour, I’m not convinced with that. After watching the documentary last night I was suprised that they were a lovely family but said that rather than spend time with the children they put them into a children’s club while had tennis lessons, they socialised with friends rather than sit in a friends apartment with all the kids in a room while they sat outside have a glass of wine. And I personally thought that some of the questions they were asked were set up “What did Madeline think of the pool”, and then the reply. I may be wrong but they just don’t sit right with me and there is the question should social services be involved?? Who knows there is a strong argument for that but what about the police costs for this the constant visits back to Portugal etc. There is a lot of money being generated with this.
If one of my girls had asked me “why weren’t you there last night when I cried” it would have broken my heart.There have been a lot of rumours about blood being found in the hire car, the children being sedated, them going out to play tennis the next day who knows? But as I have said they were the ones who left them on their own. If they had been sat outside with friends it would not have happened.
As parents they must have gone through hell, no one can imagine how they feel but one thing is for certain. They are to blame for this.
Other children have gone missing abroad and there has not been this much media attention for them, I can’t even remember their names. But the initial act is with them and them alone they LEFT their children.
Well that my point of view, may not be right and I am in no way perfect but some people of lost children through no fault of their own for various reasons. It just needs to be put into perspective.
Seriously this is not the time to STILL criticise the parenting or policing. Too many judge, jury and executioners making armchair opinions. Can’t you accept that the parents have paid the ultimate price? Too many perfect parents on this thread who lack a real world perspective.
It’s not about being a perfect parent. It’s about the most basic care. Why should they not be criticised for their lack of parenting? They left their children alone and not just once but night after night. Anybody else would have had their other children taken from them by social services. And what sort of real world perspective is it that you are suggesting people on this thread lack by saying they wouldn’t leave their children unsupervised?? People would probably have more sympathy if the McCann’s actually admitted that they did do something wrong by leaving the kids alone and urging others to never make the same mistake they did. It was Madeline who paid the ultimate price!
Great and Valid Point
Someone’s 3 year old daughter was kidnapped and who knows what has happened to her and you’re worried about how they’re spending the appeal money?! Do you imagine they might be living a jet set lifestyle, the life of Riley at the expense of caring people who’ve donated and profits from their book? Do they strike you as people who thrive in the media party, enjoying the whole thing, their private lives and their pain so public? It’s a needs-must situation, they acknowledge that by keeping the kidnapping high profile that people won’t forget about it. I like to think in that situation I would do the same thing but to be honest I don’t know if I have their strength and courage. You only need to look at the wretched couple to see how miserable they are. They are utterly desperate to find their child like any normal parents would be. I don’t think they will ever stop their whole lives. I trust that they’re using the monies for private detectives, travel expenses, people helping them with their search etc. Would you prefer they spent time on book keeping and hiring an accountant and taking time away from their priorities to satisfy people’s nasty, suspicious, small minds? And yes, YOU fall into that category. People like you disgust me – I am genuinely saddened there are people like you and others on this page in the world. The media and their silly sensational conspiracy theories have a lot to answer for – but so do people who are so weak-minded they allow themselves to be influenced by that.
“Would you prefer they spent time on book keeping and hiring an accountant and taking time away from their priorities to satisfy people’s nasty, suspicious, small minds? And yes, YOU fall into that category. People like you disgust me – I am genuinely saddened there are people like you and others on this page in the world.”
Why are some people so blinkered. They come out with comments that those of us who feel there is something more to this. Even though I can begin to imagine what they went/are going through but the simple facts are this
1 – They left their children on their own at night when they were still babies and thought that was ok. IT’S NOT and no matter what sympathy you may have for them it’s wrong. These kids are your life and soul and if they thought someone tried to get in the night before and little Maddie said why weren’t you there when I was crying, to go out the following night is inexcusable. They are victims of their own stupidity. There is only one victim……Maddie.
I’m genuinely sorry there are people out there with defenceless children they can’t be bothered with. If anyone could be described as callous it’s the people who were out partying that night.
And the evidence for kidnap – oh yes there is none, absolutely zero evidence of kidnap, abduction, snatching.
Plenty of evidence to suggest something sinister took place though!
http://www.mccannfiles.com/
1. There is, and never has been, any evidence of a kidnap.
2. There has always been something strange and abnormal about the McCann’s behaviour, attitude and comments. There still is- and this makes me wonder why.
3. At first I was sympathetic and gave them the benefit of the doubt. However, Everything they say and do, to me, makes them look more suspicious and the whole thing more bizarre. For a start, Why didn’t they go and look for their eldest daughter? Why was there an immediate assumption she was kidnapped – without a little girl waking up and protesting or anyone to this day having seen anything? Why the conflicting accounts of where the children slept or who was checking on them and how? I could go on and on. Not to mention the blood and the police investigation. Too many why’s and no answers. Why is nobody is trying to find any answers to strange, conflicting, unnatural things and inconsistencies?
4. The media circus that goes on and on could possibly be a distraction rather than something that is necessary in helping find their little girl. It certainly doesn’t clear up any inconsistencies in the case or seem to provide any leads.
5. There is no doubt in my opinion, that yes, the parents love and thrive on the attention created by this tragedy. This is illustrated by how they continue creating ways to bring attention to their case and therefore themselves. We also don’t really know where all the money is really going do we?
6. Yes Kate you are the people ‘who have done something wrong here’
This attitude, arrogance and lack of parental responsibility after all this time, still baffles me.
7. It sounds harsh, but this is almost a tragedy of their own making. I would never put myself or any of my children in that position and neither would any of the educated people or doctors that I know. This in itself makes the McCanns different to, shall we say, ‘normal’ people.
Simon I completely agree, there’s too many small-minded opinions about this case – it’s worrying how callous and nasty people can be.
I had three children and was a single parent, as a parent you sacrifice your own needs for the safety of your children. What was wrong in going to the McCanns flat and sharing some beers with thier mates so the children were looked after. Quite frankly if you cant be bothered to make sure your kids are safe with you or a good baby sitter dont have them. We take more care of our dogs and fluffy animals than we do our children. I am not saying they have done anything other than be guilty of not looking after Maddie. No one can argue with that because if they had looked after her she wouldnt be missing
Here here! I agree. It is scary to think that the McCann’s and their friends thought that this was a normal thing to do. Makes you wonder how often they did this and how long it would have continued had Madeline not disappeared. Would they have nipped out to the shops etc while the kids were asleep at the age of 5,6 and so on considering they thought it was ok while they were 3?
they made an error in judgment that they’ll regret every second of their lives. You’re not perfect parents, no one is. Who exactly are you to condemn? get down off your high horses and show some compassion. this constant critcism of the mcanns and holding them to account amounts to bullying. their focus should be on finding Maddie, not being answerable to unsufferable, holier than thou people like you.
I agree, however, they are still making error in their judgement – and its called bring out another book – how is this helping?
Be interesting to see where the money from the books go. Is it 100% to a search fund or…….
What a repulsive comment.
I agree no one is perfect. But there is a difference between an error in judgement and repeated recklessness. I’m also a healthcare professional and understand the principles of accountability, consideration and care for the people in my charge. As far as being punished goes, I suspect the little girl was punished more….but I try not to think too much about that.
I feel their blaming of the authorities, disputes with the press and litigation are all ways to maintain attention while trying to deflect responsibility.
They made error after error after error that night. its wasn’t just one error.(which was a massive risk) that was their routine since they arrived. leaving the kids every night. Oldest being 3.!!! your of the radar!!
If they had been there they would have nothing to answer for. And it’s not bullying it’s opinion. May not be right but it’s just a persons opinion. You know what theses blogs are like, and there are a few, why come on them . Just let the rest of us express our opinions. Like I said some us have lost children through no fault of our own and were were with them every second of their life,
Jeff, I agree that they made a mistake but there is not one parent in the world who is perfect and I think it’s wrong to condemn them for it. They have paid the worst possible price and will live with it the rest of their lives. No one ‘deserves’ this to happen to them. I came across this blog after liking a suggested facebook page and then curiosity about their ongoing appeal. I thought this was a news article then I was just genuinely dismayed by the lack of compassion shown that I had to comment. I appreciate that some people on this page may have lost children through no fault of their own and that is a terrible thing. But I can’t imagine how you deal with a child being kidnapped and not knowing what has happened to them. You must imagine the absolute worst and simultaneously hope for the best. It is just obvious to me the McAnn’s are living a hell on earth and I find it inhumane not to sympathise with them. I hope my comments have provided some balance and that people will reconsider whether their own opinions are too harsh. People need to be kinder.
Yeah it does provide a balance and you know what they say about curiosity. I do take your points, and I certainly don’t wish anything bad for them and that little Maddie is found. But, and this is only my opinion, when Mrs Mc sits there and says it’s not them that has done anything wrong, it’s the people who took her, I find myself just wanting to say but you did, you left them if you had only been there. And yes in hindsight she probably does think that but as a parent hindsight is no good.
You say who exactly are you to condemn? Well I can say exactly the same thing to you “Who are you exactly to condemn me just because I have a different opinion to you?”.
time you got down of you high horse
A good baby sitter would have been that answer but don’t forget the complex has a Night Time Crèche – so go figure with the McCanns and friends did not use that?
No-one with any sense would leave their small children alone in an unfamiliar apartment so they can go out with friends.
I also wonder what is happening to the financial contributions collected since Madeleine disappeared? I would be interested in seeing a breakdown of how much money has been given and where it is now. Maybe the McCanns could arrange to share this information during this current media party – which comes at the same time their book is on sale. Interesting timing.
why did she say in the book ‘I’m glad we were allocated a ground floor flat’
when there is a long and treacherous drop from the balcony.?
Seem’s there’s more to this than meets the eye,lots of things don’t add up the resort has baby sitter’s that you can hire,they went out every night round the corner where they couldn’t even see there room and supposedly did checks if that was the case you would have gone into the room to check they were there and to see if the kids especially babies if they were breathing and wrapped up warm or to check there nappies weren’t wet.So now that for starters is neglect from the first day they did it to the day maddy went missing. Everything else after that that’s been said and done still doesn’t add up the dogs smelling a dead corpse blood in cars and on clothes i don’t know about you but when i go on holiday i take clean clothes with me or new ones and its not like there not well off already so those dogs smelt something us humans couldn’t and who was this or they person/s that she claimed had taken her nobody else seen them let alone heard them. rumours are they drugged the kids up so they would sleep so who’s to say maddy didn’t get out of bed and accidently fell over and banged her head and died that way as bad as it might sound i hope that’s not the case but they might have found her like that hence the blood and they stuck her in the car and because the laws there are different to here they did do something with her body as they were scared and upset we all do thing’s in the spare of the moment sometime the most stupidest thing’s.Lots of things have been covered up by the police and media and by the Mccann’s but what i don’t get is if that had been anybody else here in the UK the social services would be so far up are arse’s we wouldn’t be able to s**t properly we would loose are other kids through neglect and a bunch of other reasons as that’s how are law works yet these two haven’t even been punished and still have the other children just because they have some money and seem to have a lot more from selling these books of there’s and they haven’t been in the lime light for age’s yet now they have another new book and are back on the news and in the paper again with a picture which looks a lot like maddy’s dad which is even more strange how can they say someone like this has taken her when they never seen anybody taking her and now after all these years they bring out this picture its all too messed up they need stringing up I have no sympathy for them I would never let any of my kids out my sight not now not ever even when were on holiday they are at my side all the time.They are bad parents they neglected them kids and the truth will be out one day. I hope maddy is alive and well but people will never know the truth till they own up to what they have done or did or she is found.
I don’t know if the Mcann’s are guilty of child endangerment or something more but something is just not right with them, nobody immediately assumes a child has been taken when they have left them alone with the door unlocked you would assume the child had woken up saw you weren’t there gone looking for you and wandered off. I have read a lot about this case and nothing add’s up and although I do not feel they intentionally meant any harm to Madeline I cannot help but think it is very possible something happened to her while they were out not giving a damn about the welfare of their 3 very young and alone childre and to avoid the consequences they have covered it up and if that is the case I hope little Maddie gets justice soon.
They come across as cold. Error after error of judgement all night. very good example of all text book and uni and not an ounce of common sense. Out of two parents not one ever doubted the risk they were taking. Amazing!!!! Sits uncomfortable with me. Education means nothing. This is one of the biggest examples of neglect. Respected Dr..So was Shipman!!!
slr0987, in direct response to your callous comments: YOU come across as cold. They made ONE error of judgement. You don’t KNOW the couple or their background so you can’t accuse them of being ‘all’ text book ‘no’ common sense. Nasty, small minded people like YOU sit uncomfortably with ME. Education means ALOT (clearly you don’t have any). This is NOT one of the biggest examples of neglect. HOW can you compare Shipman to the McAnn’s? Are there any more sweeping generalisations or unsupported statements you’d like to make? If you’re going to read sensationalist tabloid stories then at least try to have the strength of mind to question what you’re reading and what the motives of newspapers are (to sell more papers).
Mistake after mistake after mistake. Who would go back down to dinner thinking a little tiny 3 yr old has been up and walking around that apartment. Its off the radar!!!!!!!!! Think about it. Would you?? then you need investigated!! Bet you’d let your kid go walking on a frozen lake. One little girl has paid the ultimate price!!!!!
You are wrong. They have admitted leaving their children alone on more than one occasion. The papers didn’t make that statement. The parents did. And they are arrogant enough to still think they didn’t do anything wrong and it’s ok to say that in public without any consequence. Narcissists – both of them.
Keepin5it5real, in direct response to your comments – do you KNOW the couple and their background? Maybe that would explain why you seem to be getting yourself all worked up into a tizzy and getting irate at anyone who happens to have a difference of opinion to your own. We are all equal on this page and entitled to have and express our own opinion. What makes you the expert anyway? If you do know something that the rest of us don’t then please enlighten us rather than throwing childish insults about. I for one have not been reading sensationalised tabloid stories. I have made comments based on what Kate and Gerry McCann have actually said themselves. They did not make simply ONE error as you so lightly put it but said themselves that they left Madeline and her siblings alone on many more than ONE occasion. Face up to the fact that whatever happened would not have happened had they been looking after her properly. They are ultimately responsible for her care and they failed her. Kate McCann said it herself “Maddy asked me where were you when Sean and I were crying?”….the very morning Madeline disappeared.
I really have to ask, because you keep making comments along the lines of ‘they made ONE error of judgement’ and ‘who are we to condemn them’ and ‘haven’t they suffered enough’ etc. Do you feel the same way about the Philpotts?
Nobody leaves a child, especially not a 3 year old in an apartment on their own with an unlocked door, you just don’t do it, how many of of us have had our kids wake up after going to sleep and we have to put them back to bed? Of course there has been allegations that the children were sedated, who knows, but your child cries for you, you think there was a stranger lurking the night before so what do you do? Go out for dinner and leave them regardless, nobody would do that unless of course you are cold, heartless and completely selfish and that is what those people are, Personally I found the whole Pope visit a smoke screen to defer away from the fact that the Mcann’s neglected their children and as a result something terrible happened to her, abduction? to me that is questionable, it just doesn’t sit right, they blame everyone but themselves for what happened to that little girl and spend more time suing people and worrying about their public persona than looking for their daughter.
Agree. people are talking like they didn’t pick her up from school, or forgot she was at a friends house. Its true Tracy. lets forget about them leaving the kids for a moment. There was a lot of alarm bells after that and no one seemed to be alerted by them or cared. Error after error!
I wonder if we replaced “The McCanns” with “The Nanny” would we still be talking about the poor souls making an error.
“The nanny left 3 children under four in an apartment in a strange country while she went out for drinks and food with friends. After an hour and a half she noticed one of the children was missing from her bed”.
I wonder if Mr and Mrs McCann would be supporting this imaginary person following her error? I assume they would still allow this sensible, thoughtful person to care for their twins after such a silly mistake. Surely they wouldn’t be callous enough to question her decision making skills would they. Or even scream blue murder demanding justice?
I think not!
What also annoys me is that some people say the Mcann’s made a mistake and some like myself are heartless and feed of their pain, if their story is true, the first night they left their children alone and maddie was crying that was a mistake, especially if they then became suspicious of a stranger lurking around, after that leaving those kids alone while they have dinner is a CHOICE not a mistake, not only does a child risk abduction..very small risk of that I would say from inside an apartment but the potential danger of a child falling, drinking something they shouldn’t etc is very great, turn your back for 5 minutes and kids are into everything. NO I do not feel sorry for them, I blame them completely, because if they had been responsible caring parents Maddie would not have been at risk in the first place.
I can agree with you opinion, however, I am just watching the Crime W atch programme and I am shocked that Mcann were not the only parents that left there children whilst having dinner.
This is most shocking to say the least – is this the practice of a majority of parents today and is this practice still going on?
The law says babies, toddlers and very young children should never be left alone.
For anyone who actually thinks there was an abduction – please view this video.
All the actual files, containing all the McCanns lies and descrepancies are available online at http://www.mccannfiles.com
I totally agree with you. I am now a mother of a two year old daughter and cant imagine to lose her in any way. I would NEVER leave her alone anywhere!!! But they should have definitely at least been charged with neglect thats for sure!!
I have seen the video of the detective on Portugal who is convinced that Madeline does in the apartment and they have concealed the matter. the police brought dogs in that have never failed to solve 200 cases and they show that there was a corpse smell behind the sofa and in the car. It makes sense that he thinks that as the children were alone she again woke up and climbed on the sofa as her father said a few days ago on crime watch he was under the window outside talking and she probably woke up and heard voices, but then fell, banged her head and died.
The Mccanns probably panicked and realised that they would probably go to prison and or the babies be taken away from them, so they decided that she was already dead so would dispose of the body and conceal the whole thing.
I agree that they should do a lie detector test, there are too many suspicions from people and too many things that don’t add up. Then it would be put to rest.
The couple are ether feelingless or are slipping up in their interviews. Quote ” We only feel the loss at family get togethers”, or “We were very sad for weeks, erm months, erm years”. I feel for the parents who’s children are still missing and who have not had the coverage that this irresponsible and neglectful couple have had. Two books out now as well! Disgusting to be pocketing and gaining from their bad parenting. They should both be prosecuted for their neglect and for aiding the no doubt terrible and terrifying fate that their daughter had to injure! Their own actions have contributed to their daughters fate!
It has to be said, and I don’t want to finger point here, there has enough of that already, but the breathtaking at best, niavety at worst arrogance and ignorance that the McCanns and all the other adults in their party, displayed during their holiday beggars belief. While holiday childcare may have a value on holiday for some, it wasn’t something we ever did, we wanted to be with and share in, the good times with our children, not have an entirely separate holiday from theirs and meeting up at odd moments during the day.
I do believe that the McCanns now bitterly regret their actions that day, and what’s the betting that they don’t ever let the twins out of their sight now, but it’s too little too late. One can only hope that little Madelaine was taken to be with a family who love and cherish her because the alternatives are just too awful to contemplate.
Something is very amiss about this whole thing, the McCann’s have been making money through the Maddy fund since day one, Gerry was already organising a fund raising event to mark the 100th day of her disappearance after only a couple of months (as if he knew they would need it). The constant changing of their’s and the Tapas 9’s stories when evidence was found to prove what they had said could be wrong IE the abductor forced is way in because we locked the doors – change – we left the door open for Maddy I case of a fire, when proved the abductor didn’t come in through the window.
How could they leave the twins while they jet-setted off around the world to meet the Pope and US President and who ever else, if I lost one of my kids, I wouldn’t let the others out of my sight
Very fishy indeed, my opinion: Something happened to her and the abduction was a cover up (Blood in apartment and hire car found by 2 separate dogs).
Nice article.
I am a little confused – Why won’t the parents do a lie detector test, its not an omission and maybe publicly a short term embarrassment, however, as a parent I would do anything as part of the investigation to dismiss any doubt and allow the investigation to move swiftly rather than being held by police and waste there investigation time although they were realeased)?
Does that not sound rational?
Another item that appeared in the Crime Watch interview – was when it was time for the mother to check the children -she accepted an offer by one of her friends to check whilst checking his children. When he came back to report he mentioned he heard no sounds – What annoys me about this is that as a responsible parent, I would still insist to go and see for myself and it was not clear whether this friend went into the apartment to physically check of he stood outside (either window or door to listen for sounds.
The more and more you focus on inconsistencies and delve into the facts the more and more bizarre it gets.
I am aware I am still analysing past issues and agree that this is not helping for the search, however, I just do not see distressed parents (even after the Crime Watch Interview).
And why do I get a feeling that the father appears to be cold and is on guard during interviews.
Again too bizarre to appears that this scenario is really happening. I am afraid that we will never know and we may never get a conclusion.
Assuming Madeleine had been abducted, a parent would not let their other children out of their sight……….Kate left the twins alone in the apartment to go to the ‘Tapas’ and raise the alarm!?! The “supposed abductor” could still have been in the apartment.
I agree with you James, why not a lie detector test, I wouldn’t hesitate to even if not admissible in court to clear my name so that the authorities would move on with the case and find my daughter. I was looking at the Mcann Files and something else didn’t sit right with me, one of the tapas crowd was gone for 45 mins that night, he said in his statement that his child was sick and he had to change he sheets that is why he was gone so long although the hotel staff said they did not get any sheets, putting that aside for a minute, this man allegedly changed the sheets and went back to the tapas bar and left a sick child in their apartment alone?? Something wrong with all of them, they are a very tight lipped bunch only saying what the Mcann’s seem to allow them to say, the whole thing stinks of a cover up, the lady that saw the man carrying the child’s first statement..thought she saw a man carrying a child, then later changed her statement to definitely even going as far as saying the pyjamas were very similar to Madeline’s, forensic ruled out the possibility that anyone went through the window with a child only kate’s dna was on the shutters and window..but the window was wide open and the shutters jimmied according to Kate..blood found in the apartment and yet they have a photofit of a man that pretty much fits the average white male, it’s a complete farce, the Mcann’s are delighted, so much response..again average white male..of course there is, this is nothing but a smoke screen, like the pope, all the media attention to divert away from the fact that there is something very very suspicious about the Mcann’s..and those that were with them that night.
With now more investigations in November 2014 i fear the truth will never be known , but one thing clear in my own mind is that 3 children should never be left alone at that age ….particulary in a foreign country what were they thinking off ?
It would NEVER enter my head with my kids to leave them alone even at age 10 plus …..they are our kids and we glady made sacrifices as parents and enjoyed our kids when we stayed in
The whole saga wreaks of wrong doing going on a piss up / dinner and leaving kids 3 and under on there own ?…….what a stuck up pair of idiots
They cannot take a lie detector test because they cannot tell the truth – simple! Plenty of evidence to prove that they did not tell the truth on day 1, and then changed their statements continuously after that.
http://www.mccannfiles.com/
http://jillhavern.forumotion.net/
I personally find the McCanns shameless and their ‘guilt’ or lack of it seems totally out of proportion for what any right minded person would expect of someone who was responsible for the loss of their child.
Still, I’m sure this will do them a service, as after all, every bit of sympathy helps:-
http://crimebodge.com/help-us-find-the-abductors-of-kate-mccanns-conscience/
i totally agree. something is not right in Kate Mcann’s reaction to her babies crying when left alone, blaming an intruder, then going out again the next night
Yep……thats all I can say
Who in this day and age would trust the safety of their children to a child listening service, and what does it say about a parent who openly claims to undertake their own child listening service, but upon further questioning were shown to have been very lapse about it?
It isn’t true that dogs don’t lie. It depends on the breed. I have, for example, taught by toy poodle to lie for me a number of times. I get him to answer the phone and say I’m not available whenever I don’t feel like talking to people. He’s also good at going to court on my behalf and is much cheaper than my barrister.
There is something horrifying when two seemingly intelligent people can leave a 3yr and two babies in a unlocked room without providing sufficient childcare for own children? I’m also surprised that when ever you hear the McCann’s speak about their loss for that child they seem unable to bring any irresponsibility to themselves but instead try and blame others for their lack of caring and parenting skills?
Maybe Madeleine would of been better off with having better parents to start with
i agree the day after maddie went missing they were out jogging a sniffer dog never lies an death was smelled at the aprtment. plus they used to drug the kids before they went out they should of been charged on that alone but money speaks they killed her an they no it
what about the books that were found on side table in 5A cant remember titles but it is documented something to do with abducted children and more sinister things. These were there long before Maddie was “taken”
Read almost the whole blog. Know a friend on Sussex Police. They said from day 1. Parents guilty. I only logged in cos I wanted to see how long a sentence they got for Child Neglect. Shocked at no charge.