Madeleine McCann

Discussion in 'Madeleine McCann' started by Jayelles, May 11, 2007.

  1. Jayelles

    Jayelles Alert Viewer in Scotland

    When I was a little girl, we used to play the game "pass it on". Someone would make up a story, tell one person and say "pass it on" and we'd see how far the story would spread.

    A week ago, little Madeline McCann was abducted from her hotel room in The Algarve, Portugal whilst her parents ate their evening meal closeby within the hotel complex. They are a very nice family and Madeline's father is a respected cardiologist. He and his wife had been taking it turns to check on their children at half hourly intervals.

    Portugese law prevents the police from discussing the investigation - even with the parents of the missing child. Also, such crimes are rare in Portugal and it would appear that the police are under-resourced and under-experienced in dealing with this crime. Experts have been flown in from other countries to help.

    It is now felt that she may have been taken out of the country. A Scottish businessman has put up £1 million (almost $2 million) as a reward for information leading to Madeline's return. International footballers David Beckham and Reynaldo (sp) have made TV appeals for her safe return.

    A group of volunteers have set up a webpage with the aim of spreading Madeline's photo and the tipline numbers are globally as possible.

    www.findmadeline.com

    Here is a link to a new story (with other links):-

    http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6645341.stm

    Click on the link in my signature for the website dedicated to finding Madeline.

    In these cases, we often feel helpless. As parents we cannot begin to imagine the horror of having your child abducted and not knowing whether they are alive or dead or what horrors they may be enduring. It is agnonising for us to watch the tv appeals of parents who are suffering our worst nightmare.

    However, there IS something that everyone can do - we can "pass it on" - i.e. spread the word. If everyone could post the link to the www.findmadeline.com website just once to ANY other forum with the request for others to do the same, word will spread quickly.

    Internet communities CAN help!
     
  2. Little

    Little Member

    I read this on one of the crime blogs Jayelles and saw some coverage on Fox last night. I'll pass this along where ever I can.

    Little
     
  3. koldkase

    koldkase FFJ Senior Member

    Ok, Jayelles. I've been watching that story on the news. I feel so sorry for those parents. How awful.
     
  4. Jayelles

    Jayelles Alert Viewer in Scotland

    One thing I forgot to say was - it will help even more if people "pass it on" in places where it is not already being discussed so gardening forums...pet forums... cookery forums...that would really be spreading the word.

    Also - if anyone speaks a foreign language - the helpline folk are keen to spread the word in every language possible!
     
  5. Amber

    Amber Member

    It's her 4th Birthday today....

    I've emailed every English speaking Spanish forum I can find on the net, because the police fear the darling beings who snatched her might be headed there.

    http://www.thesun.co.uk/article/0,,2-2007210600,00.html

    130! 130!!! :banghead: Does that not make your head spin and your stomach turn?

    When we had the problem of football hooligans in the UK, a task force identified the main idiots and PREVENTED them from travelling outside of the UK. They took their PASSPORTS AWAY. Ask Jayelles, she'll tell you.

    Here we have 130 known perverts telling the police I'm off to pedophile heaven to ruin some young lives and the police say 'make sure you take your suntan lotion with you, we wouldn't want you to burn'.

    The Midyettes, Lacy and the perverts make me feel like I have entered a parallel world :banghead:
     
  6. Barbara

    Barbara FFJ Senior Member

    Horrific! Just plain horrific!

    I will pass this on to as many places as possible

    Laws need to be changed all over the world. NO second chances for pedophiles. NO getting OUT of prison. We save the expense of the "registry" process which is worthless unless it gets referred to when looking for ANOTHER crime :):):)( backwards). These crimes must be PREVENTED. AFTER the fact is not good enough; as this means someone else has been hurt and we're talking children here.

    Second chances are for board games, NOT PEDOPHILIA! :bsflag:

    How sad for this family. My heart goes out to them and I pray for her safe return
     
  7. 1000 Sparks

    1000 Sparks Active Member

    ??

    I thought I read she had siblings? If so, didn't they see anything??

    What a little doll.
     
  8. Jayelles

    Jayelles Alert Viewer in Scotland

    The twins are just babies.

    Amber - you are an angel. I posted this at the doublebb and Ladybug posted a spanish version which was wonderful. If anyone speaks a foreign language - even to just translate a plea to visit the website - and could post it on a foreign language website, it would be terrific.

    The family knoe people are doing this and are thank people from the bottom of their hearts.
     
  9. AMES

    AMES Member

    Jayelles..I finally made it here. Thanks for your help!

    I read the article about Madeleine...and what really got me was the fact that her parents were taking turns checking one her and her siblings..every 30 minutes. I guess that it just goes to show that your kids can disappear in a blink of an eye. I feel really sorry for her parents...no parent should ever have to go through what they are going through right now. Do you know if they have any leads??
     
  10. tylin

    tylin Banned

    This case makes me sick. I'm sick just thinking about a precious, innocent child being taken from the comfort of peaceful and restful sleep. The thoughts of her crying for her mom, dad and siblings makes me ill.

    I don't however think the parents should have left the children alone...not even for a few minutes. Workers at the hotel/resort said the parents did this nightly. Children simply cannot be left alone....ever.

    I visit several different forums daily and so far everyone has a link to Madeline's disappearance.
     
  11. AMES

    AMES Member

    I agree, they should have never left them by themselves. The oldest...Madeleine was only three. I am not sure how old the twins were...but, I have read where they were younger. I am sure that the parents thought that they were safe and sound in their hotel room. But, all anyone would have had to do was knock on the door...and most three year olds would have went straight to the door and opened it for whoever was on the other side. This case makes me cringe...poor little girl. I am sure though, that the parents are blaming themselves...I know that I would be.
     
  12. tylin

    tylin Banned

    hi Ames! Welcome to FFJ.
    You and I are thinking alike about this case. I would be so overwrought with guilt and self anger that I wouldn't be able to function. And can you imagine all the things going through your head? I think I'd literally loose my mind.
     
  13. AMES

    AMES Member

    Hi tylin...
    Thanks for the welcome. I have actually been trying to join since last year...I am a regular over at websleuths....but, the registration was disabled. I finally got in though....it was like trying to join a Country Club. LOL

    I would lose my mind too....you know that they have to be beating themselves up over having left their kids alone, in the first place. I just hope that they find their little girl...and QUICK.
     
  14. heymom

    heymom Member

    Nah, no country club pinkie-in-the-air manners around here! We prefer lying in the guttah with our crack pipes next to us, and Oreos scattered around from our last binge... :)

    Glad you joined. I'm relatively new but as you can see by my current post count, I'm a blabbermouth. :nuts:
     
  15. AMES

    AMES Member

    LOL...yeah, I had to settle on just being a lurker for awhile, and was on here alot reading the posts. I DID notice the Oreos....MY favorite cookie in the whole world, there were lots of them. Does anyone around here have any milk? I like to dip mine. :cheerful:
     
  16. Amber

    Amber Member

    I'm sure they will willingly spend a year in jail or have 50 lashes after their daughter is returned safe and sound.

    All that led to Madeleine going missing can be sorted out after she is found. The most important thing right now is getting her found alive and well, I think;)
     
  17. Jayelles

    Jayelles Alert Viewer in Scotland

    Package holidays are extremely popular in Europe with some people taking up to 3 a year. The holiday company arrange everything - all you do is turn up at the airport on time and you will be "organised" for the duration by holiday reps. The holiday companies book out hotels for the whole season and often take over things like entertainment and childcare. Babysitting and child listening services often come as an "extra". We've used a child listening service before. You put the children to bed and go to a show or for a meal (within the hotel complex) and staff patrol the hotel listening for babies crying. If your child cries, you'll be alerted immediately (you tell the baby listeners where you will be). I think some hotels issue pagers to the parents. If you look at the map of the hotel complex, the restaurant was just on the other side of the swimming pool from their apartment. It's not a big area - they could see the apartment from the restaurant. You could be further away in some big houses or if you were having a barbeque in your own garden whilst the kids were asleep in the house.

    For a lot of parents, this is a case of "There but for the Grace of God go I".

    There was some criticism of the parents a few days ago, but it was quickly slapped down as being innappropriate and unhelpful at the time.
     
  18. Jayelles

    Jayelles Alert Viewer in Scotland

    Indeed.
     
  19. Jayelles

    Jayelles Alert Viewer in Scotland

    I read a post elsewhere that suggested the popular press have been critical of the parents. I'd just like to say that is totally false. The press here have wonderful and thanks to their endeavours to support this tragic family, the reward now stands at £2.5 million (about $5 million).

    I'd like to share a story of my own. We lost our older daughter on holiday when she was about 4 years old. We'd been on the beach and were packing up to return to our hotel. My daughter had been eating some crisps and we told her to put the wrapper in a nearby bin. Meanwhile we concentrated on packing up our things. Within minutes, I realised our daughter was nowhere to be seen and quickly became frantic. We spent ages scouring the busy beach and nearby shops shouting on her to no avail. Eventually, we returned to our hotel to report her missing.

    I remember very specifically that the hotel owner was calm and reassuring. He told us that there was a locally organised lost kids line which he called to report her missing. He then added "Don't worry, she will be OK. This is Italy, not America. We do not harm children here". (crimes against children are very rare in some countries). He then poured me a double brandy and insisted that I drink it.

    It seemed like an eternity, but in reality it was little over an hour before the lost kid line called to say that our daughter was safe and being well looked after in a nursing home a mile or so away. An employee of the nursing home who was on her way to work had found our daughter wandering along the beach - obviously lost and had taken her to work where she called the police. The hotel owner then drove my husband to the nursing home to collect our daughter and they found her sitting amidst a load of eldery people eating ice-cream and playing cards. When they brought her back, the hotel owner put my husband and I into one of their own rooms to have a little private time with our children. They were so considerate.

    However, it's important to point out that crimes against children ARE very rare in these mediterranean countries - in fact, crime is very rare in countries like Portugal and Cyprus which is why they are so popular as holiday destinations. One of the problems in the Missing Madeline case is that because crime is so rare, the police force are underresourced and underexperienced in dealing with it.
     
  20. AMES

    AMES Member

    That is true....how it happened is not the point...getting her back safe and sound should be the main concern. I didn't realize that the restuarant was so close to the hotel room. Just goes to show that you cannot believe everything that you read....I read somewhere where it was over 200 yards away....(the length of two footballs fields...and if that was the case, there would have been no way that they could have seen their apartment or hotel room). I just wonder how these kidnappers knew the kids were alone in the room....unless they saw them come in with the parents...and then spotted the parents at the resturaurant without them. Whatever the case may be, its a very sad situation. I just hope that she is found...safe and sound AND QUICK.
     
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