Madeline

[fairkatrina]

Does anyone else think the way her parents are carrying on is really creepy? Instead of seriously looking for her they seem to have turned into a pair of publicity wh***s - do they honestly think that meeting the Pope will bring her back???

[Gromit]

I think we would all be more happy with her parents keeping a dignified but hopeful silence. It is one thing not letting the little girls fate be forgotten, but swanning around in private jets and grasping the limelight at every opportunity, seems a bit distasteful. It may just be that they are not following our pre-perception of how we think people should behave in this situation, but still it doesn't feel right, and I agree with your unease.

[LeedsRhinos]

Have to say I agree with the above, but who knows how we would react in the same position.

[laurence2]

Gromit has nailed it in one.

My heart goes out to them as it must be every parents worst nightmare, but its like they are on a world tour of every city, still lets hope it ends in a happy outcome.

[libertie]

Tend to agree, but who really knows what they are thinking! Personally I suspect that rightly or wrongly they are being driven by guilt!

[jollygreen]

I agree and I think they've done the worst possible thing for their daughter, having this huge media focus. There's no way they'll ever get their little girl back. In the first week, the police should have offered an amnesty - give us the girl and we won't prosecute. No media. No hysteria. Then the portugese police/military/security services could have given the guy an "accident".

[NJOK]

The fact is, you're all talking about them. And that's all they're trying to achieve at the moment - they understandably want to keep the story high up the news agenda, regardless of what people think of them. And rightly so, IMO.

Dignified silences are very noble, but if they hadn't been appearing on Eurpean TV channels, meeting the pope, encouraging sporting events to feature the story, and "swanning around", far fewer people in Europe would be aware of their daughter's disappearance. And mobilising the European public is going to be far more helpful than them silently and frantically searching Portugal on their own.

Nobody's going to want to find Madeleine any less, just beause they dislike her parents.

[Gromit]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6725321.stm

[cascarelli]

Personally, I think it's going against them. I, for one, have had enough of the emails, tv coverage, videos, audiences with the pope etc etc.

I sincerely hope they get their daughter back (and take more care of her in future) but I'm getting sick to death of the coverage now. If only all missing kids got even a fraction of this attention.

[sp1814]

NJOK

Thing is - although public awareness has been raised, it hasn't done a jot to find her.

If they'd organised a search party of 250 holiday-makers to do a massive sweep of chalets and apartments all over the resort, that would be one thing...but I don't see anything else they're doing is actually of any benefit.

This week is now the 'shoulder' of this story. The big milestone (missing for a month) has come and gone and other news stories have grabbed the public attention (Olympic symbol).

[Loosehead]

I think they've gone a bit OTT with the psuedo celeb bit but generally they have got a whole continent aware. Millions of people are looking or the kid. If she's alive she'll be spotted, especially with that very distinctive eye thing. I think that constuitutes "serious looking". Not sure what 2 people alone can do in the "serious Looking" department. I think they've done the right thing, I mean what copper or even private person would not want to be the one who finds her? I don't think searching get's any more serious than they have achieved. I went to Spain a couple of weeks ago and her face was plastered everywhere. There's even TV ads on UK gold! Perhaps you have a suggestion as to what more they can do in the searching department.

[Pippa68]

I agree with sp and cascarelli.

To be honest this saturation may well be from the heart (who knows I might do the same in that situation..but think not) but all it does is drain the public of their human kindness.

I remember the comedian Rob Newman saying the same thing about the starving people in Ethiopia:

''There comes a point where there is no milk of human kindness left. You start off looking at an emaciated child and think it is bloody awful. A few months later you are either switching off the TV or looking at the child and just thinking ''someone get those flies off its face FFS''

Awful, but true...

[sp1814]

Loosehead

That eye thing is key. That's the one thing that cannot be disguised, and you're right - for the next few months/years, if she's out in public, it's the one obvious thing that will get her noticed.

I just find it incredible that there has been absolutely no leads whatsoever (although with the Portugese criminal justice system, they might have leads already that we aren't privy to.

[Reverandfunk]

Just going slightly off track I will bet money that if she is still alive, she could walk past you in the street and you wouldn't recognise her.

Hair cut and coloured, colour contact lens. Personally all the media coverage has done nothing since day one. How many kids disappear and then return 5 weeks later??

Another thing I have heard is that by the apartments there were large excavation holes that were filled in the day after she disappeared. Is this true??

[warpig3]

I read that on here Rev, and there has been no indication that she has been abducted, the door to the apartment was unlocked, who is to say that she didnt leave of her own volition to find her parents.

[Loosehead]

Fair enough rev, but if she has been abducted, say for sale to a childless couple, sooner or later she'll have to go to the optician or to see a doctor and he'll get spotted. What about when she goes to school? It may be years later but if she's alive I think she'll be spotted.

[smudge]

It's patently obvious that Maddie's parents have no idea where their little daughters is, or indeed whether she's even in Portugal.

Personally, I feel it's time they returned home to carry out as 'normal' life as possible for their twins.

Of course, it will very hard for them to do so, but continuing to stay in Portugal isn't going to make any difference as to whether Maddie is alive or dead & as I say, she might be in another country anyway.

Having said that, I've never been in their situation, so it's easy for others to think this.

God bless Maddie & any other child who is missing....

[smudge]

*be very hard

[lightoftruth]

never forget how dark the human mind is!

[joninfrance]

Many things just don't add up...

"When Kate went in about 10pm she immediately knew something was wrong because an internal door banged shut as she opened the front door - meaning a window was open somewhere."

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/topstories/...

However in the Times.

"The rear patio doors to the apartment had been left unlocked to allow easy access for regular checks by the parents."

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/wo...

[ELVIS68]

I`ve had my suspicions from day one, something just doesn`t ring true with them
The longer it`s gone on the more they seem to be enjoying the circus it`s become

At least the Germans had the balls to bring up the subject about them being involved