The MacCann's

[johnnyedge]

Did the McCanns do it?

[Kathyan]

But they DID have something to do with it, they left her and her siblings ALONE in an unlocked apartment while they went off enjoying themselves. And checking on them (supposedly) every half hour does not make it right.

[carsonking]

But that is stupiity and should be punished accordingly but the other is murder and there is a difference.

[sambro]

You are missing the point . Where is the evidence that says they did it? I am not a religious nutter nor am I stupid.
All you and I know about this case is what you have seen in the media? Every day there is a new theory, and people are taking it all in. Where is all this stuff coming from? From "unofficial sources. I am not blind to the possibility that that parents did it, but up to now there is nothing I have seen or heard that convinces me that they did. It worries me that there are so many people who believe that they did. What is it that has convinced them ? Is it instinct? You cant say someone is guilty because you dont like the look of them. It cant be the evidence because no evidence has been officially disclosed.

[carsonking]

I didn't say he was guilty because of the way he looks, i did say i didn't like the look of him and that she looks scared of him. but it is not the basis of my argument... Smoke and fire does come in to it though i am affraid, the whole thing from thier prospective looks like they were involved, the witnesses for them have been really lame and non helpfull some times, one woman decides the next day she saw something, yeh right, blood in the hire car, it don't sound good to me. Then she washed the toy, if it was me, that thing would have been put in a bag and treasured, i would want my daughters smell kept even if it was accompanied by a dog turd. The British police have got involved by getting her diary, do you think they would have got involved without a little bit of proof, i think not. And i din't call you stupid, you just read that into it, if you really do look at the evedence we have, there is no way that you can say 100% they did or didn't do it.

[sambro]

You are still missing the point . You are taking what you read in the papers as evidence . IT IS NOT EVIDENCE ! THEY ARE JUST STORIES PRINTED TO SELL NEWSPAPERS. THERE MAY BE SOME TRUTH IN THEM, BUT WHAT IS FACT AND WHAT IS FICTION?

[chompu]

Netibiza
Excellent summing up in your post of 11.18.
There has been some wild speculation both for and against the McCanns. I think people are always curious about mysteries, look at the popularity of the 'whodunit' genre in books, films and television over the years. Authors are still speculating about the Jack the Ripper case a 120 years later. I do not criticise people for speculating but prefer to wait and see because I don't think we know enough of the facts to reach a valid conclusion.

[chompu]

Sambro
Why do you keep shouting and abusing people because they don't agree with you?
I unfortunately am one of the unintelligent ones because I don't see that there is a deliberate smear campaign. It's just newspapers sensationalising to sell.The McCanns' PR machinery is trying to offset this with samples I gave in my earlier posting and articles about their life story telling us what devoted and loving parents they are. It would seem that the main argument posited by the pro McCanns is that the Portuguese police are at the best incompetent and at worse trying to frame them. This is difficult to judge because of the secrecy of their judicial system. I would say that the enquiry was not bungled from the start. The police officers who initially attended, in the absence of any evidence of abduction, treated the circumstances as if the child had wandered off. Their immediate priority would have been to search the apartment and building, gradually with help, widening the search.
In my experience abductions from dwelling places are extremely rare. Also a rarity, in my experience, is parents in these circumstances alleging abduction. They don't usually
want to consider that possibility and cling to the hope that the child has wandered. Yet Kate McCann contacted Kirsty Wark of Newsnight, through a third person on the same evening, asking her to give publicity to the abduction. I find that rather bizarre. No, I don't say this makes them guilty but are questions that need to be addressed.

[sambro]

Do you have experience in child abduction cases then?
Do all parents of abducted children behave in the same way?
How do you know that Mrs McCann contacted Kirsty Wark on the same evening?
I was not shouting, I was just trying to emphasise my point that people are saying the parents did it because they have read all these ludicrous "non facts" in the papers,
They are not basing their opinions on evidence.

[netibiza]

sambro all right then, please tell me what is the evidence either way? There is no evidence that Maddie was actually abducted.

[sambro]

I forgot to say that of course the parents have to be eliminated as suspects. I just find it disgusting that there seems to a lot of people out there that have already judged them to be guilty without one shred of evidence.
I think it is wrong that the media and anyone else can say whatever they like, and the parents are not allowed to say a word..

[sambro]

Netibiza. If the door was not locked, or the window, and the abductor did not have to break in, then he/she/they could just walk in and scoop her up. Some of the media reports say the window was locked, some say it was not.

[jedimistress]

No, coz their friends say they didn't.

[chompu]

Sambro
Ref Kirsty Wark. My mistake. Apparently she was contacted the following morning. Still very close to the event to be considered bizarre.


http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnigh t/6956676.stm

I did not say that I had experience in child abduction cases.
Apart from the McCanns allegation that this occurred what evidence has there been to suggest this is the correct scenario. No, my experience is 30 years as a police officer. In that time I dealt with numerous missing children of all ages. Never once did a parent say to me that they thought their child had been abducted. This includes children missing from their beds and toddlers under four that have decided to go for a wander.

[pingu97]

Legend, I agree that the McCanns should not of left their children alone, but no parents deserve to go through what they have (presuming they had nothing to do with it), and all the media attention especially at the beginning was to spread the word and give as much coverage to try and find that poor little girl. If your child ever went missing i'm sure you'd do exactly the same thing with the media. It was the best and quickest way to get maddies face out there.

[chompu]

Hi legend

I see their PR campaign has failed to soften your attitude towards them. I too, find it difficult to equate 'loving and devoted' parents with someone who would leave their kids alone in the way they did.
As doctors they would have done some time in A & E during their training and should be even more aware of the numerous dangers that can befall young children when left alone. Unless of course.............no, I won't speculate. Let's wait and see.

[briar-rose]

Rightly or wrongly, glad you're not afraid to voice your opinion Legend.