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Madeleine McCann & Portuguese Police

Madeleine police 'inexperienced'

Madeleine McCann's grandmother says Portuguese police made early mistakes in the search for her.
Ref. Source 7

Police Portuguese and McCann Madeleine

I wonder how they came up with the conclusion that she is "safe"?

Either they are trying to pacify themselves or they are thinking of someone specifically like a relative that may have taken her?

Madeleine McCann & Portuguese Police History & Civil Business Politics

Breaking News

A British man in his 30s is now officially a suspect in the Madeleine McCann case, Portuguese police tell the BBC.
Ref. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news

Police Portuguese and McCann Madeleine

Well of course...

I was wondering why everyone was blaming the Portugal police so much and not irresponsible parents!

Police Portuguese and McCann Madeleine

PORTUGUESE POLICE ACT ON MADELEINE BURIAL TIP

Portuguese police on Thursday began searching scrubland just 15 kilometres from where Madeleine McCann was snatched last month, after they received a tip from a Dutch newspaper that supposedly pinpoints the site where the four-year-old lies buried.
Ref. https://www.cbc.ca/story/world/national/200...ead-070614.html

Madeleine McCann & Portuguese Police

Breaking News ABCNEWS.com:

AN ITALIAN MAN HAS BEEN ARRESTED IN SPAIN FOR THE SUSPECTED KIDNAPPING OF 4-YEAR-OLD MADELEINE MCANN, THE BRITISH CHILD MISSING SINCE MAY, ACCORDING TO SPANISH WEB SITE EL PAIS

Madeleine McCann & Portuguese Police

I am not sure if this is the best thread to add my thoughts on the McCann abduction, but here goes.

I am deeply sorry for her family but equally deeply disillusioned by the amount of media coverage for this single abduction. I live in the UK, so I am perhaps exposed to more of it than those in other countries.

Her search is a daily lead news story with every painstaking detail aired on TV, radio and in all the major newspapers. Madeline's picture and pleads for help can be found at every UK airport, bus stops, rental cars, at some restaurants, bill boards"¦ the list goes on. Several celebrities have poured in significant money to help find her including Richard Branson, Simon Cowell, Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney.

They are all lovely gestures, but why?

What irritates me most is that children go missing all the time. A lot are abducted (often by family members). There are so many unsolved abductions that litter the notice boards of police stations each week.

So why is Madeline's abduction so special? What makes her life any more valuable than the others? If Madeline was black or an immigrant, poor and from a low socio-economic background, would she receive the same level of coverage and support? If her parents were not wealthy and good looking, would the media pay them so much attention? Being a journalist, I sadly think the answer to that is no.

I really hope they do find Madeline, although it is looking unlikely. Just as importantly, I hope the media, and the public who demands what media they consume, learn a lesson from this. Get some perspective, please. All this over-exposure has turned one poor child into an unwilling celebrity for a tragedy she could not avert. That is unfair on her and unfair on us.

Furthermore, to pick up on JB's earlier point, why has the media not in any way blamed or investigated the irresponsible parenting that lead to Madeline's disappearance. I"m sorry, but leaving your 4-year-old child locked up in a hotel room in a foreign country while you enjoy a romantic dinner elsewhere is simply irresponsible and should be treated as negligence of their duty of care.

Madeleine McCann & Portuguese Police Politics Business Civil & History

arvhic:

You are absolutely right. A similar case was the abduction of Elizabeth Smart. Both wealthy families, both good looking people. Just recently a Trinidadian woman (Black) went missing in the US, only few newspapers featured the case and in one TV station they only gave the case 30 seconds (according to their relatives) because "we are doing 24/7 Paris Hilton coverage" What the heck is going on?

As a journalist this is just unacceptable, there are literally hundreds of people going missing in very similar circumstances and they are not given this kind of coverage. I think is pathetic. Every human life IS important.

The interesting thing about Madelaine case is that in MOST similar cases, parents are usually the first persons of interest or suspects, in this case...they were never fully investigated, why? Because they are educated, wealthy and look like models? So if they were uneducated, unemployed or Black I am 100% sure they would be automatically "persons of interest" in the case.

The reality is hard to digest but MONEY and LOOKS can sometimes get you away with murder, NOT that I think the parents are in some way involved in this case but until now they say they do not think the choice of leaving their three kids locked in a hotel room was a bad choice. Go figure.