Oh no. Not another little Madeleine.

Oh sod! I can't remember what those posts said!

Very great pity that this thread (and the Jimmy Savile one) has been left on this rather unedifying note. Strong personalities and very strong, very raw emotions seem to have (understandably) been the cause. We are made angry and upset in the face of the news this week and for many of us the news has re-awakened things we thought we had put to rest (and had evidently failed to).

Let's get back to doing what Gransnetters do best - giving loving support to Grans everywhere.

A little girl is still missing and those who care about her are frightened. Let's hold them in our thoughts tonight. X

And our prayers.

Well said, feldmarschallin. Thank you.

Yes, I do think we all want to express our deep concern for April and her family.

Police have just announced they are now looking for a body. This is so sad, I can't begin to imagine what her poor parents are going through

Oh dear - I am absolutely hopeless at expressing how I feel in these situations - it goes so deep and hurts so much for the innocent.

It is too sad and it looks as though they are looking for the body now. How can man be so cruel to a child. Why don't they help the police & tell them what they have done.

Little April Jones...such a sad end to her short life. Her parents must be going through the worst torment imaginable.

Feel so very sad for this poor little lamb and her family. It certainly puts your own trivial problems into prospective.

waller5 If no body is found, it is difficult to get a conviction for murder.

Not any more absent. Because of advances in forensics, especially DNA profiling the CPA are more likely than before to proceed on this evidence.

Anyway that's not the point. Just so sad that this looks to be a case where there is no happy ending. Poor little girl, her life barely started. Poor mum, dad, siblings, grandparents, aunts, uncles and all the rest of her family.

I am afraid it is still a "good" reason to keep the mouth shut and not reveal any information, especially if you have a legitimate reason for evidence that someone was in your car or whatever. However, the police have been very gung ho about this man so it would seem that there is something crucial about him that has not yet been revealed. Sex offenders register, for example.

I am still hoping that the police are mistaken and that they will find this child alive.

Every positive wish to April and her family, however in all honesty it is not looking good.

A really sad story all round. Thinking of April's family who must be going through hell. Also thinking of the children of the man who has been arrested who must also be going through hell too. (It was reported that he had been at the same parents' evening so I'm presuming he also had children at the school.) No winners, only losers.
Whitewave like you, I'm having difficulty with expressing what I feel.
I'm also making a presumption that the arrested man is guilty

I think this is an event that strikes at the heart of every parent and grandparent in the country. That terrible feeling of what if… It is impossible to imagine how the parents and other family members feel and your heart just goes out to them. I just hope it's all over soon, however sad and distressing the outcome may be, so the uncertainty is resolved and the waves of hope stop. I cannot imagine being a parent in that situation and retaining my reason.

The charge is now murder.

Elegran my blood just ran cold as I read your post. Those poor people, how on earth do parents of murdered children go on?

How on earth do you THINK the parents feel - totally unnecessary to make sweeping judgement on them.

I don't understand what you are getting at superscillious. Who is making a "sweeping judgement"? I think most of us have expressed our horror and shock at these events and expressed a deep sympathy for this little girl's family. Why is this a problem?

Living up to your forum name, supercilious? Is the spelling deliberate? This is not the forum to try to sow dissent.

Oh dear, supercillious. No need for that, I don't think.

Baubles did not ask how the parents felt. She wondered how people carry on in those circumstances.

I have so far looked at two threads this evening, and on each an unfamiliar poster is being gratuitously controversial.

elegran
I've noticed the same! What on earth is happening?
Is perhaps someone trying to shake us out of our 'complacent middle class!'

If so, it won't work! I may be middle class! But complacent I ain't!
Ask any of the midlands meet from today!