Madeleine McCann suspect

Many holiday makers leave their children unattended in hotels and apartments.
When my children were quite young we h ad a villa apartment on a Corfu beach. Two young boys about 10 and 8 were in an apartment block adjacent. Parent left them every night to go boozing. They roamed outside and came over to join our family in our enclosed holiday garden.
Horrible of people to vilify the McCanns. They were nearby on a holiday complex and thought it was safe.
I think it's awful and unsafe to leave children unsupervised. Is classed by the police as abandonment in some countries.
They are paying a price for their lapse of judgement. Maybe their friends holidaying with them did the same.

Some of these comments are disgusting.

Gerry rang Gordon Brown?? Why would he do that and why did he have access to the PM’s telephone number?

Kate went off playing tennis the day after?? I heard that Gerry had some tennis lessons whilst on holiday but no suggestion he did after Madeleine’s disappearance.

Stop reading rubbish, gossip publications and go and do something useful. It’s one thing to have an opinion but quite another to quote and therefore, perpetuate, utter BS.

People used to leave their kids in the chalets, in the old days in campsites such as pontins, Butlins, they had 'chalet patrol' & would flag up onstage if there were babies crying & chalet number- i think it stopped in late 70's though i never knew anyone who used it personally..when my kids came along& we went there it was much later on (80's & 90's onwards) and they'd stopped it, but i wouldn't have used it, I'd rather know where my kids were & they were safe with me. Same when i take GC on holidays with me.

I cannot believe they had anything to do with it. Assuming they are innocent of hurting her, how terrible for them to have to cope with continual accusations of being involved, on top of the guilt they must feel for their negligence.

Yes they made a huge, terrible mistake, but they and their family have paid for it ever since - it must have been a living hell for them.

We ALL make mistakes, but luckily most of us don't have bear such awful consequences of our errors. Can you "perfect people" not feel sorry for them at all?

I really hope they now get closure, but we've been here before.

If Madeline is still alive, she would be capable of surfing the Internet and of getting in touch with her parents if she wanted to. So I doubt her parents still really hope to find her again.

However, the McCanns need to know what did happen to their daughter and be cleared of the dreadful suspicion that they killed her themselves.

I don't think it is at all wrong that so much time, public money and public interest has been used on Madeline, I just wish all other children who disappear had parents who were likewise able to keep hold of public interest.

Today, I remembered the child of six who asked a shop assistent in Amsterdam in English, "Do you know where my Mummy is?" When the shop assistent said, "She is down there," pointing to the person she had seen the child with, the girl replied, "She's not my Mummy"

The shop assistent rang the police, but neither the little girl nor the woman she was with were ever found.

Was that little girl another stolen child, or just indulging in make-believe?

I hope and pray this won't be another dead end, raising false hopes. The parents will suffer for their neglect for the rest of their lives. I have often hoped the child was snatched and sold to a family somewhere and had a happy life.

None of us know for sure what happened in the apartment but it was such a huge story at the time and now there is a new development, it’s only natural that people will want to share their thoughts.

I don’t like to think that the parents were in any way responsible for the child’s death, even if accidentally, but sadly we know it does happen.

What is wrong is the assumption that this particular couple must be completely innocent as they aren’t living on benefits on some run down council estate.

He has now been officially charged so let’s hope he confesses. To have their worst fears confirmed that a paedeophile abducted their daughter must be further torture. The German police believe she is dead.

The parents have to bear the responsibility for what happened. At the end of the day, those young children should NEVER have been left alone. Their friends were guilty of this too. When our children were young, we took family holidays which included keeping our children with us at all times, we would never have considered leaving them. I believe it’s true that because of their backgrounds, is the reason why the investigation continued - had it been some child from a rough council estate, then it would not have been highlighted as much. I just hope that child didn’t suffer too much.

The cynic in me thinks that this gets publicity with a new lead or suspect every year around the "anniversary", they have all come to nothing and I suspect this will go the same way....

I know its late for the "anniversary" but we all had more important things on our minds this year.

I lived near back then to where shannon was 'missing' and we all had police /dogs search everyone's homes and gardens- (our estate was the next one on to where she lived, about half a mile) slightly 'better' than the run down one where all the chavs seemed to live- and sadly everyone in that area and town all got tarred with the same brush..But theres a big difference between what Shannons mother did-planning to/ hiding her own child to make money than another child going missing by the stupidity/irresponsibility of parents leaving them alone while they ate out nearby. But i agree that there should not have been a different price offered for recovery of one child over the other. A life is a life, no matter where/what their circumstances are.

I thought that they had looked at this guy before?

I think the reason this didn't come to light earlier is because the Portugese police, due to cultural differences, were intent on blaming the McCanns from the start and didn't conduct a proper investigation into any other possibility. So the trail went cold.

I don't regard the parents as neglectful. They were metres away from the apartment and checked on the children every half hour. Lots of people on holiday will have done something similar. My heart goes out to that poor family.

They have suffered not just the loss of their child but constant trolling ever since. I hope that the person who did this dreadful thing will be dealt with appropriately and that the family can find some closure.

I think of both Madeleine and Shannon each year, as i have 2 children of very similar ages- maddie born in the month after my youngest and Shannon at same primary school as my elder son till they all went to different junior schools at 7.

Actually, I thought at the time, how easy it would be to steal a three year old and get away with it, especially in a country where the child couldn't understand the language spoken.

I hasten to add that I have never wanted to steal anything and certainly not a child.

But here is the pure realm of fantasy scenario.

Provide yourself with a backpack, trekking boots etc. and make out that you and friend are walking to Fatima and afterwards to Santiago de Compostela in Spain as pilgrims. Plus a passport for a child of the right age, who you claim is your child or grandchild.

Buy a change of clothes for the child and henna to change her hair colour. Kidnap child, change her hair colour and clothes and set off towards Fatima. Behave like ordinary tourists or pilgrims. Continue towards Spain and cross border on one of the pilgrim routes.

You are highly unlikely to meet either a border patrol or the police.

If questions are asked, you are looking after the child for a few days, while her mother is ill and her father away on business.

Until corona closed the borders you could literally cross any border within the EU without seeing a border patrol. I have personally crossed the border from Portugal to Spain, Spain to France, Belgium to The Netherlands and from there into Germany, without meeting anyone who wanted to see documents.

From my house in S. Denmark I can show you four separate routes into Germany, where I assure you there is rarely a control. If the police are there, you just turn round and walk back the way you came.

I always felt that after they released details of the speck in Madeline’s eye there was no hope of finding her alive. There was no way to disguise that.

It is all so sad ….whilst not blaming the poor parents, I like many others have been to Portugal on holiday with two small children ...we hired a family villa which had an on site nanny ...BUT wherever we went (out to dinner in the evening, for instance, to a family friendly place) we ALWAYS took them ….in Portugal the places we took them had lots of families and the atmosphere was wonderful. No way would we have ever left them at home. I guess because the place they ate was so close they never thought any harm would come to their children. I can't help but wonder why someone who probably had suspicions about the accused man never raised concerns before …..it seems the suspects lifestyle was very unusual and probably others wondered about him and never said anything ….the old van must have been pretty obvious around the place (having an old van is not a sign of a criminal though ….just maybe an eccentric)….I hope in a way he is responsible, and whilst I hope Madelaine might still be alive somewhere I have a feeling that sadly will not be the case....but if it was him, I really hope he will now do the honourable thing and tell what happened to her if nothing else to give her parents and siblings closure and a chance to grieve and hopefully re patriate her for a proper burial ….God bless them

My thoughts are with the family,I really do not know how they keep going.

To those that are critical of how much time and money has been spent on this case they have obviously never loved their own children or grandchildren as those that do would want all the time and money available spent on looking for their missing child.

Those that never made a parenting mistake I do not believe exist,look at your own mistakes and think what could have happened.

Those with a degree in hindsight, just shut up.

I don't consider it to be perfect parenting but rather a basic necessity to keep children safe.

I don't think anyone would disagree with the fact that the McCanns made a terrible mistake that night. They will blame themselves for the rest of their lives. However, a mistake it was and we've all made them. How anyone could not feel deep deep sympathy for them is beyond me. If my child had been taken I would have wanted all possible resources deployed as well. As for Ben Needham, I remember loads of coverage by media and press when he disappeared as well as more recent follow ups. How can anyone truly believe that parents are less deserving of help because they are 'middle class'? I feel really angry to have read this from a member of our group

I agree with your post Rosenoir.
They thought they were being sensible checking every half n hour but if this evil person was watching Maddie s fate was doomed.
And anyone who thinks they are in the slightest bit guilty why do they keep the investigation? This is a family in pain who have and will fight for answers. I'm outta of here.

It sickens me to read on this thread that people feel that the McCanns were involved in their daughter's disappearance. What a terrible thing to suggest. All on here who have written such things should be thoroughly ashamed of themselves.
I just pray that those poor parents finally get closure....I could cry just thinking about what they have gone through.

Well said Nanny27

25Avalon where does it say he has been officially charged? As of 1.15 he’s being investigated as a suspect, not charged with the offence. Can you provide a link to a reputable source?

Self righteousness is really not a good trait! The McCanns have enough guilt of their own without all the vitriol thrown at them. I’m not saying I would have left my young children but I would also say I wasn’t perfect either.