General discussion thread No. 15

[Shazza]

I looked at the picture of maddie and cried, that poor poor girl. Unable to say anymore.

 

[JanetElaine]

In looking at those pictures of them from May 27th, I couldn't help but remember Susan Smith at the grave of her children with the balloons and silly string... *shudder*.

She did that too?? Or did you mean Darlie Routier?

What strikes me from the McCanns' behavior compared to parents of other missing children is that all the other parents who were/turned out to be innocent, subjected themselves to all kinds of tests, questioning etc. voluntarily.
The McCanns make themselves seem very cooperative (at least in the beginning), but it's really all on the surface... they're not exactly offering to do this, or that, in order to aid the search.... they're very defensive, they're setting their terms.... reminds me of the Ramseys (I'm a fencesitter there).
I forget who's daughter was missing that said 'you do anything to get them to rule you out, so the investigation can move on', something like that. I think that's true if you really had no clue what happened to your missing child.

Again, this is a big 'I dunno' in this case for me... there are so many things that I can't exactly put my finger on with them, and maybe that is part of why I think they did something to her.... at least know what happened.

 

[Elphaba]

5. Day 27 - The McCanns fly out of Portugal
The Pope, who has been rather "absent" for years, during the perv-priest debacle, is amazingly available to the McCanns. I am dumbfounded. Pope knows a good photo op when he sees one. Pardon my sarcasim.

The Pope thing has been made bigger than the truth... the McCann PR media team has played it up far beyond than what it truly was. It wasn't exactly anything out of the ordinary: they got in on a "General Audience" with the Pope... it happens every Wednesday morning with a ton other people... it is just a scaled down version of what happens every Sunday in St. Peter's Square. They got all of maybe less than half a minute face time with him after the sermon, as he went along the rope meeting those in the General Audience, as he always does. He blessed Madeleine's picture then moved on to the next person... his interactions with the McCanns can be equated to an impersonal "hi, nice to meet you, bless your child's picture, next please" passing.

Those interested in getting tickets to the General Audience can go to the Church of Santa Susanna site.

This is the big thing about Madeleine's disappearance: her family seems to be very very media savy... but the sad thing is, they haven't really put much effort in finding her... they were more about their own personal face time, it seems.

 

[Texana]

The Pope thing has been made bigger than the truth... the McCann PR media team has played it up far beyond than what it truly was. It wasn't exactly anything out of the ordinary: they got in on a "General Audience" with the Pope... it happens every Wednesday morning with a ton other people... it is just a scaled down version of what happens every Sunday in St. Peter's Square. They got all of maybe less than half a minute face time with him after the sermon, as he went along the rope meeting those in the General Audience, as he always does. He blessed Madeleine's picture then moved on to the next person... his interactions with the McCanns can be equated to an impersonal "hi, nice to meet you, bless your child's picture, next please" passing.

Those interested in getting tickets to the General Audience can go to the Church of Santa Susanna site.

This is the big thing about Madeleine's disappearance: her family seems to be very very media savy... but the sad thing is, they haven't really put much effort in finding her... they were more about their own personal face time, it seems.

Interesting! Thanks for that insight! I've thought all along that the visit to the Pope smacked of "thought up by PR rep and arranged by same."

 

[Lurker]

Everyone keeps talking about how sweet she looks in the picture. I can't view photobucket from work! GRRR

Internet Nazi's!

I agree with the comments being made about the parents being doctors. Just because they're well educated, doesn't mean they have any common sense.

 

[christine2448]

Justice and peace for Madeleine!!

She is absolutely beautiful.

 

[christine2448]

I hope she is in the arms of the angels, no matter where she is.

She has to be, there are so many people 'praying protection and angels' around this child!!!

I got 'Godbumps' from head to toe when I read your statement colo.

 

[2XL]

I think the thing that bothers me most about K & G is that they don't have the look of devestated parents. They still have that healthy glow, granted they may be keeping up the excersise routine, but their face doesn't show it to me. I also realize they have other children that need them and their attention, however, my face showed more stress than their when my son deployed for Iraq. Look at the faces of other parents of missing children, in the same time frame. K & G smile and it looks happy and peaceful. Not the smiles of the truly haunted. MO only. They just have never had "that look"

 

[colomom]

Everyone keeps talking about how sweet she looks in the picture. I can't view photobucket from work! GRRR

Internet Nazi's!

I agree with the comments being made about the parents being doctors. Just because they're well educated, doesn't mean they have any common sense.

Lurker...can you see it here:http://www.madeleinemccann.co.uk/index.php?option=com_easygallery&act=photos&cid=52&Itemid=20 ????

 

[Lurker]

Lurker...can you see it here:http://www.madeleinemccann.co.uk/index.php?option=com_easygallery&act=photos&cid=52&Itemid=20 ????

Yes! Thank you! How precious!

 

[Rhett]

I watched Nancy Grace last night and she had a segment on about Madeleine. At the bottom of the screen it displays a blue bar with writing on it while she is interviewing guests. Last night the blue bar read that "Mrs. Fenn did not tell about the argument she heard." What argument? Has anyone heard anything about this? They never discussed it last night unless I missed it. Just wondering if any of you have heard of this. Rhett.

 

[AfterMidnight]

Madeleine is/was a child possessed of an unearthly beauty. Has anyone else noticed that?

 

[hcc2007]

Yes, Madeleine was beautiful, but there are lots of unattractive children missing too, and they are just as loving and sweet and angelic. Maybe moreso. It kind of breaks my heart to think of parents whose missing child might not be so photogenic, and would they take it to the media, or would they just suffer alone?

 

[KR2tonenow]

Yes, Madeleine was beautiful, but there are lots of unattractive children missing too, and they are just as loving and sweet and angelic. Maybe moreso. It kind of breaks my heart to think of parents whose missing child might not be so photogenic, and would they take it to the media, or would they just suffer alone?

I like to add, if all the missing persons in the US had as much exposure as this case has, it would be awesome!!

PL are on the ball, and the clock is ticking!! I'd like to see as much energy and reporting on other children who are missing or perhaps dead in the US.
Boy what a difference it would make!!
:waitasec:

 

[CaliKid]

I posted this back in early July, but I thought I should pull it out since we're talking about grief.

This is Beth Twitty, the mother of missing Natalee Holloway. This picture was taken several days before Natalee disappeared in Aruba.

This is Beth now, two years later. Look at how drawn she is and how much she's aged.

I realize the two cases are different- Natalee is almost assuredly dead, and the McCanns think Madeleine's alive- and you can't expect the parents to grieve the same way. But do you see any resemblance between the photos:

 

[SleuthMom]

Okay, I would like to ask a question to my fellow Sleuthers: Do we assume/agree that SOME friends of the Mc Canns were involved in Maddie's death? The reason I ask this is because is beyond me the following scenario/conversation: Gerry/Kate: My goodness! We accidentally killed our daughter! Can you please help us HIDE and DISPOSE the body otherwise they will take away the twins from us, we will lose our licenses and we will end up in jail? Friend/s: Sure, no problem. Just give me a couple of bags, I will put her in the trunk of the car and then throw her in the ocean. I mean, PLEASE no matter how CLOSE your friend maybe...MOST NORMAL people will not want to get involved in a situation like this in the LEAST! They will rush to call the police or ask the authorities to be called. I find absolutely insane that some of the Tapas friends would be willing to hide and dispose the body UNLESS they were PART of this girl's death. Thoughts?

 

[2XL]

Calikid: your photo's just put into play about the way I feel. You can surely see the difference.

 

[teacherbees]

I don't know that it's valid to compare pictures because they're so subjective. You could take a picture of me today where I'd look pretty good, but in a few hours you might snap one that makes me look like death warmed over - angles, lighting, serendipity of the pose caught - all these affect how a photo looks.

That said, I DO agree with you that Kate often looks quite fit and fine in her pics. Hair nicely coiffed, cute clothes, ribbons in her hair, jewelfy etc...
Looking that good doesn't mean that she's guilty of killing of her daughter but it is sometimes a little eerie to look at.

After my third child was stillborn, I was devastated. I don't think i combed my hair for two weeks. I went around looking like a zombie. I had two living children to care for and that gave me a reason to get up out of bed in the mornings, though even that act was a struggle.

I remember thinking that grief is like a very hard, nearly impossible job that you have to get up and face every day. Like walking across the bottom of the ocean with lead weights tied to each foot.

I can't imagine what it would be like to find my child missing - especially at such a very young age. I sincerely doubt I'd be able to get up and style my hair, put on adorable clothes and then go smile for the photo-ops. Rather, I think you'd see me dissolving into sobs all day/ every day. Heaven knows, I did that when my son was born and died. To this day (seventeen years later), I can't look at the photos taken of him or think about his perfect beauty for very long without tears coming to my eyes.

 

[raisincharlie]

Has anyone been following the Brit forums. Interesting:

http://forums.mirror.co.uk/viewtopic.php?t=13681


Note first post by sieve from today - be patient it takes a bit to load.

 

[Texana]

I think again, being doctors factored heavily into the willingness of others in the group to help.

As doctors, they are well acquainted either personally or by general anecdote with stories of doctors who made good judgement calls but were pilloried for the decisions later when parents died or suffered traumatic after effects, etc. They have to live daily with sometimes making split second decisions with impartial information.

My FIL suffered a mild heart attack about 13 years ago. When he was taken to the hospital, he was administered a dose of the TPA drug (I think it's a blood thinner) to alleviate the effects of the drug. However, for a small percentage of people with stroke history or a predisposition to stroke, a slight difference in medication dosage can trigger a catastrophic stroke. FIL had never had a stroke, but his mother had.

My FIL went from one day being set to be released to the next afternoon in surgery for a catastrophic stroke that left him severely brain-injured and physically impaired.

Somewhere a doctor has to live with the results of the dosage he prescribed. (we confirmed this with a cardiologist relative after all this happened.) I'm sure all doctors at some point and in varying degrees, come in contact with that aspect of being a physician--being unfairly at times blamed for decisions or even fairly blamed, whatever.

So I believe that the McCanns friends would be more sympathetic to helping cover up a "mistake" that resulted in the death of their child. They would see it as the McCanns suffering needlessly for what was a mistake in judgement and an accident. Why should they lose their other children if the authorities decided they were negligent? Why should they be faced with losing the reputations, careers, and possibly medical licenses? Any overdose for a doctor's child would be splattered across the tabloids. "Dr. Mum Doses Tot to Death."

That's why sometimes Kate looks so grief-stricken and despairing, she really is mourning her child. Other times she is able to talk to herself about how her child is now in a better place and would want the rest of the family to be happy. It's why she can say with such certainty, "Maddie knows we love her" when asked what she would say to her child.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/video/vi...-1279448,.html