merleoberon

yes I heard about the boy that died in woodvale - tragic. but the strange thing to me is that we didnt come from a small, safe place like you. we lived in quite a rough/socially deprived area with stabbings on a weekly basis, lots of junkies hanging around, gangs of youths drinking in the streets etc but strangely i felt more confident there than i do here same with the kids - it must be something to do with the feeling (or lack ) of belonging to a place i suppose???

Pollyana

There is a strong argument put forward that, assuming Madeleine was abducted, she was quite possibly taken from the street outside rather than from the actual apartment.
The theory says that (fact) the parents had left the door unlocked to allow them quick access on their regular trips to check the children. As a result, Madeleine, who was known to be lively and to like wandering off, may have gone out into the street and then into the village, and been abducted from there, rather than from the apartment itself.
The original Portuguese investigating team didn't have great awareness of the need to protect the scene of crime, and because of this its not possible to tell whether she was abducted from inside or outside of the apartment.

If the theory is correct, then it explains how no-one saw anyone near the apartment. It also makes it obvious that it wouldn't necessarily have been a planned abduction, but could easily have been an opportunist.

Excellent and balanced book on the subject for those who are interested - Vanished: The Truth About the Disappearance of Madeleine McCann by DAnny Collins.

Vash the Stampede

This makes a lot of sense.

Vash the Stampede

The McCanns were treated with more respect because they acted in a more respectable fashion. They weren't simply out on the piss all day, and they had shown a genuine interest in the welfare of their children (although they also demonstrated rather poor judgement in this case). I reckon the press would have attacked any parents who'd been on the piss all day, regardless of their "class".

The Portuguese have no interest in the UK's petty class distinctions, so there was no favouritism there. And remember Sharon Matthews? She was just a degenerate on a sinkhole council estate, but the press flocked to her aid and filled their front pages with gushing support, just as they had for the McCanns. They only turned on her when it became clear that she'd led them a merry dance.

So the reality is that the McCanns have not been given an easy ride by the press. In fact, they were savaged so badly that they eventually sued for libel and won. Not exactly a happy relationship with the media, eh?

Can you provide a timeline for these events and explain how the body was disposed of? The events of that evening don't leave a great deal of room for murder and concealment of a body. It would all have to be done during the tappas dinner. You also have to take account for the fact that the McCanns have hired a number of private detectives to work on the case. That's a pretty bold and expensive bluff for people who are allegedly guilty of killing their own child. Not exactly logical, either.

merleoberon

excellent post

ShoreyM

I recall info on a forum at the time, the feeling was that Gerry disposed of the body in the hour or two before they contacted the police. Then after the inital searches etc were over, he moved the body somewhere else (hence the body fluids in the car weeks later). As for paying for private detectives, the money would have come from the £2 million (approx) that was in the fund. Something else I found sickening was on day 2, Gerry set up the fund. At that point, I'd still be running around knocking on every door, not thinking about setting up a fund.

merleoberon

this would mean he would have to have nipped out between his tapas and hid the body of his daughter in such a place that it would not be found in the subsequent search but in a time frame that he wouldnt be noticed as missing from dinner?? and with a demeanour that wouldnt attract suspicion. so then i suppose all the friends are in on it too and have managed not to crack under intense pressure? plus how on earth could they possibly have moved the body under such media glare - maybe they took it in their suitcase to the vatican and left it in the pope's wheelie bin?

as you rightly say - it was a "feeling on a forum" - i just cant believe your average human being could do all that without cracking, even if you were afraid of being "caught out" for whatever you had done to your daughter, accident or not. you would need to be a complete psychopath or a trained assassin and assuming they are not assassins, i've yet to hear anyone that knew them/worked with them come out saying they were a couple of weirdos.

petensue

I have always thought that could have happened but it was odd that the McCann's always said that she did not wander off but it was an abduction.I have no idea why they were so sure from day one?Sue.

moneypenny20

Presumably because they couldn't imagine that had she wandered off, there was no one who had seen her and taken her to the police. A four year old going for a wander alone in the evening would have been noticed. Ergo, she must have been abducted.

petensue

If Madeleine did not sleep very well she could have easily wandered off and then someone took her.I just think it odd that they thought she had been abducted rather than wandered off looking for them.I understand later on when there was no sign of her and no one had seen her you would think it was an abduction.Did not Gerry phone his family straight after Madeleine went missing and said she has been abducted before even phoning the police?Sue.

jond

Can you provide a timeline for these events and explain how the body was disposed of? The events of that evening don't leave a great deal of room for murder and concealment of a body. It would all have to be done during the tappas dinner.






I don't know if any of you remember a case a few years ago in Essex where a bloke killed his niece and hid her body, never to be found to this day.

A friend of mine is an Essex policeman who was on this case. He told me that all the experts reckoned he had planned the murder for a considerable time, had a very deep grave already dug and he still had to go missing for a full 2 hours to dispose of the body. So the chances of the Mcanns getting rid of her body over a tapas meal doesn't really seem realistic to me.


All the same I still have a bit of an uneasy feeling about the parents and like a lot of people feel that they did neglect her by leaving her in a room on her own.

ShoreyM

I also wonder if they were positive she'd been abducted because she was drugged and could not possibly have wandered anywhere?

He could have hidden her body (in the wardrobe as per the video) and moved to a temporary grave (beach/cave/woods) whilst he was supposed to be running around looking for her. If he'd gone missing for a couple of hours, who'd question it? He then moved the body to a permanent place once all the initial searches had been carried out (hence the body fluids in the spare tyre well in the boot of the car 25 days after).

To be honest, I don't know for sure and am convinced 2 (r possibly 10) do. However, I believe she was accidently killed by an overdose and the parents have been covering it up ever since. The fund was worth millions, which is why I believe they're still pursuing the whole thing.

Another thing I heard that was Gerry returned home within the first few days. No explanation was given for this but some wondered if he was emptying the medicine cabinet of medication that could have proven they were drugging their children. The Grandfather has admitted they used to give all of the children calpol regularly to make them sleep. Maybe it wasn't calpol at all.

moneypenny20

No idea, wasn't there. Ask one of the many posters on here who apparently 'know' more than the police.

Vash the Stampede

This isn't making much sense to me.

Madeleine's absence was discovered 30 minutes after the last time the children were checked. This gives the McCanns 30 minutes to kill Madeleine and conceal the body from the ensuring search. The police were called within 10 minutes, and restaurant staff joined in the search, which continued until 04:30 the next morning. So where did they hide the body all this time, and how did they manage to do all of this with police and media running all over the place?

Even more puzzling: what are they actually paying the private detectives to do? Have they said "Look guys, we'll give you money if you promise not to look for our daughter, just pretend to do it and the cash will keep rolling in"?

Madeleine disappeared on the 3rd of May. The fund was set up on the 16th of May.

It is worth mentioning that the McCanns have no direct acess to the fund or any of the money in it; all payments from the fund must be authorised by an independent board which contains no McCann family members (see here).

sj oldfield

No-one knows what happened to this little girl............the media creates speculation which can be very dangerous.
The family appear to have been found 'guilty' by many on here, but we have no facts, just speculation!!