Portugal still investigating little girl's disappearance
By icyorchid
@icyorchid (2564)
United States
May 3, 2008 11:46pm CST
PRAIA DA LUZ, Portugal - A year after Madeleine McCann vanished from a resort in southern Portugal, police are still gathering evidence into the British girl's disappearance, a top detective said Saturday.
Madeleine disappeared during a family vacation in Praia da Luz on May 3 last year, a few days before her fourth birthday.
Police have named her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, and a local man, Robert Murat, as formal suspects in the case. All deny involvement in her disappearance, and police have not decided whether to file charges — or drop the case.
"At this stage, nothing has been determined regarding possible charges or closing the case," Alipio Ribeiro, head of the Policia Judiciaria investigative department, told the Portuguese national news agency Lusa. Police are still gathering and analyzing evidence, he said.
Church services were being held in Praia da Luz, in Portugal's Algarve region, and at the McCanns' hometown in central England, to mark the one-year anniversary of Madeleine's disappearance.
Kate and Gerry McCann walked hand-in-hand to a service near their home in Rothley, central England. They made no comment to the media.
The McCanns, who have launched a worldwide online campaign to find their daughter, returned to England in September, a few days after they were named as suspects.
A message written by Kate McCann is to be read out during the service at the beachside chapel in Praia da Luz, and Gerry McCann's brother John is expected to attend.
In England, the Archbishop of York has penned a special prayer for Madeleine to mark the anniversary.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080503/ap_on_re_eu/portugal_missing_girl
This was so sad. I hope they do find who did it and don't drop the case. I think it was so irresponsible of those parents to leave this child in the hotel room while they went to eat dinner! She was in charge of the baby I think. There is just something about that that DOES NOT make sense!
1 person likes this
1 response
@mummymo (23706)
•
4 May 08
First off the baby was in fact 2 babies - they are twins and Maddy was not in charge of htem we were all asleep! The McCanns were taking it in turn to check on them every 1/2 hour or so and they were at a restaurant straight across the pool from their room - they weren't out on the town! I realise that they made a terrible mistake and had poor judgement but I know many people who have left their children asleep in a hotel room when they have gone to eat. The distance they were away was about the same as if my children were asleep indoors and I was in my back garden , would I have been accused of being irresponsible?
I don't mean to sound argumentative or hostile but I feel that this couple have been attacked and reviled in some quarters for making a mistake that many others have made in the past and it is one they are paying the consequences for every day of their lives!
The Portugese police have made many mistakes in this case - the McCanns were not really allowed to talk about the case because of Portugese Law but those in the police there have made money from leaking information that doesn't even hold up to scrutiny - the chief of Police there has admitted as much and has also said that the decision to make the McCanns official suspects was rushed and probably not correct.
I do not think for one minute if this couple had done anything to their daughter that they would have acted in the way they did , continued to draw attention to their missing daughter or have campaigned so hard for people to remember her face in case they saw her anywhere in the world! My heart and prayers go out to Maddy and her family and to all those missing children out there and the families who worry about them! xxx
@katsmeow1213 (28716)
• United States
5 May 08
I must say I have to agree with Mummymo. Although the parents may have made some mistakes, and if they did in fact give them sleeping medication, then that's a huge mistake! But they have already suffered enough. I am sure they completely blame themselves for it. They did not do this assuming anything bad would happen. Like most people, we always think bad things happen to other people, it will never happen to us. I feel so badly for them.
1 person likes this
@mummymo (23706)
•
5 May 08
I understand your point of view here Mooch, I really do I just don't agree with it! If I am in my back garden I cannot always have a clear view of the door - am I neglecting my kids -should I be brought up on charges? I know they shouldn't have left the children, they know they shouldn't have left them but that does not take away from the fact that someone entered that room and took poor Maddy away. As for the sleeping medication I think you may have been listening to some of the so called 'leaks', the McCanns are both drs and have gone on record and publicly denied that they had given them any such medication! There have been a lot of false reports leaked from the Portugese Police that have since been totally discredited! Even the man now in charge of the case has admitted there have been many mistakes and the case has been badly handled! I don't think for one moment either that the McCanns have in any way been left unpunished , they suffer every day but continue every day to try and give their twins as normal a life as possible whilst keeping up a campaign to try and keep Maddy in everyones mind so that if they do see her they will recognise her! xxx
