Madelain McCann...How sad
Moms View Message Board: General Discussion: Archive September 2007:
Madelain McCann...How sad
PORTIMAO, Portugal (AP) - The parents of a British girl whose disappearance sparked a global search will be formally named as suspects, family friends said Friday.
The girl's aunt said police suggested 4-year-old Madeleine might have been killed accidentally.
The allegations related to traces of blood found in a car rented by Kate and Gerry McCann, according to Justine McGuinness, a family spokeswoman. McGuinness said the car was rented 25 days after Madeleine vanished on May 3.
"They believe they have evidence to show that in some way she is involved in the death of her daughter, which is completely ludicrous," McGuinness told British Broadcasting Corp. television.
Philomena McCann, Madeleine's aunt, said police were suggesting Kate McCann might have killed her daughter accidentally.
"They are suggesting that Kate has in some way accidentally killed Madeleine, then kept her body, then got rid of it," Philomena McCann told Sky News. "I have never heard anything so utterly ludicrous in my entire life."
The father, Gerry McCann, was also due to be questioned.
Kate and Gerry McCann, both doctors from central England, have spearheaded an intense media campaign since Madeleine vanished from a holiday apartment May 3 in the Algarve where she was sleeping with her 2-year-old twin siblings. The parents say they were at dinner at the time at a nearby restaurant, but were checking on the children frequently.
The McCanns toured Europe with photos and stuffed animals of Madeleine, even meeting with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican.
Celebrities like J.K. Rowling and David Beckham made public appeals that helped the family raise more than $2 million.
The couple had been told they would both be named as suspects, family friend and former spokesman Clarence Mitchell said.
Under Portuguese law, the legal move grants certain protections to suspects, but allows police more latitude in questioning. Police also have to show suspects whatever evidence they might have against them.
Kate McCann was questioned for 11 hours on Thursday at a police station in Portimao, a town in Portugal's Algarve region, and looked gaunt and weary when she emerged at 1 a.m. She faced a media scrum as she returned for more questioning Friday morning. Gerry McCann was due to be questioned Friday afternoon, Mitchell said.
The Press Association news agency and other British news outlets quoted unidentified family friends as saying Kate McCann had been declared a suspect under Portuguese law.
The couple have maintained their innocence throughout.
Mitchell said Kate McCann found the police questioning "grueling."
"It's very intense, but she's remaining strong and determined to prove that they had nothing to do with their daughter's disappearance and they are innocent victims of the crime," he told The Associated Press.
Mitchell said both McCanns had been told earlier this week that they would be named as suspects. Family spokesman David Hughes also told the AP that Kate McCann had been told she would be named as a suspect Friday.
He said police had told her they wanted to ask 22 questions, but had not said what they were.
Police summoned Kate McCann after receiving new forensic evidence. Police spokesman Olegario Sousa said authorities have received some results from forensic tests of the apartment, but declined to elaborate on the findings.
The tests - on specks of blood, items of clothing and other objects in the apartment - were conducted at a British laboratory.
Mitchell said the McCanns did not know the test results.
In recent months, the McCanns have attended meetings with the police together. Officials described those meetings as informal, saying they wanted to keep the parents informed of developments in the case.
The only formal suspect until now has been Robert Murat, who lives with his mother near the hotel from which the girl disappeared. He has always maintained his innocence.
(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved)
Please refresh my memory. Is this the little girl that went missing while on vacation?
yes. I really hope the parents didn't do this.
I do too. It's sad anytime when something happens to a child (but for a parent to do it) it brings so many other cases to mind.
Ugh. Who leaves their THREE year old and 2 two-year old twins UNSUPERVISED while they go and eat dinner??? They're rich enough to hire a babysitter or to hire someone to watch the kids back home...ugh!
I just hope the child is alive and well...I can't even imagine losing a child! I freak out when I can't find Connor behind a clothes rack!!!
From what I have heard from friends, leaving children alone in hotel rooms is common practice Portugal. I have friends in Europe who travel there frequently and this is what they did as well, however, no longer.
I was at a company Christmas party one year and one woman was raving about cruising with her family, she mentioned that after her children (who were very young) had fallen asleep, they would lock them in the room and leave them alone! Some women at my gym drop their kids off in the babysitting room and leave the facility, which is totally not allowed. I observed a program for 3 to 5 year olds one day and a child was allowed to leave the room on his own, walk down the hallway and go into the washroom by himself. I was so shocked! I saw the mother later and I still wish to this day that I would have said something to her but I just didn't want to get involved, I was afraid of her reaction. Some people just don't want to know, KWIM. I will not let my 3 year old attend this program after what I saw, he is to stay in the babysitting room at all times.
I cannot imagine leaving my children alone in a hotel room. Heidi, you made a good point, if they can afford to travel, they can afford a babysitter. Resorts often provide babysitting services although this probably not something I would do, it is a whole lot better than leaving children alone.
Ugh. Who leaves their THREE year old and 2 two-year old twins UNSUPERVISED while they go and eat dinner???
DITTO that!!!
And the thought that the parents had something to do with it occurred to me in the very beginning.
I can't imagine leaving my children in a hotel room unsupervised. Like a locked door can keep them safe!!! First of all, so many people that work at the hotel can get a copy of a key. Plus, whenever I lose a key to a hotel room and need another, they never check my ID, they just ask me what room number.
And what would happen if there was a fire?
I can't believe people do that!
I agree. I can't imagine leaving kids alone, especially in a strange country. My guard is usually up more on vacation with the kids, not less so.
I can't remember exactly where, but I think it is in Paris that when a women is shopping , she leaves the baby/stroller outside the shop's entrance instead of taking it inside with her!! I saw it on Oprah.They actually had footage of 8/10 ladies shopping with their baby's in strollers, and EVERY ONE of them parked the strollers , with the baby's in them,at the entrance and shopped for no less than 2 hours! Oprah about croaked!! Something about their crime rate not being high, or little-to-none in that area, or something.I don't remember their crazy reasoning!
Wandilu, that was Greenland or Iceland that people do that and they have almost no crime rate.
My neighbor told me that 30 years ago all the moms used to do that at the grocery store. They didn't have cars and all the women on my street would walk to the store together, leave their babies outside the store and while the babies slept they would shop. Then they would have the groceries delivered home. A different time and place no less.
The parents are usually the first or almost first suspects in a case like this, i understand why but it's sad. I'm not saying I think the parents "accidentally" killed her or not. I don't know much about this case at all.
Whether the crime rate is high or low it doesn't matter, you should not leave a child in a hotel room (or anywhere) alone. They can hurt themselves, that is why you get baby sitters or take the child to dinner too....or don't take the kid on "holiday" with you. UGH
I've said it before, some people just should not be parents.
Oh I agree that you should not leave a child unattended in a hotel room.
I think that maybe we are getting our wires crossed here with two entirely different stories.
Here is a link to the Iceland story.
"And we're quite comfortable leaving our children on the sidewalk by themselves while we go in to shop.
Most 3 year olds can get up when they sleep too. Connor usually cries for Mommy once during the night, especially in unfamiliar territory.
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