Saturday May 19, 2007, 8:27 pm
AlfILuvU thanx for posting this article - we could have gone on feeling sorry for the parents when in actual fact they are guilty of neglect and what else I wonder? How could anyone leave a 3yr old and younger children alone in a strange country and go out for dinner? Irresponsibility Personified!! And they call themselves Doctors??? Maybe some one should be investigating them? Why hasn't the truth of this come out before????? I feel for those children - and especially for Maddy - children are so vunerable because they are so trusting.
Love & Light

Saturday May 19, 2007, 9:17 pm
Greetings Alf . . . AWESOME STORY!!! Well done you! For the first time I feel as if someone is standing up for this lovely little darling, left with two younger than herself. Of course, the "worst of the worst" has not happened that we know of . . . YET. And if it should (and I pray to the Goddess that She is comforting and holding this little darling in her bosom!) be this way, then by all means I believe as Master Coleman does!!! The parents should be charged with neglect.

Jacqueline, you makes such good points!!! What oh what were these parents doing or thinking? When I traveled about the UK and Ireland with a ten month old, she rarely was out of my sight!!! And IF and WHEN I decided to go pubbing, she either came along with me OR I used the services of the B&B that I stayed in. And overall, that wasn't all that often; however, as I traveled with a friend that I brought WITH me to assist me with my daughter (who by the way charmed the entire UK and Ireland from one end of the countries to the other!! lol), I managed to stay at holiday places that DID offer a cot for her and babysitting; and if they didn't have it themselves, then they surely knew a solid, well caring nanny in the area!!! So, I agree with you! How can they even be considered doctors? What doctor would leave a 3 year old child "in charge" of two others!!! They ought to be glad that all three were not taken!!! Again, may the Goddess watch over darling Madeiline . . . and the parents should be scrutinised and questions until the cows come home . . . or Madeiline is found!

And the questions asked in this commentary are extremely good questions!!! Again, my thanks Alf! =)

Sunday May 20, 2007, 12:47 am
I think it's too bad that all the children who are missing, injured, or die each and every day don't engender the kind of concern and $$$$$ that have been generated on behalf of this little girl.

Sunday May 20, 2007, 12:53 am
Bless you Cynthia!!! Now . . . why didn't I think of that? lol Honestly, you are so correct and it's something that I have wondered about for a long, long, long time; since we all lived through the Jon Bonnett story! And how many go missing that are of a different ethnicity and don't get this type of coverage of $$$$$$!!! Thank you!

Sunday May 20, 2007, 2:10 am
In the US that is considered child endangerment and the parents would have been arrested had the authories known of this and the children placed with other family or in foster care.
BRAVA Cynthia! My thoughts exactly. 269 Children have gone missing in the United States in the last two months. But do we see them all over the news? Plastered on billboards and in international forums? NO!
EVERY missing child should be publicized and cared about and searched for with the same vigor as this ONE child.
P.S. This girl's parents should be in jail. As it is they who are ultimately at fault for this childs disappearance.

Sunday May 20, 2007, 4:43 am
I thought the same when I heard the story... Sure, the children were sleeping, and the restaurant was in the same holiday complex - it is as if they had left the children to sleep in a hotel room while eating in the hotel's dining room, they were not in the city drinking and dancing - but nevertheless...

Sunday May 20, 2007, 8:54 am
The only neglect is to go on vacation to a place where a person can force the windows and break into the apartment without any problems. If the mother had been there , he could have raped the mother...or even kidnapped her!
The portuguese police did not notify the police borders until after TWELVE hours after the disappearance was reported. Is this good for you?
Nine children have already disappeared in portugal,most likely for pedophile purposes and the police there did not do anything for them.

Sunday May 20, 2007, 10:43 am
NO parent should EVER leave a small child unattended. NEVER. Sleeping or not. Children wake up! No, parents around, good grief, do you realize the havic a 2 or 3 years old can cause? They could have wondered outside the room looking for their parents, they could have turned on the tub and flooded the room or been scalded or drown, they could have set the room on fire, if there were matches or a lighter around, one of them could have gotten imjured and NO PARENTS around to watch out for them.
How is the resort liable for the parent's stupidity?
If the police were slow to act appropriately, that's on them. But , still, the fact that these parents left 3 very young children ALONE is squarely on the parent's shoulders.

Sunday May 20, 2007, 12:25 pm
And that's all there is to that folks!!! Well done Lauren! =)

Sunday May 20, 2007, 12:38 pm
Greetings Galia . . . whether or not the police acted timely or not is not the issue here, in my view. Are they incompetent? Absolutely! Are they perhaps involved? Perhaps; however, I can tell you that I would NEVER have left my daughter in a holiday room whilst I went out for dinner!

And the hypothesis that the kidnappers . . . whomever they are . . . were watching!!! After all, that seems to be the way these rings operate in foreign countries. I would have GLADLY died or been raped if it would have protected my daughter. I would have fought to the death before I would have let anyone get their hands on her. Simple as that.

Regardless of what the Inn officials did or did not do, and regardless of what the police did or did not do . . . the fact remains that the parents were in a foreign country (yes, yes . . . part of the EU and all that and many Britains travel to Portugal due to the quaintness of the country, the beauty, et cetera) with three BABIES!!! And they made the choice to walk away and leave them alone! Sorry . . . in my view the onus is on the PARENTS . . . not everyone else!!! Why are we playing the blame game in this when the fact remains they left their children!!! AND THEY WERE DOCTORS NO LESS!!!!

Sunday May 20, 2007, 3:11 pm
Thank you for posting this!

That was my FIRST question. Were the kids left alone? Who was watching them? Couldn't they have taken the children out to dinner with them? If they were sleeping then ORDER ROOM SERVICE and stay in the room to watch them.

If they wanted alone time, then leave the kids at home with someone who would take care of them.

Yes they are responsible for their child being missing. They left her alone in a country that is not theirs and alone in a hotel room without a responsible adult watching them.

Sunday May 20, 2007, 3:54 pm
People in the US, especially, but other countries as well always want to blame the local authorities when a tourist is endangered or killed. Like these things don't happen everywhere and crimes don't go unsolved everywhere. The governor of Georgia called for a boycott of Aruba because the disappearance of Natalie Holloway was unsolved. Does this mean we should also boycott Georgia if there is even one unsolved crime there? Parents are responsible for taking the basic steps to protect their children. Sure, they could hardly be expected to predict a kidnapping, but there are so many reasons children of this age should not be without adult supervision for any length of time. If this had happened at childcare or under a babysitter, these parents would be screaming their heads off about the neglect and derilection of duty.

Sunday May 20, 2007, 4:32 pm
Galia:Paedophiles are not interested in grown women. If she had been in the room nothing would have happened. I know for a fact that I would never leave my young children in a room on their own like that. Hotels have babysitting services and this couple were not poor. It just strikes me as odd that they have made so much money from this when it happens weekly to lots of other children who we hear nothing about?

answer:Then, maybe you should educate yourself on trafficking of WOMEN and children for sexual exploitation.
I have posted lots of articles to care2 but you may think that that is not important.
Well, thank you to those who go to prostitutes sexual slavery is one of the most profitable business. It is disgusting but that is the chauvinistic society we live in.
Please, for goodness sake , stop blaming victims and blame the cruel people who work on human trafficking, or blame the police who does nothing to stop this.
If you really cared about that poor girl you would not be making those inappropriate comments.

Galia, believe it or not I DO care about these things and I AM educated in them too.
I just feel there is something very fishy about this case. Believe it or not when it comes to paedophilia often the family are complicit. You can't always believe everything you read in the tabloids and hear on the news.
My major concern is the child. SHE is the victim!!

answer:Your comment is totally disgusting, and I can see what little compassion you have for this kid and for every woman who is a victim of human trafficking!

WHAT???!!! Are you stupid? I have more compassion in my little finger than you have in your whole body, I just don't believe everything I am spoonfed by the bloody media. DO NOT tell me I have no compassion. That was not a comment for all the world to see it was sent personally and I take umbridge to your callous retort!!
Next time I won't bother with a quiet aside I'll expose you for an idiot in public!

And I have.........

Sunday May 20, 2007, 4:43 pm
Oh and I have reposted the petition to keep the investigation going (the police are giving up) on Madeleines case, it is here for anyone interested: (obviously only people who are compassionate!)
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/179944481

Sunday May 20, 2007, 4:58 pm
Greetings Alf . . .

Right on!!! I appreciate that you have stood your ground; and you're also correct that there is just something that isn't proper about this case. How could TWO physicians, who treat people daily--including children and adults and administer all the "proper" warnings relative to care--walk out on three babies???

Your point I hadn't considered in some contexts and this discourse has exposed many, many more; there is a tremendous suspicion in this. It's unthinkable and all the publicity et cetera that they've gained . . . it's very puzzling how this occurred! I also know that family members are complicit in this as I was sexually abused for six years from 5-11 by my BROTHER and a cousin; did my parents do anything? NOPE!!! And my mother knew!

Years later when I was a Mother I told her that I thought she had done a lousy job in protecting me as a child and it caused scars and irratic behaviour at one point until I spent 13 years in counseling sorting all the gobslap in my head out!!! My mother--a wise and wonderful woman--looked me in the eye and admitted that she had been negligent in that sense and carried the guilt for years; at that point there was no longer an issue. She had been honest and I knew she had suffered as a consequence (not revealing all the intimate details of my life beyond what I have!!! lol).

So, as for the parents and the comments that Galia made (private and public apparently =P), they just know not whereof they speak. A LARGE grain of salt my friend . . . and keep up the pressure and the advocacy because there is something deeply disturbing about this story as more and more facts are revealed!!! Well done you! Cheers!!!

Sunday May 20, 2007, 7:43 pm
You've said it all Lauren !!

Monday May 21, 2007, 3:18 am

The author of this article, Vernon Coleman, is dishonest; he lies by omission.

He implies that the parents went off to a restaurant that was far from the holiday apartment, leaving their small children unprotected while they enjoyed a night on the town.

This simply isn't the case !

Both apartment AND restaurant were part a holiday villages, they were both in the very same fenced-in compound, and were in fact less than 50 yards distant. On the news, in France, we have seen the maps and birdeye view of the village and been able to realize how close they are !

The parents' table was outside and they could SEE one of the windows and glass window-doors of their apartment from where they were sitting. However, the other door and another window were on the other side of the bungalow, out of eye-shot.
The parents were "checking in" on the kids every half hour, the restaurant being like a 2-second walk away! This is how the alert was given, not because at the end of the meal, on returning home, they saw the child had disappeared:
but because between the 9pm and the 9:30 check she had gone !

Vernon Coleman is able to depict these people as being totally irresponsible simply by leaving out crucial facts and letting innuendo speak for itself; and he has succeeded in convincing everyone that this is the case, This is really VERY unfair!

Monday May 21, 2007, 3:33 am

Vernon Coleman is angry because the British public and newspapers have made Madeleine's disappearance into a front page story whereas he thinks there are other stories which are much more deserving of public attention and much more important in the international scheme of things. Of course, the situation in Afganistan, the war in Iraq and the appointment of Gordon Brown as prime minister are all of a different dimension and the loss of a child doesn't weigh much in the balance. But Vernon Coleman should not turn against the parents because the British public is more interested in a child's kidnapping than political news !

Monday May 21, 2007, 4:21 am
Great Vernon!
I've been writing this in the portuguese media blogs since the beggining.
Jill you are wrong!
They LEFT 3 LITTLE CHILDREN ALONE AND THEY WERE TO FAR TO DO ANYTHING.
If it weren't the other 2 kids, I would defend their imprisionement for gross negligence.
I can garantee you that in my family - WE ARE PORTUGUESE - this would be totally impossible.
Please don't do this with your little ones...

Monday May 21, 2007, 8:18 am
herbal@drugs.com

Monday May 21, 2007, 8:19 am
herbal@drugs.com

Monday May 21, 2007, 10:06 am
I don't know if you heard of a child in Brazil, which was with his family in their car when they were carjacked. The robbers threw the family in the street but the child didn't have enough time and was trapped outside the car, with his clothes trapped in the door. The robbers knew that and still they drove off at high velocity, dragging beside them the child's maimed body.They kept going 'till the child's body was loose and they didn't even care. Did that appear on US, UK or other country's news??? Or the fact that many tourist have been killed, kids and adults, in Brazil by muggers???? Or the kids that disappear every day in the US, but,hey, they're from the ghetto, so who cares? don't they deserve the same that has been done in this case?

Monday May 21, 2007, 10:18 am
I to am Portuguese, and can guarantee that the Police are not giving up; just because they don't announce it to the world, through media, doesn't mean they've given up. They are just keeping they're findings to themselves to not drive away any suspect, by saying to the world "hey we know who did it! It was him!". The entire country's police force is on alert to the any suspicious man or woman, so don't bash the police when you don't know what you're talking about!!!!

Monday May 21, 2007, 11:50 am
Catia called my atention!
Alf:
the Portuguese police IS NOT GIVING UP!
AND THE PETITION IS ILEGAL!
To do it or not is indiferent.
It won't change the Portuguese Law!
People must understand the police don't make laws!
POLITICIANS DO!
Police just have to follow them.
If the law is what it is ULTIMATELY IT IS THE VOTERS' FAULT.

Monday May 21, 2007, 4:27 pm
By blaming parents all you achieve is to get the attention away from the kidnappers and traffickers who make up powerful international organizations.
As for the portuguese police, I have posted an article about this institution in Portugal already.

Monday May 21, 2007, 4:31 pm
http://leaopelado.bravehost.com/eu/maddy.htm

Monday May 21, 2007, 11:19 pm
Placing blame on the parents and rightly so, does not in any way detract from the trafficking or kidnapping of children. So what if they were in fenced-in compound? That just makes the whole thing even MORE suspicious. Were there no security cameras? No security officers patrolling the grounds? How do we even know for sure that this was a kidnapping and not something more sinister? It happens. It's happened here in the US. Susan Smith pops into my mind.
They were checking on them every half hour? SO? A child can fall and bust their head open and be unconscious and bleed to death in less than half an hour.
My sister lives 8 houses down from me. In a gated community. If I left my 3, 5 and 9 year olds here ALONE, asleep or awake and went to visit her for 5 mins and something happened to one of them while I was gone, my ass would be in jail in a flash.
These parents were negligent and irresponsible. PERIOD.
I am quite sure the Portuguese authorities ARE doing all they can. Especially since all the sudden, this little girl seems to be the most important person on the planet. I pray that she is found alive and safe. Then perhaps we will all learn the truth about what happened to her.
EVERY child is precious. EVERY missing child should get THIS MUCH ATTENTION! I wish the HUNDREDS of missing children in the US got even a tiny bit of this much press and concern.
IF anyone is interested in helping to find OTHER missing children, you can go here; http://recentlymissing.org/mc_scroller_code.php
Get the code for the FLASH VERSION (the top one you'll see first). You must run it on your 'comments' board. Which means you have to continually move it up as others leave you kind notes.
Or you can sign this petition asking Care2 to run an AMBER ALERT TICKER on the main news page;
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/901551893

Tuesday May 22, 2007, 9:47 am
Samara G.::

What does herbal@drugs.com have to do with this story? Are you spamming the message boards here on Care2 with this? I see this email posted a lot from you lately.

Tuesday May 22, 2007, 2:53 pm
Michael Vick has shown his true colors. He is a self-centered, privileged athlete who believes animals, even man's best friend, are here just for his entertainment and as a way to earn yet more money. He has no concern for their welfare and apparently could care less about the miserable lives animals on his "private property" experience. He has our children as his audience and society should condemn him, if he was aware of any of the suffering these animals were experiencing at his home--and it is hard to conceive of how he could have been unaware.

Tuesday May 22, 2007, 2:54 pm
well I hope to god that maddy is ok we should not blame the police in portugal for a problem they did not create we should instead be pro-active in spreading the information around the world about maddy and hope that someone can recognize her and help get her back to safety I thaught a good idea would be to produce photo stickers of maddy that every person could stick on there luggage whilst travelling the world. I am a man but its hit me hard that such a small child is outthere scared and suffering such an oriffic ordeal and we are all here just critising the parents i am sure they are going through a living hell and no matter what you may think they are suffering more than any person on this planet right now. so please please be helpfull to maddy.
thanks stephen stringer manchester

Tuesday May 22, 2007, 5:11 pm
GALIA AND MAUREEN YOU ARE IGNORANT BIGOTS!

SHAME ON YOU FOR ATTACKING A COUNTRY YOU KNOW NOTHING ABOUT!
YOU EVEN USE A RUBBISH SITE WHOSE PORTUGUESE COUNTERPART IS CALLED LIE!
I already went to the Portuguese site to complain about that load of rubbish.

"Nine children have already disappeared in portugal, most likely for pedophile purposes and the police there did not do anything for them."
WHERE DID YOU GET THIS CRAP?
THAT'S A LIE!

WHO ARE YOU TO TELL ANYTHING ABOUT OTHER COUNTRIES?
WHY DON'T YOU LOOK TO YOUR OWN CRIMINAL GOVERNMENTS?
WHO IS THE ONLY COUNTRY THAT EVER USED THE ATOMIC BOMB OVER CIVILIANS?
WHO HAS BEEN FABRICATING WARS FOR THE LAST 50 YEARS?
YOU HAVE THE DEATH PENALTY!
YOUR POLICE SHOOT FIRST ASK LATER!
YOU HAVE MORE THAN ONE MILLION PERSONS IMPRISIONED!
And the list could go on and on...

Portugal, doesn't have lunatics killing children in schools!
WHY DON'T YOU COMPARE THE CRIME RATES OF PORTUGAL WITH THE US OR UK?

BY THE WAY:
ON THE 19 OF MAY, THE PORTUGUESE POLICE SAVED A LITTLE GIRL THAT HAD BEEN KIDNAPED 7 HOURS BEFORE IN SPAIN DESPITE THE SPANISH POLICE DIDN'T INFORMED THEM!
HOWEVER THE PORTUGUESE POLICE SUSPECTED THE DRIVER'S BEHAVIOUR AND GOT HER!

CAN ANYONE DO BETTER?
HUH?

POLITICIANS DO THE LAWS NOT THE POLICE!
CAN'T YOU UNDERSTAND SOMETHING THIS SIMPLE?!

I'm sorry for using capitals but I'm really pissed off.
Bigotry is disgusting and Galia and Maureen started a despicable campaign against my country, which they know nothing about, for whatever reason.
Also I don't consider all Americans responsible for their Governments' crimes.
I have American friends and I loved when I went to US.

Again, I'm sorry for this...

Tuesday May 22, 2007, 5:24 pm
About the case, people must be aware that the parents left their kids alone every single night with the windows open!
So if there was a predator - and assuming they don't have anything to do with this, which I'm not sure considering their gains - had more than enogh time to plan the kidnapping.
Also:
the hotel is British, managed by a briton, and it is for British families.
It just so happens that it is located in the Algarve - it's a British chain of family friendly hotels.
Therefore, the entire environment was British!

Another VERY IMPORTANT THING:
THE COUPLE DIDN'T INFORM THE POLICE ABOUT THE DISAPPEARANCE OF THE GIRL IMMEDIATELY!
In fact, there was enough time for the kidnapper to get to Spain before they went to the police!
Isn't this strange?

Thursday May 24, 2007, 6:17 pm
The site
http://leaopelado.bravehost.com/index.htm#A10

has on its first webpage the following title:
BEM-VINDOS AO SITE DA MENTIRA (WELCOME TO THE LIE'S WEBSITE)

At the bottom of that page it is:
Declaração de Responsabilidade
Todos os textos neste site são fictícios e de pura invenção. Qualquer coincidência com a realidade é um mero acaso e não passa de pura coincidência.

Disclaimer
All texts on this website are ficticious and purely invented. Any coincidence with reality it is just by chance and it is nothing more than pure coincidence.

What do you think of that as a reliable information source?

Best regards,
Pedro

Friday May 25, 2007, 9:25 am
Raised some valid points. As much as i feel terrible for the suffering her family are going through, i completely agree. This is like the hype surrounding Diana all over again. and yes, if her mum had been 19 and from a council estate, instead of a nice middle class doctor, the media would be crucifying her and her other kids would be in care. How any parent can leave a 3 year old alone is barely comprehensible, but whats worse is they left 2 babies!

Friday May 25, 2007, 9:30 am
You have said exactly what i am thinking but have to scared to say because when i do, i get treated like i have just said i like eating small children. Someone needs to say what her parents did was totally reprehensible and as a mother myself, how they left 3 kids (2 of them actually babies) is disgusting. What has angered me is that because they are 'nice middle class' doctors and not teen parents what they've done is fine. it seems if you have good jobs and a fat paycheque you can neglect your kids and its OK. Why are they posing for picture walking down the beach and posing with their other kids like David and Victoria Beckham? Their behaviour is very odd. hat they did was beyond and yet everyones reaction has been, hey they are on holiday.

Saturday May 26, 2007, 3:12 am

Each day since this tradgedy happened I , like most others have been sick to the stomach worrying about this poor little girl. In our heads we have all gone over the maybe's what ifs the suspicions and the inconsistent stories about the "abduction" / mystery. I also would like to comment on the website with the daily journal written by the Mccanns....it sounds like they are on some freakin worldwind holiday of the stars...not some distraught account of what they are doing for Madeleine...i might seem cold, but if Maddy is even still alive...i find each day a struggle thinking of what some sick f... is doing to her because of her parents' choice to leave her behind...don't forget including the twins...... The police in Portugal have done the homework...i think they know there is more to this one than meets the eye...Stay posted and i am sure it will come to light....God bless you little princess. People can help with donations...where is the money actually going???? What is this company that has been set up??? all very weird to me!

Saturday May 26, 2007, 8:37 am
Not for one second I lost my time and energy blaming the McCanns. Or the portuguese police. We are facing a world where monsters exist. Let's blame them. Let's protect ourselves and our children, by changing the laws and keep pressure over the politicians.
Madeleine is a victim. Her parents are victims. We all, are victims.
This problem is universal problem and no police (portuguese, british, american or any other) can operate miracles. We are facing monsters, very well organized monsters. Stop blaming the innocents.
Antonio, Portugal

Saturday May 26, 2007, 2:11 pm

That is my whole point, we are in a world of monsters. We all know that....Exactly why itelligent responsible people DON'T LEAVE CHILDREN unattended for any reason...certainly not near a swimming pool either.You have misunderstood me about the Portuguese Police, i was not taking away from them...i was praising them for the work they have done, saying they are more aware than most people give them credit for...they just don't have the hype. You are right about one thing, now the Mccanns are all victims and that is very sad for them...lets not lose sight of who the real VICTIM is, through no fault of her own.

Saturday May 26, 2007, 5:55 pm
Well said Leigh and Debra!
The child is the victim!
Relatively to her parents, I'm not so sure...
To many and powerful interests seem to be profiting from this, including themselves.
Gordon Brown went to the family before all the MPs had decided the vote!
On the next day he won without challenger.
Several public hotshots got free propaganda when they stated the intention of giving huge rewards - which in Britain are never given by the way...
The McCanns have PR's and lawyers working for them!
They are willing to give press conferences.
They left their 2 children behind to go to Fatima!
Excuse me?!
One of their children was kidnapped and they are able to leave behind the other 2?!
I know what is to loose a baby!
Those guys don't seem to...
And Antonio...
They started the problem!
What kind of parent leaves 3 little children alone every night to go out?!
And are we certain that they weren't involved?

Sunday May 27, 2007, 7:20 am
Excuse me, Pedro but I think we are loosing the sight here. The one who started the problem was a person whose mind I can't understand. What kind of ANIMAL kidnapps a little girl of 4 years old in her sleep?
Secondly, the McCanns (or anybody else) are presumed innocent, until a court decide they are guilty. That's the base of any sistem of justice in the civilized world.
Finally, I think it's easy to blame someone, to point fingers, because it helps to "forget" our own mistakes.
I insist: what kind of monster stills a little girl from her family? is ther any protection against it? I think, of course, that the legal fitting(?) of this kind of crimes has to be changed, urgently.

Sunday May 27, 2007, 7:23 am
Erratum: "steals" of course. Not "stills".

Sunday May 27, 2007, 8:11 am
Antonio what am I loosing?
I mentioned several facts.
The McCanns LEFT 3 CHILDREN BY THEMSELVES SEVERAL TIMES, at least, and would go just the 2 of them dinning out!
What kind of parent does that?
If they had been always with their children or used the HOTEL'S CHILDMINDING SERVICE - WHICH THEY REFUSED - THIS WOULDN'T HAVE HAPPENED!

More: they are highly educated and informed people!
They are medical doctors!
And they have a very good income together!
They are far from poor!
If you are Portuguese and live in Portugal let me tell you that someone having the Portuguese average salary would need to work at least 5 years to earn as much as they do in 1 - I'm being quite conservative on my calculations...

About their innocence...
Well Antonio, do you remember Joana's case?
Her mother cried a lot on TV and always maintaned she didn't know what had happened with her daughter!
Now she is in prison!

I'm not saying they did it!
But we cannot rule it out!
They are gaining a lot with this.
Money, power, social status, have been motives to commit crimes since ever.
The McCanns got them all!
How many in the UK can say to be able to speak directky with Gordon Brown?!
Moreove, to get him commited in FORCING THE PORTUGUESE AUTHORITIES TO REVEAL MORE!
MEANING: UK'S FUTURE PRIME MINISTER WANTS PORTUGAL TO VIOLATE ITS OWN LAW BECAUSE HE SAYS SO!

Sunday May 27, 2007, 8:39 am
You have. like me, like all of us, an emocional point of view.
The fact is that there are no perfect parents. We all commit mistakes. None of the babys were in danger in the bedroom. But no one could guess taht ther was an ANIMAL MONSTER in the neighbourhood.Joana's case is diferent and the fact is that the monsters were her own family: her mother and is oncle.
I confess: my sympathy goes to all the McCanns.

Sunday May 27, 2007, 6:39 pm
Antonio you wrote something unbelievable:
None of the babys were in danger in the bedroom.

3 little children alone in an apartment - not a bedroom - with an unlocked door?!
Antonio, either you don't have kids or you are a very dangerous father.
You obviously have no idea of how easy it is for a child to get hurt!
And you also don't understand that REAL PARENTS DO THINK ABOUT WHAT CAN HAPPEN!
THIS IS CALLED GOOD PARENTHOOD!

Something totally alien to the McCanns
Being medical doctors they should know!

And you continue to state the parents are innocent...
Prove it!

And that thing about being emotional...
What are you really trying to say?
Of course I'm emotional about children!
I'm a caring father!

Have you ever heard about Emotional Intelligence?

Sunday May 27, 2007, 6:44 pm
To Antonio Jose.

Parents do not leave young children alone in a room in a foreign country.

If you were a parent or are a parent, I take it you leave your children alone all the time because you have checked the area for "monsters?"

For the sake of children in your care, from your statements, I hope you never watch children or have some of your own.

No parent puts their three children in danger such as they did.

Sunday May 27, 2007, 8:42 pm

Antonio,
We are all so worried for Madeleines' safety right now, and comments are flying left, right and centre. From all of us. Lets just listen to what we have to say..I have been over this again and again in my mind....Say if it were me on holidays there with 3 children under five.I would be worried even when i was with them that they might escape into the pool area, night or day. I certainly could not and would not go off to meet friends to have dinner and relax.....As a normal parent danger bells would ring.
1. You should not leave the children unattended
2. They could wake up, frightened that Mummy and Daddy are not there.
3. One could wander outside to look , or could trip hitting their head and drown in the pool.
4. We could dine in ...or take the children (family orientated place)

Something just doesn't gel.....I hope the authorities keep up their good work & arrest ALL involved.
Please Antonio, don't attack us for thinking like good and responsible parents do and should have thought.
You have an opinion as well, and this is why the site is here for us to air our opinions.

Tuesday May 29, 2007, 6:16 am
I read with some optimism the newspaper reports of the McCann's interview under the headline "the guilt will never leave us" . I thought that at least now, with hindsight, they had realised how stupid and irresponsible they had been. But no, far from it. Yes they said they felt guilty, but only in that abstract way you feel when someone you love has something bad happen to them and you wish you could have been there to help, but not in any way which acknowledged any responsibility for what happened. Quite the reverse. they asserted that they considered themselves to be responsible parents and did not feel they had acted irresponsibly in any way. Mr McCann even went so far as to liken what they did to putting your kids to bed then sitting down to dinner in the garden. WRONG!!!! More like putting them to bed then sitting down to dinner in a neighbour's garden 5 houses further down the street.
I don't know which is more scary - the fact that even with hindsight the McCann's can't see what they did wrong, or that there seem to be so many people out there who agree with them, saying things like "we've all done it", and "there but for the grace of god" etc etc. I really feel the McCanns missed the opportunity to publicly acknowledge that what they did was stupid. Of course it won't bring Maddy back but it would at least have sent a clear message to all those other irresponsible parents who apparently would think nothing of doing the same to wake up and smell the coffee. To realise how fortunate they had all been up to now and resolve never ever to do anything so patently irrresponsible again in the future. If they had done that, they would at least have gone some way towards trying to stop any other parents from going through in the future what they are going through now. As it is, no-one, least of all the McCanns, seems to have learned any lessons at all and are happy just to blame everything on the Portuguese police, which is both pathetic and unfair.

Tuesday May 29, 2007, 4:20 pm
Christine, Debra and Neil, your words are my words!
Thumbs up!

Wednesday May 30, 2007, 12:30 pm
I have to agree with everyone who said that the parents should NEVER have left the babies to go out to dinner!! What were they thinking anything could happen. I am not saying that the parents did something to their daughter but they did not take all the precautions to prevent something like this from happening. I have a 3 year old and would never leave a window open in her room at night. I know and like all of my neighbors but there are too many crazy people in the world to even take a chance. And as far as all the news about this girl it really does bother me that they do not do this with every child that goes missing on vacation or from just walking home from school. I pray for the family of that beautiful little girl and hope that she comes home safe!!!!! I

Wednesday September 12, 2007, 5:20 am
I agree with the words of neglet. I have recently heard that the first people Kate Mccann called upon finding her daughter to be missing, were Sky News. Why on earth would you ring Sky News before the Police?? If that was me and I had found my daughter to be missing I would be screaming out for help, certainly not calmly dialling sky news to inform them of the situation. The next extremely suspicious thing she did was return to where she was having dinner to inform her husband and friends of the situation...leaving the twins in the apartment. Ok so you believe someone has just broken into your apartment and kidnapped your 3 year old daughter, what do you do? Leave your even younger twins there. Something is very very wrong and disturbing about the whole situation....