Maddy McCann missing in Portugal

[Abigail]

There are so many ifs and buts though, i mean that spec of blood could have traveled from clothes or anything you just don't know. My dad was saying, if she had accidently been killed there would be a body and if they had got rid of it somehow when would they have done it, they have been in the media spotlight nearly everyday.

It's just so odd, and unimaginably tragic.

Plus, they were with a party of 7 other adults, four of whom are doctors, and their children so how could they possibly have got rid of her body without anybody noticing anything suspicious?

People seem to forget that it wasn't just the McCanns who left their children alone. There were other young children with the rest of the party (Madeleine was the oldest) and one of them was ill as well.

I still don't believe they killed their daughter, either accidentally or intentionally. And I don't believe they sedated their children either. They're doctors, they know the risks of giving drugs where they aren't required and especially to young unattended children.

[samantha nixon]

There are so many ifs and buts though, i mean that spec of blood could have traveled from clothes or anything you just don't know. My dad was saying, if she had accidently been killed there would be a body and if they had got rid of it somehow when would they have done it, they have been in the media spotlight nearly everyday.

It's just so odd, and unimaginably tragic.

Plus, they were with a party of 7 other adults, four of whom are doctors, and their children so how could they possibly have got rid of her body without anybody noticing anything suspicious?

People seem to forget that it wasn't just the McCanns who left their children alone. There were other young children with the rest of the party (Madeleine was the oldest) and one of them was ill as well.

I still don't believe they killed their daughter, either accidentally or intentionally. And I don't believe they sedated their children either. They're doctors, they know the risks of giving drugs where they aren't required and especially to young unattended children.

I totally agree with you jb, i dont think they have done anything wrong either intetionally or acidentally

[no1abbafan]

Because they are doctors doesn't mean anything, at the end of the day they are human being, human being who left their children alone in an apartment with the doors unlocked. Sorry but although what has happened is terrible, A child to go missing, they have to shoulder some blame.

[Jessie Wallace]

Because they are doctors doesn't mean anything, at the end of the day they are human being, human being who left their children alone in an apartment with the doors unlocked. Sorry but although what has happened is terrible, A child to go missing, they have to shoulder some blame.

Some, but not all, like they are getting at the moment!

[Jessie Wallace]

The parents of missing Madeleine McCann will leave Portugal for the UK on Sunday morning.

Kate McCann's parents have told the BBC that she and husband Gerry are preparing to fly back to Britain.

More than four months into the investigation, the couple have been named as formal suspects or "arguidos" by the Portuguese police.

The four-year-old disappeared from the family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in Portugal's Algarve on 3 May.

Kate McCann said that during the interviews, police had asked her if she had killed Madeleine accidentally.

'Fought her corner'

Such allegations have been described by the McCanns' friends and family as "nonsense".

Mrs McCann, 39, told the Sunday Mirror that Portuguese police "want me to lie - I'm being framed".

Speaking on Friday, before she was made an arguida, she added: "Police don't want a murder in Portugal and all the publicity about them not having paedophile laws here, so they're blaming us."

Her husband Gerry told the News of the World: "In a system that you don't know and don't really trust it's incredibly frightening."

Mrs McCann's parents said that the couple were returning to the UK "with the full agreement of the Portuguese authorities and police".

Susan Healy, Kate McCann's mother, said she was proud of her daughter who had "fought her corner" in interviews with the police on Friday.

"I felt quite proud that she had been able to do this knowing how distraught she is at Madeleine's disappearance," she said.

Friends and family have rallied around the couple, who are keeping away from the media camped outside their villa.

Those close to the McCanns, both 39, say the couple are determined the search for their daughter will not be "derailed".

"Madeleine seems to be receding into the background and I'm thinking, 'Who is looking for Madeleine?'" said Mrs Healy.

Family friend Jon Corner said the developments pointed to the "mindset of the Portuguese police".

"Clearly, they're not investigating or doing the detective work to find Madeleine," he said.

"They're actually looking for a very quick, clean closure on the case, and that means turning their focus into the family."

'Running away'

No bail conditions, travel restrictions or charges have been imposed on the couple, who had been questioned separately for more than 24 hours.

Mr McCann was officially given "arguido" status 12 hours after his wife.

The move allows the authorities to put certain questions to Mr and Mrs McCann, and also gives them the right to remain silent.

'Repulsive'

According to family spokeswoman Justine McGuinness the police have also suggested that blood has been found in the family's rental car, hired 25 days after Madeleine disappeared.

Mrs McCann's uncle Brian Kennedy said he found the suggestion "repulsive".

"The notion that even accidentally they killed their daughter, hid her body, then put her body in a car hired 25 days later while the glare of the international publicity is on them, and when they are always with friends and family, is fatuous beyond words," he said.

TV crews and photographers, who had been camped outside the police station in Portimao, have moved on to the McCanns' rented house in Praia da Luz.

Mr and Mrs McCann called off plans to attend a service at the village church of Nossa Senhora da Luz on Saturday night because of the amount of media interest.

[Trinity]

None of us know what happened, none of us know what - if any - evidence the Portuguese police have against either the McCanns or Robert Murat. We do not know if Maddie is alive or dead.

What we do know is that several professional couples left very small children unsupervised in holiday apartments whilst they had dinner together.

You will note that most of the mothers who have posted in this thread would not have dreamt of doing this; and as I have stated before not one parent I know would have considered doing it.

The middle class press went on and on about how they had only done what, 'we all would do'. Well they were wrong, we ALL wouldn't have left 2 and 3 year old babies alone in an apartment whilst we went out for dinner and checked on them every half an hour.

I am a professional person. I have a degree, a postgraduate qualification and I work in a University with many, many other professional people. Some are, like me, from a working class background, some are middle class and many are from various different countries and of various different backgrounds and faiths. None of the people I have spoken to would leave little children unsupervised, alone, for 30 minutes at a time whilst they eat and drink with friends.

So, I come back to the posts above. I don't know what has happened to Maddie. I do know that whatever happened ther McCann's must be wracked with grief and guilt.

No, I am not accusing them of murder, and no I wouldn't want to add to their pain. But the many people who have sought to relieve their pain and guilt by saying, 'you only did what we all would have done'; well, they are not speaking for me. I am not part of the 'all'.

[Siobhan]

McCann Evidence Passed To Prosecutors

Updated: 13:10, Tuesday September 11, 2007
Portuguese prosecutors have received most of the files of evidence on the McCanns from police investigating Madeleine's disappearance, Sky sources have said.

The McCanns are enduring a tense wait

The prosecutors are expected to review three samples of Madeleine's DNA found by detectives before they decide whether to charge the McCanns with an offence.
Sky sources say that scientists have found a full DNA match to Madeleine in the boot of a car hired by Kate and Gerry McCann after their daughter went missing.
"Police say it is the most damning evidence that has been returned by the tests," Sky's Crime Correspondent Martin Brunt said.
Mr and Mrs McCann are enduring the tense wait for news at their home in Rothley, Leicestershire.
Both have been named by police as suspects in their daughter's disappearance on May 3 in the Algarve.
Police spokesman Olegario de Sousa said it was "agreed with the prosecutor" that the file of evidence on the MCcanns would be handed over early today.
A spokeswoman for the prosecutor in Lisbon said a statement would be issued later regarding the investigation.
However Alipio Ribeiro, head of the investigative Policia Judiciaria, suggested the forensic tests had not been conclusive.
He told Portuguese state broadcaster RTP: "We can't say with certainty whether it was the blood of person A or person B."
The report is expected to include interviews with the McCanns and details of forensic evidence from various sites in the Praia da Luz resort where Madeleine vanished on a family holiday.
"The prosecutor will then have to decide whether he has enough evidence to charge the McCanns or whether the police need to carry out more inquiries or gather more evidence," Mr De Sousa said.
He would not discuss details of the evidence, in accordance with Portugal's secrecy laws in criminal investigations.
Family spokesman Brian Kennedy, who is Madeleine's great uncle, said of the family: "They are holding up extremely well."

[Siobhan]

Bodily Fluids - Not Blood - In McCann Car

Updated: 15:30, Tuesday September 11, 2007
Bodily fluids - not blood - matching Madeleine McCann's DNA have been found in the car hired by her parents, according to sources.

The McCanns: Enduring a tense wait

The sample was taken from the boot, where the spare tyre is kept.
It had an 88% match with the missing four-year-old's DNA, sources said.
Police searching the car also found so much of Madeleine's hair that it could not have been transferred from a blanket or clothes.
It must have come directly from her body, sources said.
The news comes as Portuguese prosecutors received all of the files of evidence on the McCanns from police investigating the four-year-old's disappearance.
The prosecutors are now expected to review reports of three samples of Madeleine's DNA found by detectives.

[Trinity]

I wish that the constant drip feed of rumour and innuenndo would stop.

The official police sources are saying nothing, yet there in a neverending stream of lurid speculation in the tabloids.

(No offence to you Siobhan - I am glad that you are keeping us informed of what is going on. God knows how awful it must be for family members of Maddie's to read, though. Trial by the British tabloids must be one of the wost experiences in life.)

It is all so desperately sad.

[alan45]

I wish that the constant drip feed of rumour and innuenndo would stop.

The official police sources are saying nothing, yet there in a neverending stream of lurid speculation in the tabloids.

(No offence to you Siobhan - I am glad that you are keeping us informed of what is going on. God knows how awful it must be for family members of Maddie's to read, though. Trial by the British tabloids must be one of the wost experiences in life.)

It is all so desperately sad.

The tabloids are so fickle. They will take whatever point of view that sells papers. Most of them should be printed on ANDREX because thats about all they are useful for