I'm not so sure anymore about all this. I thought from day one something wasn't right. The parents showed no emotion at all for their missing daughter now i'm sorry but if that had been any family i know they wouldn't have been able to control their emotions.

I find it bizarre how throughtout the night of maddie's disappearance that a few people checked on the children but it was when Kate went back to make sure the kids were ok that Maddie had disappeared, when SHE went back hmmmm. Is it just me or is there something far wrong there?!?!?!

I really do hope they had nothing to do with their daughters disappearance but if they have done this they will be the most hated couple around the world appealing for something that they have done all along and to be honest i don't think they should have their other two children around them while their be pinned as suspects.

What are your veiws on the whole thing?!?!

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You would take the other children away from their parents based on suspicion ??? So much for innocent until proven guilty. Personally I don't really want to hear anymore about the whole business unless some firm proof is found about anything. There are many more children in the world that have been snatched or murdered during the time this whole media circus has been going on and whilst I am natural very sad for this poor little girl she is no more important or special than any of the others.

Damn right BB. This case has got SO much hype and made into a media circus...it's just unbelievable. Yes i do hope that madeline is found alive and well.....but what about all the other hundreds of kids that go missing every year in the UK???
Next you'll be sseing the movie rights being sold for Missing Madeline

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what i meant by their other two children not being around all this is that they should be at home with other family members while their parents are going through this i didn't mean that social services should take them away.

Yes i agree this case seems to have had more coverage than other missing children n i don't agree with that at all there are children missing all over the UK n that is horrible to think about but yes it is true but for some reason this particular case has been put out worldwide.

I do hope maddie is found alive and well n i'm not saying her parents DEFFO!! done this but the evidence is starting to go that way is it not?!?!

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Is it?

What evidence have they actually released pointing to Kate being guilty?
They found blood or some other DNA in the hire car, right? Has it even been matched with the DNA of Madeleine?

I watched a lot of coverage yesterday, since Kate has been named a formal suspect, and I've just been looking on the internet, and apparently Gerry has now been named a formal suspect too.

There were some comments left on one news story on the internet, and one which surely needs following up is

Also, when Kate was first named a formal suspect, the news was that she was named the "second formal suspect."
Who's the first? Shouldn't they be following that up?
(Edit - or was that Robert Murat?)

yes i think the first suspect was Robert Murat.

surely they wouldn't have them down as suspect if they had no reason behind it?

The police questioned them before at the very beginning which is protocall anyway but to bring them in again a few months down the line surely the police have something to go on?!?! Or are they clutching at straws?!?!

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I believe babybabes asked for your opinions as this is a debate thread. Im surprised to see some posts that look to me like she is being shot down in flames for voicing her opinion. if you dont want to see anymore about this dont read the thread.

Having lost children myself i remember how painful it is and i would not wish that on anyone, but Maddie's parents never seem to have looked like they were that upset. Now i know people do react in different ways to hurt and loss but it does seem strange that they seem never have to looked particurlarly sad. I have mixed thoughts about whether I think the parents hurt her in some way. We as parents can never imagine doing anything to hurt our children but sadly in this world there are some very very bad people who do very bad things to their kids. The police must have good reason to be questioning them, they are hardly likely to do it on a whim!

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I don't think anyone was shooting her down in flames....we too were voicing our opinion. Like you said...it's a debate. She asked for our opinions...we gave them.

No-one can assume who is responsible for Madeline's disappearance.....we do not know the facts. Many they don't have enough evidence to pin Rupert down for it? Though he was the first suspect to be arrested for it seems they have a lot on him.

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The law in portugal seems to be different and questioning somebody as a "formal suspect" apparently means that they have more rights ie they can ask for lawyers etc and the police can ask her direst accusatory questions. Im unsure how to give you the link but if you look on the daily telegraph site today it explains what a formal suspect in portugal is quite well. Its not the same as a formal suspect over here.

And im sorry but it did indeed (IMO) look like baby was shot down.

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It is said that the couple left their children alone in their apartment and went for dinner, with one of them returning to check on the children every 20 minutes. For those who suspect the parents are involved, I have to say that 20 minutes isn't a big window to be witness to/part of an event of this type and then cover it to such an extent that Maddie can't be found.

BB is absolutely right when she notes that the publicity over this case is out of hand. Far too many children go missing/are kidnapped/are murdered every day in this world. Surely every child matters and should be given the same attention in these cases?

While losing a child is absolutely tragic and to some extent, not knowing what's become of them is even worse, the glaring double standard involved in this case is worrying. Had a single parent benefit claimant left her children alone to go for dinner I am certain that parent may have been prosecuted by now. At the very least they would have been utterly vilified by the British press. Someone who is a professional is not above suspicion morally or legally.

Looking at the facts though, we know there are three main suspects in this case. These are Maddie's parents and Robert Murat. What do all three have in common? They are not Portuguese. If Maddie was taken, she could have been taken by anyone, not just those from her home soil.

In a time where everyone is looking for lucidity regarding Maddie's disappearance it might be more prudent to accept that we may never know what happened to this lovely little girl. This wont stop me wishing for her safe return for her and all our lost children.

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I do hope no-one in this thread feels that they have been shot down. I don't think that's the case. It's a topic that stirs strong emotions and strong opinions in people. Those opinions have been expressed on all sides. Views were asked for, and given, and I'd hate to think that anyone wouldn't want to give their views through fear of being shot down when in actuality, ALL the views and opinions that have been shown here are equally valid and correct.

My opinion is a bit controversial. I think that people's view of the case might have been changed because it took place off British soil. I have heard a lot of criticism of the Portugese police and how they are handling the case, overtly from friends and family, and in covert insinuation via various online news networks. I think the reason people are so interested in this poor kid and her ordeal is that it took place abroad and that either people do not trust foreign police to do the same job as Brit police, or they simply have a grim fascination to know what verdict they will come to cause it's all new and exciting. Unfortunately the media will choose stories like this to turn into a spectacle, especially if there is the chance of a bit of Europe bashing along the way, and especially if there is hope for the child in which case they can really tap into the genuine well of public emotion and exploit it.

Here's some advice that I give to my parents whenever they pour over the Daily Mail, tutting at the contents. DON'T BUY THE BLOODY THING! But, people love a moan. Ho hum.

As to whether the parents did it or not - how can any of us know? We haven't seen the evidence, heard the testimonials or questioned any witnesses. We'll just have to wait and see.

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Ok put the media bandwagon aside for a moment, yes big story sells many papers thats the media im afraid, it could be madonna adopting anoter baby or another missing child, it sells end of.
Now to evidence apparently the portugal police are looking in to the missing half hour fiasco, witnesses who had dinner with the mc canns on the night maddie went missing are saying that, the coulpe arrived at the diner at 854, the mc canns are saying they turned up at 930 pm???.
The main witness who is a close friend of the mc canns also says she can be 100 percent positive that the mc canns arrived at 854, cause she met gerry mc cann on the stairwell as she came down from checking her own children, who was also left alone while she stuffed her face( sorry 4 that but i hate kids being left alone ).
So the police feel that the missing half an hour gives one of the mc cann parents ample time to hide a body and return to the diner.
Also the hire car in question has been found to have blood spatters in side it, as to if its maddies or not im not sure but i think i heard it was hers.
Also sniffer dogs picked up on what they called a death smell, but thats being said to be either from mrs mc cann as she worked with dead bodies in her job, i dont get that bit myself, surely she has showered since being on holiday and swam ect how can she still have the smell. anyway to continue.
Also its said that if maddies body had been in the hire car much more dna evidence would have been presant in the car more than what was found anyway.
Im following this story big time as i have all along, i also found the mc canns lacking in emotion, but ive seen this before on tv with others parents of missing kids, i cant condem them for not screaming like a banshee like i would have been doing.
But also why would maddies blood be in a hire car, 25 days after she went missing, they dident have the car before she went missing it was only rented after she went cause of the traveling they was doing in there search.
What does that tell us, are the mc canns so stupid that being in the medical profession they wouldent know how to clean dna samples and blood properly, did the kidnapper by some chance hire the exact same hire car???,did the police hire this car for the mc canns in the search as help for them if yes, is a police man the kidnapper. killer ect. you never know a police man could have done this to cover his own arse its possible.
The speculation is endless so im waiting for proper evidence also in this terrible matter, all i wish is for her to still be alive, i dont care who took her as they will get there just desserts just let her be alive.
My loves and thoughts to you maddie darling wherever you are hunny.

What I don't understand is how the reports don't seem to know what was actually found in the hire car.

I read something different this morning which also said 'blood or DNA' but I can't find the page now - I think it's been updated since with more recent news.

However, the following quote seems to make it pretty clear that it can hardly be Madeleine's blood found in the car:

The same article also says
So unless whatever they're claiming has happened within the last month (which is ridiculously unlikely, seeing as it's been four months since Madeleine's disappearance), surely this 'death smell' is entirely unrelated, if even true.

Who knows tasha, we arnt there, and we arnt scientists.
But i will say this the portugal police feel they have something so only time will tell, also it matters not if the blood was spots or dried fragments either way DNA tecnolagy will tell us if its maddies or not then from there a picture of events can be built and a case or suspects found hopefully.
Cases 20 years old have been solved useing DNA tests so we can only hope in this case that they can do the same.
What annoys me in this whole affair is that the mc canns are annoyed that they cannot use the 800.000 pounds from maddies fund to cover there legal bills, i really wouldent have thought anyone who had lost a child in this or any way would even be thinking of the cost of anything.
Those funds were sent by people who wanted to help find maddie not to make lawyers richer still, ok ok if they are innocent then of course i dont think anyone would mind them useing it, but for now no one it seems is above suspision in this case, so why should they use it to battle in courts thats not right.
David beckham said in the paper today that the money he gave was to help find that child end of , those was his words
Also tasha hun can you tell me again what that person said about the car and the dna i couldent make out what you said, im really following this up so if you would be so kind as to post what was said or pm the details id be most gratefull cheers hun xxx

I've PMed you in response to the last bit.

I'm not sure I completely agree with you there.
This money was donated to help with this case. It hasn't been used to pay for the McCanns' accomodation or anything else so far, and when this first started, would you have predicted that the McCanns would have become the prime suspects?
The money was donated to help them bring back their daughter. If fighting their case in court will clear their names and hopefully get the police on a new trail, then surely the money will be put to good use?

When you put it like that tasha i have to agree with you, your statement has made me see what i wrote in a new light hun.
Thanks for makeing us see it from another point of view.

I suppose we can speculate and speculate but we'll never know the full facts till they find out who took Madeline.
My opinion is that.....i think now...the Mccans are being framed for her death. The portugese police are tired of this case as it has dragged on for so long and they haven't found anything. So what's the best thing to do....end it by pinning down the parents for her murder. I think they want this case to finish and they want all the media and Madeline's parents to leave Portugal. I mean....they even tried to make a deal with her saying that they'll only give her 2 years if she admits it?? Sounds fishy to me.

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I completely agree with you.

Looking on the internet just now, the top link that comes up is a series of questions, one of which is:

This seems to pretty much back up what you said, Tigs. They're just looking for reasons to charge them, in my opinion.

However, the article does make the point:

Surely that doesn't need much explanation. It's pretty logical.

You might want to read the whole article, which can be found here

Wow the plot thickens, ive just read that link tasha and im shocked, unless they can 100 percent claim the mc canns have anything to do with maddies disapearence, why dont they just keep it all out of the media its bloody disgusting.

I have sat and read everyones threads, and am quite intrested as to everyones views.

For a start, I would NEVER EVER leave my kids unattended.

Usually I do sit on the fence when it comes to things like this. Did they really do it ? If so why Maddie ? Or is it the fact that the Portuguese Police are looking for a scapegoat ? Was there really a syringe found ? Or was it planted ? In this case there are so many unanswered questions. Missing moments that can't be accounted for. The only person that can answer these questions, is the person/persons that were present at the time of her disappearance.

It has now come on Sky News, about new evidence on the McCann case

As people have stated, if THEY did do it, they will be the most HATED people across the globe


sky news

well at the mo i don't have alot to say on this matter apart from i think it's all starting to unfold n i think these parents are going to be charged for this especially with the new evidence that confirms maddie's DNA in the boot of the car

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I have been following the news carefully on this subject, mostly because it's there and I just read it. But in terms of opinions of what's going on and who to pin-point, etc.. I have to say I'm keeping a close mind until an outcome comes from it all. It's so very easy to speculate and make up stories of what *could* have happened. I'd rather not see them as guilty or innocent until there is an official outcome and the truth gets revealed - whatever it is.

That said, the new evidence is very shocking. Not quite what you expect. It's opened up more doors of speculations and unsolved answers. I do hope that an outcome comes very soon from this.

This has just been posted on the sky news website:

Large amount of Madeleine's hair 'found in boot of
parents' hire car'
Substantial quantities of Madeleine
McCann's hair were found in the boot of
her parents' hire car, it's been revealed.

Investigators are convinced so much hair
was found that her body must have been
stored in the vehicle, which was hired
more than three weeks after she
disappeared.

The dramatic new evidence adds further
pressure on Kate and Gerry McCann, who
may now face charges over the death of
the missing four-year-old in days.

But Gerry McCann has reiterated his
insistence that they had "nothing" to do
with the disappearance of their daughter,
adding he Kate were "100 per cent
confident" of each other's innocence - and
would prove it to the world.

Senior police leading the investigation in
Portugal said detectives from the Algarve
will travel to Britain later this week as the
investigation intensifies.

Sources today told the Evening Standard
Newspaper: "Some of the samples of DNA
were taken from hair which match
Madeleine's DNA. There was so much hair
it could not be from DNA transference but
from the body being in the boot."

The source said that DNA from bodily
fluids also found in the boot of the Renault Scenic car, hired by Kate and Gerry
McCann 25 days after her disappearance, was a "90 per cent match" rather
than the 100 per cent being widely reported.

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I was just reading this in the Daily Telegraph:-

Sources close to the case said the traces - understood to be blood - were being treated by Portuguese detectives as strong evidence that Madeleine died in the apartment before her body was placed in the car.
Police in the Algarve apparently now believe they have enough evidence to charge her parents, Kate and Gerry, with "accidentally" killing the four-year-old and hiding her body. A file on the case will today be sent to a prosecutor who could order the couple to return to Portugal to face charges this week.
The McCanns, who were named last week as official suspects in the case, have claimed that they were being "framed" over their daughter's disappearance 131 days ago.
But a source close to the Portuguese investigation said that the prevailing mood among detectives was that: "The parents have a lot of explaining to do."
The source claimed that two DNA samples found in the McCanns' hire car - one apparently a full match to Madeleine and one partial - were of a type that suggested they had come directly from her body, rather than from clothes she had worn.
The development came as:
Social workers and police met to discuss the welfare of the McCanns' two-year-old twins, who could be placed on an "at-risk" register.
Police in Praia da Luz were preparing to search the villa where the McCanns had been staying until Sunday.
Kate McCann faced fresh slurs in the Portuguese media, with claims that she was aggressive towards her children and sometimes "out of control".
The McCanns were given police advice on how to deal with hate mail after a backlash against them gathered pace in Britain. The McCanns have vowed to fight to clear their names, and hired two of the country's leading solicitors, Michael Caplan QC and Angus McBride, to advise them.
Sources close to the investigation revealed that the DNA evidence - analysed by the Forensic Science Service in Britain - was regarded by Portuguese police as crucial.
A sample that was a full match to Madeleine's DNA was allegedly found on the windowsill of the McCanns' apartment at the Ocean Club in Praia da Luz. Although the nature of the sample was not disclosed, previous reports claimed that blood had been found by sniffer dogs.
One Portuguese newspaper claimed that "biological fluids" with an 80 per cent match to Madeleine were found under the carpet in the boot of the McCanns' hire car, which was rented 25 days after she disappeared.
Forensic experts in the UK have pointed out that if the samples found in the car were hair or skin they would be of little evidential value as they could have rubbed off Madeleine's toys or clothing.
But there were fresh reports claiming that both samples were blood, and one source close to the inquiry told The Daily Telegraph that the nature of the samples led police to believe that they had come from Madeleine's body being placed in the car.
The Portuguese police's theory is apparently that Madeleine was killed by accident by one or both of her parents, and that her body was hidden before being disposed of a month later using the hire car.The McCanns have reacted with fury to the claims, accusing the police of a "stitch-up" and pointing out that they could not have moved a body when the eyes of the world were constantly upon them in the weeks after Madeleine's disappearance.

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According to sky news the evidence on the McCanns HAS been passed onto the prosectors. So now it's just a matter of waiting and seeing what they decide. In all honesty i'm pretty sure they will charge Kate McCann going on the evidence they have. Not sure about Gerry McCann at the moment can't make up my mind about him.

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