Madeleine McCann: Unanswered Questions - Telegraph

Not sure if this has been posted before. If so please remove. Lots of good points getting out now I think.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/madeleinemccann/9226205/Madeleine-McCann-unanswered-questions.html

Here are some of the key questions surrounding her disappearance from her parent's holiday flat in Praia da Luz on May 3, 2007:

If Madeleine id dead, where is her body?

Various theories have been put forward, however none have stood up to closer scrutiny. One detective was quoted not long after the three-year-old disappeared as saying that her body was dumped at sea in a bag weighted with stones. Police are said to have at one point considered the possibility the McCanns somehow recruited an accomplice to help smuggle the body on to a boat.

Another theory is that Madeleine was buried beneath major roadworks. The area around the Nossa Senhora da Luz church, where the McCanns regularly prayed, was dug up for water pipes around the time Madeleine disappeared. Officials dismissed this theory because the holes were just 27 in deep and 16 in wide.

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If she is alive, where could she be?

There have been dozens of alleged sightings of Madeleine since her disappearance on May 3, 2007. There were several unconfirmed sightings Portugal in the months immediately afterwards, before the focus switched to Morocco, where a string of people claimed to have seen the three-year-old. Since then, witnesses have claimed to have spotted her in Belgium, Malta, Spain, Bosnia, France, Britain, Brazil, the Netherlands, New Zealand and India.


Who is responsible for her disappearance?

There have been numerous suspects in the case, some named individuals – including Kate and Gerry McCann themselves – and several people whose descriptions were circulated following Madeleine’s disappearance. All the named suspects have been ruled out and released without charge. The McCann’s arguido status was lifted when Portuguese police shelved their investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance in July 2008.

E-fits of unidentified suspects linked to the disappearance – ranging from a Victoria Beckham lookalike in Barcelona suspected of trying to buy a daughter to a moustached man apparently seen watching the McCann’s apartment – have failed to yield anything concrete. Reports have tried to link numerous known paedophiles to the case but no convincing evidence has ever been uncovered.


What happened to Robert Murat, the first person to be named as a suspect?

Murat, who lived close to the Praia da Luz apartment in Portugal where Madeleine went missing in May 2007, was the first formal suspect, or arguido, in the McCann case. He denied any involvement in her disappearance and was later released without charge by Portuguese police. In July 2008 he accepted a settlement of £600,000 in libel damages over claims in nearly 100 articles.


Has DNA evidence not produced any leads?

Shortly after Madeleine’s disappearance, reports suggested that traces of the toddler’s DNA had been found in the McCann’s apartment and car rented 25 days after her disappearance. This played a large role in the decision by police to name them as suspects. However, It turned out the analysis conducted in the UK was "inconclusive" and there was no foundation for making that allegation. The McCann’s were awarded hundreds of thousands of pounds in libel damages in 2008 over reports concerning the evidence.

British detectives have expressed dismay over flaws in the Portuguese police’s investigation, in which dozens of people were allowed to trample over the crime scene and evidence was found to be contaminated with cigarette ash. Files relating to the case also disclosed that several other holidaymakers stayed in the flat from which Madeleine disappeared while it was still designated as a crime scene.


Who can solve the case?

The official investigation was shelved in July 2008 but Scotland Yard's review of the case, Operation Grange, was launched last year when David Cameron responded to a plea from Madeleine's parents. The Metropolitan Police is urging Portuguese authorities to reopen the case, claiming it has identified new leads after spending £2 million reinvestigating the evidence. A team of more than 30 officers involved in the case had been out to Portugal seven times, including a visit to the family's holiday flat in Praia da Luz.


Is there any chance that Madeleine in alive?

Scotland Yard says there are 195 potential leads to finding her alive. Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood said he believed her disappearance was a stranger abduction, as he said there were 195 "investigative opportunities". He said "evidence that she is alive stems from the forensic view of the timeline" that there was the opportunity for her to be taken. Investigations show "there do appear to be gaps", he added.

Good - anything that makes the hook-line-and-sinker brigade take a second look has to be a step forward.

Linkie is desperately slow to load, though - and five minutes on it gives me nothing but the URL on the Tab Header.

Is it in today's hard copy Torygraph? If so, I'll get to it later - only just finished disassembling all the Sections!




Edit: Got it loaded now: Problem at my end.

I think its very positive that papers like The Telegraph are asking these questions. Obviously they can't point the finger at the royal two but they are putting it all out there for people to make up their own minds.

Thank you for posting that! I was beginning to feel very disheartened. This 'love the McCanns' advertising campaign by SY and media is sickening.

Especially as in two weeks' time Tony Bennett stands to lose all he has and go to prison for giving publicly available information to another person.

I see its dated 25/4/12 but today is the first time I've seen it. I think its a good article with lots of juicy info

About time too, good that its the Telegraph!!! Ive noticed the last couple of days how people are actually questioning things now, imo this is the people at one time of day were really not bothered either way but now, like most are probably sick of the "Me Me Me" and "poor us" McCann circus, so the more of this from the Telegraph (and others hopefully now they might dare too) the better

Anything which doesn't just swallow redwoods 'she is alive' line verbatim is good I think.

Lillyofthevalley wrote:About time too, good that its the Telegraph!!! Ive noticed the last couple of days how people are actually questioning things now, imo this is the people at one time of day were really not bothered either way but now, like most are probably sick of the "Me Me Me" and "poor us" McCann circus, so the more of this from the Telegraph (and others hopefully now they might dare too) the better

although many of my family and friends dont discuss it with me one or 2 have said that kate and gerry have asked for it to be reopened ? when i pointed out that they havent at all they are shocked as ive posted on another thread they just say welcoming and that isnt the same as asking face to face with anyone high up in portugal - whoever it is

OMG! This makes a change! Every other article I've read is so biased in favour of the McCanns!

That's in a UK paper?

Yes indeed

This sounds like a balanced article .. lots more seems to have come out about the case this last week.IMO

A good friend that I had stopped discussing the case with ( because of conflicting views) asked me why the family still wanted money from the public when the government was spending millions on it. Why not other children?
Only my opinion but I really feel this last week will have made a lot of people who had written the case off sit up and take notice of whats going on again.

Iris wrote:That's in a UK paper?

One of the very few not owned by Rupert Murdoch.

interested wrote:

Iris wrote:That's in a UK paper?

One of the very few not owned by Rupert Murdoch.

A slight exaggeration. 10 national dailies of which Murdoch owns two. Mind you Dirty Des and his rags seem just as much rabid supporters.

Yeah!! Good article

Things are changing

Chris wrote:

interested wrote:

Iris wrote:That's in a UK paper?

One of the very few not owned by Rupert Murdoch.

A slight exaggeration. 10 national dailies of which Murdoch owns two. Mind you Dirty Des and his rags seem just as much rabid supporters.

My comment was meant to include Dirty Des' "rags". I guess, circulation wise, his papers reach substantially more readers than the quality(?) press.

quickfingers wrote:Not sure if this has been posted before. If so please remove. Lots of good points getting out now I think.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/madeleinemccann/9226205/Madeleine-McCann-unanswered-questions.html

Here are some of the key questions surrounding her disappearance from her parent's holiday flat in Praia da Luz on May 3, 2007:

If Madeleine id dead, where is her body?

Various theories have been put forward, however none have stood up to closer scrutiny. One detective was quoted not long after the three-year-old disappeared as saying that her body was dumped at sea in a bag weighted with stones. Police are said to have at one point considered the possibility the McCanns somehow recruited an accomplice to help smuggle the body on to a boat.

Another theory is that Madeleine was buried beneath major roadworks. The area around the Nossa Senhora da Luz church, where the McCanns regularly prayed, was dug up for water pipes around the time Madeleine disappeared. Officials dismissed this theory because the holes were just 27 in deep and 16 in wide.

Wow: The first question is 'if madeleine is dead' and they answer factually about what they think the Mccann's may have done with her!
This is an amazing article. New information too!

Thinking about it the Telegraph has actually been really good over the past couple of years.

They broke the MP's expenses scandal, then they also broke the scandal of abortion clinics offering to abort pregnancies for inane reasons like due to gender... my trust in them has actually increased and continues to do so. I might actually buy it in the future.

Loopdaloop wrote:Thinking about it the Telegraph has actually been really good over the past couple of years.

They broke the MP's expenses scandal, then they also broke the scandal of abortion clinics offering to abort pregnancies for inane reasons like due to gender... my trust in them has actually increased and continues to do so. I might actually buy it in the future.

It also has a pretty good crossword!

I've just read it... I want to add my voice to those saying that over all it is reasonably balanced and thoughtful.... Not spot on... but nothing is. Yeah. Surprisingly fair, I'd say...

AnnaEsse wrote:

Loopdaloop wrote:Thinking about it the Telegraph has actually been really good over the past couple of years.

They broke the MP's expenses scandal, then they also broke the scandal of abortion clinics offering to abort pregnancies for inane reasons like due to gender... my trust in them has actually increased and continues to do so. I might actually buy it in the future.

It also has a pretty good crossword!

Two, actually - I'm a "Toughie" afficionado

My only gripe about the Torygraph is it's insistence on using archaic measures like Fahrenheit , Yards etc. with metric as a mere afterthought: I'm 55 and struggle with all that mediaeval stuff.

The End Is Nigh wrote:

AnnaEsse wrote:

Loopdaloop wrote:Thinking about it the Telegraph has actually been really good over the past couple of years.

They broke the MP's expenses scandal, then they also broke the scandal of abortion clinics offering to abort pregnancies for inane reasons like due to gender... my trust in them has actually increased and continues to do so. I might actually buy it in the future.

It also has a pretty good crossword!

Two, actually - I'm a "Toughie" afficionado

My only gripe about the Torygraph is it's insistence on using archaic measures like Fahrenheit , Yards etc. with metric as a mere afterthought: I'm 55 and struggle with all that mediaeval stuff.

Given that the Barclays who own the Telegraph also own and live on Brecqhou which I believe still comes under the legal jurisidiction of Sark they probably quite like mediaeval stuff.