British police launch inquiry into missing Madeleine McCann

[Earthnut]

It didn't seem fitting to put this in the Donut Hole; it's too serious of a subject.

More than 800,000 children younger than 18 go missing each year nationwide, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.

That's nearly 2,200 every day. What is horrifying is these statistics are for just children.

Click on image for a larger view.

~ Article posted 7/4/13 ~

By Michael Holden

LONDON (Reuters) - British police said on Thursday they had begun their own investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, who vanished in Portugal six years ago at age three, saying they had new leads and had identified 38 potential suspects.

McCann went missing from her room at the Praia da Luz holiday resort in the Algarve on May 2007 while her parents were dining with friends at a nearby restaurant, leading to a global search that gripped the world's media.

"We continue to believe that there is a possibility that Madeleine is alive," said Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood. "It is a positive step in our hunt for Madeleine that our understanding of the evidence has enabled us to shift from review to investigation."

Despite massive international interest and numerous reported sightings from Belgium and Spain to Morocco, France and Malta, and investigations stretching as far away as Australia, the little girl's fate remains a mystery.

Her parents were named as official suspects by Portuguese police four months after Madeleine's disappearance but in 2008 they were cleared and Portugal's public prosecutor later dropped the case, citing a lack of evidence.

London police launched a review of the case in 2011 after the couple wrote to British Prime Minister David Cameron saying not enough was being done to find their daughter.

NEW FINDINGS

Since then British detectives have made 16 trips to Portugal and pulled together thousands of documents collected from Britain, Portugal and private investigators from seven different companies who had worked on the case.

That had led to "in excess of 3,800 actions", yielding new findings and new evidence from witnesses, they said.

"We have identified 38 persons of interest from a number of European countries," Redwood said. "Twelve of those people are UK nationals who we believe were in Portugal at the time Madeleine disappeared."

Officers from his team have now formally requested that Britain's Crown Prosecution Service submit a letter to the Portuguese authorities asking for help in obtaining evidence relating to potential leads.

"Kate and Gerry warmly welcome the shift in the Met's emphasis from review to investigation," the McCanns said in a statement to media.

(Reporting by Michael Holden; Editing by Raissa Kasolowsky)

[seesthru]

So sad. I do hope they find her. I followed this intensely. Madeline has a coloboma in her right eye, I believe at the 7 o clock position. That would make it difficult for anyone to fully disguise her. I thought sooner or later someone would notice that if she is out in public.

[Earthnut]

Here's hoping she is found. I didn't know about Madeline's eye. I probably haven't been following this as close as you've been.

[seesthru]

It's one of the first things I noticed in her pictures. Of course You'd have to know, it's because of Millennium that I noticed at all or knew what to call it.

[Libby]

Oh, yes, that was Force Majeure.

This particular case raised, and continues to raise, some difficult questions about the attitude of the media, the public, and the police, all of which have been very difficult for the McCanns. Things like: the only reason the media were interested was because it was a case of a young + pretty + white + girl + middle-class. And then the public criticism of the McCanns for not being vigilant, in a place that was family-friendly and not a known risk. And the Portuguese police, who seemed to prefer the idea that the McCanns were responsible, so as not to upset the tourism trade.

Then there were the comments about the amount of money the McCanns raised to fund the search for Madeleine. And the consequence of envy of that, such as the Shannon Matthews case: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kidnapping_of_Shannon_Matthews

It's horrendous when cases like these happen. I think some people forget that it's children who have rights, adults who have responsibilities. The worst dereliction of responsibility/duty of an adult is to fail to see a child as a person in their own right. And sometimes that happens in acrimonious divorce cases, as well.
.

I do really, really hope that Madeleine is found alive. But even if she has been cared for since her abduction, the psychological trauma she will have suffered, and her family has suffered, means that it would take years of therapy before they could be a normal family again.

[seesthru]

All true.

[Earthnut]

What's so sad is sometimes they never get back to normal. Childhood trauma can stay with you all of your life, and most often shapes you as an adult.

[seesthru]

She was so young. If she is being cared for in any way shape or form, her survival instinct will be to bond with her captors and she will forget her parents. If she is found, and taken away, and has bonded with her captors say in a family type setting, then, She will suffer the trauma of kidnapping again if found and removed from them. NO good ending for this one. If she's been abused, etc.... then that might mean she can bond with her original family but the traumas she endured, yes will mark her for life. She may even blame her parents at some point for not preventing her kidnapping or for not rescuing her sooner.

I wonder why they think she may still be living? I know it's not uncommon, and I don't think they should give up until they find her one way or another, but do they have specific evidence?

You are correct about young white middle class. Young white children get the most media attention. Rilya Wilson didn't get this much attention until a stink was raised. hundreds of kids in Florida's foster care system unaccounted for. ( much like many other states) all colors but poor, no one to care... and they don't get much attention.

[Earthnut]

I personally feel that they have evidence to the fact that she may still be alive, but not sharing it with the public.

The US has always been a "white man's country," but with a black president and public awareness, things are changing. I just pray that the fighting is over, but sad to say, there's always something in the news making a distinction between races and colors. And, forgive me for saying this, but it's usually the blacks that complain the loudest, making the distinction, even to the point of having their own national anthem. I sometimes wonder if it all isn't be orchestrated.

Came back to edit my post with this news story ~ https://Despite outcry, stand-ground law repeals unlikely

Click image for larger view ~

The point I want to make is, "Who said it was a crime?" The civil rights groups, not the rest of us, black, red, and white, etc.

MIAMI (AP) — Despite an outcry from civil rights groups, a call for close examination by President Barack Obama and even a 1960s-style sit-in at the Florida governor's office, the jury's verdict that George Zimmerman was justified in shooting unarmed teenager Trayvon Martin is unlikely to spur change to any of the nation's stand-your-ground self-defense laws.............................................

I believe it's all about "control."