The Madeline McCann case
Carole Moore
Missing Persons Contributor
Officer.com
Has brought change for the better.
The U.S. successfully implemented a missing child alert system that saves lives. By immediately getting the word out when a child disappears or has been abducted, law enforcement has untold thousands of pairs of eyes looking for the kid and any vehicle that may be involved.
Law enforcement officers go into overdrive when there is a child missing. I remember several searches as a patrol officer and the relief that came when the young person was successfully located. When the Amber alert system came into effect, it gave police an edge, and has saved countless lives in this country.
The McCann family has undergone a terrible experience and I am sure they’ve many times thought about what they would do differently if life had “do-overs.” But it doesn’t. Now they have to live with the idea they may never know what happened to their beautiful little girl.
However, they’ve managed to convince the European Parliament that a Europe-wide system like our Amber alerts is needed. Good for the McCanns for taking steps that could help others avoid their heartache.
For this post’s missing person connection, here is a man who vanished from his L.A. home in 2005. Does he look familiar to you? If so, tell the police.
http://www.theyaremissed.org/ncma/gallery/ncmaprofile_all.php?A200604581S
Here in Europe we should say Thank you, to Kate and Gerry McCann for their hard work. They did infact make sure we get an alert system like yours Amber alert. We do need that so much here in Europe as too many children goes missing! I hope and pray that Madeleine will be found and reunited with her parents!
Thanks … Lena, Denmark
There are many people, including Goncalo Amaral, the retired senior Policia Judiciaria investigating officer, who believe the McCann’s probably know where Madeleine is and what happened to her. Alaral beleives she is dead and died in the McCann’s holiday apartment.
Try reading his book “Maddie — A Verdade da Mentira” which translates as Maddie — The Truth of the Lie.
Doug, Amaral may beleive that she died in the apartment but he obviously had no proof that would stand up in court.
In the case of Madeleine McCann there was no evidence to indicate that an abduction had taken place.
Mrs B
Fortunately, the case has not be abandoned, it has been shelved hopefully awaiting further evidence which will enable the PJ to take it further.
There can be no doubt in anyone’s mind the MC’s were guilty of gross negligence towards their childern by leaving them unsupervided.
Mrs. Fenn, a neighbour, heard one the the poor MC children crying for over an hour one night. Where were the checks every 15 - 30 minutes that night? It would be reasonable to assume there weren’t any.
I wasn’t aware that the McCanns actually made any difference in getting this system implemented.
Also unsure if it would have helped in Madeleine’s case. After all Jane Tanner who saw the abductor did not raise the alarm immediately. In the beginning it was not known if this was an abduction or not. It is still uncertain even now if it was an abduction.
What worries me is that the EVRD dog found the scent of human remains in the apartment where the McCanns were staying, on the clothes of Kate McCann and in the car that the McCanns hired 25 days after Madeleine ‘disappeared’. Here is the police video http://sosmaddie.dhblogs.be/archive/2008/09/12/video-eddie-keela-dans-l-appartement-5a.html.
Perhaps it would help poor Madeleine if Mr and Mrs McCann and their friends would have returned to Portugal for a reconstruction. But alas they chose not to.
God bless Madeleine and all neglected children.
given that the Eddie & Keela the world famous sniffer dogs picked out a death scent in 1 apartment after searching 40 and then picked out a death scent in 1 car after searching 10 if Maddie has been abducted whos body are we looking for?
Mrs B Gibbon says - “Doug, Amaral may beleive that she died in the apartment but he obviously had no proof that would stand up in court.”
However Mrs B., the case has been SHELVED not closed, and can be reopened at any time should further information be forthcoming. And to date there has not been a shred of evidence to suggest that Maddie was abducted from the apartment. So FACTS are in short supply whichever way you look at it, although there appears to have been plenty of MISINFORMATION.
there was no abuction,so the amber alert WOULD not have helped madeleine.you should read the pj files before you write about the mccanns
U.S. Department of Justice
National Criminal Justice Reference Service
NCJ Number: NCJ 220809
Title: Preliminary Examination of AMBER Alert’s Effects
Journal: Criminal Justice Policy Review
Volume: 18 Issue:4 Dated:December 2007 Pages:378 to 394
Author(s): Timothy Griffin ; Monica K. Miller ;
Jeffrey Hoppe ; Amy Rebideaux ; Rachel Hammack
Publisher Url*: http://www.sagepub.com/
Publication Date: 12/2007
Type: Applied research
Origin: United States
Annotation: In examining hundreds of alerts issued in 2004 by the Scripps-Howard News Network, this study evaluated the effectiveness of AMBER Alert.
Abstract: The results suggest that the AMBER Alert system does not routinely function as intended. The available data show only a little evidence that children are being “recovered” because of AMBER Alerts, and even less evidence that they are being “rescued” from serious abduction events. AMBER Alerts are least likely to be successful when the abductor is a stranger. However, the data presented show that a majority of the children abducted by parents in AMBER Alert cases are successfully returned to the lawful guardian. This analysis yielded several important policy recommendations with the most important the need for more comprehensive research on the effectiveness of the AMBER Alert system in saving children. AMBER Alerts are public announcements designed to elicit citizen tips that could help rapidly recover abducted children before they can be harmed by their kidnappers. Using various media accounts as a data source to garner a convenience sample of 275 alerts, basic information was gathered, including victim-offender relationship, recovery time, and the direct effects of the alert.
Before any Amber Alert is utilised the police have to be certain that an abduction has taken place.
There is NO evidence at all that Maddie McCann WAS abducted. I am afraid that the childs parents ’saying’ that she was is NOT ‘evidence’!
Eddie and Keela, the cadaver and blood dogs, signalled the scent of death in the McCanns apartment, car, clothing and key fob.
Kate McCann refused to answer police questions….which could have helped the police with their investigation.
The McCanns left Portugal immediately they were named as arguido’s, and have refused to go back to do a reconstruction!
The little daughter was heard ’screaming crying’ for 1hr 15mins on the evening of May 1st.
That these negligent parents should be aligned to any ‘child safety’ campaign is ludicrous!
Good Intentions, Ineffective Results
Published: August 14, 2008
Mark Williams, Sacramento Union Columnist
The Amber Alert system is a 12-year-old program named after 9-year-old Amber Hagerman who was kidnapped and murdered in Arlington, Texas in 1996. Last year, 227 Amber Alerts were issued nationwide and the system is credited by the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children as having saved more than 400 children since its inception.
But has it?
“Amber” is also an acronym for “America’s Missing Broadcast Emergency Alert,” a tortured contortion of the language to fit the victim’s name. This kind of transformation of victim into mascot is typical of liberal efforts to anthropomorphize an unstudied and untested idea—in this case to cause discussion to revolve around the emotional imagery of a helpless child in the clutches of a murderous maniac. This nearly ensures that the idea will streak through the system unchallenged. Reinforcement comes from the breathless, round-the-clock cable news coverage of individual cases that leave one wondering if sending your child out to play is a death sentence.
For some of us, such bureaucratic behavior is a red flag signaling that the idea in question is deserving of extra attention and thought.
Broken at the Start?
When California went all out to institute an Amber Alert system, I was working for the radio station selected to be the primary station. We would get the alert and then use a version of the old Emergency Broadcast System to take it statewide. It took me all of four seconds to realize it was just another wasteful, feel-good expenditure of the taxpayers’ money and would not do what it was advertised to do.
The idea was to get the word out on a missing or abducted child within thirty minutes. My own research (so proven by personal experience) showed that the whole thing was a crock, beginning with the fact that nobody could agree on just what constituted a missing or abducted child. Should we kick open the system for a panicky mom with a toddler who wanders out of sight at the mall? How about a 14-year-old runaway? Then there was the problem of exactly who could activate it. Was it within the purview of the cops who responded to the initial call? Could the parent call us directly? What emerged was a chain of command—with some links that had no idea they were links. The radio hosts were at the end of the chain and would follow instructions that we received via a dedicated open computer connection to a state office.
Over the next year, I never saw the system notify us in any period of time shorter than twelve hours, but frequently it took as much as a day or better. We considered the system a sick joke. As I told my listeners at the time, the Amber Alert is just another liberal placebo designed to make everybody feel better, by misleading the distraught parents into thinking something out of the ordinary was being done to find their child. I warned that buying into Amber Alert was not only ineffective but would result in dead kids because we would all be too busy feeling good to look for the child.
Does it Work?
University of Nevada criminologist Timothy Griffin has had his team study hundreds of Amber Alerts issued between 2003 and 2006. His preliminary finds indicate that in most cases the Amber Alert played no role in the eventual rescue of the child involved. Where the Amber Alert was a factor, it was usually in instances of custody disputes in which the child was not in danger.
In those cases where the abduction was real and the abductor’s intent evil, Griffin found that Amber Alert is a wonderful “feel good” program, but not much good in saving lives. His findings show that some 63 percent of those alerts issued played no role in the recovery of the child and only about a tenth of those were cases where the child was in actual danger. Most child abductions, he found, are solved by old-fashioned police work, tips unrelated to the alert or kidnappers who change their minds.
Indeed, noble in its intent, the Amber Alert system was not thought through and thus delivers misdirected effort and resources, not missing children.
http://www.sacunion.com/pages/columns/articles/10308/
Carol Moore, most of the children who have been ‘recovered’ by the Amber Alert are children taken away by their own parents during ‘custody’ battles.
Those childrens lives were never ‘in danger’……so your statement that ‘many childrens lives have been saved’ is not true!
The Portuguese Police Files are available, and if you take the time to read them you will see that there is no shred of evidence to point to Maddie as having been ‘abducted’.
I think the US should be on red alert ….think the saintly duo will be heading your way
ABC News
April 3rd 2008
Dilemma of an Amber Alert
Authorities Struggle to Balance Need for Amber Alerts With Their Possible Overuse
Officials Forced to Stand up to Media, Parental Pressure
Authorities Fear Overuse, Desensitization of Public
http://abcnews.go.com/US/Story?id=4576301&page=1
I do not feel the McCanns are the correct people to promote child safety. They left three little children alone, vulnerable and at risk night after night and then have been proved to have told lies about it! DOGS DO NOT LIE. An Amber Alert would not have saved Madeleine - God bless her
‘The Madeline McCann Case Has Brought Change For Better’
Don’t think MadelEine McCann would agree with that!
Can someone explain how the McCann case has brought change for the better. Is it now legal to leave 3 children alone, with the eldest aged 3 looking out for the other 2 younger ones, whilst Mum and Dad go drinking and having tapas. How would the Amber Alert have saved Madeleine, no one saw her disappear, no one saw her being taken (no not even Jane Tanner) and the cadaver and death dogs found traces in the apartment. So who died there. Anything else the McCanns want to hi jack. If they hadnt lied about the shutters being broken and the door locked perhaps and without the interference of the UK government perhaps the PJ would have a result by now. Tell me please how they have brought change for the better. Nothing in the amber alert would have helped find Madeleine. All police forces go into overdrive when missing children are involved.
Rachida Dati, French Justice Minister, has said there must be very strict conditions for the use of an alert system and I am sure this is the case in the USA too.
There must be proof that an abduction has taken place.
There must be information which would help identify a possible abductor.
There should be information about a vehicle used in the abduction.
None of the above applies to the Madeleine McCann case.
No evidence of a break-in. No one, apart from Jane Tanner, saw anything suspicious and no one saw any suspicious vehicles.
So, what information would the Portuguese police have had to work on?
Little blonde girl, last seen in her holiday apartment, not there now.
Not really sufficient information for anyone to work with.
Carol, I have been reading some of your other articles regarding missing children.
It is a shame that you have not researched the McCann case enough before including the McCann case in your writings.
Goncarlo Amaral, the co-ordinater of the investigation, has written a book about the case, and there is a documentary currently being filmed in Portugal based on his book.
The UK press have not reported the facts of this case, and their ‘reporting’ throughout has been mainly information provided by the McCanns themselves, through their press spokeperson Clarance Mitchel. Mr Mitchel was employed as the UK governments director of the Media Monitoring Unit at the time of Maddies disappearance. He left his government post some time later to work full-time for the McCanns…….
So if you have depended upon the UK press for your information about the case may I suggest that you read translations of Portuguese newspapers ot the PJ files. This will give you are wider picture.
Translations of the Tapas party’s and the McCanns police statements are also available on the internet if you wish to search for them. Reading those will show why the McCanns and Tapas party refused to go back to Portugal to do a ‘reconstruction’ of the 3rd May.
The value of the Amber alert is being doubted more and more. It would not have helped Madeleine for several reasons: the parents warned police much later and there was no evidence of abduction. Good parenting starts at home: watch your children. The fact that they, to boost their severly neglectful image, are allowed to promote an Amber alert is very worrying, since they never asked the public not to do what they did: Leave 3 toddlers, 3yr and under alone, in a strange bed, in a strange house, in a strange country, night after night to go to a bar. This even after Madeleine asked “why didn’t you come, when we were crying”?!!!
mccanns has NOT brought change for the better. The End.
Thanks Joanne for the abtracts
Nobody knows yet if Madeleine McCann case could be covered by some type of an Amber Alert System.
There’s still a lof of doubts concerning this case and it seems nothing points of an abduction.
So, in this particular case - Madeleine - the Amber Alert System wouldn’t help!
I’m leaving a second comment, because after re-reading your article, it’s quite obvious you don’t know the full extension about Madeleine McCann case.
I suggest you read the Police files and the book “A Verdade da Mentira” (The Truth of the Lie), written by Gonçalo Amaral (a former excellent officer and coordinator on the case). You’ll probably have another angle on the case and you’ll start questioning this “abduction” story.
The Mccanns manipulation of the publics need for grief is quite appaling. The Mccanns know full well what happened to their daughter on the night of the 3rd of May 2007 and the sooner they stop this silly charade, the sooner normality mighty return to the British press.
Dear Carol,
I fear that you article heading is inappropriate.
I beleive it would be a more honest headline, and article, if it dealt with the Uk Media’s abysmal reporting of the Maddie case.
Your headline should then read :
“The UK Media misreporting of the Madeleine McCann Case is a change for the worst, and their sickly sweet and ultra biased news articles in support of the McCann’s is a danger to Democracy.”
Best wishes,
Peter
UK
FGS! You people are despicable! This is about saving children’s lives and all you can do is go on and on with your warped Amaral theories. Have some decency you sick people!
To all who love to respond to anything regarding Madeleine. What if, she was abducted? What if Mr Amaral is wrong? What if the McCann;s really thought their children were safe and were suffering from the English abroaditis disease where the Brits leave their brains back in England and behave in an out of character way in warmer climates? What if she were found and it was discovered that the McCann’s had been telling the truth, the whole truth all the time? Would you all recognise yourselves as bullies who had joined the “kick them when their down” gang? What happened to the British “Innocent until proven guilty”? What happened to the compassionate nation I belong to? Personally, I’m happiest to be part of the anti-bullying side of the playground. May you all sleep well in your beds!
I believe the McCann’s are guilty of something. A child is missing and someone is responsible. McCanns have been getting more attention than they deserve. More than some who lack the means to attract this attention. They should just go away. Enough about them and their plight. A child is missing and presumed dead. All the experts money could buy could not do anything. unbelievable!!
To anonymous - strange you cannot use your name - these people are NOT despicable, they are the ones trying to make sense of the Madeleine McCann case. Of course they want to save childrens lives, that is why they are so incensed about the McCanns leaving their children alone night after night. The first way to save children’s lives is making the leaving of young children alone a crime! Cynthia
I really don’t know where to start. Everyone who has written on here, apart from Anonymous, seems to think that Goncalo Ameral is some kind of saviour, the cadavar dogs were right, and the McCanns are dispicable parents. Number one, if Mr Ameral had done his job properly in the first place and stopped people from walking all over the evidence, sealed off the apartment, informed the boarders, and done a proper police job, etc. etc. perhaps he would have discovered what had happened to Madeleine, or even better found her alive!! The British police who went over to Portugal said that it was the worst protected ‘crime scene’ that they had ever witnessed. As far as the children crying night after night, the lady in the apartment above denied making that statement, she hadn’t heard them at all!! Now we get onto the cadavar dogs smelling death in the apartment and finding blood. These dogs were taken to Portugal in August, which to my reckoning is approximately three and a half months after Madeleine’s disappearance. During which time the apartment had been rented out to at least two other families for their summer holiday!!! They also were supposed to have smelt Madeleine’s bodily fluids in the hire car. That was easily explained by the fact that when the McCanns moved from the apartment they, of course, took Madeleine’s clothes, shoes, toys etc. The Forensic Science Lab in Birmingham have said that the DNA could have been from anyone in Madeleine’s family, there was not a good enough match for them to definitely say it was Madeleine. Now let’s move on to the apartment itself and the proximity to the Tapas Bar. I know a great many people who have been to Praia da Luz, and have visited the Ocean Club. They have all said that they can understand why the McCanns thought that the children would be safe because the distance is negligible, and as Gerry said it would be just like having a meal at the bottom of your garden with the children asleep in bed. If they had employed the services of the Ocean Club, the method used would have been even more basic, because the nanny just listened at the door. If there was a noise they would inform the reception and the parents would be told. I support the theory of Mark Williams Thompson, he states that most probably Madeleine woke up, found her parents missing, and went through the door into the street. As she was walking down to the reception someone picked her up. I also think that she is with a family of travellers, who move around and beg and steal, and the photograph of the child on the back of a woman in North Africa was her. That is my theory and I hope to God that she will be found soon. As you can gather by this I support the McCanns 120% because I feel that they are completely innocent. I applaud them for everything they are doing to find their little girl, and I admire their strength and focus despite all the flack they have had to deal with, along with suffering tremendous guilt. Mr Ameral on the other hand has been shown up to be completely incompetent who, instead of doing his job, went on boozy four hour lunches, and is now trying to save face by committing libel, by cashing in in the name of Madeleine McCann. Who needs a job in the police force when you can retire on a pension and have gullible such as the ones on here that will buy and read his rubbish!!
Sorry Jen - I agree completely with you. I hope to God that she will be found, and she is reunited with her family. I know when that happens my life will be able to return to normal.
Jean,
You need to get your facts straight. The idea you have about the case is completely upside down. It’s obvious you didn’t read the files, otherwise you wouldn’t say things like “the scene was sealed”, “the borders weren’t informed” and lots more of misinformation you have about the case. This has nothing to do with Amaral (though he is much, much better than what you picture - at least, in what comes to investigating crimes he’s much better than you - it’s about circumstancial evidence.
Sorry, but it doesn’t seem an abduction took place.
However, you’re free to believe whatever you want.
amarel was sacked for doing such a pathetic job,and an amber alert would have immediately closed the borders and all cars and boats would have been searched.As it was the borders were not closed for a couple of days..to late then,she could have been taken anywhere,and all you perfect parents who never did anything wrong with parenting their own children should get of their backs.Amarel is a disgusting pig of a man trying to make money out of a horrible crime,the pj screwed up from day dot,and YES i have read the files.
Hey, nobody knows what happened that night. No-one.Amaral is justified in presenting his theories because of his position as ex PJ, however it is as specious as any theory put forward by anyone simply because of lack of facts, evidence. Any story can be made to look like it fits-hence it is called specious, however, simply because PJ did not seal off the apartment and area, did not search for Madeleine on the night, it’s too late now for anything to be proved either way. Amaral could just as easily be involved with Joane Ciprianos case,and Madeleines, and planted the death scent in the apartment, car and keys. or could have any PJ. The truth is we just don’t know what happened. Hopefully, one day we all will, but until then we all really should remain kind and open minded.
Jean
The McCann’s went “boozing” leaving the children alone night after night after night. They have deflected a lot of scrutiny by the way they shrewdly manipulated this case. A child is missing while under the care of her parents. My sympathy lies with this child. It is amazing to me that these people are still evoking the sympathy of others…move on..they have been excused of their wrongful deeds. Sadly, the victim Madeleine McCann does not have that privlege.
I would not read Mr amorals book if you paid me, check out this so called mans background and you might realise why he was taken off the so called job he was doing had he done his job and took notes for his NEW BOOK, stopped his speculating AND WROTE FACTS AND NOT FICTION, maybe this little girl would have been found, I have policepeople in my family and they agree too.
This despicable man has made millions from this book and you who read it are lining his fat greedy pockets for his retirement fund, just remember,that when a tragedy like this can happen to you and someone in so called authority can write whatever they want and line their pockets over your misery and some people will believe fairytales,It could be your misery one day.
I hope one day soon Madeleine is found, one way or the other.
Jean, I have not written anything about Amaral but I will now. He was not there when Madeleine went missing so how could he have sealed off the apartment? The apartment had been entered by goodness knows how many people before the first police officers arrived. Once Kate and Gerry had established Madeleine was no where in the apartment THEY should have stopped others entering after all they were the ones screaming abduction.
Irena Mr Amaral is NOT making millions from his book. The money is going to childrens homes in the Algarve. Gosh how despicable of him! Perhaps you ought to check out why he was really taken off the job.
Parents who leave their young children at risk and then lie about it are despicable in my opinion.
cynthia if mr ameral was that good at his job and such a saint surely there would not be an investigation going on about him and his colleagues, and are you related to him? as he is not giving all his money to charity,so tell me why is he being investigated and why was he taken off his job? because he was taking his long few hours dinner breaks and having a laugh at other people expense. If he had any proof surely there would have been people taken to court, what about Mr murrat was he guilty too, I dont think so, what a balls up of a job this so called man has done.Again dont tell me he he has NOT made any money for himself.Dont make me laugh , tiny ammount for this small charity rest for his retirement fund.If he had been a decent policeman he would have been more concerned in finding this little girl and birnging the person guilty of this crime to justice.This child is missing while there is someone who has her or knows what has happened to her, I hope someone will find her and crack open this case as I dont care about no stupid book that is written about this case as its still ongoing, (though shelved as no evidence)and this poor little girl is still missng while you Cythnia is going on about this amazing book that mr so called expert policeman mr ameral has written and best of all not even caught the culprit.I hope one day you dont have this happen to you and some one writes about you and your child.
Yes my child went missng, and she was found safe.I know how it feels.
Well, I came to this site through another only to discover the vile and despicable anti-McCann hate mob already got here.
Blog owner, you know what they do? they advertise on internet sites that somewhere is open for comments on anything relating to the Mccanns, and then bomb it.
Tiresome, stupid people. they will be doing it in 20 years time, hopefully long after the real perpetrators are behind bars. But they willstill say the Mccanns dun it. It’s like a flippin’ religion.
Why is everyone wanting to play the blame game? Poor Little Madeline is either alive or dead, the real story none of us know except that beautiful little girl! until she or her remains is found, no one will ever really know. Anyone could of taken her or hurt- We all know the parents screwed up big time, I myself am a parent and gramparent and I have yet to be or meet the perfect flawless parent- questions is does being a less than perfect parent mean it is ok that a child is still missing since the parents “must of” hurt her or at best dereseved this??
Thank you for writing on this - I believe the Amber Alert system in Europe will help children as it will heighten awareness of the issue and will be of practical use as well. I think the Amber Alert System has raised public awareness 10 fold and was instrumental in bringing home a couple of children in my area in the last year or two.
As far the McCanns I wish them the best and of course that their lovely daughter is reunited with them very soon. It is a heart breaking story and one where you see errors committed by both the police and the parents. only thing that matters is that the hunt for her continues and justice served. It appears that the McCanns continue their search and have no plan to let up. May they be successful. May that crucial someone have the means and the will to help them now.