Whatever happened to baby Maddie?

[Lace Neil Singer]

Everyone, I'm sure, remembers the whole Madeline McCann abduction story that was all over the news last year. How her parents were at first, and by some, still, suspected of killing her; how a pedophile ring is now suspected of having put out an order to kidnap her; how she has been sighted several times but every time it has turned out to be a mistake. What do you think happened to her?

I think that the poor little girl is probably dead and buried somewhere where she'll never be found. Heartbreaking as this is, it's better than the alternative; that she's being held and tortured by a pedophile ring. There have been so many sightings that I can't trust the most recent; there are loads of blonde children in the world, and the other details could have been tacked on by the shop assistant in order to make it a better story. It's a tragedy, but most children taken in this way are murdered.

Sources: http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...cle1541035.ece
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage...cle1525122.ece

[MystyGlyttyr]

I hate to say this, but I see that little girl every damned day, at least twice. There's so many cute little blonde girls with the long straight hair running around now that you just about can't tell one from another. That's why I'm glad my nieces all have some really distinctive features, just in case (there are scars and vision issues and dark hair, etc., in the bunch).

[Flyndaran]

Fortunately, stranger abductions of children are EXCEEDINGLY rare in the U.S.
Pedophilia is not illegal, only rape is illegal. I wish people would use proper english to avoid clouding the issue.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Did you actually read the articles I posted, or are you just actively seeking out topics to post on? This abduction did NOT happen in the US. It happened in Portugal, about a year ago. I wish people would actually bother to read the entire thread and sources rather than just post unthinkingly.

[Boozy]

Did you actually read the articles I posted, or are you just actively seeking out topics to post on? This abduction did NOT happen in the US.

Perhaps Flyndaran understands that, and was just drawing the US into the discussion. Is there any reason why we can't discuss this issue in a broader international sense, as opposed to focusing on just one case? I hate to place too many limitations on what could become a lively discussion.

[Lace Neil Singer]

It just seemed obtuce, that's all. And I don't really want the discussion to be drawn down a blind alley, when the single case has so many questions and topics to discuss, such as the following:

1. Were the parents to blame for leaving their children alone while they had dinner? There was a free babysitting service, and the holiday apartment was right on the other side of the complex to where the parents were having dinner.
2. Do you suspect the parents? The parents could well have been lying on checking up on their kids every half hour, and the parents are always the first to be suspected. On the other hand, who manages to keep their composture after constant police questioning when you have lost your child?
3. If it was a stranger, then who was the abductor? A childless woman? A lone pedophile? Or a procurer for a pedophile ring?
4. What of the sightings? Real, or just wishful thinking and/or people wanting their five minutes of fame?
5. Alive or dead? Would it be better for the child to be dead rather than in the hands of a pedophile?

And so on. All Flyndaran was doing was posting an offtopic comment that was just drawing the thread down a blind alley, away from what I wanted to discuss. He/She is welcome to post their own topic about stranger abductions if they so wish. I did so about self harm, rather than derail the suicide thread, after all.

[Sylvia727]

The articles aren't loading for me (could just be my connection...I'll take another stab tomorrow), but I do remember bits and pieces from the news last year.

I hadn't heard about the free babysitting service. Without knowing anything about it, I had decided that the parents were not negligent. Sure, they could have been much more vigilant, but half-hourly checkups on a sleeping child when they're just across the street didn't sound like parental abandonment to me. Without knowing the parents' characters, I'll assume that they are honest, loving people who cared about their daughter and checked on her every 30 minutes, or maybe 45, or 60 minutes at the maximum. People let the time slip away when they're having fun.

Assuming this is a stranger abduction, I see two possibilities. A procurer for a child molestation ring had been keeping an eye on them, and slipped in when the parents were out. Seems less likely if the parents really were checking in every half hour, but maybe they weren't quite so honest on the time frames, or maybe the creeps waited a few cycles to establish the pattern. Or, maybe someone either saw them leave the room without the child, or heard the baby crying and went in. Seeing an opportunity, they grabbed the baby and ran. A childless woman might be more inclined to risky behavior, but someone with criminal contacts might kidnap the child intending to sell her later.

A third, equally likely possibility is that the baby died due to an accident on the parents' part, and they panicked. One or both of them hide the body and lied to the cops in order to save themself(ves) from a murder charge. Maybe even the other parent doesn't know; did they both go over to check on Maddie? One parent might honestly believe the child abduction story. A cynical part of me thinks that this is the most likely possibility; human stupidity, not a vast conspiracy.

I hope that Maddie was snatched by a childless woman, and that she is living very happily and safely in this woman's home. If this is so, she'll probably grow up blissfully oblivious. If her parentage ever comes up, she'll assume it was an under-the-table adoption. I doubt Maddie's family will give up hope for her, however. I'm reminded of the Lindbergh baby, who was snatched under similiar circumstances and never recovered. Just a few years ago, folks were testing the DNA of a 60+ year old man, whose suspicious adoption occured at the same time. "Hope springs eternal," after all.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Here's the wiki link to the abduction: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madeleine_McCann

The most recent sighting has been ruled out: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7557010.stm

I would hope that the child was taken by a childless woman, cuz the other possibilities are just so terrible to think of. Also, below is an aerial view of the holiday resort, showing the tapas bar and apartment:

http://bp1.blogger.com/_mXbRBcSh0gs/...n_Club_Eng.gif

It's a bit further than "accross the road". The tapas bar was in fact at least 40 yards away; making the parents' claim of half hourly checks to be very suspicious. I don't suspect them of being murderers, but maybe Sylvia's theory of an accident is correct. Young children left alone are very curious; maybe she accidently burned herself or hung herself and the parents covered it up?

[Flyndaran]

I was correcting Ms. Singer about her use of pedophile ring to mean rapist ring.
I get very upset when loose english muddies the waters into implying thought crime as equal to actual crime.

I can imagine having sex with children, goats, or trees without any crime being committed.

[DesignFox]

Flyndaran- Lace specifically said that the girl may be being held and tortured by a pedophile ring. If that is the case, she may not be physically being raped, but she and other children in those situations are certainly being abused and forced to do things the law has deemed inappropriate at best. Using children in porn, torturing children, or raping children, and the original kidnap itself...all are horrible and illegal. Nowhere did Lace say pedophile=rapist.

as to the topic:
I'm not sure what to think. A big part of me wants to believe those parents...but...I just don't know. It's all so muddy. The investigation was so sloppy, too.

Whether or not the parents murdered their daughter, I believe that poor little girl is dead and buried. No kidnapper would risk keeping her around with her distinctive eye marking her and making her possibly recognizable- her case got far too much press to run the risk- if indeed she was taken by a stranger.

I think only poor Maddie and her kidnapper/possible murderer will ever know...

[crazylegs]

What do you think happened to her?

Personally, she was abducted, abused and killed in a very short timespan (less than 48hours) then her body was dumped in the Atlantic.

The portugese police cocked up big style in the investigation, their forensics evidence is compromised, they rented the room out to two other families before they examined the apartment and it would appear that they concentrated on one theory alone rather than investigate all leads.

[Lace Neil Singer]

Tho it's certainly true that the parents are the most likely suspects, the police should have been investigating the stranger theory as well instead of just concentrating on the parents. They let this child down; I have to say, it's sad but you're probably right.