Shadows of the Past

This question was asked shortly after Madeleine's disappearance and four years later, the question remains the same... what do we know of the McCanns past?  And that of their family and friends?  

Recently we've been subject to the most invasive reporting in the arrest of the landlord in the Jo Yeates murder case, which shows just how far our media are prepared to go.  So in the McCann case, where are the comments from people who knew them :

Friends

Colleagues

Neighbours

Nanny

Patients

Collapsed passenger

Cabin crew and passengers on the flight

Blah blah and anybody else who knows them and would stick up for them

There is always someone out there... the usual suspects.  Those who want their 5 minutes of fame and those who want to make a little bit of dosh.  Those who have crossed them, and those who just want to defend and help.  Have they all been gagged, and if so why?

There were the usual rants from the family (to be expected) but nothing since day one from anyone else, absolutely no-one coming out the woodwork?? Not even a "Kate McCann treated my bunion - lovely girl!"  What about that passenger on the infamous London bound flight who's life was saved by the strapping hero that was Mr McCann?  No flight crew or fellow passengers to describe his forceful "stand back, I'm a doctor!" and life saving expertise?

In the early days, two interviews were shown to give us an insightful reference of the McCanns but they soon disappeared into oblivion when they turned out to be the landlady of the local boozer and a nursery teacher.  Not good PR to have such people giving character references of 'caring' parents.


I would stick my neck out and say that it's quite plausible that the McCanns could have any number of skeletons in their cupboards. We don't know them, we don't know anything about them or what they're capable of doing or not doing.


I do know that (amongst other things) :

a. they're capable of appointing a comprehensive legal team within 48 hours
b. meeting MPs at the drop of a hat
c. having tea with the High Commissioner of the British Consolate
d. commanding an audience with the Pope.


What of the tragic story of Mr McCann's sister Jackie.  It was revealed by Philomena McCann in Hello! Magazine that Jackie had sadly discovered the body of her murdered boyfriend.  Now there's a tragedy that our great British media would normally love to trundle out to their readers.  Yet no mention and all reference to the sad tale also disappeared into oblivion.


Two people who knew the McCanns from past days were Katherina and Arul Gaspar.  They are both doctors, Mr Gaspar knew Mrs McCann from their Dundee University days and were such good friends they even holidayed together in Majorca.  However, it would be their last holiday together after they were witness to an allegedly alarming conversation between Mr McCann and his other doctor friend David Payne.  The following is snipped from Mrs Gaspar's official police statement...

"One night, when we were on holiday, the adults, in other words, the couples that I mentioned were on a patio outside the house where we were staying. We had been eating and drinking.  I was sitting between Dave and Gerry whom I believe were both talking about Madeleine. I don't remember the conversation in its entirety, but it seemed they were discussing a possible scenario. I remember Dave telling Gerry something like 'she', referring to Madeleine, would do this?

When he mentioned 'this', Dave was sucking on one of his fingers, pushing it in and out of his mouth, whilst with the other hand he circled his nipple, with a circulating movement over his clothes. This was done in a provocative manner there being an explicit insinuation in relation to what he was saying and doing.

I remember that I was shocked at this, and looked at Gerry, and also at Dave, to see their reactions. I looked around (page 4) to see did anyone else hear this, or was it just me?. There was a nervous silence noted in the conversations of all the others and immediately afterwards everyone began talking again.

I remember thinking whether he looked at the girls in a different way from me or from the others. I imagined that maybe he had visited Internet sites related to small children. In short, I thought that he might be interested in child pornography on the internet."

Perfectly understandable why the McCanns wouldn't want these type of skeletons rearing their very ugly heads, much worse than the local landlady's character reference of spitting in the bucket and paying their tab on time.  The question is why would Leicestershire police sit on these statements for 6 months before forwarding them to the investigating team in Portugal?  Not a nice route to take in an investigation, but one which should have been allowed and ruled out if necessary.


Another blast from the past was Yvonne Martin who was so convinced that she recognised David Payne in her capacity of work as Social Services Manager for Child Protection that she wrote to the police pleading with them to check the Paedophile Register to see if Mr Payne was on such a list.  Another skeleton destined to be buried in an unmarked closet.

I don't particularly care what the neighbours/colleagues/nanny etc have to say - I WANT TO KNOW WHY THE PRESS DON'T!!  

People are condemned for critisising the McCanns and their friends when they know nothing about them - yet there are also plenty of people defending them when they too know absolutely nothing.  It works both ways...

Click here to read the Gaspars' statements in full and here for Yvonne Martin's statement.  Thanks to the McCann : PJ Files website, please click to visit.

Season's Greetings...

Just a short note to wish all visitors a very happy Christmas.  Here we are, once again... It's such a shame that we are now seeing another Christmas and little Madeleline is still missing, without a trace. 

The customary appeal was overtaken this year by the scandalous Wikileaks cable which revealed that the British police had 'developed' evidence against the parents. Did they show their fury by tackling Assange or even the British police?  No, they released a statement denying their involvement.  Instead of the begging bowl, we were privy to these denials and the revelation that the re-opening of the case is the last thing that the parents want.

Why do I think that?  Well they appear to view Goncalo Amaral's attempts to reopen the case as a threat.  How bizarre...  The whole Wikileaks thing appeared to morph into Amaral's fault... what can they blame him for next I wonder.

Latest on the novel... it appears that it won't actually be a best seller as Waterstone and Amazon predicted with their hiked up, inflated (wishful thinking) price. Amazon have cut their pre-order price by 15% to £17.00.  Tesco have cut an astonishing 30% off at £14.00 but way ahead in the running is WH Smith who have snipped off a whopping 38% and currently offering the book at £12.40...

At this rate it looks like it's destined to be offered at POUND store prices, like many of the McCann sympathisers...

Even better value if it comes with a wipe clean cover for jotting down those cobbled, nobbled timelines.

Here's another little niggle for you to ponder upon... what do you think Sr Rebelo is in the act of describing in this photo below, and where are they all positioned?...

Well, time to say goodbye... Santa has reached Guinea according to Norad so I'd better go and put out the milk and cookies (and carrots).  Have a wonderful Christmas season, all of you.  I wish you a prosperous and joyous 2011 and again, hope this will be the year that Madeleine receives justice.

~~ooOoo~~

Missing Madeleine...

How do you identify a missing child when the information given to the public is misleading and inacurate?   In those crucial days and weeks after Madeleine's disappearance, we were told to look for a small, blonde girl who had a 'special mark' on her eye.  The following photos were released...

Who do we look for?  A blonde little girl, with that special mark in her eye as advised?   None of these photos show a little blonde girl - Madeleine has mousey coloured hair in these photos..  Are we looking for blonde or brown, are we dismissing blonde or brown?  Are we looking for both or looking for neither? 

We are missing Madeleine.

Next the eye.  Against all police and expert advice, the McCanns, family and friends release information about that very special mark on Madeleine's eye, a coloboma. It's only visible when up close - so we can rule out all children who are asleep, far away or not looking at us.

We are missing Madeleine.

Three weeks after Madeleine's disappearance, a photo is released.  Known as the 'pool photo' but one which came to be known as the 'last photo'.  There is no confirmation that this is the last photo, but looks as if it was taken on that fateful holiday.

Surprisingly, this photo shows an altogether different child from the one that we've been looking for in the weeks gone by.

We are missing Madeleine.

And finally, one of the most distinguishing features a person can have - a birthmark.  Not many people know that Madeleine has a chestnut birthmark on her left calf because it's something that the parents or family have failed to mention in any of their interviews or statements.  In fact, the only place where it is publicised is on the Policia Judiciara official missing persons page.  If Madeleine had indeed been abducted, what better feature to look for - easily spotted no matter what size and whatever activity the child is taking part in, especially if she's wearing a skirt, dress or shorts.  Even cropped pyjama bottoms.

We are missing Madeleine.

Who have we been looking for and who are we looking for?  From day one, confusion has reigned.  In the case of a missing child, time is of the essence yet there has been continuous dissaray of information released.  And in the case of the birthmark, information held back.  Smoke and mirrors... why?

Hence, almost 4 years later, it sadly looks like we have missed Madeleine.

The Reward...

By the 12th May 2007, the reward for information leading to the safe return of Madeleine to her family had reached £2.5 million.  The News of the World and several well know business persons contributed generously to the expanding reward.

The happy expressions on the McCanns' faces as they exited the church to the waiting crowd on the 12th May have always been a complete puzzle.  Firstly because it was Madeleine's birthday and secondly because their child had been missing for just 9 days.

12th May 2007 - Day 9

However, maybe they'd just heard from the BBC that the reward had reached a staggering two and a half million pounds?  That really would be something to crow about - all that money being offered by strangers, just to get your child back safely.

Yet the McCanns have systematically failed to mention this humungous reward, kindhearedly donated by other people.  Despite numerous TV appearances, interviews with the media (both televised and in print) and various press statements, you can count on one hand just how many times this reward has been publicised.

Now why would that be?  It should be constantly plugged... a one track multi-million way to get Madeleine home, courtesy of other people.

To date, almost 4 years later this huge reward has receded to a whispering memory. No mention of it is ever made, we don't even know if the reward even exists.  Is it still valid?  The mere fact that it has not been claimed could mean two things... firstly, there is no information available leading to Madeleine's safe return or secondly, those who do have the information are sworn to silence?

The parents claim to need the help of the public and make appeals for information during which they make the customary requests for more cash.  Yet despite the huge amount of money donated to their private limited company (otherwise known as the 'Fund'), the McCanns have never offered any kind of reward themselves.  The parents seem to show more of an interest in drawing people forward for their money rather than their information.


We all know where the Paypal button is, how pop into the Natwest or even stick denominations of our choice into a brown envelope and address it to Kate and Gerry, Rothley.  However, some people need an incentive to loosen their tongues and be drawn out from under that stone.   The McCanns have this huge incentive at their hands, yet bizarrely fail to use it.

Any decent person with a conscience and morals who could provide information should not look for monetary gain in all of this.  So, please, in the name of all that is good... let's have some normality and break that silence.  

Now that would be a reward.

What the Smiths really saw...?

Don't you wish there were more details available about the Smith family sighting, it appears to be the most important sighting in the case.

I believe it to be absolutely more credible than the preferred McCann sighting - Tanner's swarthy man, because a whole family spotted a man hurriedly carrying, not what they believed to be a bundle, but a female child.  The family gave detailed descriptions of her hair, skin and clothing, therefore no way could his encumbrance be construed as a bundle.  They knew for sure this man was carrying a little girl. Mrs Smith was even close enough to ask if she was asleep.

This sighting was so important because it incorporated multiple, corroborating and independent witnesses, yet the McCanns failed to promote it until it was covered briefly in the Channel 4 documentary.  And it was covered incorrectly.  In the Channel 4 documentary, the sighting was filmed in the wrong location.  The sighting took place at the bottom of Rua da Escola, as seen below in Goncalo Amaral's documentary...

Yet, in the Channel 4 documentary, for some reason filming has taken place in a different location...

Strange that... and depicting an abductor carrying the child across the arms - the way Tanner 'would have' and not how Mr Smith described...

"Carrying a child, with the head against his left shoulder and the arms hanging down alongside the body"

How on earth could the McCanns, their Team and the Channel 4 crew get things so important, so wrong?  Right enough, nobody cared where the Wilkins/McCann conversation took place, so none of it really matters?

There are some intriguing pieces of  information resulting from this sighting.  Mr Smith's daughter in her description of the carrier viewed the most mundane thing and promptly forgot about it.  Something  I believe we all do regularly - things which only come back to us when specifically reminded, otherwise forgotten in the depths of the mind.  She spotted the button detail on the man's beige, cotton trousers.  Bit like these ones??

Mr Smith had already made a statement at Portimao police station in May 2007, but on seeing Mr McCann alight from his flight in the UK in September 2007 was shocked to see a similarity between him and the man he saw on the night.

"Is saying that after seeing the McCanns on the news on 9th Sept when they returned to UK he has not slept and is worried sick. He states he was watching the 10 PM news on BBC and saw the McCanns getting off the plane and coming down the steps. He states it was like watching an action replay of the night he saw the male carrying the child back in Portugal. He states the way Gerry was carrying his twin triggered something in his head. It was exactly the same way and look of the male seen the night Maddie went missing . He also watched ITV news and Sky news and inferred it looked like the same person both times carrying the children."

Mr Smith went on to say that his wife agreed with his suspicions, and felt the same way about the similarity.  I believe this is something that cannot be taken lightly - it has been discussed between husband and wife and is a huge step to take in contacting the police again.  After all, a man's life is on the line.  According to the police, Mr Smith was worried and shaken and genuinely concerned by his realisation.  He went ahead and made another statement to include his thoughts and has since been persistently contacted by various sources including Brian Kennedy, supporter of the McCanns.

"He has been contacted by numerous tabloid press looking for stories. He has been contacted by Mr Brian Kennedy who is supporting the McCann family to take part in a photo fit exercise. He has given no stories or helped in any photo fits.

I do not believe that Martin Smith is courting the press and my view his is a genuine person. He is known locally and is a very decent person." 

Detective Branch, County Lough

Mrs Smith did not wish to make another statement.  Could we wonder whether these thoughts and suspicions were already included in her original statement?

Mrs Smith did get close enough to the man and child to establish that she was sleeping, she got close enough to make contact with the man, who averted his eyes and ignored her.

Did she also get close enough to see the birthmark on the child's lower left leg, where her little cropped pyjama bottoms were pushed up due to her being carried? The birthmark that only the police have made public, yet doesn't warrant one single mention from the McCanns?

Did Mrs Smith make a positive identification of the child on that night?

We'll have to wait for the answers to certain questions, because Mrs Smith's statement was never released in the public files.  The big question is 'why?' and could this be the missing piece?...

**With thanks to the fabulous McCannfiles for detailed information on the Smith sighting, please visit and read for yourself.