Thread: Madeleine Abduction

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    Madeleine Abduction

    Hi
    I haven't posted here very often cause I tend to find the answers I'm looking for in other peoples posts and in the FAQs. So I hope you don't mind me highlighting this news item which some of you may be aware of and has been ongoing for a few weeks now. I have kids of my own and it struck a chord with me.

    A 4 year old girl, Madeleine McCann was abducted from her holiday apartment on 3rd May in Praia da Luz, Portugal and despite a police investigation, which is still ongoing she has yet to be found. The parents believe that she has been taken out of Portugal and could be somewhere in Europe and there have been various reports of possible sightings, the most convincing being a woman who on return from holiday in Morocco, said she thought she spotted a girl in Marrakech, fitting Madeleines description. The family are trying to keep her in the news and raise her profile as much as possible in the hope someone will have seen her.

    A website, www.findmadeleine.com has been created and there are pictures of Madeleine for you to see what she looks like. The more people who know about this and what she looks like the better.
    Thanks for reading and if you could pass on this info to friends etc in an email to help raise awareness of this situation in as many countries as possible, I'm sure the McCann family would be most grateful.

    Hobo

  2. #2
    Mayor of Awesometown Govtcheez's Avatar
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    What makes her any different than any of the other thousands of kids that are abducted every year?

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    Lean Mean Coding Machine KONI's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Hobo View Post
    ...the most convincing being a woman who on return from holiday in Morocco, said she thought she spotted a girl in Marrakech, fitting Madeleines description...
    Sorry, that is just hilarious. "Omg, look, it's a girl ... it must be Madeleine".

    I do feel for her parents (and for herself of course) but the chances of finding her are rather small. Nevertheless, never underestimate the collective power of the Internet.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Govtcheez View Post
    What makes her any different than any of the other thousands of kids that are abducted every year?
    Actually I have the same question too.
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    Who said she was any different? Why does she have to be different to warrant "getting the word out"? Just because thousands of kids are abducted and nobody hears about it doesn't mean its wrong to try to get people to hear about another one.

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    Mayor of Awesometown Govtcheez's Avatar
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    It's just odd to me that we always have this "missing pretty person of the week" where media coverage is completely overwhelming while they completely ignore other cases. Obviously I hope she's found perfectly unharmed; it's just weird, is all.

    Mostly I just want Nancy Grace to not have a job anymore, since this is really all she does and her voice makes me want to hit things.

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    Ok. I didn't click on the link and haven't heard anything about the story, so I was under the impression that there was nothing different about this kid that warranted extra attention. If in fact extra attention is being paid for other reasons, I can understand why you'd think its weird.

  8. #8
    and the hat of int overfl Salem's Avatar
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    I'm sure that if and when she is found, it will be down to the efforts of the local law enforcement, and not down to millions of idiots clicking on some media inspired web page.

    http://www.snopes.com/inboxer/medical/shergold.asp
    I'm also sure that she will come to loath through the rest of her life the endless supply of similar morons who will no doubt blurt out from time to time "hey, you're that kid..."
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    As a parent, I understand how one is motivated to do anything if faced with such a tragedy.

    As a jaded 40 something, witness to the story of (name happily forgotten) that woman who drowned her kids and said someone took them, I can understand the reactions I see here.

    "Just another kid..." - unless if course it were your kid.

    The chance that I'll see this girl and phone in that one tip that saves her is less than winning the lottery.

    Sometimes no one wins the lottery.

    If you're that one person who does, it was certainly worth the dollar!

    I am disturbed by the cynical reaction, but it's unfortunately a fact - she's just another lost child. Still, the heartlessness the reaction portrays is disturbing.

    Then, too - if we shed a tear for every one of them - we'd never stop crying, and life wouldn't go on.

    Just in case, though - call in if you think you see one of them.

  10. #10
    Mayor of Awesometown Govtcheez's Avatar
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    > (name happily forgotten)

    Susan Smith

    > I am disturbed by the cynical reaction, but it's unfortunately a fact - she's just another lost child. Still, the heartlessness the reaction portrays is disturbing.



    Quit acting like I said something like "That stupid girl I hope she gets what's coming to her!"

    The only thing I said is that it's weird that the media routinely picks one specific kid to run constantly until no one cares about the story anymore. It's plucking at the heartstrings of people like you for ratings, and it does no one any good whatsoever.

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    Quote Originally Posted by Govtcheez View Post
    ... Mostly I just want Nancy Grace to not have a job anymore, since this is really all she does and her voice makes me want to hit things.
    Namely, her face.

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    Make another kid... it's free!
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    "The Oldest Member Here" Xterria's Avatar
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    The more well off the family, the more cute pictures of the pampered child in makeup, and the more money to pay people off in a desperate attempt to find him/her. The media loves the attention, the organizations love the money, and the public loves to fixate on everything tragic, but is it really helping the girl?

    Put yourself in the shoes of the child abductor. You didn't snatch the girl for ransom(which is obvious at this point), you most likely wanted to sell her for human trafficking involving sex or pleasure yourself. You then see the girl whom you've abducted plastered all over the newspapers and TV, are you really going to keep her around? You can't risk her being identified by the majority of the public who knows what she looks like. You can't just leave her somewhere so she can get picked up, the traumatic experiences you put her through she'll never forget, and you yourself will eventually be identified. Assuming you're mentally unstable enough to kidnap her, burning her body or throwing her in a lake isn't going to take a toll on your psyche, and is going to put you at no liability.

    They've killed the girl by going public with it. Cases like these are horrible overall, but by making a desperate attempt to find her by using the media only works in cases where a child is lost. The Portuguese Police already established she's been abducted, so everything they've done to find her ironically killed her.

  14. #14
    Registered User Queatrix's Avatar
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    I hate to admit it, but I agree with Cheeze.

    And not too sound heartless, but, shouldn't one spend their money for a better cause? I mean, no one (but the abductor) even knows if she's alive. So why waste you'r money on this, when you could donate to help people that you at least know are alive and where you'r money is defenitly going to help, such as the Stop-Starvation-In-Asia thingies.

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    >> Make another kid... it's free!
    And quite enjoyable.
    Last edited by Queatrix; 05-25-2007 at 05:50 PM.

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    Registered User kryptkat's Avatar
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    The balance on the fund account current stands at £313,091.17.
    That is like $626.200.00 u.s. Not sure what the current exchange rate is.

    Not clear what this money is for? Does the parents get it? When?

    Sometimes it is hard to tell what is factual. Is it real or a scam <doubt this one is a scam>?

    No opinion just a question about the money that is all. meow.

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