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

What makes her any different than any of the other thousands of kids that are abducted every year?

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Originally Posted by Hobo

...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...

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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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Originally Posted by Govtcheez

What makes her any different than any of the other thousands of kids that are abducted every year?

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Actually I have the same question too.

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.

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.

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.

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..."

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.

> (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.

:rolleyes:

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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Originally Posted by Govtcheez

... 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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Namely, her face.

Make another kid... it's free!

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.

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.

EDIT:
>> Make another kid... it's free!
And quite enjoyable. :D

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The balance on the fund account current stands at £313,091.17.

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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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Originally Posted by kryptkat

That is like $626.200.00 u.s. Not sure what the current exchange rate is.

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Not even close. Currently 1.00 EUR = ~1.345 USD. So the number you're looking for is more like $421,107.62.

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Originally Posted by Dancing Milkman Thingy

Not even close. Currently 1.00 EUR = ~1.345 USD. So the number you're looking for is more like $421,107.62.

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Depending on font, it is easy to mistake &#163; (pounds) for € (euros). Google says UK&#163; 313 091.17 = 621 861.682 U.S. dollars.

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Originally Posted by The Cheezemeister

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.

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Wikipedia calls it 'missing white woman syndrome (MWWS)' or 'missing pretty girl syndrome':

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Originally Posted by Wikipedia

There is a perception among the American public[citation needed] that excessive news coverage is devoted to specific missing or murdered caucasian or "white" women and girls, especially blondes, while cases involving missing men, non-caucasian women, older or unattractive caucasian women, or other news stories receive disproportionately less airtime. Reporting of these "missing white woman" stories may last for weeks or months and displace reporting on other current events.

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Fortunately, child abduction is very rare.

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Originally Posted by anonytmouse

Wikipedia calls it 'missing white woman syndrome (MWWS)' or 'missing pretty girl syndrome':

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Wikipedia doesn't call it anything. Some guy on some random blog somewhere probably calls it that; and someone decided to make it a Wikipedia entry. Honestly, I doubt race has much to do with how much exposure a kidnapping gets. I think it's usually the circumstances of the abduction.

btw, Madeline Abduction is an awesome band name. :)

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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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:rolleyes:

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Not even close. Currently 1.00 EUR = ~1.345 USD. So the number you're looking for is more like $421,107.62.

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Depending on font, it is easy to mistake £ (pounds) for € (euros). ***** says UK£ 313 091.17 = 621 861.682 U.S. dollars.

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$626,200.00 - $621,861.68 = $4,338.32 so i missed it by $4,338.32 it is still a lot of money.

I do not care how much money .... the question is what happens to the money? Of course i want to see the child returned alive. Just curious about the money. That is all. Meow.

If what I read regarding the circumstances surrounding the little girl's disappearance (Children were left alone in a hotel room whilst parents enjoyed dinner at a nearby restaurant)is true, the parents would be facing charges in the states.

You don't leave small children alone (or in the care of a pre-teen sibling), period. Not for one hour, not for ten minutes, not for five.

A vacation to Portugal with little kids? Jeez... take them to Disney World or something.