madeline mccan

[gagtape]

So what do you guys think?


its a tough one but its a little bit suspicious

[sp4rky-m4rky]

I think she was murdered although Im not sure if she was murdered then and there. The newspapers say that they may have found traces of blood inside the building but I think she was taken away and killed. maybe after they realised she had an easily identifyable eye.

[gagtape]

Hmmm its just all too weird and suspicious my mum can't put her finger on it either. Did that straw ever have her DNA on it?

[kington99]

I think that hundreds of other children, just as deserving of our attention, have died since then in various ways, but we hear nothing about them in the media. I think the money spent on an enormous campaign for one little girl could have improved or saved the lives of hundreds of people in Britain's hospitals if we'd spent it there instead. I think that leaving a very young child alone is a pretty serious crime. Call me cold-hearted.

[gagtape]

I agree you are not cold hearted, and yeah money could be spent on other kids, i dont see why she is so special, i totally agree man.

[cathwood]

Originally Posted by kington99

I think that hundreds of other children, just as deserving of our attention, have died since then in various ways, but we hear nothing about them in the media. I think the money spent on an enormous campaign for one little girl could have improved or saved the lives of hundreds of people in Britain's hospitals if we'd spent it there instead. I think that leaving a very young child alone is a pretty serious crime. Call me cold-hearted.

That's what I think aswell.

And I think asking why such an enormous amount of money is being spent is an interesting question.

[Mikefule]

If the parents are innocent, then I think they were dreadfully unlucky, as was the child. Many parents have left their children unattended but been within earshot. In a big house, a child can be in its bedroom, the parents downstairs drinking wine and watching loud TV and no one thinks that's wrong. A child was kidnapped from her bath a year or two ago, while her parents were in the house. Parents can be in the garden, and the children upstairs in bed. The risk of abduction is vanishingly small, and parents are entitled to find a reasonable balance in how far away they are.

In the UK, for example, approximately 7 children are abducted and killed by strangers each year. 10 people a day die on the roads. About 2 - 3 kids a week are killed by their own parents, step parents or carers. You cannot live your whole life on the basis that 7 kids a year are abducted and killed by strangers. Almost none of them are abducted from from home, most are taken on their way home from school etc. Most abductions are by estranged parents, not by strangers.

It is far more likely that the child is dead than alive. If she is alive, then she may never recover psychologically from her ordeal, even if she is found.

I have had "niggles" about the parents' behaviour and body language from very early in this story. Their "macro behaviour" (world tour, visiting the Pope, leaving their other children behind to do so, etc.) is very unusual. I was surprised to read that the father referred to his child being "recovered" (rather than found, rescued, etc.) I am not surprised by the rumours going round that they are suspects. However, we only have the facts and photos that the media present to us. None of us has sufficient evidence to form a reliable opinion. That's why they have police forces instead of relying on internet forums to solve crimes.

As for the money spent. Again, if the parents are innocent, who can blame them for doing everything possible to find their own child?

But the hysteria in the media, and the public fund raising, is out of all proportion. What if she had been black or Asian and from a working class family? I felt the same over the media coverage of Holly and Jessica (two pretty white girls) and how that contrasted with the coverage of the shooting of some black girls that happened around the same time. (One was Letitia, I can't recall the other name, which speaks volumes for the media coverage)

Unfortunately, we live in an age where personal tragedy is treated as entertainment by the media, and you have to pass an "audition" (be pretty, white, and respectable, with articulate parents) to get sustained coverage.

[brendan]

Originally Posted by kington99

I think that hundreds of other children, just as deserving of our attention, have died since then in various ways, but we hear nothing about them in the media. I think the money spent on an enormous campaign for one little girl could have improved or saved the lives of hundreds of people in Britain's hospitals if we'd spent it there instead. I think that leaving a very young child alone is a pretty serious crime. Call me cold-hearted.

i totally agree. And that little boy that got shot on his bike by gangs... I mean surely that should have way more publicity? I mean first a shooting - then of a little kid - then of a gang !

But pretty white girl takes it all. Hell it makes me mad when it makes the front page instead of many many more - in my view - important issues.

However i do feel sorry for everyone who knew her its a terrible thing to have happened.

[cathwood]

Originally Posted by brendan

i totally agree. And that little boy that got shot on his bike by gangs... I mean surely that should have way more publicity? I mean first a shooting - then of a little kid - then of a gang !

But pretty white girl takes it all. Hell it makes me mad when it makes the front page instead of many many more - in my view - important issues.

However i do feel sorry for everyone who knew her its a terrible thing to have happened.

Not just pretty white girl. but pretty white girl with 'professional' parents. I mean, obviously if you're working class and poor your children are going to get abducted, it's just one of life's hazards. But if it can happen to 'professional' people then it can happen to anyone. (That is anyone that matters - ie not poor people)

Was the little boy on the bike 'working class'?

[Into the blue]

Originally Posted by cathwood

Was the little boy on the bike 'working class'?

I think so.
Shocking how quickly that story disappeared from the headlines.

[brendan]

Originally Posted by cathwood

Not just pretty white girl. but pretty white girl with 'professional' parents. I mean, obviously if you're working class and poor your children are going to get abducted, it's just one of life's hazards. But if it can happen to 'professional' people then it can happen to anyone. (That is anyone that matters - ie not poor people)

Was the little boy on the bike 'working class'?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/m...er/6935017.stm

the boy was classify as what people call working class - but surely a boy getting shot by a gang in the UK in daylight, should get more attention than a girl kidnapped in portugal? - i mean percentage of kids shot in the UK compared to kids kidnapped must be ridiculous.

[DarkTom]

It's a strange one. Definitely strange.

There is the question of her being left alone.

Then all the media coverage and parents actions/behaviour.

I am led to believe that there is a good trade in wee pretty white girls in some parts of the world.

I doubt she will be found, dead or alive.

Shame. But could it have been avoided? I dunno. Do they?


T.