Madeleine McCann: Spotting In Amsterdam, Kate McCann’s Letter And Walking Off Set
MADDIE WATCH – Anorak’s at-a-glance guide to press coverage of Madeleine McCann, Kate McCann and Gerry McCann…
DAILY EXPRESS (front page): “MADELEINE: SHE COULD BE ALIVE”
Madeleine McCann has resumed her pitch on the Express’ front page. And the news is positive. But let’s not carried away on a wave of hope, Anorak has seen a peek at tomorrow’s front-page exclusive –“MADELEINE: SHE COULD BE DEAD”.
To Amsterdam, where one Anna Stam says “she is haunted by the face ‘of the angelic child with the big sad eyes’ who came into her shop near Amsterdam’s red light district.”
“I am convinced I spoke to Madeleine. She said her name was Maddie and her face had no emotion in it. The man and woman she was with acted like tourists and referred to her as La Petite. I gave a statement to Dutch police and it is terrible my information was not acted on by Portuguese authorities.
“I am sure that if my information had been acted upon at that time – as it should have been – Madeleine could have been rescued and she would still be alive and at home with her parents where she belongs.”
DAILY STAR: “MADDIE IS STILL ALIVE”
The Express’ sluttier, brasher sister paper is less circumspect. It knows:
MADELEINE McCann could be with a travelling circus, according to a Dutch shop worker who is convinced she has seen her alive.
Well, she could be…
DAILY MIRROR (front page): “KATE McCANN’S HEARTBREAK LETTER”
The parents are no longer suspects. But we are still watching the parents.
“OUR MOST PRECIOUS”
A letter from Kate McCann to chief investigator Paolo Rebelo:
“I am appealing to you to as a fellow human being to work with us and remember that we are Madeleine’s parents and have needs. Madeleine is the most precious thing in our life. The lack of information is torture.”
The Mirror cares.
Madeleine McCann dossier: Kate and Gerry rowed before daughter’s abduction
Kate and Gerry McCann slept in separate bedrooms the night before daughter Maddy was snatched from their apartment in Portugal after having a furious row, it emerged today.
THE SUN: “I saw Maddie too”
The Sun has a picture of one Hannah Weichmann pointing to a spot in the distance. Is that Madeleine?
The Sun is in Amsterdam to follow up news that Madeleine was spotted in Anna Stam’s shop. And while there it meets another Madeleine spotter, who says:
“Those eyes . . . I knew it was her.”
So what did you do when you saw her?
“Maddie wore a pink woollen coat that reached her calfs. I know because she reminded me of my own daughter when she was that young. Maddie was delighted by my dog diving into the water.”
It must be her. The Sun is on the case:
The lost girl was in pink pyjamas when she was snatched in Praia da Luz just before her fourth birthday. And pink was her favourite colour.
A little girl dressed in pink. Eureka! Case closed. It’s her.
DAILY MAIL: “Aerial photo shows sniffer dog trail following Madeleine’s scent took them to nearby car park”
But Portuguese police discounted the dogs’ trail as evidence for an abduction as it would have involved Madeleine’s captor taking her in a virtual circle around the apartment block and past the holiday complex swimming pool, while her parents ate dinner on the other side of the pool. They believed the trail could have been made if Madeleine had walked out herself, trying to find her parents.
She could have walked off.
DAILY TELEGRAPH: “Madeleine McCann’s parents consider Crimewatch reconstruction – Kate and Gerry McCann are in talks with Crimewatch about staging a reconstruction of the night Madeleine disappeared after being given access to the police files.”
Says the McCanns’ spokesman Clarence Mitchell:
“We have had low level contact with Crimewatch ever since they wanted to do something with us last year. We are talking to them again. Kate and Gerry may well take part – it is certainly something that they would consider. Given that we have a lot of new information, it may be something that we revisit, but nothing is confirmed.”
It’s a ratings winner.
THE GUARDIAN: “Madeleine McCann case: Police accused over ‘Maddy sighting’”
Yesterday she told ITN News: “I think it’s stupid, because maybe they could have done something more at that time and maybe now it’s too late to find any clue. So I think it’s very neglectful by the police. And maybe not even the Dutch police but more the British or Portuguese police, because at that time I remember the police told me they were suspecting the parents themselves. I thought it was crazy to think that, but that’s maybe why they didn’t do something with it.”
THE SCOTSMAN: “Kate McCann’s plea for news and ‘snatch to order’ plan found in files”
News of the emotional letter came as it was revealed British police received intelligence suggesting Madeleine could have been snatched to order by a Belgian paedophile ring.
An anonymous source connected to the ring took a photograph of the little girl on holiday in Portugal and forwarded it to a “purchaser” in Belgium, according to information gathered by the Metropolitan Police.
The e-mail read: “Intelligence suggests that a paedophile ring in Belgium made an order for a young girl three days before Madeleine McCann was taken.
“Somebody connected to this group saw Maddie, took a photograph of her and sent it to Belgium. The purchaser agreed that the girl was suitable and Maddie was taken.”
Or not. What crime occurred, if any? The papers are investigating…
Posted: 7th, August 2008 | In: Broadsheets, Madeleine McCann, Tabloids Comments (347) | TrackBack | Permalink
