Madeleine McCann: Watching Amelie And Sean Start School

MADELEINE McCann Watch: Anorak’s at-a-glance look at Madeleine McCann in the news – We’re watching Our Maddie’s twin siblings Amelie and Sean go to school with Jaycee Dugard.

Sky News tells us: “Parents’ Pain As Twins Join Madeleine School”

All the media talks is of the McCanns’ pain: Pain. Pain. Pain.

We are not looking for the missing child, we are watching the parents, as ever. And we are watching the children. Nothing creepy about watching someone else’s children, a stranger’s children start school. This is just good wholesome gawping.

After “pain” the other word is “proud”. As all news sources tell us, Kate McCann and Gerry McCann are proud. This from Sky:

It will be a proud moment for her parents when they drop off twins Sean and Amelie for their first day in primary class in Thurmaston, Leics. But the occasion will be tinged with overwhelming sadness for the couple.

Anorak

Posted: 3rd, September 2009 | In: Key Posts, Madeleine McCann | Comments (5)

Jaycee Dugard Rapist Phillip Garrido Linked To Madeleine McCann Abduction

MADELEINE McCann Watch: Anorak’s at-a-glance look at Madeleine McCann in the news – Jaycee Dugard And Our Maddie. Phillip Craig Garrido and his wife Nancy Garrido took Jaycee Dugard.

WHEN Jaycee Lee Dugard went missing she was her own person. Now she has returned to a post-Madeleine McCann world and the media is able to make sense of her abduction, rape and impregnation by known paedophile Phillip Garrido (he fathered two children with Jaycee Dugard) and his wife Nancy. Such is the impoverished state of journalism that the story of Jaycee Lee Dugard needs context:

Chris Ayres beat the world to the punch by linking Jaycee Dugard to Madeleine McCann and now his words appear in the Irish Independent, albeit under the title:

US ‘Maddy’ turns up 18 years after her abduction

The blonde, blue-eyed girl was 11 years old when she was abducted from outside her home near Lake Tahoe, California.

Blonde hair and blue eyes keeps the media interested.

Anorak

Posted: 28th, August 2009 | In: Key Posts, Madeleine McCann, Reviews | Comments (6)

Madeleine McCann Spotted In Gaza, Lost Again In Las Vegas

MADELEINE McCann has been linked to the War on Terror, but can she now be linked to Islamicists trying to create an Islamic emirate in Gaza? And she’s found in Las Vegas…

To ASSEMBLY @ ASSEMBLY HALL, VENUE 35 of the Edinburgh Fringe festival.

He has just survived – for now – the shelling of his home city of Gaza by Israeli forces. Suddenly, an older man erupts from one of the heaps of wreckage around him, coughing and spluttering into the light. This is Abu Mohammed, a ‘tunnel trader’, or one of those merchants who smuggles goods into Gaza through a secret subterranean supply network; food, matches and even livestock.

Or guns and bullets, Iranian soldiers and jihadis… But the best bit is yet to come:

As with the sequence that attempts to westernise the loss of children by bringing out an unnecessary Madeleine McCann analogy, the play isn’t perfect; but, in witnessing the raw power of a man recounting the death of his own daughters in crudely translated Arabic, its demand for answers about an atrocious time in a man-made hell carries huge moral and emotional impact.

Time, then, to blame the Jews for Our Maddie, finally. How can it have taken so long? But where is she? One woman knows:

Onstage in a spacious Las Vegas banquet hall sits a nervous-looking, dark-haired Danish woman named Connie Sonne. The 46-year-old retired police officer made a name for herself as a psychic in Europe by claiming she knows the whereabouts of famous missing British toddler Madeleine McCann. Sonne also says she can read playing cards through sealed envelopes using only a crystal. If she can successfully demonstrate her skills in this controlled experiment at the South Point Hotel, Casino and Spa, she’ll receive $1 million.

Does she do it?

No.

And Madeleine McCann is still missing…

Anorak

Posted: 27th, August 2009 | In: Key Posts, Madeleine McCann, Reviews | Comments (7)

Madeleine McCann Stars In US Crime Show

MADELEINE McCann Watch: Anorak’s at-a-glance look at Madeleine McCann in the news –

How entertaining have you found the disappearance of Madeleine McCann? Is it better of worse than Lost, the show with no end? For some people the tale of a child vanished could to with more plot structure and a decent pay off at the finale, maybe a high-speed car chase or a fistfight in the courtroom.

Playing armchair detective is great fun but the story of Our Maddie has always been a single-thread narrative, lacking the multi-layering that TV executives enjoy. So here’s an episode of Law & Order to shows all parties how it should be done:

Anorak

Posted: 23rd, August 2009 | In: Madeleine McCann, Reviews | Comments (25)

Madeleine McCann: Getting The Joke

MADELEINE McCann Watch: Anorak’s at-a-glance look at Madeleine McCann in the news – when a missing child can make us laugh…

THIS is Nottingham: “Couple defend Madeleine leaflet”

A NOTTS couple who delivered leaflets in Clifton about the disappearance of Madeleine McCann have defended their actions.

A local issues for Our Maddie…

Grenville Green and his wife, Helene Davies-Green, have been campaigning on behalf of the Madeleine Foundation.

Anorak

Posted: 22nd, August 2009 | In: Key Posts, Madeleine McCann, Reviews | Comments (20)

Madeleine McCann: McCanns Drop Portuguese Libel Action

MADELEINE McCann Watch: Anorak’s at-a-glance look at Madeleine McCann in the news – Kate and Gerry McCann drop libel case against Portuguese tabloid Tal & Qual…

The Irish Examiner reports that innocent Gerry and Kate McCann have “dropped a libel case against the Portuguese newspaper which first linked them to the disappearance of their daughter Madeleine.

The couple were suing weekly tabloid Tal & Qual over an August 2007 article headlined “Police believe the parents killed Maddie“.

Anorak

Posted: 20th, August 2009 | In: Madeleine McCann, Reviews | Comments (18)

Madeleine McCann: Investigating The Detectives’ Failings

MADELEINE McCann Watch: Anorak’s at-a-glance look at Madeleine McCann in the news – Private detectives fail, Private detectives do PI and PR and the Madeleine McCann Foundation is famous…

Daily Mail: “So why did Madeleine McCann detectives ask so few questions after major breakthrough?”

Dunno. Why?

Private detectives leading the hunt for Madeleine McCann faced questions last night after a Mail on Sunday investigation revealed apparent shortcomings in chasing a ‘strong lead’. The detectives failed to make even rudimentary inquiries before announcing a ‘significant’ development in the worldwide search for the six-year-old.

Watching the detectives… Following the news that “Victoria Beckham” possibly abducted Madeleine McCann, it occurs to the Mail that the private investigators may be clutching at dried grasses:

The Mail on Sunday, however, has established that members of Mr Edgar’s team who had visited Barcelona:

• Failed to speak to anyone working at the seafood restaurant near where the agitated woman was seen at 2am.
• Failed to ask the port authority about movement of boats around the time Madeleine disappeared.
• Failed to ask if the mystery woman had been filmed on CCTV.
• Knew nothing about the arrival of an Australian luxury yacht just after Madeleine vanished until told by British journalists, who gave them the captain’s mobile phone number.
• Failed to interview anyone at a nearby dockside bar where, according to Mr Edgar, the mystery woman was later seen drinking.
• Failed to ask British diplomats in Spain for advice before or during the visit.

* Succeeded in getting the missing child back in the news and kickstarting the belated Third Summer of Our Maddie. They say PI. Some say PR.

Last night Mr Edgar said: ‘We are not above criticism and I take responsibility for any shortcomings. If somebody has not done what they should have done, that’s my job to deal with that.’

Anorak

Posted: 16th, August 2009 | In: Madeleine McCann, Reviews | Comments (34)

McCanns To ‘Sue’ The Madeleine Foundation

MADELEINE McCann Watch: Anorak’s at-a-glance look at Madeleine McCann in the news – “McCanns to sue”  The Madeleine Foundation “over leaflet distributed in their OWN VILLAGE blaming them for Madeleine’s disappearance”…

A source told MailOnline the couple intend to pursue legal action and may even bring in the police.

Anorak

Posted: 15th, August 2009 | In: Madeleine McCann, Reviews | Comments (87)

Madeleine McCann Is Hijacked

MADELEINE McCann Watch: Anorak’s at-a-glance look at Madeleine McCann in the news – The ‘Madeleine Foundation’ leaflet Kate And Gerry McCanns’ home town. It’s the Third Summer of Maddie and the ghouls are conducting a witch hunt…

The Sun: “Maddie villagers get ‘McCanns did it’ letter”

THE parents of Madeleine McCann were angry and upset yesterday after neighbours were sent leaflets claiming they were to blame for her death. Vile campaigners put copies of the four-page publication through every door in their home village of Rothley, Leics.

Produced by the “Madeleine Foundation”, it included “Ten Reasons Why Madeleine McCann was Not Abducted”. ..

There is no evidence that she was. And – get this – no evidence that she wasn’t. There is no proof of any crime. Madeleine McCann is missing.

The group, which claims wildly that Kate killed Maddie and Gerry helped hide the body, added “Reasons Why Her Parents Should Be Prosecuted.”

Kate and Gerry McCann are innocent. This claim is disgusting and unwarranted – unless it is fame you seek?

Its secretary is disgraced solicitor Anthony Bennett whose bid to bring a private prosecution against the McCanns last year was thrown out of court.

Anorak

Posted: 15th, August 2009 | In: Madeleine McCann, Reviews | Comments (36)

Madeleine McCann Missing In Cyprus

MADELEINE McCann Watch: Anorak’s at-a-glance look at Madeleine McCann in the news – Maddie Fever reaches Cyprus…

It’s the media’s Third Summer of Our Maddie, and the tale of the missing child are spreading the fear… It’s every parent’s worst nightmare, and Maddie is the benchmark for missing children the world over:

In the Cyrus Mail, Jacqueline Agathocleous spots Our Maddie:

A GERMAN couple was in absolute panic on Wednesday morning, when they awoke to find their 10-year-old son had disappeared from their hotel room in Paralimni.

Says Paralimni police officer Yiannos Kapnoulas:

“The mum was out of her mind crying. Everything was going through her mind; she is in a foreign country and was terrified about what might have happened. You know, the case of Madeleine [McCann] who went missing while on holiday with her parents in the Algarve and hasn’t been found since was going through everybody’s minds.”

Anorak

Posted: 14th, August 2009 | In: Madeleine McCann, Reviews | Comments (3)

Madeleine McCann Spotted On Camber Sands And The Funniest Our Maddie Joke Ever

MADELEINE McCann Watch: Anorak’s at-a-glance look at Madeleine McCann in the news – Maddie spotted on Camber Sands, the funniest Our Maddie joke ever, Tracey Connelly and Rhonda Wyllie explains…

It’s the Third Summer of Our Maddie and Mary Gold relives the apogee of the Our Maddie frenzy. Experience the horror that is Mary Gold’s Maddie & Me:

Daily Mail: “I looked away for a moment and my daughter had vanished: A mother reveals the terrifying 25 minutes she lost her child at the beach”

Mary Gold fears the worst – with a story to write she had best act fast…

She’d gone in the blink of an eye. One moment my three-year-old daughter was playing beside me in the sand on a Sussex beach. The next she was gone. I was distracted for something like ten seconds by an angry wasp, and when I looked up Katya had disappeared…

Paedo wasp!

I thought of Madeleine McCann, of vile and loathsome paedophiles and of Lord knows what else.

What else is there?

It is every parent’s nightmare…

It is. It is. Oh, god it is. We fear it is. And if it isn’t, it bloody well should be! Tony Parsons knows.

As journalists, Harry and I both know what a horrible world we live in. I thought of poor Sarah Payne, snatched in Sussex by a paedophile in 2000 – a story my husband had covered as a crime reporter.

Sarah Pain & Me.

And, of course, poor Maddie McCann, who was abducted in the Algarve the day after we brought Katya home from Russia in May 2007… At that moment, I felt like the world’s worst mother and I must admit I thought about Kate McCann…

Is that libel? Surely the world’s worst mother is Tracey Connelly? And he can be dad.

Ten agonising minutes later came the flood of relief. It turned out that Katya had wandered for half-a-mile – half-a-mile and she only weighs 2st.

Will she be ready for the Olympics?

She had been missing for 25 minutes, but it felt like a lifetime. Harry called me and said: ‘We’ve got her, darling, we’ve got her.’

And mummy got her story. Our Katya…

The Skinny: “Richard Herring: Hitler Moustache”

We have to dare him to go there when he asks who wants to hear his Madeleine McCann joke, which is so evil he swears he wouldn’t tell it were it not for us sickos. The audience roars its approval.

Funier than Mary Gold. Give it up, Herring…

WA Today: Wyllies say they have nothing to offer Maddie investigators

Private detectives searching for Madeleine on Sunday said they wanted to interview Perth socialite Rhonda Wyllie, the widow of Australian property tycoon Bill Wyllie, and their daughter Melissa Karlson.

Why?

A multi-million dollar luxury yacht owned by Mrs Wyllie was moored in Barcelona, Spain, three days after Madeleine disappeared from a Portugal holiday report in May 2007.

Fact! Other boats in the area include the yacht Dr Crippen once sailed on, vessels soon-to-be belonging to Somalia’s pirate navy and a rowing boat manned by a odd bearded fellow call Silus.

On Thursday, the Wyllie Group issued a statement:

“British media reports on Sunday … raised suggestions that Wyllie family members may be able to assist investigations in relation to an incident at Port Olympia, Barcelona, on the night of May 6, 2007.

The Wyllie family is perplexed with these media reports. In fact, members of the Wyllie family were in Antibes, France, that evening, not in Barcelona.”

Maddie in Antibes!

Madeleine McCann – It’s the media’s Third Summer of Our Maddie (delayed for Michael Jackson) – you seen her?

Madeleine McCann Spotted In Sweden

Spotted in Byron Bay.

Those Madeleine McCann Jokes

Anorak

Posted: 13th, August 2009 | In: Key Posts, Madeleine McCann, Reviews | Comments (6)

Madeleine McCann Spotted In Sweden

MADELEINE McCann Watch: Anorak’s at-a-glance look at Madeleine McCann in the news – Maddie spotted in Sweden!

The Local Reports: “Swedish police search for kidnapped Madeleine”

In Australia?

Stockholm police were called out to a local beach on Monday after a tip off that the kidnapped British girl Madeleine McCann had been spotted there.

How did she get there from Australia? Earlier in the week, Our Maddie was spotted in Byron Bay…

The tip off was by a father who believed that he had seen the missing Madeleine McCann at Flatenbadet in the southern Stockholm suburb of Bagarmossen, according to the Expressen newspaper.

A father.

Anorak

Posted: 12th, August 2009 | In: Madeleine McCann, Reviews | Comments (5)

Madeleine McCann: Spotted In Australia, Rhonda Wyllie And Another Child Stolen

MADELEINE McCann Watch: Anorak’s at-a-glance look at Madeleine McCann in the news – Madeleine spotted in Byron Bay, Rhonda Wyllie named and another child is taken…

Daily Mirror: “Maddy hunt sleuths off to Australia”

Investigators searching for Madeleine McCann are flying to Australia to follow up “viable leads“.

The viable leads the McCann’s PR Clarence Mitchell called “vague” or other viable leads that could be handled by the Australian police at less of a cost to the Madeleine McCann Fund?

Boats are involved and, perhaps, the wise thing would be for private detectives to charter a yacht and retrace the route possible taken by fat Victoria Beckham’s vessel as it sailed from the Algarve to Barcelona, then onto Australia, perhaps taking in Venezuela and the Caribbean?

Judith Aron and Melissa Karlson both say they did not take Our Maddie. There is not a shred of evidence linking them to the child. They are both innocent. So what leads are the private detectives investigating?

Daily Mail: “Millionaire socialite ‘devastated’ as her £3m superyacht is linked to hunt for Madeleine McCann”

Her brother Wayne McGrath told the People newspaper: ‘I have spoken to my sister and she is absolutely devastated. She doesn’t know anything about this.’

Names named. Damaged lives. Innocent people dragged into a terrible story of a missing child. Move on…

3Nws (NZ): “Perth socialite claims yacht not involved in McCann mystery”

A Perth socialite has scoffed at suggestions her yacht may have been involved in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

The yacht, belonging to Rhonda Wiley, was docked at the same port where a woman was seen asking about the delivery of her new daughter – just days after Madeline went missing.

Yesterday, “Rhonda Wiley” was the Mirror’s Rhonda Whilley (which is correct).

Daily Star: “AGONY FOR MCCANNS AS 2 NEW LEADS FLOP”

An Australian woman who matched the “Posh Spice lookalike” e-fit appeared to be entirely innocent of any involvement. Judith Aron, 53, of Melbourne, said: “I have no connection to the little girl. I haven’t left Australia since 2000, so there’s no way I could have been in Portugal or Spain around the time she went missing.”

“Appeared to be innocent.” Do we now presume guilt when a name is mentioned in the same breath as the media’s Our Maddie? Any other evidence?

In another disappointment to the McCanns, a £6million superyacht was also ruled out. Detectives hired by doctors Kate and Gerry McCann, both 41, had been hunting for the vessel… The Sunseeker Yacht 105, called Will Power, flies an Australian flag.

But last night the Brit skipper insisted it was a “coincidence’’. Its owner, £250m socialite Rhonda Wyllie, 52, was not on board at the time.

The skipper said he had dropped off her and her guests in Monaco. There were no Australians on board in Barcelona and he had never taken it to Portugal.

Anorak

Posted: 10th, August 2009 | In: Key Posts, Madeleine McCann, Reviews | Comments (9)

Madeleine McCann: Posh ‘Double’ Judith Aron, Melissa Karlson And Kate McCann’s Boat

MADELEINE McCann Watch: Anorak’s at-a-glance look at Madeleine McCann in the news – Kate McCann’s vision,

Star on Sunday: “OZ COPS CHASE SUSPECT”

Release the hounds!

Sky News: “Madeleine McCann Hunt Leads To Australia”

The search for Madeleine McCann is focusing on Australia after a woman told police she knew the Victoria Beckham lookalike being sought by detectives…

A spokesman for the New South Wales Police Force said: “A Sydney woman provided a formal statement to detectives at a Sydney police station. She claims to know the identity of the woman being sought by the private investigators attached to the McCann family.”

So it’s those private cops chasing the Maddie suspect? And what of this suspect spotter’s motives?

Daily Mirror: “’MADDIE YACHT’ FOUND: OWNER’S WORTH £250M & CALLS HUNT LUDICROUS”

Frank Thorne; Justin Penrose have breaking news of the Our Maddie hunt:

Madeleine McCann detectives aim to interview a millionairess after a yacht at the centre of the inquiry into the child’s disappearance was traced. Melissa Karlson’s mother owns the £6million vessel that docked in Barcelona hours before a mystery woman asked a British tourist: “Are you here to deliver my new daughter?” But the family of the 31-year old Australian, daughter of £250million socialite Rhonda Wyllie, 52, yesterday told the Sunday Mirror any suggestion the vessel was involved with the abduction or the mystery woman was “ludicrous“.

And so another innocent party is dragged into the story of the missing child.

Anorak

Posted: 9th, August 2009 | In: Key Posts, Madeleine McCann, Reviews | Comments (42)

Madeleine McCann: Victoria Beckham Lookalike Found

MADELEINE McCann Watch: Anorak’s at-a-glance look at Madeleine McCann in the news – Posh lookalike found, live from Barcelona and the Swedish ghost ship…

Daily Express (back on the front page): “MADDIE: Mystery of yacht that just vanished”

It’s the “MADDIE YACHT MYSTERY”.

No, it’s not the yacht that just vanished form the new, the Arab yacht that in June 2007 caused the Express to yell “Find the Arab’s yacht.” This is another disappearing yacht entirely:

A YACHT which left the Algarve just hours after Madeleine McCann disappeared has vanished without trace, the Daily Express can reveal. The luxury Swedish cruiser sailed out of the Portuguese harbour at Portimao on May 4, 2007, the morning after four-year-old Madeleine disappeared. It has not been seen since.

Last night there was growing speculation that Madeleine might have been whisked out of Portugal on the mystery boat.

Speculation like:

It is possible Madeleine could have been abducted on the orders of a childless couple, desperate to have a family, and taken to Barcelona to meet her new “parents”…

And the mystery yacht?

In Sweden all vessels measuring over 12 metres (40ft) long must be registered with the Swedish Maritime Administration. But inquires with their head office in Stockholm yesterday found no record of the yacht.

You don’t suppose… No, it’s too far-fetched. Well, you don’t suppose the mystery yacht was smaller than 12 metres long?

Daily Star: “Maddie: Was she on boat?”

The Swedish boat or the Arab boat? The jet ski?

MADDIE: RIDDLE OF AUSSIE ‘GHOST SHIP’

DETECTIVES hunting for Madeleine McCann were last night trying to trace a multi-million-pound power boat. The high-speed craft flying the Australian flag was moored yards from the spot where a nervous Posh Spice lookalike asked a Brit: “Are you here to deliver my daughter?’’

Anorak

Posted: 8th, August 2009 | In: Key Posts, Madeleine McCann, Reviews | Comments (33)

Madeleine McCann: McCanns Consult With Victoria Beckham

MADELEINE McCann Watch: Anorak’s at-a-glance look at Madeleine McCann in the news – Madeleine McCann is missing and the celebrity face of Victoria Beckham is linked to her vanishing.

It’s The Third Summer of Our Maddie and four newspapers – The Sun, the Daily Mirror, the Daily Star and the Daily Express – all lead with the hunt a woman who looks a “bit like” Victoria Beckham”…

Daily Star (front page): “MADDIE: find yacht oz woman.”

She had a yacht with her? Well, no. She was Australian. Well, she might have been. She was a woman? Yes. Unless… Such are the facts.

A worldwide hunt was under way last night for a Posh Spice lookalike who cops believe could be linked to Madeleine McCann’s kidnapping.

No, not cops – private detectives who used to be cops.

This woman was seen pacing nervously up and down on the quayside outside the El Rey De La Gamba seafood restaurant in Barcelona’s trendy Port Olimpic district at 2am.

Anorak

Posted: 7th, August 2009 | In: Key Posts, Madeleine McCann, Reviews | Comments (11)

Madeleine McCann: Fat Victoria Beckham, New Zealand And Michael Jackson

MADELEINE McCann Watch: Anorak’s at-a-glance look at Madeleine McCann in the news – Fat Victoria Beckham, New Zealand And Michael Jackson…

FIRST Post: “McCann detectives seek Australian woman”

The First Post has the facts. The wanted woman is Australian. Not a Kiwi as earlier reported. Fact.

The men described her as a “Victoria Beckham lookalike”. She had an Australian accent and spoke Spanish and Catalan as well as English.

So she might not have been Australian, only blessed with the accent she got from watching daytime telly.

The Guardian: “The woman, said to have an Australian or New Zealand accent”

The First Post:

The two witnesses are said to have encountered the woman outside a restaurant in Barcelona’s popular marina area. She apparently mistook the principal witness, a 41-year-old man, for someone she was supposed to meet.

A man she was supposed to meet?

Anorak

Posted: 6th, August 2009 | In: Key Posts, Madeleine McCann, Reviews | Comments (17)

Photofit Of ‘Victoria Beckham’ Madeleine McCann Suspect

MADELEINE McCann Watch: Anorak’s at-a-glance look at Madeleine McCann in the news – Victoria Beckham look alike wanted in connection with disappearance of Our Maddie.

What for the film?

Private detectives hired by Madeleine McCann’s parents want to trace a “Victoria Beckham lookalike” with an Australian or New Zealand accent. The woman is being sought because of something she said to two British men who met her in Barcelona three days after Madeleine went missing.

And this is what passes for not only news but for evidence. Cynics will point out that at least a link to a top celebrity will keep Our Maddie high in the internet search results.

“Victoria Beckham ” is understood to have an Australian or New Zealand accent. And a questionable singing voice.

Image: Vicky must be in tears. Maddie’s Vicky looks a bit on the plump side.

Madeleine McCann: Have You Seen David Beckham?

Madeleine McCann: The Story In Pictures
Pictures Of All The Madeleine McCann Suspects
The Story of Madeleine McCann

Anorak

Posted: 6th, August 2009 | In: Madeleine McCann, Reviews | Comments (15)

Madeleine McCann Hunt For Australian Man

MADELEINE McCann Watch: Anorak’s at-a-glance look at Madeleine McCann in the news – Australian man sought…

Daily Mail: “Maddie: hunt for mystery man from Australia”

With Michael Jackson’s death running out of steam and the August silly season upon us, the hacks return to Our Maddie.

Vanessa Allen has news:

The search for Madeleine McCann last night switched to Australia as detectives began hunting for a new suspect.

Anorak

Posted: 6th, August 2009 | In: Madeleine McCann, Reviews | Comments (16)

Madeleine McCann Hunt Cost Police Third Of Shannon Matthews’ Price

MADELEINE McCann Watch: Anorak’s at-a-glance look at Madeleine McCann in the news – The police bill…

Sky News: “Revealed: The Police Bill For Madeleine Hunt”

British police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann have spent almost three quarters of a million pounds on the case.

The Breakdown

The force’s part in the search for the missing little girl cost £548,477 in 2007-08.

An extra £196,756 has been spent in 2008-09 – taking the total to £745,233.

Some of the cost has so far been reimbursed by a Home Office grant of £525,069.

The Grant

In February, the Home Office said if a local police force has to incur extra costs for a Government event, its authority can ask for “special grant support from the Home Secretary.”

Says the McCanns’ spokesman, Clarence Mitchell:

“The police keep Kate and Gerry informed as and when appropriate and let them know of any movement on the case and Kate and Gerry are grateful to them. Obviously they have spent a lot of money on helping to find Madeleine and they are grateful to them for that effort.

“But Leicestershire Police are still bound by the Portuguese authorities as they are the lead force even though technically the case has been shelved over there, pending any significant developments.

“Leicestershire do what they can under the circumstances and Kate and Gerry are grateful for being kept in the loop.”

The hunt for Shannon Matthews cost £2.7million.

Madeleine McCann is missing…

Anorak

Posted: 3rd, August 2009 | In: Madeleine McCann, Reviews | Comments (8)

Madeleine McCann In Australia

MADELEINE McCann Watch: Anorak’s at-a-glance look at Madeleine McCann in the news – Jamie Neale and Our Maddie…

In “Jamie Neale and Richard Cass – taking good fortune for granted”, the Times’ Carol Midgley puts herself plays Tabloid Bingo! with found backpacker Jamie Neale and missing Madeleine McCann:

I wonder how Kate and Gerry McCann feel reading the story of Jamie Neale, the British teenager who was lost in the Australian Outback for 12 days, given up for dead, then miraculously found and reunited with his tearful father.

Anorak

Posted: 1st, August 2009 | In: Key Posts, Madeleine McCann, Reviews | Comments (2)

Madeleine McCann Coverage Turns Man Into Paedophile

MADELEINE McCann Watch: Anorak’s at-a-glance look at Madeleine McCann in the news – John Riches says Mccann coverage triggered an interest in child porn…

Western & Somerset Mercury: “Pervert ‘guilty’ in child porn case”

A PERVERT in his 20s has pleaded guilty to downloading child pornography after his interest was stoked by media reports of the Madeleine McCann case.

John Riches, of Aldwych Close, Burnham, blamed a ‘troubled childhood’ and his inability to express his feelings for his actions.

Anorak

Posted: 28th, July 2009 | In: Key Posts, Madeleine McCann, Reviews | Comments (8)

Madeleine McCann Is Number One In The Top Ten Unsolved Crimes Hit Parade

MADELEINE McCann Watch: Anorak’s at-a-glance look at Madeleine McCann in the news – Our Maddie Tops the Top Ten Missing Unsolve Crimes.

Hats off to the Daily Telegraph for dreaming up The Top Ten Unsolved Crimes and putting Madeleine McCann front-page centre.  The web loves Top Tens and with this one the Tabloidgraph should get loadsa traffic.

Beneath a picture of a grinning Madeleine McCann, Telegraph readers learn:

Richard Edwards: The question I get asked most: What happened to Madeleine McCann?

Edwards is the paper’s crime correspondent. Greetings, ghoul pickers. Here’s the official Top Ten of Crimes Unsolved:

Anorak

Posted: 24th, July 2009 | In: Madeleine McCann, Reviews | Comments (44)

Madeleine McCann Overheard In Spain

AN Anorak writer is in Spain. The conversation turns to if the children can be left in the family apartment – in a secure development with guards; the youngest child is 7. And who should pop into the conversation but Our Maddie:

Brother: Leave the kids in the apartment
Sister: Can’t do that.
Brother: Why the **** not?
Sister: Haven’t you heard what happened to Madeleine McCann.
Brother: No. What happened?

Anorak

Posted: 22nd, July 2009 | In: Madeleine McCann, Reviews | Comment

Madeleine McCann: Raymond Hewlett And The Wait For DNA

MADELEINE McCann Watch: Anorak’s at-a-glance look at Madeleine McCann in the news – Raymond Hewlett will not face charges over a child’s disappearance.

The Blackpool Gazette has news on Raymond Hewlett, a man linked by media and sources with the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. Hewlett, an Our Maddie victim:

A former Blackpool soldier, linked to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, is unlikely to face charges over a sex attack 30 years ago. A team of detectives from West Yorkshire police flew to Germany to question Raymond Hewlett over the assault on an eight-year-old girl in 1972 and took a DNA sample.

So not guilty. Innocent, even?

Anorak

Posted: 21st, July 2009 | In: Madeleine McCann, Reviews | Comments (4)