Madeleine McCann

I'm with Ed on this one ... well said Ed.

The parents have been incredibly stupid - that you cannot deny.
Whether they are guilty of anything more is not for "us" to decide.
We can only speculate on that (innocent until proven guilty as Jelster says).

I think the parents are in a no-win situation.
If they court media interest they are being accused of over-hyping it.
If they don't the media will hound them anyway, or people will accuse them of not caring enough.

I don't agree with (or recognise) their "celebrity" status, and I do agree that other methods could have been used to generate such publicity as I find it a bit strange that they aren't spending as much time with their other children as I think (personally) they ought to ... if I lost a child, I'd make damn sure I barely let my remaining child(ren) out of my sight. I wouldn't be jetting off to see the Pope (et al).

That's my opinion on it.

Oh and I disagree with ya Soulkiss on the bit about the parents of Rhys (the young boy who was shot in Liverpool the other week). An entirely INNOCENT 11 year old child was shot and killed by what would appear to be a "young person on a BMX bike". That news is bound to make headlines ... and so the parents are bound to end up in the media spotlight. Rhys was an avid young footballer and I think it speaks VOLUMES that players from his beloved Everton FC attended the funeral, amongst what was bound to be a media frenzy - if anything I'd be castigating the media for their intrusions, but at the end of the day, they are doing their jobs (like it or loathe - if they didn't we wouldn't be discussing it here!). Also "gun crime" is becoming a sad fact of life in Britain these days, and if it unites an otherwise split community (based on which team they support) then the parents can hardly be blamed for "highlighting" that.

Pete

I'm with the minority Ed, Dan and Pedro.

I don't blame the parents for trying to keep the story in the media etc but like others have mentioned it sucks that the media have leapt onto this story to the detriment of others.

If I REALLY REALLY REALLY cared about every story about every missing/killed child/adult I would constantly be a nervous sobbing wreck.

Originally Posted by sarah

I don't blame the parents for trying to keep the story in the media etc but like others have mentioned it sucks that the media have leapt onto this story to the detriment of others.

If I REALLY REALLY REALLY cared about every story about every missing/killed child/adult I would constantly be a nervous sobbing wreck.

Agreed i would be a mess too

Originally Posted by Pedro68

I think the parents are in a no-win situation.
If they court media interest they are being accused of over-hyping it.
If they don't the media will hound them anyway, or people will accuse them of not caring enough.
Pete

Not sure ... 'cause if they did not cause all the fuss in the first place no one would know and no one would care. I don't know the stats but I am sure there are many kids abducted every year. You just don't hear about them. And are the media hunting those parenst down and blaming them for not hyping it up? No.

We all judge the case based on the TV and papers coverage but we know nothing about the real facts. The police does and I am sure you will solve the case sooner rather than later.

Originally Posted by SoulKiss

I hear the mother has now been made a suspect.

Is it just me or did they react VERY wierdly to it - flying all over Europe etc.

Its just the 1st of the "Celebrity Parent Victims", I think we can expect to see even more of it in the future - there was an element of this with that kid that got shot in Liverpool

As someone once posted, if they had left the kid with a baby-sitter and the baby sitter had popped out and this had happened then the baby-sitter would have been crucified by the press etc.

I feel sorry for their other kids who have been abandoned to relatives - they need their parents to be there for them - its not as if they wont know what is/has happened with the media circus thats going on.

Absolutely spot on

"Who Cares" - That is one of the worst things I've seen on here, Whatever terrible things have or are continuing to happen to Madeleine she does not deserve them.

[SoulKiss]

Originally Posted by Pedro68

I'm with Ed on this one ... well said Ed.

The parents have been incredibly stupid - that you cannot deny.
Whether they are guilty of anything more is not for "us" to decide.
We can only speculate on that (innocent until proven guilty as Jelster says).

I think the parents are in a no-win situation.
If they court media interest they are being accused of over-hyping it.
If they don't the media will hound them anyway, or people will accuse them of not caring enough.

I don't agree with (or recognise) their "celebrity" status, and I do agree that other methods could have been used to generate such publicity as I find it a bit strange that they aren't spending as much time with their other children as I think (personally) they ought to ... if I lost a child, I'd make damn sure I barely let my remaining child(ren) out of my sight. I wouldn't be jetting off to see the Pope (et al).

That's my opinion on it.

Oh and I disagree with ya Soulkiss on the bit about the parents of Rhys (the young boy who was shot in Liverpool the other week). An entirely INNOCENT 11 year old child was shot and killed by what would appear to be a "young person on a BMX bike". That news is bound to make headlines ... and so the parents are bound to end up in the media spotlight. Rhys was an avid young footballer and I think it speaks VOLUMES that players from his beloved Everton FC attended the funeral, amongst what was bound to be a media frenzy - if anything I'd be castigating the media for their intrusions, but at the end of the day, they are doing their jobs (like it or loathe - if they didn't we wouldn't be discussing it here!). Also "gun crime" is becoming a sad fact of life in Britain these days, and if it unites an otherwise split community (based on which team they support) then the parents can hardly be blamed for "highlighting" that.

Pete

Given your location, I think that you may be closer to the Rhys case than me.

I didnt say that they HAD become like the Maddy case, just that at times it was reminiscent of it from the soundbites etc that were coming out of it.

I was not trying to tie these cases together - the Rhys case is completely different to the Maddy case in so many ways.

Maybe its because I believe that you shouldnt have to appeal on TV before people who know things about crimes come forwards, I mean why does it take someone on TV appealing for witnessed to come forwards for them to suddenly see that this is the right thing to do, why were they not down the local police station as soon as they could be.

My view is that why should I care about this one little girl more than any other missing child, just because her parents shouted loudest and longest.

Look at the stories in the press at the moment about the Vietnamese kids that are being kidnapped to work in Cannabis Factories in this country.

Dont they deserve the same attention ?

the trouble is we only know what we're told and the media are reknowned for fabricating things to rouse the public i hope where evershe is they are looking after her poor little lass

The problem I have as a parent is that they shouldnt have left the young girl alone in the first place, but also there doesnt seem to have been any kind of public showing of grief, if one of my kids got abducted I wouldnt be able to hold back my hurt, anger, helplessness and frustration and Id want everyone to know about it.