Put yourself in the mind of a detective and work it out for yourself
Or put yourself in the place of a parent, and ask:
"If you had let your child go on holiday with the McCanns and they lost her, would you accept their version ?"
This e-book is a compilation of some documents relating to
specific parts of the ongoing saga of the quest for the truth about
the reported disappearance of Madeleine Beth McCann.
It is doubtful whether anyone in the literate civilised world does not know that Madeleine was reported missing by her mother about 10 pm on 3rd May 2007, from an apartment in Praia da Luz, on the Algarve in Portugal.
Almost all other facts have been the subject of claim and counterclaim, of conflict of evidence, and above all of the crushing financial and legal might of the best libel lawyers in the world bearing down on anyone who dares to express a view different from the official one put out by the McCanns and their spokesperson.
It is important to note however, that nothing which has been said or written has ever been proved to be libellous in a Court of Law, after proper examination. Everything has been settled out of court, or by undertakings.
Readers may decide for themselves if the official story is physically possible, or bears a proper relation to the observable facts, but should be aware that they are still in danger of being sued for holding and expressing a different view, or of having those views suppressed in a different way.
It is notable that the amount attributable to legal fees already substantially outweighs the amount paid to the various firms of private detectives, who have notably failed to come up with anything of value.
One test which has been applied when determining what to include is to examine any incongruence between what was said, and what was observed.
For example, this is what was said - about the 8th day of the 'search'; the 8th day of the investigation into the disappearance; 12th May 2007, Madeleine's 4th birthday
"We ate mostly in silence, concentrating on the kids. I couldn't eat much, and alcohol was completely off my agenda. Fiona recalls that Gerry and I were completely shut down that day, barely able to talk, and although our friends tried to remain cheerful and behave normally to get us through it, they all felt awkward about being at this lovely villa, in the sunshine, in these circumstances. There was no cake. Gerry did attempt a toast but he was visibly upset and couldn't manage much more than "I can't even say happy birthday to my daughter . . ." before choking up. The physical loss was more intense than ever. I ached for Madeleine."
from the book 'madeleine', by Kate McCann - p. 128
The statements have not been interpreted, but the obvious inconsistencies and frequent changes of story have been left in and highlighted for readers to make up their own minds.
The structure of the e-book is that each chapter is in the form of a self contained monograph, with its own list of references. For ease of research the original source has also been appended in full where possible.
Although that makes it slightly cumbersome it gives the reader instant access to the source material, so that any mistake or wrong interpretation can be immediately identified.
If there are mistakes they are entirely mine.
If I have quoted anything without giving a reference or acknowledgement, I apologise.
There are those who argue that this matter is one which should now be laid to rest, or that the McCann's version, or versions, should be accepted in its entirety.
To them I would say we should always bear in mind the following:
Madeleine Beth McCann is missing
It is not known what happened to her
Her whereabouts are unknown
The search for her, or for her mortal remains, must continue
The search for the truth about what happened must continue
No one should seek to prevent or to hinder either of those
And in support of those ends -
No one with a valid theory or hypothesis should be crushed before the theory or hypotheses can be tested
No one with a differing point of view should be silenced, except by defeat in logical debate, or by production of evidence
Bullying, vicitimisation, name-calling, 'trolling' and other techniques have no place in the search for the truth
Nor in the search for a missing child.
It is not known what happened to her
Her whereabouts are unknown
The search for her, or for her mortal remains, must continue
The search for the truth about what happened must continue
No one should seek to prevent or to hinder either of those
And in support of those ends -
No one with a valid theory or hypothesis should be crushed before the theory or hypotheses can be tested
No one with a differing point of view should be silenced, except by defeat in logical debate, or by production of evidence
Bullying, vicitimisation, name-calling, 'trolling' and other techniques have no place in the search for the truth
Nor in the search for a missing child.
It is not known why the McCanns do not publicly distance themselves from the foul language and vile insults, threats and abuse directed by several blog sites against people who are seeking the truth. Nor why they allowed evidence obtained by criminal activity to be adduced in support of their case.
PeterMac