British Police Say Madeleine McCann May Still Be Alive

[Political Junky]

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/26/world/europe/britain-reopens-the-madeleine-mccann-case.html

LONDON — Investigators with Britain’s largest police force said on Wednesday that they believed that Madeleine McCann, the British toddler who vanished while on vacation with her parents in Portugal, could still be alive. Madeline’s story reverberated across the globe, and as the years have passed most have given up hope of ever finding her.
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[waltky]

Hope for finding Maddie?...

Miracles do happen - why not for Maddie: Hope for the McCann's after Scotland Yard detectives review her case
26 April 2012 : Haunting images were released by police this week of Madeleine McCann as she might look today — a smiling, nine-year-old schoolgirl without a care in the world.

The ‘age progression’ image was made by the Human Identification and Forensic Art Consultancy, and they have done an amazing job. You can see the advance of time, the ghostly palimpsest of her parents’ features merging with her own, the virtual romanticism of a lost girl growing up fast. Just like millions of readers who have followed the tragic Madeleine case, I found the images riveting and heart-breaking in equal measure. Then I also thought, well, boo hoo for us. For imagine what it must be like to be her parents; to daily endure the limbo and piercing torture of not knowing what has happened to their little girl — where she is, what she is doing, whether she is happy, alive or dead. And then to be presented with her smiling face five years on, as though nothing had ever happened.

As time marches on, our memories fade, but Kate and Gerry McCann’s ordeal does not diminish. Mrs McCann has talked in the past of often imagining how Madeleine would look now; for her and her husband to see a forensic representation of this fond daydream must have been bittersweet. On the one hand, the couple must be delighted Scotland Yard detectives are reviewing the case — and have already stated that they have found 195 new leads and believe there is a chance Madeleine is still alive. On the other, they are once again jolted back down into their own private abyss of grief. For despite the fascinating new images, as far as her parents are concerned, Madeleine is frozen in time as a three-year-old; a tiny daughter snatched away on a warm night in Portugal, a child who slipped from view and has never been seen again.

The images have been published as part of Operation Grange, the latest investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance, which so far has cost the British taxpayer more than £2&#8201;million. The new search involves some 28 officers from Scotland Yard and seven civilian workers. Everyone is hoping that the new findings will put pressure on the Portuguese judicial authorities to reopen their investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance. Of course, some people will say this is a terrible waste of public money. Why should we re-investigate a five-year-old case that, while being terribly sad, has a slim chance of ever being solved?

Well, why not? This country spends millions on all kind of well-meaning but misguided rubbish: on government-backed fact-finding missions; on wind farms; on dodgy jobseeker schemes; on court interpreters and massage therapists for granny-murdering asylum-seekers; on keeping Abu Qatada safe and warm in a lovely British jail; on long-winded, ultimately pointless public inquiries; on endless, endless rubbish. To spend money on the — admittedly tiny — hope that Madeleine McCann might still be alive seems the right thing to do. Indeed, the only civilised, decent thing to do. To invest public funds to try to bring closure to this most vexatious case is money well spent as far as I am concerned. For apart from anything else, sometimes miracles do happen.

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See also:

2,000 stolen baby cases filed in Spain
April 26,`12 (UPI) -- At least 2,000 cases have been filed in Spain's so-called stolen babies scandal, but some groups say there could be tens of thousands dating back decades.

The face of the scandal is an 87-year-old Catholic nun, Sister Maria Gomez, accused of taking a newborn from her unmarried mother and placing the baby up for an illegal adoption in 1982. The nun refused to testify when she appeared in court this month and later issued a statement saying the allegations were disgusting. CNN reported Thursday it appears the illegal adoptions were the work of individuals looking to make money, with no national network or organized crime organizations involved.

Antonio Barroso, who didn't learn until he was an adult that he was one of the "stolen babies," has set up ANADIR, the National Association of People Affected by Irregular Adoptions, which has been contacted by hundreds of people hoping to find their lost children or parents, CNN said. The association has created a database to register the DNA of parents searching for their children. CNN said only a handful of matches have been made so far.

Madrid's prosecutor told the network pursuing a criminal case is difficult because the statute of limitations for forging a birth certificate has expired and the alleged forgery does not prove a baby was stolen.

Source

 

[Katzndogz]

No hope because Portugal refuses to reopen the case. Maybe the portuguese authorities are just lazy, maybe it's a result of their having legalized drugs and have no interest in anything else.

 

[Swagger]

British Police Say Madeleine McCann May Still Be Alive

I very much doubt that.

 

[Political Junky]

No hope because Portugal refuses to reopen the case. Maybe the portuguese authorities are just lazy, maybe it's a result of their having legalized drugs and have no interest in anything else.

Tolerance of drugs

Main article: Drug policy of Portugal
Portugal has arguably the most liberal laws concerning possession of illicit drugs in the Western world. In 2001 Portugal decriminalized possession of effectively all drugs that are still illegal in other developed nations including, but not limited to, marijuana, cocaine, heroin, and LSD. While possession is legal, trafficking and possession of more than "10 days worth of personal use" are still punishable by jail time and fines. Since decriminalization was implemented, Portugal has seen rapid improvement in the number of deaths from drug overdoses as well as a decline in new HIV infections. [7]

Crime in Portugal - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

 

[waltky]

UK police granted extra funds in search for missing Madeleine McCann...

Madeleine McCann: UK police granted extra funds in search for missing child
Sun March 12, 2017 - Kate McCann husband Gerry continue to search for their daughter after she disappeared in May 2007.

British police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann have been given additional funds to continue their search for the girl who vanished a decade ago. The UK Home Office gave police $103,000 ( £85,000) to extend the search for six more months between April and September. Madeleine was a few weeks shy of her fourth birthday when she went missing from her family's holiday apartment on May 3, 2007, in the Portuguese town of Praia da Luz.

'Never give up'

Her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, have always promised to "never give up" their search for their missing daughter. So far, about $13.5 million has been spent on the search, which is nicknamed Operation Grange. "Following an application from the Metropolitan Police for Special Grant funding, the Home Office has confirmed £85,000 in operational costs for Operation Grange for the period 1 April until September 2017," the Home Office said. "As with all applications, the resources required are reviewed regularly and careful consideration is given before any new funding is allocated."

Missing for a decade

The search for Madeleine has gone on for years, and has included investigators from the UK and Portugal. Her parents had left Madeleine and her younger twin siblings asleep while they went for dinner with friends at a nearby tapas restaurant. Her mother raised the alarm when she checked on the children about 10 p.m. and discovered her daughter missing. A series of suspects have been questioned, but there have been no solid clues.

Madeleine McCann search: UK police get cash boost - CNN.com