Mum of teen missing for 20 years criticises publicity given to Madeleine McCann
By DANYA BAZARAA
Published 4 September 2017
"We're just s..m off an estate": Mum of teen missing for 20 years criticises publicity given to Madeleine McCann.Deirdre Fenech says the level of attention her missing daughter Carmel has had is less because they're not "posh" like the McCanns.
The heartbroken mum of a teenage girl who disappeared nearly 20 years ago is angry about the amount of publicity Madeleine McCann has had in comparison to her own daughter.
Deirdre Fenech's "beautiful" girl Carmel was just 16 when she went missing in May 1998, when she didn't return to her home in Crawley, Sussex.
She is bitter about the coverage her daughter has had compared to three-year-old Madeleine, who hasn't been seen since May 3, 2007.
Maddy vanished from a holiday flat in the Algarve, Portugal, while her parents Gerry and Kate had dinner in a bar nearby.
Carmel was reportedly addicted to crack cocaine at the time she went missing and had fallen into a crowd of drug dealers.
Deirdre told The Sun that the difference in the level of attention they've received comes down to the fact they are not "posh" like the McCanns.
Carmel was just 16 when she vanished.
She said: "People looked at us like we're s..m from Peckham, because we don't live in a posh house and because our children had problems.
"They’re [the McCanns] professional people with plenty of money, a nice, beautiful house and we’re just some s..m off an estate - that’s what it boils down to."
Deirdre, 61, believes any missing person should get all the publicity possible. She said she's personally spent years wandering the streets of south London searching for her daughter.
She also said that as far as the police are considered, "we are nothing, I was just a single parent with five kids from a rough council estate."
But police say the force has not forgotten about Carmel's disappearance.
Carmel's mother also criticised the amount of contact she'd had from police, saying it's been three years since she heard from them.
She claimed she had not been receiving regular updates, although the last she heard was that her daughter's case was being dealt with by the serious crime unit.
A spokesperson for Sussex Police told The Sun they will always examine and follow up - where possible- new information and leads.
They said there is no current development in this case but it will be assessed again as part of their regular process for unresolved cases.
At the time she vanished, Carmel was reportedly a crack cocaine addict who mixed with drug dealers in south London.
Her mum thinks the 'world' she fell into has something to do with her disappearance.
Deirdre described Carmel as beautiful and intelligent, but just got caught up in the wrong crowd.
She says although she didn't know it at the time, her daughter had been introduced to crack cocaine at a party when she was only 14.
When she did find out through neighbours, devastated Deirdre had pleaded with her girl to stop.
The year before Carmel went missing, Deirdre even moved the family from Peckham to Crawley in the hope of a fresh start, away from the drugs.
But Carmel still spent a lot of time in London and went back to her old ways.
Carmel was put into the care of West Sussex social care after a court appearance, but she went missing from a care home not long after.
Her mum said Carmel vanished amid a rumour she was pregnant and had apparently gone to London to tell her boyfriend.
Missing People, a charity which provides support to family and friends of people who go missing each year, have been continually co-ordinating publicity for Carmel's case in the media and on their own website.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/were-just-s..m-estate-mum-11111303
