Groundhog Day? What if anything can we agree about?

[G-Unit]

It is not for a policeman to form a biased opinion without supporting evidence ... then to write a book pillorying his choice of perpetrator and setting up a continuing media career to condemn them.

The McCanns formed an opinion without supporting evidence, told all their family and friends about it, used the media to spread their opinion world-wide, (moderated)

[Brietta]

The McCanns formed an opinion without supporting evidence, told all their family and friends about it, used the media to spread their opinion world-wide, [moderated]

                                        The McCanns sued those who libelled them.

[stephen25000]

The McCanns formed an opinion without supporting evidence, told all their family and friends about it, used the media to spread their opinion world-wide, sued anyone who didn't agree with them..........

You got it in one.

[Carana]

the world protocal for missing children is if they  are  not found  in 48 hours it is most likley the child is  dead   im not talking about the teengaers /adults that are found years  later but  reality is  3  year olds  would not suvive a abduction and thats why i dont understand why mcann supporters    seem  to want it to be abduction...

Sorry, Carly, I've no idea what you mean by "world protocal".

If you had gone missing at age 3-4 for more than two days, your family should have just assumed you were dead, thrown away all your belongings, organised your funeral and forgotten about you? That's not a nice idea, is it?

If you have a much-loved pet, you wouldn't assume that it was dead and give up looking for it after being missing for two days, would you?

[Alfred R Jones]

The McCanns formed an opinion without supporting evidence, told all their family and friends about it, used the media to spread their opinion world-wide, [Moderated]

Why shouldn't they?  They were not the police, trained to look objectively at the facts.

[Mr Gray]

Criticise doctors in general or any doctors in particular? They're just people and some make mistakes, some commit crimes, some go beyond the call of duty. I don't need qualifications to know that.

yet you won't accept any criticism of the handling of this case by the police officers involved...I don't  need any qualifications to see how badly the pj handled this case

The relentless criticism of the PJ by some and the refusal to accept what they did do is unbalanced.

not unbalanced...justified...see above...it is YOUR criticism which is unbalanced

The Met police are constantly referred to as 'the professionals' and 'the experts' by some. I have not seen some people ever admit that they're not perfect.

the met are professionals and are experts...no one has claimed that they are perfect.   that is an absurd and untrue statement

The Met have more experience of investigating what? What crime has been committed?

child disappearance

You have consistently refused/been unable to point to any evidence to support your theory of the crime committed, so criticising a policeman for his conclusions is a bit rich imo.

I have a whole thread on evidence of abduction...you agreed yesterday that if the parents are ruled out abduction is the most likely conclusion...Sy have said parents not suspects

Please note that suggesting that I lack basic concepts means nothing. Basic concepts of what in particular are you referring to? I'm not asleep either.

basic concepts....see above

[Angelo222]

The Met have more experience of investigating what? What crime has been committed?

child disappearance

Child disappearance is not necessarily a crime and as far as this case is concerned it has still not been established what the crime or crimes involved were.

I still find it more likely that Maddie got out on her own possibly after having been woken up by an attempted incursion by a stranger and that in her panic she met with some misadventure which has been covered up.

I don't believe opposite sides can agree on very much beyond the fact that Maddie has disappeared.

[faithlilly]

Why shouldn't they?  They were not the police, trained to look objectively at the facts.

Exactly. They are not the police and IMO did irreparable harm to the official investigation by trying to be. We just gave to look at Tanner's sighting to see this. Everyone with any training, from the PJ to their own investigators were of the opinion that the Smith sighting was a more significant sighting than their friend's. The McCanns, however, believed they knew better and continued publicise the description of, what we now know, was almost certainly an innocent father and therefore wasting precious resources and thousands of man hours on a wild goose chase.

[Mr Gray]

child disappearance



Child disappearance is not necessarily a crime and as far as this case is concerned it has still not been established what the crime or crimes involved were.

I still find it more likely that Maddie got out on her own possibly after having been woken up by an attempted incursion by a stranger and that in her panic she met with some misadventure which has been covered up.

I don't believe opposite sides can agree on very much beyond the fact that Maddie has disappeared.

if she did get out on her own it seems she would have had to close all the gates behind her ...which does not seem to be  a possibility

[Angelo222]

if she did get out on her own it seems she would have had to close all the gates behind her ...which does not seem to be  a possibility

Not really, she could have climbed over the baby gate assuming of course that it was even closed.

[Mr Gray]

The McCanns formed an opinion without supporting evidence, told all their family and friends about it, used the media to spread their opinion world-wide, (moderated)

they have a perfect right to...they did have supporting evidence...the open window and shutters.

[Mr Gray]

Not really, she could have climbed over the baby gate assuming of course that it was even closed.

she would have had to close the patio door...we don't have all the info but it seems SY are not considering this possibility

[pegasus]

if she did get out on her own it seems she would have had to close all the gates behind her ...which does not seem to be  a possibility

Not something we all agree about. Some of us have read the document re top gate possibly open at 21:30.

[Mr Moderator]

she would have had to close the patio door...we don't have all the info but it seems SY are not considering this possibility

My experience of SY and any police force for that matter is that they will only divulge that which they want the public to know about and keep everything else to themselves for obvious reasons.

[Alfred R Jones]

Exactly. They are not the police and IMO did irreparable harm to the official investigation by trying to be. We just gave to look at Tanner's sighting to see this. Everyone with any training, from the PJ to their own investigators were of the opinion that the Smith sighting was a more significant sighting than their friend's. The McCanns, however, believed they knew better and continued publicise the description of, what we now know, was almost certainly an innocent father and therefore wasting precious resources and thousands of man hours on a wild goose chase.

What nonsense.  Until Crecheman came forward to be eliminated BOTH sightings were potentially of equal importance.  Were the McCanns meant to be clairvoyant and know in advance that Crecheman was an innocent father?