Establishing the identity of an abducted child by DNA.

[Eleanor]

You can apply that to the reconstruction too Eleanor...well said!

Touche, Pussy Cat.

[G-Unit]

I understand your feelings, but from the perspective of the police, your say-so isn't proof. Just as if you were asked where you were on a certain day when a crime was committed, it would be naive (IMO) to assume that the police are simply going to accept that you were home alone reading a book without attempting to corroborate it.

Wasn't the sighting under discussion the one in India? If so, aside from a passport (which can be forged), parents don't normally take birth certificates and birth bracelets on holiday with them, do they?

As I said before, I'd be annoyed at any resulting media intrusion. I'd also be annoyed if I had to spend days hunting for some form of evidence to prove an alibi, but I'd understand it. I'd also be less than a happy bunny if I were subject to a dawn raid with my home being turned upside down and left in a state of chaos, or if my phone and computer were seized for analysis for weeks on end with no good reason.

I guess we all react differently.

My posts are a reply to people who think everyone who is 'fingered' as having Madeleine McCann should happily agree to DNA testing of their child. I said I would provide reasonable proof that my child was my child. If the police then accused me of lying by insisting on a DNA test I would be angry and would refuse. The scenario didn't include me being anywhere but at home.

[jassi]

My posts are a reply to people who think everyone who is 'fingered' as having Madeleine McCann should happily agree to DNA testing of their child. I said I would provide reasonable proof that my child was my child. If the police then accused me of lying by insisting on a DNA test I would be angry and would refuse. The scenario didn't include me being anywhere but at home.

If home is the UK, then no chance. The door would be hanging off its hinges and you'd be surrounded by armed police faster than you could blink

[G-Unit]

Ah yes ... the infallibility of documentation ...


**Snip
A crooked registrar faces a lengthy jail sentence after being found guilty of issuing false birth certificates to a gang of African fraudsters who stole at least £4million from taxpayers  over 20 years.
Azu Akpom provided fake certificates to the ringleader of the gang who went on to create false identities for up to 100 children to milk the benefits system.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2268561/Registrar-forged-birth-certificates-African-gang-4m-benefits-fraud.html#ixzz3j4lX0ehI


It isn't out with the bounds of probability that if one were capable of kidnapping a child ... one would be capable of forging whatever documents were necessary to suit the circumstances.

I'm not talking about fraud. I'm talking about an ordinary wife and mother whose child is seen by some nut who decides it looks like Madeleine Mccann and tells the police. The police have to check it out, but once the mother gives reasonable proof, that should be that.

[Angelo222]

I'm not talking about fraud. I'm talking about an ordinary wife and mother whose child is seen by some nut who decides it looks like Madeleine Mccann and tells the police. The police have to check it out, but once the mother gives reasonable proof, that should be that.

How many young girls who look like Maddie have a coloboma in their right eye?  Identifying any suspects wouldn't even need DNA analysis imo.

[jassi]

Well she ain't going to look remotely like that for a start - if she ever did.

[Brietta]

I'm not talking about fraud. I'm talking about an ordinary wife and mother whose child is seen by some nut who decides it looks like Madeleine Mccann and tells the police. The police have to check it out, but once the mother gives reasonable proof, that should be that.

Interesting you should describe a person who sees a child resembling a reported missing child as "some nut" if that person performs their duty as a citizen and reports the sighting.

What do you consider is reasonable proof?  As we have seen documentation can be forged.

What if your ordinary wife and mother does indeed have her child's birth certificate and reasonable proof ... but what if birth certificate and photograph albums etc don't actually feature the child she has substituted for her own?

Glad you seem to accept the police should investigate ... interesting that you don't seem to think it appropriate for them to investigate further than acceptance of the word of a person who may not be all that she seems.

[Brietta]

How many young girls who look like Maddie have a coloboma in their right eye?  Identifying any suspects wouldn't even need DNA analysis imo.

We know of at least two ... one in New Zealand and one in Australia.  I believe the little girl seen on TV at the football match also has one, but in the opposite eye.

[Carana]

And possibly for no good reason to begin with, other than someone thinking that the child might bear a passing resemblance to an artist's impression of what Madeleine MIGHT look like.

I feel police would need to be very sure of their facts before going in heavy-handed.

If there is a reasonable suspicion (however that is interpreted) that any person might be a missing person, fugitive drug dealer, rapist or serial killer for whom there is an established DNA profile, isn't a DNA swab the simplest means of establishing whether the person in question IS the person sought or not?

[jassi]

While that might be so in UK, other countries may not view things in the same way.

[Angelo222]

Well she ain't going to look remotely like that for a start - if she ever did.

I was referring to years back when there were sightings.

[jassi]

I was referring to years back when there were sightings.

I know you were, but I reckon she still didn't look like that then.

[G-Unit]

Interesting you should describe a person who sees a child resembling a reported missing child as "some nut" if that person performs their duty as a citizen and reports the sighting.

What do you consider is reasonable proof?  As we have seen documentation can be forged.

What if your ordinary wife and mother does indeed have her child's birth certificate and reasonable proof ... but what if birth certificate and photograph albums etc don't actually feature the child she has substituted for her own?

Glad you seem to accept the police should investigate ... interesting that you don't seem to think it appropriate for them to investigate further than acceptance of the word of a person who may not be all that she seems.

I'm talking about an innocent person with her own child and sufficient proof of that without needing any other.

[Mr Gray]

I'm talking about an innocent person with her own child and sufficient proof of that without needing any other.

how many people carry sufficient proof

[jassi]

Why would one need proof? Is it not for the police to prove?