The Portuguese police and Madeleine McCann's eye defect.

[Alfred R Jones]

So you think that publicising the fact that the child you've got has a unique eye detail which will remain with her after she's grown enough to be unrecognisable by any other means wouldn't be seen by the abductor as a problem? They wouldn't be at all worried that they have to be always on guard in case questions are asked about the eye? Pah!

Is it highly unusual for families of missing people to publicise any detail that might make their loved one more noticeable to the public?  If so, what do you think the McCanns were playing at, considering you believe They already knew Madeleine was  mouldering away in a corner of portugal by this time?  How do the McCanns actually gain from highlighting the eye defect?

[Alfred R Jones]

So you think that publicising the fact that the child you've got has a unique eye detail which will remain with her after she's grown enough to be unrecognisable by any other means wouldn't be seen by the abductor as a problem? They wouldn't be at all worried that they have to be always on guard in case questions are asked about the eye? Pah!

On this basis you must also be strenuously against age progression pictures, and basically any publicity at all for missing children.  Better for the child if no one has a clue what it looks like in case the abductor gets spooked that his captive will be recognised, yah or pah?

[Eleanor]

It's a bit more complicated than that.

Many people are alcoholics or gamblers. It's their own fault. Family sometimes facilitate their behaviour, however, for various reasons. The addiction can't be blamed on the facilitator, but they do make it easier for the addicted person to continue their misguided behaviour.

Some people abduct children. It's their own fault. Leaving children home alone makes it easier for an abductor to satisfy his/her needs. The abduction can't be blamed on those who left the child unsafe, but they made it easier for the abductor to achieve his/her aims. The abductor then sees a huge media campaign asking everyone to 'look' at children's eyes. He or she has a look at the abducted child's eyes and panics. He/she kills or maims the child.

He/she, the abductor hadn't already notice then?

[jassi]

Well, it was barely noticeable - allegedly .

[G-Unit]

He/she, the abductor hadn't already notice then?

According to Kate McCann it wasn't all that noticeable. You had to be very close to her to see it, so not something that would have leapt out at you.

@jassi-snap!

[Eleanor]

According to Kate McCann it wasn't all that noticeable. You had to be very close to her to see it, so not something that would have leapt out at you.

@jassi-snap!

So no need to panic, then.

[Alfred R Jones]

On this basis you must also be strenuously against age progression pictures, and basically any publicity at all for missing children.  Better for the child if no one has a clue what it looks like in case the abductor gets spooked that his captive will be recognised, yah or pah?

Well?

[Brietta]

Publicising an identifying characteristic is no guarantee that it will be of any use if it is ignored by police when reported by a member of the public who may have seen a corresponding mark.

**Snip

Referred to as the "mark of Madeleine" the blemish on the four-year-old's right eye has played a key part in the campaign to highlight her disappearance, emphasised in posters and videos.

It was at the centre of the latest possible sighting of her. Dutch student Melissa Fiering says she saw a girl who looked like Madeleine McCann at a service station in the South of France.

She believed it was the youngster, who went missing from the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz last May, because she had a dark smudge on her right iris. However, police examining CCTV evidence have determined it was not the missing girl.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7256513.stm


It seems Ricardo Paiva was not alone in having a 'not relevant' mentality.  One can only wonder why looking at CCTV footage of this little girl was sufficient for the French police to rule her out given the close look the witness had of her eye.


**Snip

While French police have ruled out the latest "sighting" of Madeleine, given the rareness of the eye defect it's perhaps not surprising Ms Fiering believed she had seen the missing girl.

"I looked in her eye because I'd seen on TV that Madeleine's got a defect in her right iris and I saw this girl had it," she told the Daily Mirror. "I could hardly believe my eyes, but I knew for sure it was her."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7256513.stm

[G-Unit]

So no need to panic, then.

Or to publicise it as a unique feature. Those 'looking' could have seen her, not noticed anything matching the advertised eye defect, and decided it couldn't be her.

[G-Unit]

Publicising an identifying characteristic is no guarantee that it will be of any use if it is ignored by police when reported by a member of the public who may have seen a corresponding mark.

**Snip

Referred to as the "mark of Madeleine" the blemish on the four-year-old's right eye has played a key part in the campaign to highlight her disappearance, emphasised in posters and videos.

It was at the centre of the latest possible sighting of her. Dutch student Melissa Fiering says she saw a girl who looked like Madeleine McCann at a service station in the South of France.

She believed it was the youngster, who went missing from the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz last May, because she had a dark smudge on her right iris. However, police examining CCTV evidence have determined it was not the missing girl.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7256513.stm


It seems Ricardo Paiva was not alone in having a 'not relevant' mentality.  One can only wonder why looking at CCTV footage of this little girl was sufficient for the French police to rule her out given the close look the witness had of her eye.


**Snip

While French police have ruled out the latest "sighting" of Madeleine, given the rareness of the eye defect it's perhaps not surprising Ms Fiering believed she had seen the missing girl.

"I looked in her eye because I'd seen on TV that Madeleine's got a defect in her right iris and I saw this girl had it," she told the Daily Mirror. "I could hardly believe my eyes, but I knew for sure it was her."
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7256513.stm

It seems the French Police dealt with this sighting without contacting the PJ. The story appeared in a Dutch newspaper, de Gederlander and was picked up by the UK media. Someone sent the story to LP, or they were monitoring the media. They sent the details to the PJ. The Pj then approached The National Interpol Cabinet on 20th February 2008 with an urgent request for information from the French authorities and copies of the CCTV images taken by the French Police. On 27th February they asked again, and Interpol said the French hadn't responded. If they ever did I don't know.
http://www.mccannpjfiles.co.uk/PJ/ASSORTED_SIGHTINGS_14.htm

Does this mean the French Police are in the same league as the Portuguese Police, I wonder?

[Brietta]

According to Goncalo Amaral ... Joana is dead ... Madeleine is dead.

Based on what???

In the absence of evidence to support that assertion in both cases ... based solely on his opinion.

There has been a culture of denial of the possibility of Madeleine's survival among those who support him.

One of the ways of promoting this is the the derision directed at each and every possible sighting of the missing child.
Even those which occurred early into her disappearance and in the area from which she disappeared.

In my opinion it amounts to a 'cult of death'.  One wonders how much of that attitude was transferred across borders into France.  What could influence police to ignore an eye witness sighting as the French police did other than a belief it wasn't worth the bother of checking out because the child was dead.

[stephen25000]

According to Goncalo Amaral ... Joana is dead ... Madeleine is dead.

Based on what???

In the absence of evidence to support that assertion in both cases ... based solely on his opinion.

There has been a culture of denial of the possibility of Madeleine's survival among those who support him.

One of the ways of promoting this is the the derision directed at each and every possible sighting of the missing child.
Even those which occurred early into her disappearance and in the area from which she disappeared.

In my opinion it amounts to a 'cult of death'.  One wonders how much of that attitude was transferred across borders into France.  What could influence police to ignore an eye witness sighting as the French police did other than a belief it wasn't worth the bother of checking out because the child was dead.

IYO.

Well, that does sum it up.

Yet again, the mantra is rolled out, that only mccann supporters have the moral high ground.

If people want to believe in fantasies, so be it.

However, you can't force those fantasies on others.