Missing: Respect

Missing: Respect

By Astro


The McCanns walking past the spot where they buried Madeleine

"According to several Portuguese newspapers, like for example Diário de Notícias, Madeleine McCann’s parents have sent Lusa, the central Portuguese news agency, a press release with information about today’s event in London, that will mark 1000 days after Madeleine disappeared in Praia da Luz.

Said press release states that the fundraiser seeks to collect money for “the investigation into the disappearance of our daughter”.

It further informs that the event is a “private event” and that it is reserved for “people who have significantly helped in the search for Madeleine”.

But what I would really like to know is when the McCanns will host an event to thank those who have actually done something to help search for Madeleine.

The good people of Praia da Luz and from the surrounding areas, who have sacrificed their time, their income, their effort until the limit of their physical strength, to actively search for Madeleine on the days following the disappearance, have not been invited.

The Portuguese policemen, firemen, rescue teams, council staff, the volunteers from so many civil associations who have physically, methodically and thoroughly searched for Madeleine for days on end, have not been invited.

The Polícia Judiciária agents who have worked around the clock, under extreme conditions, without proper funding, without free weekends and without holidays, who have been ‘paid’ with insult, humiliation and despise, have not been invited.

Those who have been invited to the McCanns’ party, are those who have either donated hefty amounts to the Madeleine Fund, or are about to do so tonight. That seems to be what Maddie’s parents see as “significantly” helping the search for their daughter.

It has become too common to point out the fact that an investigation into the disappearance of their daughter, carried out by a legitimate police force, either in Portugal or in the UK, would cost Kate and Gerry McCann absolutely no money.

It has become too easy to note that every time one of the couple’s lawyers sits down and writes a letter on their behalf, the pair is probably billed as much as the cost of each one of the tickets to the fundraiser.

It has become too embarrassing to watch what the McCanns’ private investigation, which they seem to choose to the detriment of an investigation by the police, has produced so far.

I am certain that tonight, in Praia da Luz, many people who have not been invited to any “star-studded”, “private” party will, very privately, be thinking of Madeleine Beth McCann.

As they look up into the starry sky, they will know that they have given everything they had, and more, to help search for a little girl that has never been far from their thoughts. And they will go to bed, with a heavy heart - and peace of mind".