If alive today Madeleine McCann would be approaching her nineteenth birthday this May. She is ( or was) depending on what you believe her status is today, a British girl who disappeared while on holiday with family and friends in Praia da Luz, Portugal on the evening of the 3rd of May 2007. Her siblings were left peacefully sleeping, but she disappeared.
The story is that her parents went out for a meal with their friends and left the children unattended, asleep. Many will have opinions on this kind of parenting, even if they were what appeared to be fifty-five meters (180 feet) away from the children and claimed to have ‘checked on them through the evening.’
A lot, and I mean a lot of speculation has surrounded her disappearance. Almost sixteen years have passed, there have been various ‘sightings’ of her, then out of nowhere ( to the public you and I at least) a lady from Poland Julia Faustyna publicly announces ‘I am Madeleine McCann.’ Has she been found? Is this believable? Here’s the plot twist, Julia Faustyna is deemed to be twenty-one, while Madeleine McCann would be/ or is almost nineteen. After all these years what do we know?
Parents:
Kate and Gerry ( McCann) are both medical doctors. Both were born in 1968, her mother is from Liverpool in the UK, and her father from Glasgow, Scotland. Her parents were painted to be ‘prime suspects’ in the case, at one point I do recall there being a lot of social media speculation, media reports, and just ‘talk’ of how these two had been part of this. I do also recall reading somewhere years ago, that the parents also gave their children sleeping aids so they could go out! Whether this is true or not is something only they can answer, but it was put out there for the world to see.
Isn’t this always the case though? The parents or those who are closely linked to a victim in these particular cases are looked at side-ways. Just last week, I wrote about Nicola Bulley, a missing British woman who was found dead also. Back to the McCanns, they met in 1993 according to sources in Glasgow, and were married in 1998. They then went on to have Madeline in 2003, and a set of twins born in 2005.
So, What’s The Story:
From what has been reported over the years, during their holiday in Portugal, it is said that the McCann adults and their adult friends dined at a restaurant regularly. Around 20:30 in the evening. Regardless of what you think of their parenting style, leaving children unattended their pattern and behaviour this can’t be overlooked. If the couple and their friends regularly did this, and they themselves have admitted it over the years this would be the ideal time for anyone who was in the shadows observing the group’s movements to understand exactly when, how, where, and even at what hour would be an ideal time to strike. Assuming we’re working on the assumption that Madeleine was kidnapped.
Suspect Seen?
One of the group who dined with the McCann’s reported a sighting of a man carrying a child away, directly where the children were left sleeping that night. Jane Tanner’s report was dubbed ‘Tanner Sighting’ reported that at around forty-five minutes after Madeline had been reported missing, she had seen this man and child. So, how did she see this ‘suspect’? Apparently, she left the restaurant to go and check on her own child (left unattended) and asleep during the meal. Sheesh! I am really trying to remain objective and not comment on this style of parenting, as a parent of a young child myself it’s hard not to, leaving a child unattended at night, in a foreign country…. Errrr? Different strokes for different folks or so they say? Meanwhile, this sighting from Jane Tanner in the early days of the investigation could be argued as a ‘blessing in disguise’ if she had not left to check on her own child, no one would have been able to confirm there was a person (man) with a child in the area.
Tanner confirmed this was around 21:21 in the evening, later this was discovered to be a local man who was collecting his own child from a local creche… ahhh so you mean to tell me there was childcare available at this resort? That’s interesting, again… let’s not pass judgement… So, anyway the police concluded that this sighting was, ‘nothing to do with the abduction’ clearly it was another parent collecting his own child from the childcare location.
22:00… who saw what?
After the first sighting of a man with a child was disregarded, a local couple reported that they too had seen another man, with a child, around 22:00 . The Smiths saw him around 500 yards ( 460 meters) from the McCann’s residence.
‘He was carrying a girl aged 3–4 years. She had blonde hair and pale skin, was wearing light-coloured pyjamas, and had bare feet. The man was mid-30s, 5 ft 7 in–5 ft 9 in (1.75–1.80 m), slim-to-normal build, with short brown hair, wearing cream or beige trousers. He did not look like a tourist, according to the Smiths, and had seemed uncomfortable carrying the child.’
By 22:00 Madeline was reported officially missing.
Present day:
Over the years, lots has been reported on this case, the Portuguese, and British police have not appeared to be able to see eye-to-eye on the case and suspects. At one point the Portuguese police found what appeared to them as DNA belonging to Madeline, and various other DNA samples in the room, the problem is that the area was not sealed off as a crime scene ‘properly’ and therefore it could not be concluded that these samples were DNA samples of suspects as so many people had entered the room, once the Portuguese police arrived. Damn, what a shame.
Recently there have been reports from a lady claiming to be Madeleine:
- Twenty-one years old.
- From Poland.
- Can’t recall her childhood.
- Not seen pictures of her mother pregnant with her.
- Recalls being abused by a man who fits the suspect’s description.
She does resemble Madeleine somewhat ( picture on the right of Julia) and does appear to have the same characteristics of Madeleine’s iris on her eye. However, could this really be her? Her family claim in a nutshell she is ‘crazy and will not take her medication’. How often are people deemed ‘crazy’ for their own genuine thoughts and feelings? Hasn’t someone said this to you before, because you thought or felt something? How did you feel when you were dismissed in such a way?
Should we do this to Julia? I would hope most people would feel against this. A DNA test would answer all the questions… but will the McCanns agree to it? Well, the Polish police apparently are ‘dismissing her claim’ in an article posted eighteen hours ago from writing this . The McCanns themselves were said to have agreed to a DNA test, but as of late their spokes person for the family would not/ or could not confirm this. They are also said to, ‘not be giving interviews, issuing statements, or confirming anything unless told to do so by the police,’ in the Fox News reporting.
Why not give her a DNA Test?
I find it heart-breaking that the family and anyone else who is involved in this case would hesitate to agree to DNA tests. It is clearly what is needed to answer this almost sixteen year old question: what happened to Madeleine McCann?
It’s also concerning that officials, and even Julia’s family members would dismiss her feelings, thoughts, claims, and mental health in such a way. Whether Julia is suffering from ill mental health or not she should be taken seriously. Would it not be a sensible thing for the family of Julia to allow the DNA test to put Julia’s mind at ease, maybe even help with her mental ill health if we assume ( like the family is) that she is ‘crazy’. I really don’t like to describe Julia like this, and I really don’t like to think of her like this. Even if let’s just say she is suffering from mental ill health this label is a harsh one. Often, I write characters who suffer with ill mental health, and as much as I hate the label ‘crazy’ I try to show with a person’s behaviour or thought process in the story rather than label them outright ‘crazy’.
But, back to the DNA testing, it’s strange to me that this would be dismissed as something to move forward with. I feel, and this is personally speaking this is often how mistakes are made in high profile cases, people assume, dismiss, and don’t check out everything and comb through what is being presented to them—no matter how unlikely it may seem, or even if on a subconscious level it does not want to be believed. This should be left to us fiction writers, and not be a reality of police investigations.
Given the amount of ‘mistakes’ that have been recorded in detail surrounding Madeleine’s investigation, this really is a chance to make things right, or place closure on the claims. I say, give Julia Faustyna a DNA test, and move forward with the investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance. What do you think of this case? Have you been following it? Do you think Julia resembles Madeleine? What about the age discrepancy?
Author, Kim Knight 