The world has gone mad

[Slim]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6644615.stm

 

Police in Portugal hunting for missing British girl Madeleine McCann are checking several CCTV images.

 

Chief Inspector Olegario de Sousa held a news conference to give more details of the search for the three-year-old.

 

He said the ground search was being scaled back as the results had been "zero", and no arrests had been made.

 

Items of clothing found locally did not belong to Madeleine, he said. A picture of the pyjamas she was wearing when she vanished has been released.

 

Madeleine, of Rothley, Leicestershire, disappeared from an apartment in Praia da Luz, in the Algarve, a week ago.

 

Mr Sousa said her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, and several of their British friends had been interviewed again on Thursday, but there were "no suspicions on them".

 

On scaling back the ground search, he said police and volunteers had searched a 200sq-km (77sq-mile) area - and some locations more than once.

 

Mr Sousa insisted he was doing everything he could to find the little girl, but so far from the ground search "the results are zero".

 

 

Petrol station near Praia da Luz where police have gathered CCTV

 

 

Local media have been reporting that police had examined footage taken at a petrol station, thought to be of two men and a woman driving a car with a British number plate, on the night of the Madeleine's disappearance.

 

And in the UK, Crimestoppers said it had passed on 35 "useful pieces of information" to Leicester police, who lead the UK side of the inquiry.

 

Police refused to confirm or deny reports about any possible leads, citing Portuguese law which prohibits them from releasing any information about an ongoing investigation.

 

Map of resort

 

Investigators had asked locals if they recognised an image of a possible suspect, described by one shopkeeper as being very sketchy and looking only like "an egg with hair".

 

Prayer vigils

 

Madeleine's mother has attended a church service for her daughter in Praia da Luz.

 

Another service was held later on Merseyside, organised by friends of the family and led by Father Paul Seddon, who married the McCanns and baptised Madeleine.

 

 

On Friday, a vigil is planned in Glasgow, where Madeleine's father comes from.

 

And Celtic and Aberdeen footballers will show their support for the McCann family by wearing yellow armbands during their match on Saturday.

 

Earlier, photographs of Madeleine wearing an Everton FC shirt were released by the club.

 

Team captain Phil Neville said: "Everton has fans all over the world and I know that they, along with everyone connected with the football club, are hoping and praying for Madeleine's safe return."

 

'Entirely safe'

 

Madeleine's grandmother, Susan Healy, from Liverpool, said Portuguese police made mistakes at the start of their investigation, possibly because they were "inexperienced".

 

However, the British ambassador to Portugal, John Buck, said he had been assured by Portuguese authorities that "everything possible" was being done.

 

Image of the pyjamas Madeleine was wearing when she disappeared

Madeleine was wearing pink Eeyore pyjamas when she disappeared

 

Meanwhile, Madeleine's uncle, John McCann, from Glasgow, countered criticism from those who say the couple were wrong to leave their children alone in their apartment while they ate dinner at a nearby restaurant.

 

"If you look at the layout of that place, it was entirely safe. The issue at stake here was, that the flat was broken into, and wee Madeleine was abducted," he told BBC Radio Five Live.

 

British child abduction experts have flown to Portugal to assist the investigation.

 

Superintendent Graham Hill of Surrey police, who investigated the disappearance and murder of Surrey schoolgirl, Milly Dowler, is among them.

 

The international number for Crimestoppers is +44 1883 731 336. People with information about Madeleine can call anonymously.

 

Has the world just gone mad? Sh*t parents leave kid in hotel room in Portugal while they go for a meal, some pedo-type breaks in and kidnaps her so 2 Scottish football teams wear yellow armbands as a result? Aye, it's a shame for the wee girl, but what does it have to do with us in the slightest?

[Guest mac]

I fail to see how this will help to find the girl and I doubt the parents will think 'our kid has been stolen but at least the Tims are wearing armbands for us'.

 

Pointless exercise.

[Mackie's ace!]

Do you think they are doing it cos it will 'help find the girl'? Surely you aren't that stupid! They are just showing support, and although it has little to with Aberdeen, the least we can do is participate in it if that is what Celtic are doing.

 

Someone pointed out elsewhere that her father used to work for Celtic, so maybe this is why they are making the gesture.

[Guest mac]

I don't think it will help find the girl and as such I don't think it is a worthwhile thing to do.

[kelt]

The two remaining kids should be taken into care and put up for adoption asap, before they're old enough to grow attached to the f*cking cretins that call themselves their parents.

 

Then the parents should be dragged back to Britain and slung in jail for a good few years, just so they can mull over what a pair of useless f*cking cretins they are.

 

And if the 3 year old is ever found alive, which I doubt, she should be given up for adoption too, because her natural parents are irresponsible f*cking cretins.

 

It's really a shame I'm against the death penalty, because in the case of these two f*cking cretins I'd like to maybe punch them to death.

 

 

[Reekie_Red]

It's really a shame I'm against the death penalty, because in the case of these two f*cking cretins I'd like to maybe punch them to death.

 

Welcome back Kelt!

[BigAl]

The two remaining kids should be taken into care and put up for adoption asap, before they're old enough to grow attached to the f*cking cretins that call themselves their parents.

 

Then the parents should be dragged back to Britain and slung in jail for a good few years, just so they can mull over what a pair of useless f*cking cretins they are.

 

And if the 3 year old is ever found alive, which I doubt, she should be given up for adoption too, because her natural parents are irresponsible f*cking cretins.

 

It's really a shame I'm against the death penalty, because in the case of these two f*cking cretins I'd like to maybe punch them to death.

 

 

 

Good to see your absence from DT hasn't mellowed your opinions on life Kelt

[Leerichardson40yrds]

It is a strange one. Personally I am of the opinion that armbands, or any other sort of 'football vigil', should be exclusively for other football people. I understand that it is a mark of respect, but I fail to see why football fans getting involved makes the grieving feel that much better?

[Mackie's ace!]

Someone pointed out elsewhere that her father used to work for Celtic, so maybe this is why they are making the gesture.

 

Well, there's the football connection.