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Gerry's
Blog/Diary - Days 251 to 300 |
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Day 300: 27/02/2008 |
Wednesday |
No Entry |
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Day 299: 26/02/2008 |
Tuesday |
No Entry |
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Day 298: 25/02/2008 |
Monday |
No Entry |
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Day 297: 24/02/2008 |
Sunday |
No Entry |
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Day 296: 23/02/2008 |
Saturday |
No Entry |
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SHANNON
MATTHEWS
Day 295
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MONTPELLIER Day 295
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Day 295: 22/02/2008
There has been a lot of media attention
focussed on a possible sighting of Madeleine in Montpellier one week
ago. We only heard of this two days ago and this was from a report sent
into the website. Clarence has been inundated with media requests from
all over the world for further information. Despite this, Kate and I
have had no official notification of the potential sighting nor, more
importantly, of whether this sighting has been eliminated by the
authorities despite what has been reported in the press.
The continued disappearance of nine-year-old Shannon Matthews is deeply
concerning and our thoughts and prayers are with her family. No matter
what has happened to Shannon, there can be no doubt she must extremely
vulnerable having spent three nights and four days away from home. We
hope that she is found safe and well very soon and returned to her
family.
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Day 294: 21/02/2008 |
Thursday |
No Entry |
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Day 293: 20/02/2008 |
Wednesday |
No Entry |
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Day 292: 19/02/2008 |
Tuesday |
No Entry |
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Day 291: 18/02/2008 |
Monday |
No Entry |
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Day 290: 17/02/2008 |
Sunday |
No Entry |
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Day 289: 16/02/2008 |
Saturday |
No Entry |
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Day 288: 15/02/2008 |
Friday |
No Entry |
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Day 287: 14/02/2008
Yesterday was a busy day on several
fronts. Kate and I met with representatives of Missing Children Europe.
This is an umbrella organisation that has 21 member non-governmental
organisations that are involved in supporting families of missing and
exploited children, from 15 EU countries. Missing Children Europe aims
to share best practice, ensures a European presence at ICMEC and liases
with various European Institutions. www.missingchildren.eu They have
played a major role in securing the EU commission supporting a dedicated
hotline for missing children: 116 000. The commission is also supportive
of the introduction of a child alert system throughout the EU similar to
the Amber alert system in the USA. However only a few countries run such
a system and there is a lot of work to be done before the system is
implemented in many countries, never mind an integrated throughout the
EU.
The Portuguese justice minister also spoke to parliament yesterday
regarding Mr Ribeiro's comments about the haste with which we were made
arguidos. As I stated at the time, no one can doubt how we have been
scrutinised. We hope that, if as reported, the justice minister said the
investigation is nearing a close that our arguido status will be lifted
in the near future so that everyone can concentrate on searching for
Madeleine. We will not give up looking for her until she is found and we
hope that the police are similarly determined. |
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Day 286: 13/02/2008 |
Wednesday |
No Entry |
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Day 285: 12/02/2008 |
Tuesday |
No Entry |
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Day 284: 11/02/2008 |
Monday |
No Entry |
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Day 283: 10/02/2008 |
Sunday |
No Entry |
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Day 282: 09/02/2008 |
Saturday |
No Entry |
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Day 281: 08/02/2008 |
Friday |
No Entry |
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Day 280: 07/02/2008 |
Thursday |
No Entry |
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Day 279: 06/02/2008 |
Wednesday |
No Entry |
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Day 278: 05/02/2008 |
Tuesday |
No Entry |
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Day 277: 04/02/2008 |
Monday |
No Entry |
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Day 276: 03/02/2008 |
Sunday |
No Entry |
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Day 275: 02/02/2008 |
Saturday |
No Entry |
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DAY 274: 01/02/2008
NEW FIND MADELEINE WEBSITE LAUNCHED TODAY |
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TWINS 3RD
BIRTHDAY
Day 274
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Day 274: 01/02/2008 -
Friday
We have launched the new website
layout today. I hope you all like it and we are sure that you fill find
it much easier to navigate. The website was always envisaged as being
the main portal to the find Madeleine campaign. If Madeleine remains
missing and as the media attention drops then the website will be
instrumental in keeping people up to date. As you will see a lot of work
has gone in to extensively revising the content. Our whole family have
unfortunately learnt an awful lot about the problems of missing and
exploited children.
Our priority will always be to search for Madeleine and whoever abducted
her. However we hope to work in coalition with the many excellent
organisations in Europe and further afield to campaign for change. The
first goal will be to get an EU wide child alert system introduced with
cooperation from all the relevant authorities and law enforcement
agencies.
Sean and Amelie turned three today. We hope and pray that they will
never have another birthday without Madeleine here. Despite the
circumstances they really enjoyed their birthday ?tea party? today. The
twins love seeing all their extended family. There is no doubt that Sean
and Amelie have made life for all of us a little more bearable over the
last 9 months. |
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New Web Site Launched
Date Released: 01/02/2008 13:00:00
The newly designed web site for the Help to Find Madeleine Campaign has
been launched today.
The purpose of the new site is to focus attention on the primary goal
which remains to Find Madeleine McCann.
The fund have been working hard to design the site to make it more user
friendly and easier to keep up to date. It is hoped that the new site
will allow people to find what they are looking for quickly. The new
site still allows Gerry to update his blog, but it also has the
additional facility to allow authorised persons to issue News Items
without the need for the Web team to write the code for the pages.
Attachments
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Message from Gerry and Kate
Our daughter
Madeleine was abducted on 3rd May 2007 in Praia da Luz, Portugal, 9 days
before her 4th birthday. She was taken from our holiday apartment where
she was sleeping with her younger brother and sister whilst we were
dining 50 yards away. Despite a massive investigation led by the
Portuguese police and supported by the British police, we still do not
know who has taken her, why she was taken or where she is. In addition,
private investigators based in Spain are now following up any leads
regarding Madeleine's disappearance. (Investigation
page)
Since Madeleine's abduction,
we have learned a lot about missing children and child exploitation. The
scale of the problem is massive and worldwide. Although finding
Madeleine will always remain our priority, we feel it is our duty to
highlight these problems as well as areas where legislation can be
improved, in order to make the world a little safer for all children. To
achieve these aims we are working closely with the International Center
for Missing and Exploited Children, the Centre for Child Exploitation
and Online Protection and other non-governmental agencies throughout
Europe (Investigation
page). The Find Madeleine Campaign
launched a new YouTube channel for missing children in August 2007
called ?Don't
You Forget About Me? in conjunction
with ICMEC and Google.
The support we have had from around
the world has been amazing. We have no doubt that without all the good
wishes, prayers and efforts of so many people, our ordeal would have
been so much harder. It has helped maintain our strength and hope, and
this together with support for the campaign, has helped the search for
our precious Madeleine. We would like to take this opportunity to thank
everyone for their unconditional support and solidarity.
Madeleine is a beautiful little
person. She was a very happy and much loved little girl. We believe
there is a very good chance that Madeleine is still alive. She deserves
the love and security of her family. She needs to be back home with her
mummy and daddy, brother and sister.
Please keep Madeleine in your
thoughts and prayers. And please ? remain vigilant.
We will NEVER give up looking for
Madeleine.
Thank you again for your ongoing
support and kindness. |
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Day 273 - 31/01/2008 |
Thursday |
No Entry |
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Day 272 - 30/01/2008 |
Wednesday |
No Entry |
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Day 271 - 29/01/2008 |
Tuesday |
No Entry |
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Day 270 - 28/01/2008 |
Monday |
No Entry |
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Day 269 - 27/01/2008 |
Sunday |
No Entry |
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Day 268 - 26/01/2008 |
Saturday |
No Entry |
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Day 267 - 25/01/2008 |
Friday |
No Entry |
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Day 266 - 24/01/2008 |
Thursday |
No Entry |
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Day 265 - 23/01/2008 |
Wednesday |
No Entry |
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Edited Photo on Website
now says by Gail Cooper
Day 262-265
Click
picture to enlarge
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GAIL COOPER
Day 262
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Day 262 - 20/01/2008-
Edited version
2nd
version
Gerry edited Day 262 on Day 265
Today we have released drawings
of a man who needs to be eliminated from the investigation to find
Madeleine. A witness, Gail Cooper, who was holidaying in Praia da Luz
shortly before we arrived, saw him on several occasions. She found the
man, who claimed to be collecting for an orphanage, very intimidating.
After interviewing Gail, our private investigators commissioned a
forensic sketch by a FBI trained artist. The man has many similarities
in looks and clothing he was wearing to the description of the man
given by
Gail Cooper.
Click Here to see the drawings.
The man Jane saw walking away from the
apartments where we were staying was carrying a child, around 9.10pm on
the night Madeleine was abducted. Jane described pyjamas matching those
Madeleine was wearing without knowing what she had on that fateful
night. We are convinced that this was when Madeleine was taken. Jane has
been shown these sketches of the man. She feels he has a strong
resemblance to the man she saw on May 3rd.carrying the child away.
It is essential that he be traced. We
believe many people must know who this individual is. We appeal to
anyone who knows him, or may have seen him to contact our private
investigators on +34 902 300 213 or investigation@findmadeleine.com. If
you are this man please make contact with the investigators or your
local police. All of this information has been passed on to the
Portuguese and British police and Interpol has been informed. This man
may have key information that will help us locate Madeleine. |
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Day 264 - 22/01/2008 |
Tuesday |
No
Entry |
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Day 263 - 21/01/2008 |
Monday |
No Entry |
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Original
Photo on
Website says by
Jane Tanner
Day 262-265
Click picture to
enlarge
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Jane
Tanner
Day 262
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PHOTOFIT
Day 262
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Day 262
- 20/01/2008 -Sunday
1st Version
Gerry edited Day 262 on Day 265
Today we have released drawings
of a man who needs to be eliminated from the investigation to find
Madeleine. A witness, Gail Cooper, who was holidaying in Praia da Luz
shortly before we arrived, saw him on several occasions. She found the
man, who claimed to be collecting for an orphanage, very intimidating.
After interviewing Gail, our private investigators commissioned a
forensic sketch by a FBI trained artist. The man has many similarities
in looks and clothing he was wearing to the description of the man
given by
Jane Tanner.
Click Here to see the drawings.
The man Jane saw walking away from the
apartments where we were staying was carrying a child, around 9.10pm on
the night Madeleine was abducted. Jane described pyjamas matching those
Madeleine was wearing without knowing what she had on that fateful
night. We are convinced that this was when Madeleine was taken. Jane has
been shown these sketches of the man. She feels he has a strong
resemblance to the man she saw on May 3rd.carrying the child away.
It is essential that he be traced. We believe many people must know who
this individual is. We appeal to anyone who knows him, or may have seen
him to contact our private investigators on +34 902 300 213 or
investigation@findmadeleine.com. If you are this man please make contact
with the investigators or your local police. All of this information has
been passed on to the Portuguese and British police and Interpol has
been informed. This man may have key information that will help us
locate Madeleine. |
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Day 261 - 19/01/2008 |
Saturday |
No Entry |
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Day 260
-18/01/2008 |
Friday |
No Entry |
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Day 259
-17/01/2008 |
Thursday |
No Entry |
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Day 258
-16/01/2008 |
Wednesday |
No Entry |
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Day 257 -
15/01/2008 -
Tuesday
Kate and I were dismayed to learn
today that a 5-year-old girl has been missing from Huelva, in Southern
Spain since Sunday evening. As many of you know, Heulva is approximately
a 2 hour drive from Praia da Luz and we went there in early August to
publicise Madeleine's disappearance. Hearing of the probable abduction
of Mari Luz Cortesa has brought many awful emotions flooding back. We
hope and pray that Mari is quickly found and returned safely to her
family. |
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Day 256
-14/01/2008 |
Monday |
No Entry |
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Day 255
-13/01/2008 |
Sunday |
No Entry |
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Day 254 -
12/01/2008 -
Saturday
It was no surprise for us to
learn last night that the secrecy of the files in to Madeleine's
disappearance is to be maintained for another three months. All
of the arguidos retain their status. We are extremely
disappointed as we feel this uncertainty hinders the most
important thing: searching for Madeleine.
We are utterly dismayed to read tonight further stories about a
film that are simply untrue. Kate and I thought that we had
totally quashed such unfounded rubbish several days ago. At no
point have we considered a movie about Madeleine's
disappearance. Nor would we sanction another documentary purely
about Madeleine's abduction, as there is no new information
since the Panorama programme aired. We would consider a
programme that would treat the serious issues we have faced
since Madeleine's disappearance. Clearly Europe has a lot to
learn from the US and there has to be change in practice and
legislation about how missing children are investigated. We will
continue to campaign to effect change in Europe, in the hope
that it will become a safer place for our children.
I have now been back at work full-time for the last 10 days. I
would like to thank all of the staff at Glenfield Hospital, and
the patients, for making this as easy as possible for me. Kate
and I remain very busy with the campaign, supported by friends,
family and many 'new' friends! We are regularly in contact with
friends in Praia da Luz who continue to hold a vigil every week
to pray for Madeleine. They are an amazing group of people who
continue to provide us with 'for?' and 'esperan?' (strength and
hope).
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Day 253
-11/01/2008 |
Friday |
No
Entry |
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Day 252
-10/01/2008 |
Thursday |
No Entry |
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Day 251
-09/01/2008 |
Wednesday |
No Entry |
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Statement from the Board of
Madeleine's Fund- Leaving No Stone Unturned 09 January 2008
BEGINS
'There was a scheduled board
meeting of Madeleine's Fund today. We have reached a new longer- term
phase in the search for Madeleine and we have reviewed how effective our
Fund has been in pursuing its objectives. We agreed to continue our
funding of the investigation to find Madeleine and we have decided to
look at further media opportunities to support our search. To that end,
we have invited two new directors to replace the two who stepped down,
for business and personal reasons, We, together with Kate and Gerry
McCann, extend our thanks to Esther and Phillip for their hard work and
continuing support. We welcome Edward Smethurst and Jon Corner to the
board to lend their expertise in commercial law and media.'
ENDS |
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Go to
DAYS 201 TO 250 |
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