Not too shocking a development in the McCann case

[Axxon]

At least to me it isn't. Here's the article. If you haven't heard about the case this does explain it rather well.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070907/...l_missing_girl

RAIA DA LUZ, Portugal - In a shocking twist, the mother of a 4-year-old British girl missing since May was named a suspect and called in for questioning Friday by police along with the child's father, after traces of blood were found in their rental car.
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The girl's aunt said police suggested Madeleine McCann might have been killed accidentally and offered the mother a plea deal if she confessed.

Kate McCann was questioned for more than four hours in a second straight day of interrogation into the disappearance of Madeleine in southern Portugal.

Her husband, Gerry McCann, followed her into the police station in the southern Portuguese town of Portimao for a separate round of questioning. Friends and relatives said the mother told them she had been named a formal suspect and was offered a deal if she confessed, and that Gerry McCann was told he would likely also be named a suspect.

"They tried to get her to confess to having accidentally killed Madeleine by offering her a deal through her lawyer — 'If you say you killed Madeleine by accident and then hid her and disposed of the body, then we can guarantee you a two-year jail sentence or even less,'" Gerry McCann's sister, Philomena, told ITV news.

A police spokesman, Olegario Sousa, confirmed to The Associated Press that police had named a new suspect, but would not say it was Mrs. McCann. He cited privacy laws in declining to comment further.

The couple strenuously professed their innocence Friday.

The day's developments marked a dramatic turn in a case that has pulled at the world's heartstrings for months, ever since Mrs. McCann ran screaming from a hotel room saying her daughter had disappeared. The McCanns, both doctors from central England, said they were dining at the time in a hotel restaurant, but returned frequently to check on Madeleine and her twin 2-year-old siblings.

Since then, the McCanns have toured Europe with photos of Madeleine and the child's stuffed animals and clothing, even meeting with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican. Celebrities including J.K. Rowling and David Beckham made public appeals that helped the family raise more than $2 million.

The money, controlled by an independent auditor, is meant for charities that aid in missing children cases.

Until Friday, suspicion had focused on a British man who lived near the hotel from which Madeleine disappeared and who was the only formal suspect. But police said new forensic tests done on evidence gathered months after the girl vanished found traces of blood in the couple's car, according to Justine McGuinness, a spokeswoman for the family.

The new evidence — including the traces of blood missed in earlier forensic tests — was uncovered by sniffer dogs brought from Britain.

McGuinness said the police allegations against Mrs. McCann didn't add up, since the rental car had not been acquired until 25 days after Madeleine's May 3 disappearance. Gerry McCann called the allegations against his wife "ludicrous."

"We will fight this all the way, and we will not stop looking for Madeleine," he wrote on the couple's Web site on Friday.

Even as public opinion reeled from the new allegations, there was fresh criticism of police for taking so long to build their case.

John Corner, a McCann family friend, told the British Broadcasting Corp. that the listing of Mrs. McCann as a suspect gave him "an uncomfortable feeling that the police are not looking outward" for Madeleine's abductor.

But Sonya Sceats, an international law analyst at London's Chatham House think tank, said police were allowing the evidence to lead their investigation.

"It's all turned on the DNA evidence. It only became available very recently, and they are moving in response to that," Sceats said by phone.

Under Portuguese law, formal suspects gain certain legal protections, but police also have more latitude to question them. Police also have to show suspects any evidence against them.

Clarence Mitchell, a family friend and former spokesman for the McCanns, said Friday after speaking with Mrs. McCann that she found the police questioning — which included an 11-hour session Thursday — "grueling."

"It's very intense, but she's remaining strong and determined to prove that they had nothing to do with their daughter's disappearance and they are innocent victims of the crime," he told the AP.

The McCanns' cause, and the couple's apparent strength in the face of adversity, has hit a nerve among millions, who have followed their lives as they cared for their two other children and went to church in Praia da Luz, the seaside town where Madeleine disappeared, and where they have stayed ever since. Photographs of the bright-eyed, fair-haired girl have been posted throughout the world.

The publicity has helped lead to numerous reported sightings of the girl, from as far away as northern Europe and Morocco, amid speculation she might have been taken by an international pedophile ring.

Just after Mrs. McCann entered the police station Thursday, another family representative read out a statement from her appealing to what she called Madeleine's abductors to "do the right thing."

"It is not too late. Please let her go or call the police," she said.

The only formal suspect until now has been Robert Murat, who lives with his mother near the hotel from which the girl disappeared. He has always maintained his innocence. Sousa said Murat's status as a suspect had not changed.

[Honolulu_Blue]

I was only slightly aware of this case until today. I remember hearing about a British couple's daughter having gone missing in Portugal a few months back, but I hadn't been following it.

I was sort of amazed at the publicity this story seems to have received in Europe. The pope, J.K. Rowling, Beckham, the balloon thing, the girl's face being shown on scoreboards at soccer matches. Pretty amazing.

I guess it's not entirely amazing considering you have a cute girl and a rather attractive, blonde mother. That definitely adds to the media frenzy.

If it does turn out, as it appears, that the parents accidently killed the girl and then tried to hide the body, it's not too terribly surprisingy, but it's quite the fascinating psychological study.

[CamEdwards]

The thing that has always driven me batshit crazy about this story is that the parents LEFT THEIR CHILDREN IN A HOTEL ROOM while they ate dinner. And yet the parents don't seem to be getting any criticism for this. Is it politically incorrect to point out you don't leave your small children unattended for hours at a time?

[Axxon]

One of the biggest thing is that they are both doctors. What I think is odd is them leaving 3 kids 4 and under unattended and alone while they had dinner checking on them in half hour intervals. Maybe it's a cultural thing but that always seemed odd to me.

[Axxon]

Dola,

I see Cam and I are in agreement here.

[Eaglesfan27]

I'm with you Cam and Axxon. I don't see how they didn't get more criticism for that.

[CamEdwards]

I guess now I can leave our 7-year old to watch the 2-year old twins while we go out dancing.

Woohoo! Life is so much easier when you treat your kids like pets.

[Senator]

That was the red flag for me as well, Cam.

[CraigSca]

I'm curious, how does one "accidentally" kill one's daughter?

[Axxon]

Why it's even less surprising is that the resort actually offered free babysitting services and they declined.

[JonInMiddleGA]

Originally Posted by CamEdwards

Is it politically incorrect to point out you don't leave your small children unattended for hours at a time?

As infuriating & perplexing as it is, I really don't think it's that unusual. Not commonplace but not like I've never heard of it.

Having children /= being parents

[Passacaglia]

Who do you expect to criticise them? Pretty much everyone I've talked to about it, and pretty much everyone responding to the thread, has criticised them.

[Axxon]

Originally Posted by JonInMiddleGA

Having children /= being parents

That's probably the most true statement I've ever read you type Jon and that's not meant as a slight to you but as an affirmation of a strong agreement with the statement.

[Rizon]

Originally Posted by CraigSca

I'm curious, how does one "accidentally" kill one's daughter?

By letting them have cell phones, MySpace and coffee.

Or probably drugged them to keep them sleeping while they went out to dinner. Maybe they drank a little, then gave the one kid too much.