{"id":27970,"date":"2018-12-05T09:00:57","date_gmt":"2018-12-05T09:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/thevoiceoflondon.co.uk\/?p=27970"},"modified":"2018-12-05T09:00:57","modified_gmt":"2018-12-05T09:00:57","slug":"why-do-we-still-care-about-madeline-mccann","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blog.westminster.ac.uk\/thevoiceoflondon\/why-do-we-still-care-about-madeline-mccann\/","title":{"rendered":"Why do we still care about Madeleine McCann?"},"content":{"rendered":"

11 years of searching,\u00a0\u00a311.75m<\/a> of taxpayers money, and still nothing to show for it. This is the reality of the search for Madeleine McCann.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Police received a further\u00a0\u00a3150,000<\/a> in government funding last week to aid their search. The investigation was taken up by The Metropolitan Police in 2011 after the Portuguese police had few successes in their search. BBC News reported<\/a> that detectives have been applying to the Home Office every six months for a grant to continue their work.<\/p>\n

The extra influx of cash was met with criticism from other parents of missing children around the UK, claiming\u00a0“all missing children need a voice.”<\/a>\u00a0Karen Downes, the mother of 14-year-old\u00a0Charlene Downes, told the Mirror<\/a>, “A child goes missing in the UK every three minutes. What about all those others who never come home again?”<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=3edZnz6dyRk<\/p>\n

What has happened in the last 11 years…?<\/p>\n

\n

28 April 2007<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

The McCann’s go on holiday <\/b><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

Kate and Gerry McCann, along with their three children, Madeleine, Amelie and Sean, arrive at the Ocean Club complex in Praia da Luz in Portugal.<\/p>\n

\n

3 May 2007<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

7pm<\/span>: <\/b>Madeleine is in a bed beside her brother and sister.<\/p>\n

\n
\n

The shutters outside the ground-floor bedroom are down, and the window is closed<\/a>. Kate and Gerry leave the door ajar.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

8:30pm<\/span>: <\/b>Kate and Gerry leave for dinner<\/p>\n

9.05pm<\/span>:<\/b> Gerry returns to check on the children and sees all three of his children sound asleep.<\/p>\n

10pm<\/span>:<\/b> Kate notices that the children’s bedroom door is quite open. Madeleine is missing and she sees an open window.<\/p>\n

The search begins…<\/b><\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

May 4th<\/strong><\/span>:<\/b> The Portuguese police start their investigation<\/p>\n

Gerry\u00a0McCann\u00a0<\/span>tells Sky News<\/a>\u00a0in the first press conference discussing Madeleine’s disappearance: “Words cannot describe the anguish and despair that we are feeling as the parents of our beautiful daughter Madeleine.”<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

A missing poster put up in Portugal | Image art: M\u00e9abh Gilheany<\/p><\/div>\n