Wednesday, August 9, 2017

Media, Money, and the McCanns and Why Other Children Matter





The three M's... it seems they have been married for an entire decade and show no signs of breaking up any time soon. Just today, the Sun ran yet another appalling article on how time and money are running out for the McCanns (oh, really? Will this ever be so?) but there is HOPE that the Scotland Yard (faux) investigation will get another bit of money so that they can continue to carrying on the search for Maddie or her abductors or whatever the hell the investigators do besides laugh in their beer at this whole ridiculous charade.

And THIS is why I wrote Ten Missing and Murdered Children's Cases that have Nothing to do with Madeleine McCann. Because this whole investigation of children's cases is appalling lopsided and not because there is necessarily good reason for one case to get more financial and investigative support than another but because narcissistic and possibly guilty people like the McCanns have hijacked all the resources via very cooperative media and political conspirators.

HERE is what should be done:

There should be oversight on ALL missing and murdered children's cases (as well as adult cases) by a public commission of experts who log and monitor how these cases are being handled by the police, the press, and politicians.

They need to pressure all of these agencies for proper handling of cases and push for needed training, resources, and outreach.

Most cases are indeed solved in the first 48 because that is when a correct analysis of the case leads to the correct investigative avenue which leads to the correct suspect and allows for the evidence to still exist and be linked to the suspect and the crime scene. MOST efforts and resources need to be available and used on fresh cases to prevent them from becoming cold. Most money spent on cold cases is usually wasted and unproductive.

Because what happens when they become cold? They almost always become unsolvable because suspects, witnesses, and evidence go missing very quickly and barring a lucky DNA hit that will allow for the case to be prosecuted in a court of law, investigating cold cases is generally a HUGE waste of time, money, and manpower. Cold cases may tug at the heartstrings, but, sadly, they usually stay that way and, for this reason, resources must be very carefully allocated for cases like these and only allocated if there is truly a good reason to do so.

The Madeleine McCann case is the poster child for massive waste and corruption. The huge loss of resources that could be used on fresh missing and murdered children's cases is criminal, absolutely criminal. The McCanns and Scotland Yard and the politicians and the fools who send or support these crooks ought to be ashamed of themselves.

Because OTHER CHILDREN MATTER!

But, who is even talking about them? Certainly not the media. Certainly not the McCanns...even though Kate is some weird figuredhead for a missing children's organization who should be distancing themselves as far from the McCanns as they can....except I am guessing they think they can get them more media attention. Yes, OTHER CHILDREN MATTER but apparently not so much in this world dominated by the McCanns.

Get my book FREE for the next five days and write a review on Amazon in support of OTHER CHILDREN. Let the world and the McCanns and the media and the politicians know that OTHER CHILDREN MATTER.

#FREE until Monday #Amazon #Kindle "Ten Missing & Murdered Chilldren's Cases that Have Nothing to Do with Madeleine #McCann "
Note to Readers: This book is a satirical but truthful look at how the Madeleine McCann case has eclipsed all other missing and murdered children's cases much to their detriment. This is not an in-depth look at these ten cases but a comparison of what has happened to cases like these in the time of Madeleine McCann. Do they get any media? Do they get support? Do they get properly investigated? Or does the Madeleine McCann case always beat them out, stealing away most of the publicity and funding? We, the public, need to stand up for other missing and murdered children because the McCanns and the media and the politicians surely will not make any real effort to right the imbalance.

18 comments:

highmyope1955 said...

The McCanns are becoming a crashing, monumental bore. They have been lionised for a self-confessed act of child neglect, for which a working-class couple would have been prosecuted. Only five million pounds was given to the innocent victims of the Grenfell Tower fire, but there seem to be unlimited funds for Operation Grange. Perhaps Amber Rudd, the home secretary, would like to explain why.

Pat Brown said...

Oh, you have expressed the issue so incredibly well! Thank you! That is EXACTLY my point!

Anonymous said...

As a tax paying UK citizen I am appalled at the Met's treatment of us. They either believe us totally stupid and incapable of reading and understanding the official files, or are thumbing their nose at us. Speaking of noses - yes we can see what is right in front of ours!

Pat Brown said...

Anon 3:32,

It is the same in the US. There is NO oversight or accountability for handling of police cases. A lot of this has to do with the way the whole system is set up. I am not sure how it is in the UK, but in the US, a police case is a matter of interest to the state. Mind you, the "state" is supposed to mean the citizens but in reality the state means the political powers that be. So, since the case is purely a matter of interest to the "state," the "state" can chose how interested it really it and it is no one's business how that interest pans out. So, if a homicide case drags on for three decades, the public does not have the right to know how it was handled, how much money was spent on it, etc. Because the case is of interest to the "state" and we, citizens who seem to be forgotten as truth being the "state" have no right to know anything. All we have the right to do is vote politicians in and out of office if they do not SEEM to be doing our bidding. Of course, since we have no right to know anything, how do we know if they are doing our bidding?

Hence, I believe we need some method of oversight, so that stuff cannot simply go on behind the citizen's back for decade upon decade, only being realized half a century later.

Pat Brown said...

Anon who sent me a nice comment and I went to hit publish but hit delete instead! Sorry! Here is your comment!

HI PAT, its ended up where it started, eventualy archived, so it was only reopend for law suits to go cold again, thats the overview of everything that is very boring about the spats that dominated the stupidity in the end, just a bitter case that is toxic nobody will touch. Thats the reason to move on, its drained attention from other cases as you correctly point out.

I agree and I think what we need to is be able to set emotion aside and be logical about the state of any case; this includes the police and politicians and, even the families. IF the McCanns are innocent of any wrongdoing (outside of neglect), it would have been decent of them a long time ago to contribute a good portion of the money sent to them to other children's cases in recognition that they are just wasting people's money with pointless investigative avenues (ignoring the misuse of the funds not even related to Maddie's search). They could also have started a fund IN Maddie's name to help other children.

Likewise, Scotland Yard had no business wasting that ridiculous amount of money for no good purpose. No missing child case that is of the status of Maddie's (even if you think she was really abducted) needs to use that ridiculous amount of money to investigate every silly theory and nook and cranny. A reasonable amount could have been earmarked for the basic useful stuff and then the other money could have gone for hundreds of other more productive investigations.

Anonymous said...

HI PAT, thank you for all your work and input, look forward to the next topic, thanks pat.

pilchard said...

Hi Pat. I really enjoy you blog and appreciate your informed opinions on the various cases that you have examined or looked into. I was just wondering... do you have a view on the Meredith Kercher case?

Pat Brown said...

Pilchard,

Thanks very much for your kind words. As to Meredith Kercher...:;:sigh::I have not actually posted an analysis of the case because it has so much information and issues and evidence to go through, to do a truly proper analysis it would take a heck of a lot of time. However, I can say this....Amanda Knox exhibits a serious personality disorder and her behaviors and statements are extremely concerning, including before the crime, right after the crime, in the jail, and in her later writings. If I spent a great deal of energy reviewing all of this case, I might be able to remove Knox from my suspect list if the evidence convinced me she had nothing to do with the murder of Meredith Kercher, but, as for know, I can only say I am not in the group that steadfastly believes she is innocent.

Anonymous said...

Pat thanks for the book and all the work that went into it, it was very interesting to read. I think as you do that a lot of the publicity and bluster around the McCanns was created by the media orcastrated by Gerry McCann who rightly gambled that the image of a cute 3 year old child of successful doctors stolen from her bed would make a better story and run a lot longer than the obvious truth. The massive fund which was a spin off of the massive media fairytale only served to pay expensive lawyers and pr firms to keep them out of jail and improve their image which is why we have the never ending stories preparing the guilible British public for the moment maddie is reunited with her loving parents. A 3 year Maddie mind you who has somehow managed to transcend 10years without aging a day.

I know I'm probably in the minority in thinking this but I think Scotland Yard is a genuine investigation despite the cryptic nonsense that has been spouted through their own PR methods. I think that the issue of Maddie has become a Huge embarrassment to the UK around the world and the perception of political interference in a police investigation in another member state needed to be dealt with. Scotland Yard at this stage will be on a hiding to nothing unless the true remit of the investigation is to uncover the truth of the McCanns involvement in the disappearance. I believe even if Nicola Wall was to appear now with Maddie in tow it would not quell that criticism of the amount of money spent on finding her above other missing children. Unless in bringing her home SY are uncovering some multi million pound child snatching ring and 100 other children are brought home at the same time.

Unless it painted after the event as a case were no money was too much to on cover a scam which appeared to go right to the heart of the British establishment and cause great embarrassment to the UK as a whole. Somebody earlier mentioned the grenfield tower victims i think there was so many people jocking for policital positions over this and crying out for financial support for the victims that eventually someone would have said here hang on a minute you are offering £500 to people who have lost everything in this fire and £12m and counting has been spent on trying to find a little girl from a privileged white family who already has had millions of private and public money thrown at it, had it not been for the fact that most political and community spokespeople are aware that this is off bounds, this is a lot more than a search for a missing child.

Don't forget Pat that a good number of the people still following this case are hanging on in there waiting on the results of grange. How is that helping to cover up if anything they have added fuel to the fire by giving us the she didn't leave the apartment alive and the got rid of Jane tanners suspect. That is just adding fuel to the fire. We have the police files, truth of the lie and your own book (although not sold on Amazon) these books won't go away unless they are challenged and rubbished. You know, I know, the general public, the media, Scotland Yard and most of all the government know that there is as much chance of anybody being able to rubbish them as there is of a live maddie reappearing.

I'll just end by saying that Britian have had many attempts at cover ups hills borough and Bloody Sunday to name but 2, people don't like to be lied to and tend not to gave up when the consider they are the underdog. Britian has learned to it's cost that the truth doesn't stay hidden and multi million pounds and timescales totally quarter of a century have been spent on these 2 cases alone to get to the trutth I know in the case of Bloody Sunday at 1 stage over 500 people were working on it. In comparison the maddie case will be no way near as complex as that but the £12m and 6 years spent on grange Probably in my opinion makes sense. IT needs to come to a conclusion that sensible people will be convinced that the results reflect reality

Pat Brown said...

Anon 2:13, Part One

Thank you for your very thoughtful and in-depth look at some of these issues. I totally agree with you that much of the publicity got the big push with the McCanns' quite brilliant use of the media. I can't fault them for being clever in their media handling, though I am at a loss to explain their incredible stupidity in hiring totally crooked PIs unless there is money laundering behind the whole bit.

As to Scotland Yard, I will have to say one more time, EVERYTHING they have done reeks of a political remit which handcuffed the detectives as to what they could do with the case. The remit specifically states they cannot review the evidence with objectivity and the McCanns cannot be included in the investigation. I cannot say how terribly improper this is for any review of a case. One could think that this was just a statement for the public but behind the scenes it was a different story, but I feel pretty confident in concluding that due to what I have seen Scotland Yard doing over the last seven years that this is not the case. Scotland Yard has, indeed, been focusing ONLY on an abduction which is why they have come up with absolutely nothing.

As to the fake removal of the Tanner sighting and a refocus on the Smith sighting, it is a fascinating bit. On one hand, one could think, AHA! Redwood is refocusing on the Smith sighting and pointing his finger at Gerry! And he has trashed Tannerman! Woo hoo! But we have to stop and think about what REALLY happened! One long running question - which I myself have pushed and pushed and pushed - which was probably noted by the McCann Team and Scotland Yard - is that the McCanns, for all intents and purposes, ignored the Smith sighting, something NO family of a missing child would have done...unless they were afraid that the man sighted carrying off the child was the parent. The Tanner sighting is the ONE absolute for Gerry as far as an alibi is concerned. IF Jane Tanner saw the man carrying off Maddie, then the Smith sighting is bunk and Gerry has an alibi. If Jane Tanner DIDN'T see an abductor carrying off Maddie than the Tanner sighting is still a possibility, even more interesting, the most LIKELY possibility. If Tannerman really exists - even if it isn't an abductor, than Jane Tanner is not a liar. But, if Tannerman exists but is not the abductor, than Jane Tanner is not a liar but than Gerry could still be Smithman as he has only an alibi for the wrong time.

So, what the hell was Redwood doing? The claim about Tannerman is so ludicrous it appears to me to be a total fabrication. But the claim the man exists at all DOES get Jane Tanner off the hook. Why? What was the whole point? Was Redwood, hands tied and all and acting a buffoon for the entire investigation - really onto Gerry and did he actually go against policy? Was that why he "retired"? Is that why we now have the silent Nicola Wall?

It is one of the most bizarre moments of this whole charade...but I still will say Scotland Yard is not going to go after the McCanns, not now, not ever.

Pat Brown said...

Anon 2:13 Part Two,

Will the public get wise? As I have stated previously, McCann case followers live in a fishbowl of the Internet and believe that their thoughts are the main thoughts of the public. Even though we see negative stuff on the comments sections of the media now in the UK and the UK actually let me speak as they did Colin after the Portuguese Court verdict - which was quite a thrill, believe you me - there is still the problem of the long haul. I have been in this business for two decades and have watched how progress moves at the rate of molasses due to power and politics. I am trying to make changes, have struggled to make changes, but in over 20 years, 3000 TV appearances, and a bunch of books, can you tell me what my successes are? ::laughs::Talk about an ego crusher! No, really, I accept that I, along with many others, may be making a difference, but it is so subtle it is sometimes hard to realize that one has done any good at all.

However, I continue to hope, that my work in this field will have some impact. Mostly, I have been building up to better training for detectives as I think this is where the most use my work for change will occur. Secondly, I hope I inspire some discussion on oversight and accountability. These are the two things I hope to achieve before I croak.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the reply Pat I can't disagree with what you say the public perception of Andy Redwoods words are just too bizarre. I too never cease to be amazed how the people on the net consider that there is widespread public discontent over the McCann case. Most people's view is that it is wrong to put so much money into searching for 1 child and there are accusations of bias towards white middle class. In reality most people don't have any opinion because they stopped thinking about it along time ago. It part of the reason I think there is a lot of cryptic statements coming from grange in that they know they are speaking only to a small minority in the Internet world. The last statement from SY had the Internet in a frenzy but when I return to the real world the majority of people don't even know operation grange exist.

For my part I am forever the optimist I continue to hope that the law enforcers work for the good of all the people. I,m also sure Pat that you undersell yourself it was your blogs that got me interested in the case( I am not thanking you btw lol) I love your no nonsense approach. Your stance on the case has cost you professionally but I,m sure your integrity allows you to sleep well at night

Pat Brown said...

Anon 4:35,

I agree that most law enforcers work to bring justice and get bad people off the street. Unfortunately, they also want to feed their families and politics can have an impact on just how open they can be about what happens internally. And, well meaning as many are, there is a lack of training that is a huge problem due to lack of funds. In other words, law enforcement is just like most professions; it has the good, the bad, and the ugly.

As to my stance on the case, I just, as you say, just call it as I see it. I have never worried about what being truthful would due to me professionally; probably, not the smartest move, but, as you say, I sleep well at night. Also, it helps to have good priorities. For me, it is truth, justice, family, friends, and iguanas. ::laughs:: (iguanas representing all wonderful things in life that have no particular value to others but for me, make life good).

Anonymous said...

Dear Pat, I have followed your blog on the McCann case for many years but have only now found the time to study the case in depth myself. Using Google Earth I noticed at the T junction where Agostinho da Silva Street meets 1st May Street there is a low wall behind which is a tall triangular masonic-type stone monument in the style of a small pyramid. On the corner in front of that (just outside the stone wall) is a statue of the Virgin Mary. The rear of the monument is heavily shrouded by trees. This is just metres away from the apartment complex and would have been a quick hiding/burial place. 1st May Street also continues down behind the Tapas bar. Did you and Mr Amaral look here, or did anyone else? Screenshots can be emailed to you if easier for you to view or just go on to Google Earth and look at the street views of that area.

Nuala said...

I agree. We need to ask why Mc canns can get all of this help and money from the home office and for so long and are still getting it. There is something that is being covered up and the Mc Canns are blackmailing the government.

Nuala said...

We have not heard whether the operation Grange ever interviewed the McCanns and their friends and if so why not?

Pat Brown said...

Nuala, I certainly agree that it is odd that the McCann case is receiving so much money but I don't believe they are blackmailing the government. Exactly why Scotland Yard continues on with the case is curious but it may simply be political and they are trying to find away to bow out of this embarrassing fiasco and look good. Maybe they just haven't figured out a good way as of yet.

Pat Brown said...

Nuala, no, we haven't hear that the McCanns or their friends have been interviewed and I do believe they are off limits as this is only a remit to review the case and as an abduction. Everything we have seen in the last seven years seems to support this.