I agree that no child should be untended in a hotel room. What however would be the point of charging them with neglect. How could it change anything? They won't ever do it again. Having an adult son who has disappearred I can tell you they are constantly on your mind. I miss him every day. No fight , no arguement , Love you Mom I'm moving to New York for a job. I'll be in touch. Gone.

while we wouldn't do the same thing in the us,. it is quite commonplace in europe, as is leaving babies outside on the sidewalk restaurants while the parents eat. many europeans who come to nyc let's say try to do that and the police get called and they can't understand why.

I'm sure it's common in many parts of Europe to leave your child in the hotel like that, but I lived in England for 4 years (where this family is from) and I NEVER heard of anybody doing that. You aren't even allowed to leave your kids in the car, just like in the U.S. Plus, they were on vacation in a foreign country. Isn't everybody more cautious when they go to a foreign country? Something just doesn't seem right.

Uggg...it is NOT normal to leave children unattended in Europe! Are you crazy? And more specifically, to leave children outside the restaurant while parents eat???? Where the heck were you in Europe? Children may sometimes be excused from the table to go play right outside the dining patio area but always near where the parents can see them. Sorry if you witnessed otherwise, but let it be clear that it is NOT normal for parents to "neglect" their kids. There do exist bad parents all over the world unfortunately. And as for this particular case, the Portuguese authorities have always, and still do, suspect the parents were involved in Madeleine's disappearance.

I agree that no child should be untended in a hotel room. What however would be the point of charging them with neglect. How could it change anything?

Mo-563393

Don't they have two other children? Charging them with neglect (if not murder or manslaughter which still seems likely) would remove those children from their bad parents and put them with someone who may have taken care of them better. The McCanns are undoubtedly terrible parents to leave three children, all of them under the age of five, unattended in a hotel room in a foreign country while they went out to eat. I'm sure the hotel could have provided recommendations for local child care and if they really needed some alone time they could have brought a babysitter with them on vacation. That's certainly commonplace.

All that being said, I am terribly sorry for your loss.

Bringing a babysitter on vacation - If that's commonplace, I must be poor and out of touch. I don't think that's very common. I need your kind of money.

It was a beautiful cool day here, and the police were called because a two year old was left strapped in her car seat while the mom grocery shopped. ( it wasn't too hot at all--no danger there) When the lady was arrested ( according to the news) She was from Norway, apparently this is common there and she had no idea it was illegal here. Babies I guess don't get stolen in Norway.

M Dot, bringing a babysitter on vacation is as easy as bringing along another relative, like a parent or a younger cousin, especially as there were three little children who all would have needed hand-holding.

I remember reading that the restaurant was in the hotel complex, a stone's throw from where their room was. It wasn't like they left the children and drove across town to eat, they walked down the hall or into the courtyard.

It is true that it is common for Europeans to leave their child in the stroller outside the restaurant while they eat inside. However, common sense and responsible parents should never leave their child unattended. No excuse.

It seemed RIDICULOUS to us as Americans, but quite normal to Europeans. I don't know if we are hyper vigilant or we've heard so many horror stories, that we have a different way of caring for our children.

When my oldest two were small, mid 80's, I would leave them in the car and run in to pay for gas, without thinking twice, by the time my third and fourth came along, I wouldn't dare! Now I wouldn't leave my dog in car while I pay for gas!

Weren't there even younger twin siblings at the time as well? Where were they - sleeping also?

I thinks so, and I think they were in room too. I've always thought someone watched and used the opportunity, while parents ate, to grab that sweet little girl. I hope she was taken because someone really wanted a child, not because they really wanted to hurt a child.

Hopefully someone sees this and they get a lead.

Jo: Understandable in the mid 80s. Different times. However in this decade we have to be uber vigilant. There are too many publicized cases of child porn, pandering and black market trade. Weirdos on every corner for sure, just waiting and watching for an opportunity.

but better to lose a few than to stifle all of them.

IWonder... Really? Tell that to parent who has lost their child. And not leaving a young child alone in a car or sleeping in a hotel room is stifling them? I wonder about you.

The sad truth is, that if a kidnapper were to take a child to raise they would have been much more likely to have taken the baby sleeping in the same room. Babies wouldn't even know or be able to tell anyone they were kidnapped. A four year old child would most likely give it away. Given that there was a sleeping baby nearby, it seems most likely to have been a monster that picked the little girl for other reasons. Bless her little heart. The people that should have been questioned were anyone that knew that the child was going to be alone.

IWonder - I wonder about you myself. You sound suspiciously like somebody's "funny" uncle.

IWonder-932455

Hmm, americans are clueless. Yes, some will come to bad ends but better to lose a few than to stifle all of them.

Just....wow dude. May I make a personal request and ask that you refrain from posting any further absolutely idiotic comments like that?

Oops too late, As I go to save my comment, you post:

Oh, by the way, it's off the subject but it's for those of you who believe the government bs, we were hit by a sonic boom from a military aircraft in central Texas at about 10:30 am cdt.

Let me guess, it was your mothership instead? Little grey men swinging by for your monthly orifice probing?

Well good for you, IWonder. See, what you don't get is that the world was a much different place 35 years ago when you were raising your daughter. It was different even 22 years ago when I was raising mine. Times change, old man, and you've got to change along with them if you want to stay competitive or, in cases like this, keep your children alive and out of harm's way.

Jeanette-76745

Jo: Understandable in the mid 80s. Different times.

I know.....

Now I wouldn't leave my dog in car while I pay for gas!

I think we hear a lot more now, because of 24/7 news, internet etc. as well. My mom told me some bad things that happened when she was a child, in the 30's and 40's. But yeah, it's worse NOW, for sure!

I grew up in the late 50's early 60's we played outside in the neighborhood and came in when the streetlights came on. Try that now I wonder. My Mom worked nights and we were loose all day while she slept. She left lunch for us and was up to make dinner before my Dad got home. The times have changed and one child lost is one too many. We knew about Lester the Molester and Bad Men and Women who stole children. We had incidents we survived. People no longer have large families who can look out for each other.

I know what it is like to loose a child and it is by far the hardest thing any parent can live through. My baby girl would have turned 15 tomorrow and I still struggle daily to put the pieces of my life back together. She was 8 when she passed away in a freak accident. I will struggle with her death until the day I die. I feel for these parents my heart goes out to them as it does for any family who looses a child. No one knows how it feels until it happens to them. The pain is more than any one could ever imagine and it is not a pain that goes away after some time it is always there no matter how much time goes by. Have people lost all compassion for others. the UK is way different than it is here in the states and they raise their children differently as well so all you can do is bash the parents. I hope non of you ever have to lay your child to rest I hope non of you have to hold the limp body of your precious child in your arms knowing that you would never again see them smile, hear them laugh or feel their hand clinging to yours. You would never again hold their warm body close and breathe in the scent of their hair. Or that you would never know the person they would have grown up to be. Or have to walk from the room knowing that you had seen and held your child for the last time ever. I pray none of you have to know the pain of this as I and many others have. So show some damn compassion people.

Thank you...you made me want to pick my sons up from school and hug them tight. I lost my first born son when he was 4 months old. I know that pain, although he was not in my life for long, I will have the pain of his loss for the rest of mine.

I feel for these parents, I don't blame them. They have suffered for their error in judgment and everyone that does not know their pain needs to keep their comments to themselves.

I'm so, so, so very sorry for your loss. I can't imagine how hard it's been for you. You and your little girl will be in my prayers.

My daughter will turn thirty tomorrow, she is a psychologist.

That doesn't mean squat. About half of the people who go into psychology and psychiatry were neglected or emotionally scarred themselves as children.

And as someone who, like you, once was a hands-off "I bet that will be the last time you do that" kind of parent - I witnessed a two-year-old thrown across the room and suffer serious, life-threatening injuries after sticking a paper clip into an electrical socket because her parents didn't think it was necessary to cover the outlets. I bet you didn't either. You wouldn't feel like it's okay to lose a few of them if your kid died or was permanently disabled or disfigured because of your own negligence. Unless of course you don't love them.

Bad things happened to kids when I was a lad, my home town had an army base, don't tell me that things were different. You're living in a dream world.

Haha panic, I think that you are right about my daughter, she wanted to find out what was wrong with me, I have SPD, she tells me. Funny thing is that she is coming around to my way of thinking as she gets older. Breathing is not necessarily, living.

Cr*p...there could be two out there like Iwonder.

Bad things have always happened. In the 90s though we got the internet and 24/7 access to worldwide coverage which essentially made our worlds smaller and the monsters bigger and closer to home. Had Madeline disappeared 40 years ago no one would have ever heard of her. Same with JonBenet, Casey Anthony's daughter and all the rest of the missing and murdered children. The times have not gotten worse, it is a combination of A)more people equals more bad people and B) constant access to news coverage making every housewife and news junkie aware of every bad thing that happens everywhere in the world.

That said, leaving any child anywhere where you can't at least hear them if they scream is negligent and it is hard to have sympathy. I have children and would be crushed but I would also blame myself for doing something this colossally stupid. This is in no way normal behavior and if it is, please stop. 4 year olds should not be left unattended anywhere. I agree partially with iWonder, you can't stifle children but you have to let them run free in such a way that they don't know they are watched and constrained.

You made me smile Amanda because I like your style and I believe that you are sincere. Now, may I tell you a little true story.

I was telling my daughter's uil representative how my kids were raised, I was a single parent. She looked at me agape because she had taught both my children classes. She told me that my daughter had told her the same thing but that she couldn't believe it. Then she said that my method would only work for those two children. I asked how do you know?

I am very proud of my children, I doubt that I will ever know whether the way I raised them, had anything to do with how well they turned out. Every child is an individual, there is no "right" way.

I disagree, Amanda. Things are different and you can't tell me they aren't. With all of the technology available today, there are new types of crime. With more people in the world, there's more crime and more deviant behavior. That's different and you said it yourself. Children cannot be left to walk neighborhoods by themselves anymore like I did in the 60s because the world has more bad people in it. It's different now. Get it?

At the very least, they're guilty of criminal neglect.

By the way, the headline of this story is annoying, "may still be alive." There is no evidence she is alive. That was just a bait and switch headline with no basis.

Not sure. It was on NPR this morning that Scotland Yard had new information that could reopen the case.

Very close by...guess that depends on who you ask what that might mean. I think it means not in the same place and I don't get it either. Yes, children have been taken while parents were home, but leaving them alone is much more dangerous for several reasons. How was the Smart kidnapping about money? He took her to rape her...what money?

Very close by...not close enough to see someone take her if that's what happened.

txgran,

I was just saying the same thing! Europeans culture is much different than ours!

I'm glad mine are all grown now, I'd never rest!

Perverts are everywhere.

Weird, but when I lived in Europe for a couple of years (about 5 years ago now), Eastern Europeans kept their kids close to them. My husband and I commented on that a lot. When we were at beaches along the Adriatic and Aegean, parents kept their kids right with them. They did not stray up and down the beaches, or even go into the water without their parents being with them. Maybe that was just the culture in the Balkans and it could be different than what is the norm in Western Europe.

I believe that if this child was a person of color or a victim of poverty investigations would have closed after the first round. Bringing so much attention to one child when there are millions of children missing every day is is preposterous.

Oh, pleeeaase. Give the race card a rest. There's always somebody who has to start the racial hand-wringing. Jeezuz!

Marie Wri- Horrible comment...I'm sure the parents of this child feel that any publicity may trigger something! Yes, there are missing children everywhere and if you're diligent then you get the word out and don't let the story die. If I were a parent of a missing child I would never stop looking or pushing for my information to get out there. You have a problem!

I thought when the story first came out in 2007 that the parents were downstairs eating in the hotel restaurant??? Still not something I would have done and left my babies upstairs, but I never heard they were OUT of the building! Yikes!

Where's Al Sharpton or Jessie Jackson to rescue this poor, lost girl? Dont they just magically appear at the scene of every case to save the day? Isn't it their responsibility to work for every kid on every case everywhere? Is our Bat Signal broken or something? Quick, somebody call them stat!!

Granted this is another case of MWGS, and there is already massive amounts of media coverage on this case, and since she's a pretty little girl we all know that her being missing can't possibly be her own fault (but if she had been a child of color to be sure she would've definately been guilty of some drug crime or gang related incident to cause her to go missing. THOSE PEOPLE are never innocent... EVER, even when they never did anything wrong) thus we can be sure all effort will be exerted to bring this poor child back home.

But if not, and if you can convince them that cute missing white girls never get the broad media coverage that missing minority children get when they go off and run away or whatever they do to make someone snatch them (because we know they are just asking for it, whereas white kids are pure as innocent, fresh driven snow and are above all reproach or scrutiny) then maybe Al Sharpton or Jessie Jackson should be called... Or whomever white people call when no one pays attention to their missing children, and whenever the media dares to ignore the plight of a missing white child.

Ciewywtb42mh6sps-23,

Where's Al Sharpton or Jessie Jackson to rescue this poor, lost girl? ont they just magically appear at the scene of every case to save the day? Isn't it their responsibility to work for every kid on every case everywhere? Is our Bat Signal broken or something? Quick, somebody call them stat!!

You despise the parents of a murdered child solely because he was not white?

What is wrong with you? Your whole post smacks of racism....poor whites??

I'm white, by the way.

If your child is taken, then no matter where you were, you weren't close enough.

Jo-An -

You may have missed the point of his post. Yes, his post is pathetic and either racist or race-baiting but I think he was being sarcastic. I think he believes that white people think a child of any other race that goes missing is somehow at fault for disappearing; which is nonsense of course but some people cannot think beyond their own racism and bigotry. He believes the only resaon this is getting this much media coverage is because the little girl was cute and white, as assinine as that sounds. The truth is, at least in the United States, due to things like the Amber Alert almost every abduction gets a ton of media coverage; at least at first. Of course, some cases still go cold but I doubt that those cases are exclusively comprised of non-white abductions. I'm so tired of the whole color thing, what does it matter anymore; you are what you are and the only thing that matters is character. Stop making this something it's not.

JQ 12261891,

I think he was being sarcastic.

Me TOO, yes, I got it!

Stop making this something it's not.

Ciewywtb42mh6sps-23 was comparing this child's case to the Trayvon Martin case. It was a snide remark towards the Martin family, because there are black activists backing them.

I don't care what color Trayvon Martin or any other child is, when a child goes missing, or is killed, something should be done about it! In this case we are being "reminded" about a missing child that may still be alive, which would be wonderful. In the Martin case, there is a dead child that, if not for activism, would have had his case swept under the carpet. Due to SPD's racist mind set.

No, you're misinterpreting his post. I understand the correlation he is making between this case and the Martin case but I assure you he is not on Zimmermann's side. His entire first paragraph is sarcasm aimed at those who regularly make disparaging remarks about A.S. and J.J. Either way it's a childish post and a window into a racist mind; regardless of the racist's race. Also, when I said to stop making this something it is not, that wasn't in response to you; though I can see why you may have thought it so.

JQ 12261891,

Whoopsie.....my bad.... :{ I swear I read it TWICE too.....my mind must have gone into "argggggghhhhh" state, and shut down! Thanks for helping me out! Forgive my ignorance?

Ciewywtb42mh6sps-23,

Sorry, I misread your post.....I'm a moron today....

:)

Not everyone thinks like Americans do.There are other places where people will leave their kid sitting in a stroller outside while they go inside and eat.I'm not saying that I think leaving their kids there alone was okay.I'm just saying,different people in different countries do things differently.

Saraos: Differently eh? So the pervert who took her just wanted to lave a late night chat with a 4 year old?

"have"

Really? I hope she is dead. Otherwise, she has been tortured for the last how many years?

If they find her maybe she can go live with someone who will watch her.

ifuahadclue,,,Amen to that !

Thank you!

And it's because we are aware of the fact that criminals do things intentionally that we need to be more cautious. It's not like the parents were sitting in the park with the child and walked away for a second to throw something in the trash and when they looked back, the child was gone. These parents intentionally left their small children alone in a foreign country in a hotel room while they left the area to go to dinner. If the children were sleeping, they could have enjoyed a room-service dinner by candlelight and nothing would have happened to the children.

cjh57 - Really? "Mistake"? I have a 4 year old son. I am not a perfect parent. I have accidentally bumped my son's head on the car roof while putting him in his car seat. I have regretted giving him that one more piece of chocolate he begged for. Mistakes happen, we learn from them.

But have I *ever* left him alone, in a hotel room so I can go to dinner? NEVER. That was not a mistake, it was negligence. They made the decision to leave her alone. Now, their daughter is missing, most likely dead because of it. It was not a parental "Oops, my bad! LOLZ!" moment. It was truly a decision that cost them everything. Think about it.

My adopted son went to find his "real " parents as an adult and was beaten abused and even thrown in jail by them. I blame Catholic Childrens Services who felt he had a right to know his "real' parents who lost custody due to abuse and neglect as an infant. Leave well enough alone.

im sorry that your son had to find the truth of this bio-parents... it must have hurt him to know.

im sorry but the truth isnt always better... some times it hurts too much to handle.

my cousin now feels alone and has alot of hate and emotions he doesnt know what to do with and is now spending his life in theropy ... how is it ok to find out that your 'uncle' killed your mother and gave you to your 'parent's'...

kerbear30: Couldn't agree with you MORE. These poor parents will have a LIFETIME of pain ahead of them if they don't find their child. Nothing like this should ever happen to anyone. We need to offer support, prayers, positive thoughts, and empathy to this family...not lectures and judgment.