Posted on 05/14/2007 7:45:46 PM PDT by Peace4EarthNow
Some of England's wealthiest celebs are shelling out a fortune to help fund the search for a 4-year-old British girl who has gone missing in Portugal. This gives new meaning to the term "giving back."
Harry Potter authoress J.K. Rowling, Virgin titan Sir Richard Branson and "Idol" judge Simon Cowell have all ponied up to help find Madeleine McCann, who has been missing since May 2. According to the News of the World, Rowling donated in excess of $495,000, while Branson and Cowell chipped in $198,000 and $99,000, respectively.
Rowling's fortune has been estimated at $1 billion, Branson's at a megastore $7 billion, while Simon's said to be worth about $85 million ... slightly more than "Idol" raised in the recent "Idol Gives Back" event.
Of course, but the Portuguese legal system should be pulling out all the stops to find the child, regardless of what her parents should have done to prevent the abduction. It’s not little Madeleine’s fault that her parents made an irresponsible decision. Criticizing the parents at this stage is pointless — they KNOW they shouldn’t have left her, and so does every other parent who has read the story anywhere. But coming down hard on the Portuguese authorities could still have an impact on whether Madeleine is ever found alive, and on how long she has endure unspeakable brutality before she is found.
Of course this is gut wrenching every time I hear one of these stories. This child is in my prayers as well.
Has anyone thought about the fact that with all these high profile celebs giving money as a reward it may have the opposite effect in that it may cause more copy cat kidnappings to collect this kind of money? I know in Mexico it is an all too common practice to snag a person and hold them for ransom.
Maybe Madonna adopted her while they were at dinner and no one knows yet?
Kidding aside, I think something’s rotten in Denmark. Logic tells me that two educated adults are not going to leave a friggin’ THREE YEAR OLD(!) alone in a strange bedroom in a strange country while they’re shoving tapas down their gullet. At best, these are two of the worst parents in the world, and the child was indeed abducted. In the worst case scenario, this is either a hoax or some scam to make money off of the public, and the parents are willing conspirators to that extent. In either case, I hope and pray this little girl is found unharmed.
Forgive my cynicism, but this is the kind of oversight akin to walking out the door without your pants on. It just doesn’t happen. If they wanted time alone on the trip, why did they bring her along in the first place?
It almost reminds me of “Fargo”...
It is really weird. Even in low-crime countries where it is a normal practice to leave a pram parked on the sidewalk while the parents shop or eat, at least the babies are in full view of people/pedestrians.
Of all the coverage I have seen of this case, I was not aware that the parents also left two younger children in the room. Screwy alright. I was willing to believe that some parents *might* be ignorant enough to leave one small child unattended, but three?
Many years ago (mid 1990’s) we lived in Southern Spain with two little ones (baby and toddler). Our Spanish babysitter/neighbor had a 4-year old, and she made sure that I was aware that child-snatching was a problem in that part of the country. Not only did she keep a very close watch on the kids, never letting play in the park (only in her house and enclosed backyard), she made sure I was keening aware of the risk. I’ve always watched mine closely, but apparently it was so bad, that she was not even comfortable at the local park, as a kidnapper could swoop in out of nowhere in broad daylight. These weren’t isolated predators but people involved in child-selling rings.
I thought about that when I read this story. Why would abductors take the girl and leave the twins?
If it was one abductor, s/he could probably only handle one child at a time. It’s hard for one person to go anywhere with 3 children those ages.
My stomach is in knots looking at these precious photos!
OMG!
I would be a screaming, crying, LUNATIC if something happened to my precious baby!
Then again, I would have NEVER left my babies alone in a hotel room, not even for a minute.
I just pray that God would take her from whomever has her.
My nephew managed to get outside and climb on top of his grandparents’ house whenever he was 3 or 4! He was so proud of his accomplishment and yelled for his grandma to come see. She didn’t know he had slipped out of the locked house and also didn’t know grandpa had left a ladder leaning against the house.
She “calmly” told him to get back down the way he had gone up because it was time to put the ladder away. Once he got on the ground, she WHIPPED HIS BUTT!
This IS a strange story and I also wonder why IT has been a big MSM story when many MANY small and beautiful children are abducted daily in the world.
I’m always amazed that people *have* to have their precious vacations, even when they have a 4-year-old and 2-year-old twins. It’s pure hedonism. Just wait ‘til they’re a bit older. You won’t die, for heaven’s sake. Rent a movie and order takeaway.
Or at least leave them with Grandma.
OMG, my aunt did the same thing when she was about 5. My grammie very calmly called to her to climb back down even though she said her heart stopped when she saw her up there waving. Once safely on the ground though....she got a whuppin’!
Honestly, my last thought of leaving kids alone would have been an abduction. We hear about them more but they’re rare than we would think. I wouldn’t leave my kids alone at that age - things poked in electrical outlets, falling into a toilet, choking, pulling something heavy down on themselves, falling, finding matches...(or climbing out onto the roof!). There are so many things that can happen to toddlers just on their own! I can’t imagine any meal that would have been worth leaving them on their own - and apparently this couple and the other couples they were with did this EVERY night of their vacation. Anyone lurking could have spotted the pattern! Couldn’t they have pooled their money for a couple of nannies or sitters?
Good for her! They are fast little buggers...sometimes I wonder how my 3 (all close in age) managed to grow up with me as a Mom since I didn’t have a clue what I was doing! But, they did, and the youngest is getting married next month. At least with grandkids I will have a clue! ;)
susie
I never can figure out why certain stories get publicity while others are ignored.
susie
We put off holidays because our son was *too young* ..
My wife is now dead and my son hasn’t had a holiday in the last 4 years because I now can’t afford it.
Live for NOW .. not for the future ... tomorrow may never happen ... but yes, if you do go on holiday with young ones - be responsible.
Everyone makes mistakes. You would be a robot, not human, if you didn’t.
People should LEARN from mistakes, not be crucified for them.
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