Pamalam's Space

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By Pamalam

Day 599:22/12/2008   Monday    No Update
Day 598:21/12/2008   Sunday    No Update

Day 598:21/12/2008   Sunday  XMAS MESSAGE UPDATE

Dear Supporter,

First of all we would like to take this opportunity to thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your support. Your solidarity has helped maintain our strength and our hope - especially at this difficult time of year.
A quick update on what has been happening:

As you may have seen in the media, the Portuguese authorities have lifted our ?arguido? status and in July 2008 closed the investigation to find Madeleine. It is therefore even more important now that we, Madeleine's family, do everything we possibly can to try and find our little girl.

Reassuringly, we know that there is absolutely no evidence whatsoever to suggest that Madeleine has been seriously harmed (and this has been further confirmed after studying the recently released Portuguese police files). In light of this, we passionately believe that there is a very strong likelihood that Madeleine is out there and can be found.
With your support we will NEVER give up looking for Madeleine.

Like any family who suddenly find themselves in such a confusing and terrifying situation, we don't know if any of us could have got through all this without the support of people like you. So thank you so much for your help. Without your prayers and efforts, the confusion, isolation and heartache our family has faced would have been so much harder.

Yours sincerely

Gerry and Kate McCann

 . If you're going abroad this Christmas, please
download a copy of the poster by clicking here
and put them up on your travels.

2. Tell a friend if they're heading off on holiday and would like to help

3. Please, always keep looking, wherever you are in the world. Thank you.

If you would like more information about how you can further support our search for Madeleine, or have any ideas of your own about what else we can do please visit

www.findmadeleine.com

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Day 556: 09/11/2008 –Sunday

A difficult week for Kate and me ended on a positive note last night. Monday was the 3rd of November- 18 months since Madeleine was so cruelly taken from us. We do not usually put a lot of store in specific milestones - these being just another day without Madeleine. This week was unusual in that both Kate and I were feeling low at the same time, which is an uncommon occurrence, and we can usually rely on one of us lifting the other.

We continue to work very hard behind the scenes. Our support team has been expanded as we try to identify what has been done, what has not been done and what can still be done to help find Madeleine. We are not yet halfway through the Portuguese files but there is less information within the files than we were expecting. As I have stated many times, someone has a key bit of information that can unlock this frustratingly difficult and painful situation.

Yesterday we went through to Liverpool for a Race Night organised by the Greenhills Taverners Society- a group who organise fundraising events for local good causes- along with family and friends. On this occasion all proceeds were going towards Madeleines Fund. Around 200 people turned up and everyone enjoyed a good night. Liverpool and Everton donated signed shirts which were auctioned and with tickets and a raffle around £2000 has been raised. A taxi driver, taking home some of our friends, even got in to the spirit of things by donating his fare to the fund. Well done everyone and thanks for all the messages of support prayers- we left Liverpool in much better spirits than when we arrived

·                         DAY: 555 08/11/08 SATURDAY - NO UPDATE

·                         DAY: 554 07/11/08 FRIDAY - NO UPDATE

·                         DAY: 553 06/11/08 THURSDAY - NO UPDATE

·                         DAY: 552 05/11/08 WEDNESDAY- NO UPDATE

·                         DAY: 551 04/11/08 TUESDAY – NO UPDATE

·                         DAY: 550 03/11/08 MONDAY – NO UPDATE

·                         DAY: 549 02/11/08 SUNDAY – NO UPDATE

·                         DAY: 548 01/11/08 SATURDAY – NO UPDATE

·                         DAY: 547 31/10/08 FRIDAY – NO UPDATE

·                         DAY: 546 30/10/08 THURSDAY – NO UPDATE

·                         DAY: 545 29/10/08 WEDNESDAY – NO UPDATE

·                         DAY: 544 28/10/08 TUESDAY – NO UPDATE

·                         DAY: 543 27/10/08 MONDAY – NO UPDATE

·                         DAY: 542 26/10/08 SUNDAY – NO UPDATE

·                         DAY: 541 25/10/08 SATURDAYY – NO UPDATE

·                         DAY: 540 24/10/08 FRIDAY – NO UPDATE

·                         DAY: 539 23/10/08 THURSDAY – NO UPDATE

·                         DAY: 538 22/10/08 WEDNESDAY – NO UPDATE

·                         DAY: 537 21/10/08 TUESDAY – NO UPDATE

·                         DAY: 536 20/10/08 MONDAY – NO UPDATE

·                         DAY: 535 19/10/08 SUNDAY – NO UPDATE

·                         DAY: 534 18/10/08 SATURDAY – NO UPDATE

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First of all I want to apologise for not updating this blog for so long. I would like to assure everyone that this gap is not because there is little going on in the search for Madeleine. On the contrary, Kate and I have been incredibly busy over the last couple of months since the PJ files were made public. We and our family have always vowed to leave no stone unturned in the search for our daughter and knowing exactly what has been done and, more importantly, what has not been done is vital in planning our future strategy.

Getting the files translated accurately is a time consuming and expensive process but essential to our search. There is a huge amount of information contained within the files which we have not been party to until now and this needs to be assessed carefully. This is even more important as the Portuguese investigation is officially closed.

In some ways, although this task is monumental, it has been good for us doing being something active and positive which we believe may help find Madeleine. We are also using this period to get advice to maximise our effectiveness and efficiency in our overall strategy going forward. Keeping Madeleine’s image in the public eye will continue to be important and the distribution of posters is central to that aim.

Many people have also asked us what is happening with the Amber alert after the successful adoption of the written declaration by the European Parliament. It has been relatively quiet due to the summer recess but hopefully the momentum gained, added to the desire of the European Commission to for an Amber Alert system, will affect change in the near future.

Finally we would like to thank everyone for their continued, support, prayers and letters. I promise to do another update in the near future. We will be looking at how the website functions, as the main portal of the find Madeleine campaign, and perhaps future updates will be via another route rather than my blog. Why don’t you let us know what you think by e-mail messages of support?

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Madeleine McCann P.J Police files ongoing Translations.

http://gerrymccannsblogs.co.uk/PJ/TRANSLATIONS.htm 

• DAY: 527 11/10/08 SATURDAY - NO UPDATE
• DAY: 526 10/10/08 FRIDAY - NO UPDATE
• DAY: 525 09/10/08 THURSDAY - NO UPDATE
• DAY: 524 08/10/08 WEDNESDAY - NO UPDATE
• DAY: 523 07/10/08 TUESDAY - NO UPDATE
  

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Day 481: 26/08/2008   Tuesday             No Update

Oakley International

Date Released: 26/08/2008

In the light of articles in some UK Sunday newspapers this weekend, we feel it is appropriate to comment briefly
on our relationship with the investigation company Oakley International.

We appointed them several months ago to investigate the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.
We continue to work with them to this end. The working relationship is managed by Brian Kennedy,
who also confirms the relationship with Oakley International continues to be good and that it remains
entirely focused on the search for Madeleine.

Day 480: 25/08/2008   Monday                No Update

Day 479: 24/08/2008    Sunday               No Update

Day 478: 23/08/2008   Saturday              No Update

Day 477: 22/08/2008   Friday                  No Update

Day 476: 20/08/2008   Thursday             No Update

Day 475: 20/08/2008   Wednesday          No Update

Day 474: 19/08/2008   Tuesday               No Update

Day 473: 18/08/2008   Monday                No Update

Day 472: 17/08/2008   Sunday                No Update

Day 471: 16/08/2008   Saturday             No Update

Day 470: 15/08/2008   Friday                  No Update

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 Website now back on line

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Day 345: 12/04/2008 - Saturday

Our visit to the European Parliament on Thursday (10th) was the culmination of several months work. Kate and I presented a written
declaration (see news and support) to the parliament asking for the introduction of an EU wide missing child alert system based on the US AMBER alert system. The AMBER system has been incredibly successful in rescuing abducted children. France has adopted a similar system in the last 2 years, which has been activated 5 times with all children being recovered alive.
 
 An EU wide AMBER type system has widespread support. The EU commission presented draft guidance (written in conjunction with Missing Children Europe) on the introduction of such a system. In Lisbon in October last year the proposal got the informal support of the 27 member states home office/justice ministers.
 
 We presented the declaration to MEP's, answered questions and then held a press conference- our first public speech since returning from Portugal. For the declaration to be taken up we need 51% of (the 785) MEP's to sign the declaration in the next 3 months. We would urge everyone to lobby their MEP's to sign the declaration.
 
 The day went extremely well although we were naturally asked questions about the Portuguese investigation, which are very difficult to answer for us, as we have had no direct dialogue with the Portuguese police. We were dismayed to learn that excerpts from our early witness statements were leaked to a Spanish TV station. These were taken out of context and there can be no doubts were designed to undermine our credibility. One has to question why these were leaked on the day when the media attention was huge and who benefits from such a leak? One thing for certain is that it does not help to find Madeleine. We would certainly welcome an independent inquiry as to where the leaking of such sensitive information, contrary to judicial secrecy laws, has come from

Gerry and Kate presentation to EU parliament
Date Released: 12/04/2008 23:06:00
Gerry and Kate presentation to EU parliament
Attachments 

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Day 329: 27/03/2008 - Thursday
Kate and I arrived back from Washington yesterday. We went primarily to visit the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC) and to learn more about the implementation of their national AMBER alert system (child rescue alert). The whole experience was very positive. The staff at NCMEC is the most experienced in dealing with missing and abducted children anywhere in the world.

The AMBER alert system should be used in the most serious child abduction cases (usually by strangers, when the child is considered at risk of serious harm) to recover the child as quickly as possible. The alert is based on the realisation that galvanising the local community can play a huge role in finding missing children. Last year alone 68 children, and almost 400 in total since its? implementation, were recovered safely as a direct result of the AMBER alert. In 16 cases the abductor released the child safely when hearing the AMBER alert. We strongly feel that Europe should have a similar integrated child rescue alert.

Our visit to Washington and meetings with other relevant European organisations will be shown on a documentary to be screened by ITV on the 30 April. The programme will focus on the campaign to introduce a European version of the AMBER alert. There will of course be massive media interest in Madeleine's disappearance at this time, if she remains missing, and we hope that the programme is shown in most European countries and further afield.

During our Washington visit we were also very encouraged to hear that, in NCMEC's experience, the younger the child at the time of abduction the less likely that child will be seriously harmed. Such information makes us believe even more fervently, in the absence of evidence to the contrary, that Madeleine can be found safe and well

Day 321: 19/03/2008 - Wednesday I think everyone must have heard the news today that Express Newspapers have published front page apologies to Kate and me and agreed damages of £550,000 which will be paid in to Madeleines Fund. It gives us no joy that we had to take such action- we would rather have not had to put up with such distasteful, grotesque and blatantly untruthful coverage. Nevertheless we hope todays events will act as a
springboard in advancing the search for Madeleine. The money will be used to aid the investigation.
 
 To read our full statement, please see the News and Press Releases in the News

and Support section.

Statement from Madeleines Fund Board of Directors

 Date Released: 19/03/2008 20:52:00
 
 'The directors of Madeleine's Fund welcome the settlement of Gerry and Kate's complaint against Express Newspapers, in particular the front page apologies for the grossly defamatory stories that were consistently published in recent months and the agreement reached on substantial damages.
 
 It has been a great additional burden for Gerry and Kate to be repeatedly vilified in sections of the press. Such coverage was also a diversion for our campaign to find Madeleine.
 
 We hope that such public apologies will not only bring some comfort to Gerry and Kate, but that they will re-emphasise the need for a renewed focus on the campaign.
 
 The ?550,000 damages from Express Newspapers will now be used fully within the stated spirit and aims of Madeleine's Fund.
 
 The purpose of the Fund is to support Gerry and Kate specifically in the search for Madeleine and her abductor(s).
 
 The Fund will, therefore, continue to work to gather information to assist them in achieving their aim of bringing Madeleine home. We would, once again, urge any member of the public who still feels they may have useful information to come forward with it without delay

Kate and Gerry Statement Express Newspapers

Date Released: 19/03/2008 11:00:00
 
 We are pleased that Express Newspapers have today admitted the utter falsity of the numerous grotesque and grossly defamatory allegations that their titles published about us on a sustained basis over many months.
 
 The exceptional publication of these apologies, together with today's statement of full apology in open Court before Mr Justice Eady, was the only just and proper response by Express Newspapers following our complaint. We also wish to place on record our thanks to Adam Tudor, from Carter Ruck. Today's result simply could not have been achieved without him
 
 Express Newspapers, rightly acknowledge that we are innocent of all allegations that we may have been involved in Madeleine's abduction and WE would like to reiterate that there is absolutely no evidence that Madeleine is dead or has been seriously harmed.
 
 We embarked on this course of action reluctantly, indeed with a heavy heart, as we did not wish the pursuit of it to become a distraction from our sole aim ? finding Madeleine. Indeed, as long ago as last autumn our lawyers approached Express Newspapers and urged them to show greater restraint in their reporting ? requests which went utterly unheeded.
 
 The distress all this has caused members of our wider family, at a time of great emotional turmoil for them, was also a major factor in our action. Their pain over the loss of Madeleine has been compounded by having to witness the irresponsible and libellous reporting that we have successfully challenged today.
 
 As a part of our settlement, Express Newspapers have also agreed to donate ?550,000 to the Fund that was established to help find Madeleine. We feel it is entirely appropriate that the search for Madeleine will now benefit directly out of the wrongs committed against us as her parents.
 
 We hope that the Portuguese authorities lift our arguido status in the very near future so that everyone can focus on finding our beautiful little girl, Madeleine.? 
 

Day 316: 14/03/2008 - Friday
3rd version edited on 28/03/08Kate and I heard the totally heart-warming news today that Shannon Matthews has been recovered safely. We are delighted for her family and hope and pray that Shannon has not suffered too much during the last 24 days.

Although the circumstances may be different, finding Shannon alive does give Kate and me renewed optimism. I am reminded of Ernie Allen's ( the president of NCMEC) words: 'until you know who has taken Madeleine and why, you cannot give up hope'. We do not know who has taken Madeleine or why, and there is certainly no indication that Madeleine has been seriously harmed. Of course we will not give up hope. Someone somewhere knows where Madeleine is.

Day 316: 14/03/2008 - Friday
2nd Version edited 14/03/08
Kate and I heard the totally heart-warming news today that Shannon Matthews has been recovered safely. We are delighted for her family and hope and pray that Shannon has not suffered too much during the last 24 days.

Although the circumstances may be different, finding Shannon alive does give Kate and me renewed optimism. I am reminded of Ernie Allen's ( the president of NCMEC) words: 'until you know who has taken Madeleine and why, you cannot give up hope'. We do not know who has taken Madeleine or why, and there is certainly no

Day 316: 14/03/2008 - Friday
1st version Date and day Gerry used Day 314: 12/03/2008
Kate and I heard the totally heart-warming news today that Shannon Matthews
has been recovered safely. We are delighted for her family and hope and pray
that Shannon has not suffered too much during the last 24 days.
 
Although the circumstances may be different, finding Shannon alive does give Kate and me renewed optimism. I am reminded of Ernie Allen's ( the presidentof NCMEC) words: 'until you know who has taken Madeleine and why, you cannot give up hope'. We do not know who has taken Madeleine or why, and there is
certainly no indication that Madeleine has been seriously harmed. Of course we will not give up hope. Someone somewhere knows where Madeleine is.

 Day 313: 11/03/2008 - Tuesday
 Kate and I were so sad to learn that Mari Luz's body had been found. This is the news that at any parent of a missing child dreads and a situation we desperately hope that we never have to face. We deeply sympathise with her family and pray they remain strong and in time are able to find peace.
 
 We would like to thank everyone who continues to send us messages of support, encouragement and of hope. All of our family have been traumatised by Madeleine's abduction and continued absence and the tremendous support we have received has undoubtedly helped us enormously over the last 10 months. Tomorrow there is a march in London starting opposite Western Marble Arch synagogue at 10am to petition for more support for the families of missing people who are left behind. The march has been organised by two mothers whose sons are missing and will be attended by representatives of the charity Missing People and families of those who have relatives missing.

Day 302: 29/02/2008-Friday
It has been a relatively quiet week for us. We did hear from the UK police that the French have officially ruled out the reported sighting of Madeleine in Montpellier. It is disappointing that it took so long, particularly after the widespread coverage the reported sighting received in the media.

Today Kate and I met with representatives of two UK charities involved in missing and abducted children. Missing People is the largest UK non-governmental organisation involved in this area and a member of Missing Children Europe. The introduction of a Europe wide child alert system is strongly supported by both organisations. Missing People have also applied to run the 116 00 number, which has been reserved throughout the EU as a missing child hotline. Missing People were responsible for displaying Madeleine's image on Marble arch, along with 2 other missing children last summer. It was heartening to hear today that one of those children was recovered as a direct result and the other has also been successfully returned to his family.

PACT (parents and abducted children together) is a much smaller organisation founded by Catherine Meyer. PACT is positioned primarily as an advocates for change in how missing children cases are handled and identified very early how poorly data on missing and abducted children are collected. PACT would like to see a national centre in the UK similar to NCMEC in the USA. It was uplifting to see how Catherine has maintained her passion, drive and commitment to try and make effective changes even after ten years of campaigning. Kate and I will work with the various non-governmental organisations to influence the policy makers who decide these important decisions.

Date Released: 01/02/2008 13:00:00
The newly designed web site for the Help to Find Madeleine Campaign has been launched today.

The purpose of the new site is to focus attention on the primary goal which remains to Find Madeleine McCann.

The fund have been working hard to design the site to make it more user friendly and easier to keep up to date. It is hoped that the new site will allow people to find what they are looking for quickly. The new site still allows Gerry to update his blog, but it also has the additional facility to allow authorised persons to issue News Items without the need for the Web team to write the code for the pages.
Attachments
No files

Since Madeleine's abduction, we have learned a lot about missing children and child exploitation. The scale of the problem is massive and worldwide. Although finding Madeleine will always remain our priority, we feel it is our duty to highlight these problems as well as areas where legislation can be improved, in order to make the world a little safer for all children. To achieve these aims we are working closely with the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children, the Centre for Child Exploitation and Online Protection and other non-governmental agencies throughout Europe (Investigation page). The Find Madeleine Campaign launched a new YouTube channel for missing children in August 2007 called ?Don't You Forget About Me? in conjunction with ICMEC and Google.

The support we have had from around the world has been amazing. We have no doubt that without all the good wishes, prayers and efforts of so many people, our ordeal would have been so much harder. It has helped maintain our strength and hope, and this together with support for the campaign, has helped the search for our precious Madeleine. We would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone for their unconditional support and solidarity.

Madeleine is a beautiful little person. She was a very happy and much loved little girl. We believe there is a very good chance that Madeleine is still alive. She deserves the love and security of her family. She needs to be back home with her mummy and daddy, brother and sister.

Please keep Madeleine in your thoughts and prayers. And please ? remain vigilant.
We will NEVER give up looking for Madeleine.
Thank you again for your ongoing support and kindness.

behind the USA in terms of its response when a child goes missing.

Kate and I have opened all of the Christmas cards and many mass cards which have been for Madeleine. We would like to thank everyone who has helped and supported us over the last eight months. We could not have got through this ordeal on our own and without doubt, Madeleine needs all our help

Day 200 -19/11/2007	Monday	No entry
Day 199 -18/11/2007	Sunday	No entry
Day 198 -17/11/2007	Saturday	No entry
Day 197 -16/11/2007	Friday	No entry
Day 196 -15/11/2007	Thursday	No entry
Day 195 -14/11/2007	Wednesday	No entry
Day 194- 13/11/2007	Tuesday	No entry
Day 193 - 12/11/2007	Monday	No entry
Day 192 - 11/11/2007	Sunday