Gerry's Blog/Diary - Days 51 to 100
Day 100 - 11/08/2007 - Saturday
Rev
Haynes Hubbard
Day 100
ICE CREAM
Day 100
CANDLES
Day 100
Just another day but a significant milestone that we
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prayed we would never have to face without Madeleine. The prayer service here in Praia da Luz had a huge media presence, but in no way being intrusive, all aligned outside. The service itself was fantastically well attended with a huge turnout from the local community, which was very important to us.
The service was very comforting. There were contributions from Kate and myself, our family, the Anglican and Portuguese communities. Haynes, the Anglican minister, said a few poignant words about the events of this week, which were very touching. We said prayers for Madeleine and other children who are suffering. Everyone in the congregation lit candles, which were placed on the altar. The message from the service was that although 100 days have passed we have not given up hope of finding Madeleine.
In the afternoon we went to a local swimming pool and play area with the kids and their cousins. They had a great time swimming, playing with tennis balls and generally messing around. Needless to say they also managed an ice cream! It has been really good for the twins having other children here, especially since they have not been to the kids club for a few days.
We spoke to our family about the events in Glasgow and Liverpool. There was warm response at both venues and clearly many people are very happy to show support. Unfortunately we did not see any of the coverage on television. We did see highlights of the English premier league last night and note many of the clubs chose to wear Madeleine t-shirts and wristbands as well as playing the Don’t You Forget About Me video. There was also events at the rugby internationals and Ascot racecourse with 12 international jockeys wearing Madeleine t-shirts. The fact that so many people are prepared to show solidarity with us in our search for our daughter does help restore our faith in humanity.
There was a statement from the Portuguese police today regarding the recent
activity in the investigation and media speculation. They confirmed that there are new leads and that we are not suspects in Madeleines disappearance.
Other tests are outstanding and Kate and I do hope that these take us forward in finding out who took Madeleine and where she is. Unfortunately we have to add patience to our other characteristics.
Day 99 10/08/2007 - Friday
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Today Kate and I did a series of TV interviews for Portuguese and foreign TV. It has always been very important to us that we speak to the Portuguese people directly since we are in their country and have received such tremendous support, particularly from the local community. We again talked about the YouTube channel Don’t You Forget Me which was launched yesterday. Naturally we were also asked about the events of this week, which has been incredibly difficult for us with wild speculation in the media. We have always been told that the police had an open mind about Madeleines abduction and that all scenarios were possible.
In the first few days after Madeleines disappearance it was so difficult for us not to imagine the worst case scenario: that she had been taken and murdered, particularly in light of the statistics on child abduction. However as the massive investigation and extensive search did not find any evidence of serious harm to Madeleine, we started to hope that she would be found alive. This belief has been encouraged by the police and reinforced by the experts at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children on my recent visit to Washington. There have been a number of children recovered, even after years of abduction, and whom the authorities had thought must be dead.
Everything we have done in the last 99 days in the campaign to help find Madeleine has been driven by fact that all our family and friends feel that there is a reasonable chance Madeleine is still alive. Kate and I, like all parents of missing children will always have that hope unless we see concrete evidence to the contrary. It is this hope that has sustained us along with the overwhelming support we have received from family, friends and well-wishers. As parents, we have always said we need to know what has happened to our daughter who has been such a massive part of our life. If the current police activity does uncover new evidence that Madeleine has been seriously harmed we should be the first to know.
We have always felt that the best chance of finding Madeleine is through the police investigation. We have done our best to get relevant information in to the enquiry, particularly from tourists who were in the Algarve around the time of her abduction. The fact that Madeleine could have been moved out of Portugal easily in the first few hours has been the reason the campaign has had to have an international dimension. One in six missing children in North America are found as a direct result of high awareness through distribution of posters and media exposure.
Tonight we attended the weekly vigil to pray for Madeleine and other missing
children. These services have a calm serenity, which allow us to contemplate quietly. There was also a vigil in Rothley attended by family and friends. Tomorrow we will be marking the 100 day very quietly with a prayer service in Praia da Luz. Other family will be at the world pipe band chamionships in Glasgow and on the streets in Liverpool. A number of sporting events will also be marking the day.
Day 98 - 09/08/2007 - Thursday
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We did a series of pooled interviews for TV and the press. The focus was to discuss the launch of the YouTube channel Don’t you forget about me which we have devised in conjunction with Google and the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children. YouTube is used by tens of millions of people mainly in the 16-24 age group. We think this is an incredibly exciting innovation to raise awareness of missing children. The channel is launched at lunchtime today and will have other videos of missing children. Families and other agencies will be able to upload videos of children that will help to raise awareness of their disappearance.
The rest of the interviews focussed on the events of the last week. We again emphasised that we do not know of any evidence that Madeleine has been seriously harmed and everything we have done is in the belief it is likely to increase the chances of finding her. Unfortunately the media attention has been very intrusive and we have taken the children out of kids club due to the disruption caused. We
hope this settles down and the kids can get back into their routine which has kept them very settled in the last 98 days. It is a shame that the media attention has also impacted on other holidaymakers which we certainly dont want.
We did manage to have a quiet dinner with our family and the kids.
Day 97 - 08/08/2007 - Wednesday
Brian &
Susan Healy
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Kates parents left early this morning. We did a short interview on how our faith has helped us during the last 3 months since Madeleines abduction. Given the events of the last few days we need to draw even greater strength from our faith and everyone who has supported us.
With the huge amount of media attention on us again it is very difficult to do anything with the kids without them being filmed and it is unfair on them. There is a huge amount of speculation in the media that Madeleine is dead,
particularly with the obvious change in strategy of the investigation recently. At our meeting with the Portuguese police today we reaffirmed that we have to believe Madeleine is alive until there is concrete evidence to the contrary.
It is this belief that has driven everything we have done in relation to publicising Madeleines disappearance over the last 3 months.
Day 96 - 07/08/2007 - Tuesday
HAIRCUT
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RUNNING
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Kate and I managed an early morning run today. It was pleasantly cooler, with a refreshing breeze, which made a nice change. The media presence in Praia da Luz is at its greatest since the first couple of weeks, as is the amount of speculation and rumour regarding the investigation.
This morning we agreed to do a short, pooled interview that was made available to all broadcasters worldwide. We wanted to make it clear, that as far as we know, there is still absolutely no evidence that Madeleine has been seriously harmed and Kate and I have to believe she is still alive. The Portuguese police have assured us on numerous occasions that they are looking for Madeleine and not a corpse. Of course all possibilities are being considered and the police have to be certain before eliminating any of the scenarios. It is absolutely right that we are subject to the same high standards of investigation as anyone else. Kate and I have, and will continue to assist the police in every possible way.
We hope there is a breakthrough in the investigation very soon. In the meantime
the campaign to keep the public involved in the
search for Madeleine continues. We are always trying to think of ideas that will reach people who may not have heard of Madeleines disappearance. I spent a couple of hours this afternoon working on forthcoming events but did manage to squeeze in a much-needed haircut!
Day 95 - 06/08/2007 - Monday
PRINTER Day 95
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Today was again very busy. Lots of e-mails and telephone calls to family and friends who have been involved in the campaign to find Madeleine. I went to a large office store in Portimao to buy a new printer and ink, both of which were badly needed after all the
posters we produced this last week.
There has been lots of media attention on the latest police searches.
We are pleased that the investigation remains so active and we are cooperating fully with the Portuguese and British police, as we have done since day 1. We continue to hope and pray daily for that vital breakthrough or sighting that will lets us be reunited as a family.
Day 94 - 05/08/2007 - Sunday
Calum MacRae
Infohost Days 94
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We attended church this morning as usual. The local priest father Manuel is on holiday so the mass was all in Portuguese and although quicker than normal we did not understand too much of the sermon.
I note there was a lot of coverage of Kates interview in the Sunday newspapers today. I managed to read one of them and certainly seemd to sum up very well how we are feeling and coping without Madeleine. The key message is that we are doing everything we can to help find Madeleine.
After lunch we had a meeting with our campaign manager and Kates family to run through a few things which will be happening this week. There was going to be a lot of media here leading up to the 100 days although we still hope we will not get to that marker, even before this latest search by the Portuguese police.
Kate and I popped back down to the church later on tonight to say a few quiet prayers for Madeleine. The town is much busier at night than when we first came here on holiday and ieven compared to a few weeks ago.
Computer glitches now sorted out thanks to Calum at infohost.
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Day 94 - 05/08/2007
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We attended church this morning as usual. The local priest father Manuel is on holiday so the mass was all in Portuguese and although quicker than normal we did not understand too much of the sermon.
I note there was a lot of coverage of Kates interview in the Sunday newspapers today. I managed to read one of them and certainly seemd to sum up very well how we are feeling and coping without Madeleine. The key message is that we are doing everything we can to help find Madeleine.
After lunch we had a metting with our campaign manager and Kates family to run through a few things which will be happening rhis week. There was going to be a lot of media here leading up to the 100 days although we still hope we will not get to that marker, even before this latest search by the Portuguese police.
Kate and I popped back down to the church later on tonight to say a few quiet prayers for Madeleine.
The town is much busier at tnight than when we first came here on holiday and ieven compared to a few weeks ago.
Computer glitches now sorted out thanks to Calum at infohost.
Day 93 - 04/08/2007 - Saturday
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Another early start to the day as I dropped the crew who did some filming for the website and other forthcoming events. Kate and I did a short interview reviewing the last 3 months and the search for Madeleine. We spent the rest of the day with the kids and Kate’s family. We were all glad it clouded over in the afternoon to give us some respite from the intense heat.
The most recent searches by the police have attracted a lot of renewed media interest with satellite trucks arriving back in Praia da Luz. It is likely that some of the British Broadcasters will also come back out.
We were all very tired and we managed to get off to bed at 10.30pm, which is very early for us by recent standards
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Day 93 - 04/08/2007
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Another early start to the day as I dropped the crew who did some filming for the website and other forthcoming events. Kate and I did a short interview reviewing the last 3 months and the search for Madeleine. We spent the rest of the day with the kids and Kate's family. We were all glad it clouded over in the afternoon to give us some respite from the intense heat.
The most recent searches by the police have attracted a lot of renewed media interest with satellite trucks arriving back in Praia da Luz. It is likely that some of the British Broadcasters will also come back out.
We werre all very tired and we managed to get off to bed at 10.30pm, which is very early for us by recent standards.
Day 92 - 03/08/2007 - Friday
HUELVA
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It is exactly 3 months since Madeleine was abducted. Kate and I had an early start as we drove to Huelva, 50Km over the border from Portugal in Southern Spain. We were meant to go yesterday but had to cancel because I was ill.
Unfortunately it was a public holiday in Huelva and the large shopping centre we planned to visit was closed. We did distribute posters in several garages, taxi ranks and the bus and train stations and gave out some Madeleine wristbands. This was definitely a worthwhile exercise, as many people did not seemingly recognise Madeleine but we did get a very warm response from the Spanish people we met. We would encourage everyone to continue taking posters on holiday but please ask permission before putting them up in public places.
When we arrived back in Praia da Luz we did a couple of media interviews to building up to August 11th, which will mark 100 days if Madeleine is still missing.
There will be a lot of media activity next week reviewing Madeleine's abduction, the investigation and of course the campaign to help find her.
It is an opportunity to highlight that we have not given up hope and are still
optimistic of being reunited with Madeleine.
Tonight we prayed for Madeleine at a vigil in the church. This has happened every Friday since Madeleines abduction and was very well attended tonight, probably due to the greater number of tourists in the resort
Day 91 - 02/08/2007 - Thursday
VIRAL ILLNESS
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Today was a bit of a write off for me as I was laid low with a probable viral illness which meant I could not stray too far from the house! I did manage to get through some e-mails, telephone calls and some paperwork. Feeling a bit better tonight so hopefully be back to normal tomorrow. Kate did manage to put up some of the new Madeleine posters in shops around Praia da Luz.. It is noticably busier, now that we are in August, with lots of tourists many of whom are from Portugal.
The figures from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children show that one in six kids are recovered after being recognised from a poster.
Such statistics do encourage us that relatively simple measures may be effective in helping us find Madeleine.
Day 90 - 01/08/2007 - Wednesday
Brian & Susan Healy
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Another trip to the airport this morning to pick up our campaign manager. Kate did a series of interviews for womens magazines and the Sunday newspapers which took most of the afternoon. Kates
parents, who we visit regularly at home, also arrived and the twins
were very happy to see them. They will be staying with us for a week.
We have had some new posters designed of Madeleine, in Portuguese and Spanish, which I have been printing out to distribute locally.
I also did some filming to camera which we might use on the website and for future events.
Day 89 - 31/07/2007 - Tuesday
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Relatively quiet day apart from phone calls and campaign related e-mails.
We have Busy couple of days coming up so off to bed relatively early (before midnight)!
Day 88 - 30/07/2007 - Monday
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We had a routine meeting today with the Portuguese police. Kate and I are confident that every avenue is being explored and the vital piece of information that leads to Madeleine is only a phone call away.
This is the last time we will have met the Consul General in a professional capacity,
as he retires tomorrow and will be returning to the UK. Bill has provided us with consular support since day 1 and, naturally, he got to know us very well during the last 3 months. He has said that Madeleines abduction is the most tragic circumstance he has had to deal with. Without doubt Bill has given us excellent support and we wish him and his wife a very happy retirement
Day 87 - 29/07/2007 - Sunday
Uncle Sandy & Aunt Trish Cameron
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Dropped Trisha and Sandy off at the airport this morning for an emotional farewell. They have offered us the most unbelievable support and I am not sure how we would have functioned without
them here. They have been the silent face of the campaign to find Madeleine, putting their lives on hold to help us get through each difficult day. From time to time we will have other friends and family coming to Portugal to see the kids and catch up with Kate and I.
Day 86 28/07/2007 - Saturday
BLISTERING SUN
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Quiet family day, as is often the case of a Saturday. It has become
blisteringly hot here over the last few days and we decided to take the kids down to the beach early morning. Even then it was hot and there was almost no breeze although the water is still very cold. Met a very nice Portuguese couple who offered us good wishes in trying to find Madeleine.
Day 85 - 27/07/2007 - Friday
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Quite a lot of e-mails and telephone calls today planning future events, which might be helpful to keep Madeleine in peoples minds. I am sure there will be a lot of interest in Saturday August 11th because that will mark 100 days if Madeleine is
still missing. This date coincides with the world pipe band
championships being held in Glasgow. A former world pipe band champion, Alasdair Gillies who is a friend of one of my sisters, has composed a ‘Marvellous March for Madeleine’ that will be played by 100 pipers from all over the world. It should be quite a spectacle and hopefully it will be a celebration, and not a another marker
that Madeleine is still missing.
Day 85 - 27/07/2007 - Friday
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Quite a lot of e-mails and telephone calls today planning future events, which might be helpful to keep Madeleine in peoples minds. I am sure there will be a lot of interest in Saturday August 11th if Madeline because that will mark 100 days if Madeleine is still missing. This date coincides with the world pipe band championships being held in Glasgow. A former world pipe band champion, Alasdair Gillies who is a friend of one of my sisters, has composed a Marvellous March for Madeleine that will be played by 100 pipers from all over the world. It should be quite a spectacle and hopefully it will be a celebration, and not a another marker that Madeleine is still missing.
Day 84 - 26/07/2007 - Thursday
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Spent most of the day travelling getting back to Portugal late afternoon. It was great to be back with Kate and the kids after the short visit to Washington. It was also great to see so many pictures from the 50th day balloon launch on the website.
A lot of people have been asking what can they do to maintain the search for Madeleine. The advice we have had consistently from the beginning, and very much re-emphasised by the experience of the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children is to maintain a high profile for the missing child. This can be achieved by
relatively simple measures such as displaying posters in prominent public places. We ask people to continue downloading posters from the website and display them at bus stations, train stations and of course take them on holiday. Kate and I would like to thank everyone who desperately wants us to be reunited with Madeleine and have helped in this regard.
Day 83 - 25/07/2007 - Wednesday
F.B.I Day 83
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Up early this morning catching up with e-mails and phone calls as well as updating the blog. Managed another early morning run, round Washington centre this time, which is quite beautiful with grand buildings and monuments separated by wide grassy areas.
I had another meeting with another congressman Mike Rogers who is an ex-FBI agent and we distributed wristbands to Nick Lampson and some of his colleagues as well as members of NCMEC
This afternoon we had a meeting with the British Ambassador at his residence to update him on our meetings. The Embassy itself is a stunning building almost rivalling the Whitehouse
Flying back to Portugal this evening to get back to the family. I
have no doubt that this visit to Washington has been extremely productive and will really help to maintain Madeleines profile. We will continue to work closely with ICMEC who have incredible experience and energy in dealing with missing children.
Day 82- 24/07/2007 - Tuesday
CHILDREN'S
TELEPHONE SKILLS
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Another busy day in Washington. Started early on at NCMEC with interviews from 6.15am for the five major US TV networks morning news shows. A very serious issues programme 20-20 was also recording our visit to the America, as they will also be producing a piece on the search to find Madeleine.
Late morning we had a visit to the White House to meet with the First Lady's deputy chief of staff Sarah Armstrong. This visit was facilitated by Lady Catherine Meyer, founder of the British charity PACT, which is an affiliate of ICMEC and has done so much to raise awareness of missing children in the UK. Mrs Bush is a strong supporter of child welfare issues and is in fact an Honorary Board member of ICMEC. They were already aware of Madeleines disappearance and I took the opportunity to fill them in on my visit to Washington, particularly the work we are doing with ICMEC and the meeting we had with the attorney general. We finished with a very quick tour of the public areas in the White House which is a very impressive building and we also met one of the Presidents Scottish terriers! Immediately following the visit I did a few interviews for the British Media in front of the White House.
After a very brief lunch it was on to Capitol Hill for meetings with politicians who have been instrumental in getting the Adam Walsh BIll and others passed. We met with Democrat congressman Nick Lampson and Republican Senator Robert Shelby who both know the board members of NCMEC very well. They were both very keen to do what they could to help find Madeleine and the support during the visit we have received has been tremendous.
I spoke to Kate and the kids, whose telephone skills are developing very quickly
which is nice for me when I am away like this. Kate has stayed on in Portugal and has been keeping in touch with the police but there are no major developments to report. In the evening I managed to meet up with a friend from Glasgow who is also a cardiologist and working in the Washington area. We went for a bite to eat and it was good to sit down quietly with a familiar face for an hour or two.
Day 81 - 23/07/2007 - Monday
AMERICA MOST WANTED
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Very busy day and I was almost asleep by the time I got back to the hotel so apologies for not posting the blog earlier. We started off by spending the morning at the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children (NCMEC). We had a tour of the NCMEC led by President Ernie Allen who has been there for 23 years and there is little he does not about missing children.
The work done at NCMEC is extremely impressive. It coordinates information for all missing children and it was the center that pushed for the implementation of the early warning missing child (AMBER) alert throughout the USA. The center was also instrumental along with the founder, John Walsh, in getting the Adam Walsh bill passed on the 25th anniversary of the young boys murder.
NCMEC officials organised a meeting with the US attorney general Gonzales at the justice department. He was already aware of Madeleine’s disappearance and has made child protection a major concern for him. I explained in a little more detail regarding Madeleine’s case and the fact that she is still missing after 81 days. He was very supportive of the campaign to keep Madeleines profile high and of the work that we are doing with NCMEC and its International division (ICMEC).
We went back to NCMEC in the afternoon and I had detailed discussions with some of the experts there regarding Madeleines disappearance. We also had a board meeting with ICMEC regarding working together on other developments in raising
the profile of missing children particularly using internet resources.
Finished the day off with an interview for Americas Most Wanted who have been following Madeleines abduction almost since the beginning. The programme is actually hosted by John Walsh and has massive viewing figures of around 12 million.
Day 80 - 22/07/2007 - Sunday
RESPONSIBLE PARENTING
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Spent the whole day travelling from the Algarve to Washington where I will be visiting the National and International Centers for Missing and Exploited Children and meeting politicians involved in recent legislation on missing children. The flights for our campaign manager and myself were kindly donated by an airline.
There is a very upsetting story on the front page of a British National Newspaper today. The headline suggests that Kate and I face prosecution for neglecting our children by dining 50 yards away and checking on them regularly. We know that there has been criticism in some quarters of our actions but at the time, we felt our actions were responsible. We were essentially performing our own baby listening service although we have talked of the guilt we felt at now being there at the moment Madeleine was taken.
We have been advised that legally our behaviour was well within the bounds of responsible parenting and subsequently been assured that no action will be taken. These types of criticism, particularly at this stage, as well as being hurtful are extremely unhelpful in the search for Madeleine. From the moment we discovered Madeleine missing Kate and I have done everything in our power to try and help get her back.
Our opinion now is completely clouded by what has happened to us and of course has sent shock waves through thousands of families. The real issue is that we should not have a constant fear of abduction of our children from their bedrooms,
gardens or streets for that matter.
What Kate and I did was at worst naïve and no one should forget that the real criminal is the predator who has taken a completely innocent child in such a premeditated fashion. It is this act that has wreaked havoc on our family and affected millions of other people
Day 79 - 21/07/2007 - Saturday
DOLPHINS
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Relatively quiet day on the campaign front. Spent the day with the kids and visited the Algarve
Zoo Marine which they really enjoyed, particularly the dolphins.
Day 78 - 20/07/2007 - Friday
SANDCASTLES
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RUNNING
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Kate and I spent a few hours with our campaign manager discussing longer term strategies to maintain Madeleines profile, in case she is not found soon. We had a long conference call with two organisations that are keen to help us with the campaign but there is still quite a bit of work to be done before this venture can be announced.
We also managed an early morning run together, thanks to my mum supervising the kids breakfast. We made it to the top of the cliffs overlooking Praia da Luz in 16 minutes although we did have to walk at the steepest part. I had my first visit to a nearby beach for a
while with the kids late on this afternoon whilst Kate took the opportunity to get through lots of e-mails. The twins took great delight in burying me in the sand, building (well mainly knocking down) sandcastles and trying to jump out of the waves, which were tiny although the water was certainly colder than I was expecting.
Day 77 - 19/07/2007 - Thursday
MASHED POTATOES
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I was glad to see the messages of support page updated today after a few days with some technical hitches. Kate and I spent some time reading through them and your messages do help us, especially on days when we are feeling particularly low. Our search for Madeleine is nothing without public support and we would like to give our thanks to everyone who has helped us in any way over the last 77 days.
The kids are really enjoying spending time with their granny who they have not seen for two months.
They particularly enjoyed her mashed potatoes tonight which brought a big smile to my mums face. The last couple of days we have spent an hour or two by a nearby pool and their confidence in the water has really improved.
Day 76 - 18/07/2007 - Wednesday
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Pretty busy day. Started off with a few phone calls and answering e-mails. We had a longer meeting than usual with the Portuguese police because I had gone back to London last week . We have a good relationship with them and, as well as the British officers who are in Portugal, we can feed any information sent to us back in
to the enquiry through an English Speaking detective.
The investigation, as everyone has seen recently, is still very active. There is also a lot of labour intensive detective work going on behind the scenes. Kate and I hope and pray every day for a breakthrough and cannot consider going home without her
Day 75 - 17/07/2007 - Tuesday
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Madeleine has been missing for 75 days today and last night Kate and I attended
mass to pray for her. On the back of the latest poster launch with Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows, the extensive media coverage and the millions of people who are desperate to find Madeleine, we are still very hopeful that Madeleine will be safely returned. As parents, Kate and I cannot contemplate giving up the search for our daughter.
Day 74 - 16/07/2007 - Monday
J.K.Rowling
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The campaign to find Madeleine received a a massive boost today from JK Rowling. The author of the massive selling Harry Potter books has asked all retailers to display a specially designed poster of Madeleine when the sixth and final book Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows goes on sale on Saturday 21st July. Ms Rowling, who lived in Portugal for several years, has offered amazing support in the search for Madeleine. As well as offering a large reward for Madeleines safe return she has also added information on Madeleines abduction on her own site with a link back to our homepage. Try and find the information at www.jkrowling.com, I will give you a clue that it is under links! A huge thank you to JK Rowling and her publishers Bloomsbury for their support.
The new poster of Madeleine has been designed in conjunction with the International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children (ICMEC) and this is one of the things we have been working on in the last couple of weeks. ICMEC promote awareness of missing children globally and aim to prevent child sexual exploitation and abduction. The poster features 3 pictures of Madeleine with the advice to contact the local police if you see her. ICMEC, their logo and both theirs and our websites are also on the poster. The distribution of this poster will enhance the awareness of Madeleines disappearance, which we are advised increases the
chances of finding her, and the plight of other missing children.
With the announcement of the poster Kate and I also did a short interview for the press. A lot of photographs were taken of us with the poster so I suspect some of these will make it in to the newspapers in the next few days.
Day 73 - 15/07/2007 - Sunday
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Travelled back to Portugal today on an early morning flight. It was
heartening to see various posters of Madeleine up at all the
check-in desks especially with the busy holiday season underway.
The flight itself was quiet for Kate and I as the twins fell asleep shortly after take-off. My mum and sister have also come out to for a few days so we managed to see a lot of family this weekend
Day 72 - 14/07/2007 - Saturday
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Kate, the twins and myself attended a family baptism today in Yorkshire where we stood as Godparents. At the end of the short service, which was lovely, prayers were said for Madeleine. It is the first time Kate has been to the UK since Madeleine
disappeared but we wanted to support our family the same way they have supported us over the last ten weeks and it was great to see so many family members together. We have also taken a huge amount of strength from our faith and of course the messages of support and prayers for Madeleine from people of all faiths around the world.
Day 71 - 13/07/2007 - Friday
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Spent a large part of the day at the Child Exploitation and Online Protecetion (CEOP) headquarters in London. The work they are doing in the prevention and detection of child exploitation is fantastic and I have no doubt they are world leaders in many aspects of their work.
The statistics of child abduction in the UK, both attempted and sucessful cases, are stagggering with over 1000 reported cases in 2003/4 and the figures show a year on year increase. The scale of the problem is much larger than Kate and I ever imagined and worryingly there does not appear to be reliable statistics for many countries in Europe. Clearly a lot of work has to be done to tackle this growing problem.
Kate and I believe that someone, somewhere knows something
about Madleines abduction.
The events of recent weeks and the high profile of Madeleine reassure us that when the key piece of information comes in, to any law enforcement agnecy, it will be treated seriously and fed into the inquiry quiickly and actioned.
Day 70 - 12/07/2007 - Thursday
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It is ten weeks since Madeleine was abducted and every day has been incredibly hard for our family. No child should be separated from their family in such circumstances. The overwhelming messages of support, thoughts and prayers really help us stay strong. Somebody, somewhere knows where Madeleine is and it may take a single phone call for her to be found. We will not give up searching for her.
I came to London today to meet with the British police and will go to the Child Exploitaion and Online Protection Centre tomorrow to learn more about their role. As I have said previously we want to work closely with the police and child welfare organisations to help us keep awareness of Madeleines and other childrens disappearance high.
I was also invited to attend the National Police Federation Annual Bravery awards tonight. The work of the police is often taken for granted until you really need them. It was a humbling experience to see and meet so many officers who have shown such outstanding bravery in the line of duty and protecting us all.
It was a fantastic opportunity to thank officers from all over the country who have been involved with the investigation to find Madeleine. The vast majority of those that I managed to speak to are, like us, very optimistic that we will find Madeleine safe and well.
Day 69 - 11/07/2007 - Wednesday
INTERVIEWS
Day 69
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This morning got off to a bad start when we were called, even before the twins were awake, by a reputable press agency saying that a body had been found and asking if it was true. It is very disappointing that this person did not check out the source of this rumour before contacting our representatives. Such calls and rumours are distressing even though we know if it does not come through an official source not to place much emphasis on it.
The Portuguese police interviewed three of our friends again today, to clarify points in their initial statements. As most of you will know, there is a lot of misleading information being published, both in the press and on the internet, about the events leading up to Madeleine's disappearance and the criminal investigation. We would like to give more information, especially about inaccurate and hurtful reports, but cannot for fear of prejudicing any subsequent court proceedings. The Portuguese police have made it clear to us that all witnesses should not divulge or discuss the information they have provided. Kate and I are, of course not party to all of the
information coming into the inquiry for sound operational reasons.
Similarly a lot of people have asked to learn more about Madeleines likes and dislikes.
This is information which we have been advised not to distribute publicly because of the risk of it being used in potential extortion attempts. The arrests recently in The Netherlands and Spain show that such information could be used negatively in the wrong hands.
Day 68 - 10/07/2007 - Tuesday
RUNNING
Day 68
AEROBICS
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Kate and I both managed early morning runs today- it is definitely the time of day to it with the high temperatures in the middle of
summer. Getting some aerobic exercise certainly helps us feel
better physically and psychologically which helps maintain our
positive attitude.
The investigation into Madelienes disapperance remains very active and we note that the Portuguese police are conducting a series of interviews today and tomorrow.
Day 67 - 09/07/2007 - Monday
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No major news today but it was heartening to see both the British and Portuguese Prime Ministers, Gordon Brown and Jose Socrates, publicly pledge they would continue to do everything to help find Madeleine.
Day 66 - 08/07/2007 - Sunday
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A small event took place in Porto, in the north of Portugal, today to remember missing children. It was at a large schools end of year musical and the children and staff released balloons.
It is good that local communities are staging events like this and we thank them for remembering Madeleine.
We were glad to hear the young British girl kidnapped in Nigeria was returned safely today.
Day 65 - 07/07/2007 - Saturday
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Quiet family day.
Day 64 - 06/07/2007 - Friday
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The major development today was the arrest of a 39 year old Dutch citizen in Eindhoven for attempted fraud. The man had sent six e-mails saying he knew who had Madeleine and where she was. He was demanding €2million for this information. After being arrested he has admitted he did not have any information and was
motivated by boredom and trying to extort the money.
This arrest, after cooperation between the Portuguese, British and Dutch police
forces, sends a clear message that this sort of crime is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. It also encourages Kate and I that all information about Madeleine coming through to the police in any European country will be taken seriously and rigorously evaluated.
Day 63 - 05/07/2007 - Thursday
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Heart wrenching to learn of the little British 3 year old girl who has been kidnapped in Nigeria. We know more than anyone what ther parents are going through and we hope, that like most of the kidnap victims in Nigeria, she is returned safely.
The pictures of the England rugby squad in their Madeleine t-shirts were excellent as were the comments of the players supporting the campaign to find Madeleine. We hope and pray she will soon be able to thank all of those who have helped us maintain such a high profile of her disappearance
Day 62 - 04/07/2007 - Wednesday
RUGBY SHIRTS
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The England rugby team wore Look for Madeleine T-shirts at their open training session in the Algarve today. I am looking forward to seeing the pictures tomorrow! We had a brief, private meeting with the RFU management team last night to thank them for this unprompted show of support which helps keep Madeleines disappearance high profile here in Portugal and at home.
We also met today with SOS Crianca, which is the main child welfare non-governmental organisation in Portugal. Similar to our meetings with child welfare groups and ministers in other countries, they feel our campaign to keep Madeleines profile high is correct. It was a very constructive meeting and they have offered to help support us in any way they can. It is likely we will travel to Lisbon at some point to meet with other agencies to see what advice they have for us and if we can help them. We hope the huge amount of goodwill that has been generated following Madeleines abduction can be translated into tangible benefits for the future and we very much want to work with the organisations trying to prevent child abduction and expoitation.
It was heartening for Kate and I to learn of the release today of Alan Johnston after almost 4 months in captivity. Although the circumstances of his kidnapping are very different to that of Madeleines, it still lifted us to see him being freed knowing
he will be reunited with his family shortly.
We also agree with the commentators who have stated his family have acted with tremendous dignity throughout and Alan himself appeared incredibly resilient and composed following his release. Our best wishes go to Alan and his family.
Day 61 - 03/07/2007 - Tuesday
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We did a single interview today for the Portuguese media with a British journalist sitting in. The interview marked the fact that it is two months to the day since Madeleine was abducted. We took the opportunity to emphasise that we would be staying in Portugal for the immediate future and continuing the campaign to help find Madeleine. We also want to work closely with the media here in Portugal and engage closely with the Portuguese people who have been so supportive.
We were asked what was the hardest day since Madeleine disappeared and replied
that every day has been hard without Madeleine. We also stated that our determination to find Madeleine is matched by the Portuguese police and that we have a good working relationship with them. Our frequent meetings with the police help us stay informed, allow us to feed information into the investigation and let clarify information with senior officers conducting the investigation
Day 60 - 02/07/2007 - Monday
MOVING
Days 52-58-60
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We completed our move to the new accommodation today. It took longer than expected as we moved the thousands of letters of suuport we have recieved and all the new toys. These letters and messages of support have given us tremendous encouragement and we would like to thank everyone who has taken the time to write to us and to those who have donated to Madeleines Fund, helping us continue the campaign to find Madeleine.
Most of this evening was spent on the phone and answering e-mails finalising forthcoming campaign events. There should be some stuff in the press in the next few days although we are very aware that the recent terrorist activity will, quite rightly, continue to dominate the news.
Day 59 - 01/07/2007 - Sunday
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Family day again, apart from some packing and sorting. Our friends are heading home in the morning and I picked up some family from the airport tonight. Our campaign manager has also flown in and we will be finalising a few more events for the coming weeks
Day 58 - 30/06/2007 - Saturday
MOVING
Days 52-58-60
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2nd version
Family day spent with Sean, Amelie, our friends and their kids. Attended mass this evening which was conducted in English with prayers for Madeleine.
We have confirmed our new accommodation and will be moving in the next few days. We seem to have acquired a lot more stuff, partucularly the twins with lots of well wishers sending them toys. We will be
staying on Portugal for the immediate future and are determined to
come home with Madeleine.
Staying in the Algarve also makes it easier to stay in touch with the Portuguese polce, this is particularly important with the investigation being so active. We have regular meetings and calls to keep abreast of developments.
Day 58 - 30/06/2007 - Saturday
1st version
Family day spent with Sean, Amelie, our friends and their kids. Attended mass this evening which was conducted in English with prayers for Madeleine.
We have confirmed our new accommodation and will be moving in the next few days. We seem to have acquired a lot more stuff, partucularly the twins with lots of well wishers sending them toys, We will be staying on Portugsl for thr immrdiste future and are determined to come home with Madeleine.
Staying in the Algarve also makes it easier to stay in touch with the Portuguese polce, this is particularly important with the investigation being so active. We have regular meetings and calls to keep abreatst of developmennts.
Day 57 - 29/06/2007 - Friday
WALLET
Days 47 - 57
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Early rise this morning dropping off and picking up good friends from the airport. One of our friends from Amsterdam, who has been
actively campaigning to publicise Madeleines disappearance, dropped in to see us for a couple of hours since he is on a golfing trip in the Algarve.
Our friends brought back my wallet which had been returned, needless to say minus the Sterling, although all my cards and €30 were still in it! It is good to have my driving license back and one or two other important things.
Day 56 - 28/06/2007 - Thursday
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Busy day- some very good phone calls with important child welfare organsations
who we will be working closely with in the future. I have no doubt we will be able
to sustain a high profile for Madeleines disappearance in the long term.
There has been a lot of media publicity over arrests in Spain tonight following information related to the investigation to find Madeleine. This appears to be a clear signal from European police forces that they are treating all information relating to Madeleines disappearance very seriously
Day 55 - 27/06/2007 - Wednesday
SIGHTINGS
DAY 55
IT DOES NOT HELP TO RECEIVE INFORMATION DIRECTLY
Kate and I would like to emphasise that if anyone who thinks they
have information relevant to Madeleine’s abduction, then please
pass this on to your local police.
It does not help us to receive such Information directly- we will only pass it on to the
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police for it to be considered in context of the overall investigation.
If people are unhappy to speak to the police directly information can be given to the international crimestoppers anonymously.
Day 54 - 26/06/2007 - Tuesday
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Met with the Portuguese and British police for an update on the investigation. We raised the question of what someone should do if they think they see Madeleine. The clear advice is to call the local police as soon as possible or someone working in an official capacity such as hotel staff or tour representative. Please note that the emergency police numbers are variable in each country. The number in Portugal and Spain is 112 but in Germany it is 110 . The number for most countries can be found at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emergency_telephone_number#Europe and for those going on holiday it might be a good idea to enter the number in your mobile phone.
If there is a sighting the police would need as much information as possible. If there is a car involved please remember to record the registration number if possible.
We have met so many well-wishers from Ireland over the last 54 days and have recieived hundreds of letters. On Friday of this week there is a mini-vigil specially for Madeleine at Knock, Irelands holiest shrine, which will be attended by family and friends. The vigil will take place from 8pm-midnight
Day 53 - 25/06/2007 - Monday
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Today was largely spent doing some behind the scenes campaigning. We had a meeting about an interesting idea that would help keep Madeleines profile high here in Portugal. Although I hope it comes to fruition, like many of the ideas it requires a lot of planning and cooperation. I will be having another admin day tomorrow
working on implementing our campaign events.
We were invited round to some firends for dinner which was great, especially for Sean and Amelie. Finished the night off answering e-mails. Lots of photographs are coming through for Madeleines 50 day balloon launch. Keep them coming and we will get them posted soon.
Day 52 - 24/06/2007 - Sunday
MOVING
Days 52-58-60
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We attended the local church service this morning as usual. After mass we bumped into an old colleague of my brothers who aslo happens to be from Liverpool and had a good chat with her.
There are very little media left in Praia da Luz although there was still one cameraman and photgrapher outside the church. Our requsets to respect our privacy have been folowed, with one or two minor exceptions during the last 52 days. Most of the campaigning will be done behind closed doors from now on and it is essential that Amelie and Sean are allowed to grow up without continually being photographed.
We picked the twins up early from the kids club and had a really nice afternoon with them, playing with some new toys and then down at the pool.
If Madeleine is not found in the next couple of weks we need to move out of the
appartment we have been staying in as the family is coming out for a holiday. I have to say the owners have been extremely understanding, as they came to Praia da Luz for a holiday and relocated to another apartment to save us moving again.
This degree of flexibility does not exist in the resort in high season. We have managed to look at a few properties to rent in the last couple of days and I think we have found somewhere suitable to live until we return back to the UK with Madeleine.
Day 51 - 23/06/2007 - Saturday
CAMPAIGN STRATEGY
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Relatively quiet day today although we did spend some time planning campaign strategy this morning. This afternoon friends
of ours from Leicester who are holidaying in the Algarve came over to Praia da Luz with their 2 year old son. It was good to see them and the twins certainly enjoyed having an extra play mate round the pool.
DAYS 01 TO 50
DAYS 101 TO 150
