I overheard a conversation today regarding the disappearance of Madeline McCann. This happy three-year old toddler from the UK went missing on May 3 at a holiday resort in Praia da Luz, Portugal. Maddie’s parents claim she was abducted from her hotel room while they dined at a nearby resort cafe. However, ten days ago headlines took a dramatic turn. The media began reporting that the Portuguese police now believe Kate McCann accidentally killed her daughter with an overdose of sleeping pills.
As I listened this afternoon one punter was adamant Kate was guilty. “Every time I see her she has the stoic look of someone that thinks she’ll get away with it,” he said. It would seem Maddie’s mother has already been convicted in at least one court of popular opinion. Meanwhile the nation's tabloids accuse the Portuguese authorities of incompetence, claiming they're framing the McCann in order to bring this high profile case to a close.
Since Maddie’s disappearance, her parents have conducted an extensive public relations campaign to keep their daughter’s image in the public eye. Her face was displayed on screens at the UEFA Football Cup final, on Spanish television ads filmed with David Beckham and in news stories of a pilgrimage to meet the pope at the Vatican. It’s been hard not to see Maddie's image on weekly basis.
As the investigation changes tone I cannot help wondering if another tragic Lindy Chamberlain story is unfolding. Lindy claimed her baby, Azaria, was taken by a dingo from a camping ground in the shadow of Ayers Rock in Central Australia. News stories were initially sympathetic until the police investigation concluded Lindy had killed her child. In a controversial decision, she was eventually convicted and imprisoned for 18 months.
Shortly after her release in 1986 a judicial inquiry found the evidence against the Chamberlains to be insubstantial. Lindy later received $1.3 million compensation from the government for wrongful imprisonment. Switch to the UK, 21 year later. With so much speculation and contradictory information now flooding the airwaves its hard not to wonder if history is repeating.
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In 1978 I participated in a 3 week bus trip around most of central Australia as an optional school excursion (hell _is_ 40 14yr olds).
We camped near Ayer's Rock before it was officially Uluru, or luxury hotels adorned the red sands. Dingos freely ran around the sites, looking for whatever they could. Kangaroos and emus were just as bold in other areas, even coming to steal food off supervised BBQs! So when Azaria disappeared two years later, I had no doubts that her parents' story was quite reasonable, and in hindsight perhaps surprising it hadn't happened before.
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