Dorothy's Damage

I’m late to the Madeleine McCann case. I heard her name for years but didn’t know there was anything to the case beyond an abduction until this year, 2024. This case captured my attention because it doesn’t make sense, as countless others have noticed. The older I get the more interested I become in understanding human behavioral patterns. At some point someone is going to give you the heebie jeebies and someone is going to lie to you and you’re going to know it. I’m curious as to how our human antennas get attuned to this behavior and what motivates people to what they do.

Why do I feel compelled then to write about the Madeleine McCann case? I want to add my voice to so many others that sense “something is not as it seems” with her parent’s assertion that Madeleine was abducted. Perhaps my two cents will add something to the conversation.

What stinks about the McCann story?

The red flags begin with the account of dinner at the Tapas restaurant from approximately 8:30pm – 10pm the evening of May 3, 2007 the night of supposed abduction.

The McCann’s (Gerry and Kate) with daughter Madeleine (3) and twins Sean and Amelie (2) vacationed for a week in Praia de Luz, Portugal with three other couples with young families. How young? Young!

Family/Adults (Profession)	Kids (Age)
Gerry McCann (MD) Kate McCann (MD)	Madeleine McCann (3) Sean McCann (2) Amelie McCann (2)
David Payne (MD) Fiona Payne (MD) Diane Webster (Fiona’s mother)	Multiple children (ages unknown)
Russell O’Brien (MD) Jane Tanner (Marketing Manager)	Daughter (3) Younger child (age unknown)
Matthew Oldfield (MD) Rachael Oldfield (Lawyer)	Daughter (2)

I’m amazed these families traveled at all with such young children on a week-long holiday that included an overseas flight to a foreign country to a destination that wasn’t a children’s theme park!

The Payne’s commented that they brought a “state of the art baby monitor” with them which I assume was Diane Webster for the primary purpose of watching the Payne’s children. The rest of the group seems to have taken advantage, at least in part, of the resort’s offering of day time child care services. However, the McCanns and some, if not all, of the other families chose not to take advantage of the resort’s evening child care services. It also appears that the Payne’s “baby monitor” Diane Webster wasn’t back at their apartment watching the Payne children in the evening because otherwise the “Tapas Seven” would be known as the “Tapas Six”.

To recap, four families of doctors traveling overseas to a resort with very young children decided that the only time they would not use child care services would be in the evening hours while they were at dinner. Instead, they devised a system of getting up and walking 5-10 minutes roundtrip to check on the children every 15 minutes throughout dinner. This has a very strong odor of something strange going on.

Call me crazy, but my one prayer of peace and relaxation on a vacation with young children would be in the evening. I would look forward to that dinner and drinks with friends ALL DAY. If my spouse suggested a hair-brain idea of getting up to check on the children every 15 minutes throughout dinner I would tell him that he alone has volunteered for that job. I wouldn’t care if I had to sell the country estate to hire a babysitter or the resort to get a few hours of adult time. Now, pass me the wine!

Why this ridiculous system?

It doesn’t make sense. Childcare is available – they even use it during the day. It certainly doesn’t appear to be a financial restriction given the professions and choice of resort. I think they may have been exaggerating when it comes to how frequently they were checking up on their children. Perhaps this was an every 30-minute or 60-minute check up instead of every 15 but this is their claim, not mine. Even if they exaggerated on the timing, this has to be the most inefficient and unnecessary system ever devised.

There is one possibility that stands out which is that one, or all, of the doctors were giving their children a medical sleep aid. This brings me to another issue of unbelievability: How did the parents get these toddlers put to bed with such confidence that they wouldn’t get up immediately to find mom and dad? Children being put to bed but not staying in bed seems to be a problem the world over. Did this group of doctors single-handedly solve this issue? Perhaps they did with the help of some “friends”.

This goes a long way to explain why there was a comfort level among the group in not taking advantage of the available childcare options. The parents probably thought they were quite clever with this “solution” as everyone got a good night’s sleep and they didn’t have to worry about a babysitter. Although they still got up to check on their kids with some frequency so perhaps they felt some guilt or recognized some level of danger in drugging their kids. Not enough to not do it, but just enough unease to go through this ridiculous and unnecessary system every 15 minutes.

If the families were drugging their kids to sleep so that they could “enjoy” the evening, clearly this brings into question the integrity and moral compass of the parents. Many of these families have a history of vacationing together with their children and I wonder if this “system” has been used before. I’m curious if any of the doctors on this trip have been accused of malpractice in their careers for other questionable judgement calls with patients’ lives. If drugs weren’t being used there still is an issue of why these families would leave their young children unattended and out of earshot, especially when childcare options are available. At best, this is irresponsible and neglectful.

A few words about the abduction story

Regarding the claims of the McCanns when they realized that Madeleine was “taken” and of Jane Tanner’s “eye witness” of a man carrying off a young girl. At best the accounts seem inconsistent. I can’t imagine what would go through my head if I couldn’t find my 3 year old child. It seems possible that in this scenario I could behave out of character and that I may not be in a rational mind and therefore not make much sense. This is the benefit of doubt I am willing to give to the McCanns. However, there has been a lot of interesting and critical analysis on the language used by the McCanns and how their account of events have changed in the months and years after Madeleine went missing.

What does it all mean?

One thing that seems consistent is that all the “action” from that night seemed to occur between 9-10pm. One hour where the world changed for the McCann family.

I’m going to boil this down to two possibilities.

1. The McCanns and the “Tapas Seven” claims are truthful. Ultimately, this is the reality we essentially live in. The McCanns have not been arrested for any crime and have successfully kept the investigation focused on an abduction. They claim their innocence and have tried to move on with their lives and raising their twins. Woe to the cynics and conspiracy theorists of the world for not believing them!
   
2. The McCanns and the “Tapas Seven” claims are not truthful. This gets to the heart of why I, and so many others, want to write about this case. If Madeleine wasn’t abducted then the logical conclusion is that she is dead. The question then becomes whether or not this was an accident or premeditated. Anyone who has had the misfortune of witnessing a parent or the aftermath of a parent losing a child knows that the natural and expected reaction from a parent is immeasurable grief – although there’s nothing natural about losing a child. There is something seriously wrong with the McCanns, and the “Tapas Seven”, mentally and emotionally to have covered up and lied about Madeleine’s death. I don’t know if the world stumbled upon a group of affluent members of society that just happen to collectively have serious personality disorders or if the McCanns are just two psychopaths that have fooled their friends and the world. I accept that we may never know the truth, at least until a body is found – even then we could only hope for some truth, not the full truth. I leave you with these unsettling questions that come with this possibility.

Why would the McCanns lie about an abduction scenario?

Why wouldn’t the McCanns call an ambulance or police if Madeleine was injured, died in an accident, or killed by someone?

Why would one of the McCanns cover for the other spouse or “Tapas Seven” member if they were responsible for Madeleine’s death?

Where is Madeleine?

Why did she have to disappear?

Who took her away?

How was this conspiracy devised and agreed upon by the McCanns and members of “Tapas Seven” so quickly?

Why would members of the “Tapas Seven”, who have young children themselves, lie for the McCanns?

Why haven’t the McCanns or any members of the “Tapas Seven” come forward with the truth since 2007?