# "Let's draw a pretend picture of a man stealing our baby," say murdering parents (RO)
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-draw-a-pretend-picture-of-a-man-stealing-our-baby-say-murdering-parents-ro/424120
**Category:** The BBQ Pit
**Created:** [October 26, 2007, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-draw-a-pretend-picture-of-a-man-stealing-our-baby-say-murdering-parents-ro/424120 "2007-10-26T15:43:16Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 5
### Author:  [@Talon\_Karrde](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Talon_Karrde)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2007, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-draw-a-pretend-picture-of-a-man-stealing-our-baby-say-murdering-parents-ro/424120/81 "2007-10-28T05:31:54Z")
The wig isn’t fooling me. God did it.\*
\*Cite: Jack Chick.
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### Author:  [@Boyo\_Jim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boyo_Jim)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2007, 11:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-draw-a-pretend-picture-of-a-man-stealing-our-baby-say-murdering-parents-ro/424120/82 "2007-10-28T11:27:35Z")
[QUOTE=Talon Karrde]
The wig isn’t fooling me. God did it.\*
\*Cite: Jack Chick.
[/QUOTE]
Fred Phelps would say it happened because somebody somewhere is gay. That makes perfect sense to me.
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### Author:  [@Wallenstein](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wallenstein)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2007, 11:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-draw-a-pretend-picture-of-a-man-stealing-our-baby-say-murdering-parents-ro/424120/83 "2007-10-28T11:34:45Z")
[QUOTE=EJsGirl]
Funny, but that’s the first case I thought of. Everyone was so sure that Lindy Chamberlain was guilty…
[/QUOTE]
And many Aussies are still convinced she’s guilty… the dingo only took the baby after she was dead, is the popular belief.
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### Author:  [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2007, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-draw-a-pretend-picture-of-a-man-stealing-our-baby-say-murdering-parents-ro/424120/84 "2007-10-28T14:20:57Z")
Do dingoes prefer carrion to live prey?
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### Author:  [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2007, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-draw-a-pretend-picture-of-a-man-stealing-our-baby-say-murdering-parents-ro/424120/85 "2007-10-28T15:34:47Z")
[QUOTE=EJsGirl]
Do dingoes prefer carrion to live prey?
[/QUOTE]
Dingoes target livestock.
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### Author:  [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2007, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-draw-a-pretend-picture-of-a-man-stealing-our-baby-say-murdering-parents-ro/424120/86 "2007-10-28T15:42:48Z")
[QUOTE=Mighty\_Girl]
Well, how about just keeping our minds open then? I don’t know if the parents did it, I don’t know if they didn’t. So I’ll just keep the torch away until we actually have something other than speculation by sleazy newspapers.
I know, I know. That’s just crazy talk.
[/QUOTE]
so, we’re not supposed to speculate on current events? that’ll cut out a substantial number of threads here. Is there a statute of limitations on that? can we still speculate about who really Jack the Ripper was?
really - I’m not sitting on a jury (especially since no one’s even been charged). So, you may feel free to feel superior and all, and I’ll speculate on current events. It’s a win win.
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### Author:  [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2007, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-draw-a-pretend-picture-of-a-man-stealing-our-baby-say-murdering-parents-ro/424120/87 "2007-10-28T18:42:27Z")
[QUOTE=PunditLisa]
Dingoes target livestock.
[/QUOTE]
But my questions was about whether their preferred prey was alive or dead. A baby would be a great prey item to a hunter- small, yummy and defenseless. A dead baby would only seem to attract scavengers…
Certainly a baby would be easier to catch than a baby cow, especially if it was unguarded.
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### Author:  [@PunditLisa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PunditLisa)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2007, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-draw-a-pretend-picture-of-a-man-stealing-our-baby-say-murdering-parents-ro/424120/88 "2007-10-28T18:50:26Z")
[QUOTE=EJsGirl]
But my questions was about whether their preferred prey was alive or dead. A baby would be a great prey item to a hunter- small, yummy and defenseless. A dead baby would only seem to attract scavengers…
Certainly a baby would be easier to catch than a baby cow, especially if it was unguarded.
[/QUOTE]
They’re in the dog family so they work in packs to take down small or sick animals. However, if you’ve ever had a dog, you’d know that they’ll also eat dead things. And since dingoes live in the desert so if food is scarce, I’d imagine they’d go after any food source if it presented itself.
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### Author:  [@Mighty\_Girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mighty_Girl)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2007, 9:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-draw-a-pretend-picture-of-a-man-stealing-our-baby-say-murdering-parents-ro/424120/89 "2007-10-28T21:30:34Z")
[QUOTE=wring]
so, we’re not supposed to speculate on current events? that’ll cut out a substantial number of threads here. Is there a statute of limitations on that? can we still speculate about who really Jack the Ripper was?
really - I’m not sitting on a jury (especially since no one’s even been charged). So, you may feel free to feel superior and all, and I’ll speculate on current events. It’s a win win.
[/QUOTE]
You are right. Speculation was not the right word. We should be free to speculate. How about “being sure” without anything in the way of proof?
Or does this
> [@](#):
>
> When will we just acknowledge that these rich white doctors killed their own child and send them to the gas chamber?
sound to you like being open-minded, or even speculation?
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### Author:  [@cedman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cedman)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2007, 10:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-draw-a-pretend-picture-of-a-man-stealing-our-baby-say-murdering-parents-ro/424120/90 "2007-10-28T22:16:47Z")
Perhaps VC03 ran into the good doctors on the escalator?
[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=441503&page=2&pp=50](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=441503&page=2&pp=50)
post #88
CedricR. who doesn’t know how to do the linky thing
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### Author:  [@saoirse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/saoirse)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2007, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-draw-a-pretend-picture-of-a-man-stealing-our-baby-say-murdering-parents-ro/424120/91 "2007-10-28T22:56:09Z")
[QUOTE=cedman]
Perhaps VC03 ran into the good doctors on the escalator?
[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=441503&page=2&pp=50](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=441503&page=2&pp=50)
post #88
CedricR. who doesn’t know how to do the linky thing
[/QUOTE]
[Linky Thing](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=9119172#post9119172)
With parentheses instead of brackets:
(URL=[http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=9119172#post9119172](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?p=9119172#post9119172))Linky Thing(/URL)
Or just click on the icon of the world with a pair of pince-nez glasses next to the “bulleted list” icon, above the text window.
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### Author:  [@Q.E.D](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Q.E.D)
#### Post date: [October 28, 2007, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-draw-a-pretend-picture-of-a-man-stealing-our-baby-say-murdering-parents-ro/424120/92 "2007-10-28T22:58:12Z")
[QUOTE=saoirse]
…a pair of pince-nez glasses…
[/QUOTE]
That’s a segment of a chain. Y’know…a link.
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### Author:  [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)
#### Post date: [October 29, 2007, 12:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-draw-a-pretend-picture-of-a-man-stealing-our-baby-say-murdering-parents-ro/424120/93 "2007-10-29T00:43:24Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn]
Re “they’ve taken her”- was that specific comment ever explained? I mean, was there anything leading the parents to believe someone took the kid based on something previous? They could actually see the door of the hotel room, and didn’t see anyone go in or out?
[/QUOTE]
[This forum](http://www.websleuths.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?f=129) on the Websleuths message board gives many, many compiled details, as well as translations to news articles from Portugal. ETA: Read the timeline etc. before you say the idea that Maddie is dead and it is due to the parents somehow is completely ridiculous.
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### Author:  [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)
#### Post date: [October 29, 2007, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-draw-a-pretend-picture-of-a-man-stealing-our-baby-say-murdering-parents-ro/424120/94 "2007-10-29T00:45:26Z")
[QUOTE=Mighty\_Girl]
By now the lesson should be that we should stop from speculating based on, mostly, our own biases.
[/QUOTE]
I said something like this back when Nifong’s rape case at Duke started coming apart, but [rather more forcefully](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=416150&page=2&pp=50#post8454175). The reaction was mixed; a few people appreciated the comment, but then the thread kept barreling right along. Clearly, some people really get off on planting their flags and claiming various bits of speculative territory as their own, logical merits aside.
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### Author:  [@tagos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tagos)
#### Post date: [October 29, 2007, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-draw-a-pretend-picture-of-a-man-stealing-our-baby-say-murdering-parents-ro/424120/95 "2007-10-29T17:06:57Z")
[QUOTE=Wee Bairn]
Would someone care to summarize for one unaware of this whole deal what the evidence against the parents is?
[/QUOTE]
There is no evidence. Plenty of eyewitnesses having dinner with them at the time of the alleged kidnapping and anonymous leaking by the portugese police, the two lead investigators who have now been sacked.
There are unsubstantiated claims that junk that could only come from a corpse was found in a hire car they got a few weeks later.
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### Author:  [@Zabali\_Clawbane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zabali_Clawbane)
#### Post date: [October 29, 2007, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-draw-a-pretend-picture-of-a-man-stealing-our-baby-say-murdering-parents-ro/424120/96 "2007-10-29T17:28:39Z")
[QUOTE=tagos]
There is no evidence. Plenty of eyewitnesses having dinner with them at the time of the alleged kidnapping and anonymous leaking by the portugese police, the two lead investigators who have now been sacked.
There are unsubstantiated claims that junk that could only come from a corpse was found in a hire car they got a few weeks later.
[/QUOTE]
How do you explain the two witness testimonies as to hearing Maddie crying (ETA: For her father, and not a normal child crying or tantrum, true distress.) the night before she vanished? What about the prescription (adult) sedative they’d give her so they could go live it up? What about the cadaver dogs? Did you look at the forum I linked and the topics there? I don’t know what happened to Maddie, but I think she’s probably dead. I also am leaning towards the idea that the parents know this, and they are covering it up. It is possible someone else took her, and she’s dead, but not as likely given the bits and pieces I’ve read. And I’ve not followed things as avidly as others, who are convinced Maddie’s parents caused her death, and are lying about her being kidnapped.
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### Author:  [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)
#### Post date: [October 29, 2007, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-draw-a-pretend-picture-of-a-man-stealing-our-baby-say-murdering-parents-ro/424120/97 "2007-10-29T22:00:18Z")
[QUOTE=Zabali\_Clawbane]
Read the timeline…
[/QUOTE]
I’ve not been following the Madeleine McCann case before but now that I see the McCanns have created THE GREATEST MEDIA CIRCUS EVER! I can see what I’ve been missing. A two-continent tour? Fatima? The Pope? A worldwide 50th day balloon release? I am stunned at its brilliance, how it seems those two will stop at nothing to proclaim their innocence and to get their daughter back.
I realize they might be grieving parents and ya can’t win fer losin’ when balancing the “appropriate” amount of grief so you don’t look too cold or too hot, but they are miles beyond the Superbowl halftime show. For now my money’s on “guilty as sin.”
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### Author:  [@fessie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/fessie)
#### Post date: [October 29, 2007, 10:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-draw-a-pretend-picture-of-a-man-stealing-our-baby-say-murdering-parents-ro/424120/98 "2007-10-29T22:21:39Z")
[This video clip is interesting.](http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,91210-1264418,00.html) I watched it with the sound off. Does anyone else think she’s having an awfully hard time maintaining eye contact? Or was she trying to address multiple cameras?
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### Author:  [@chowder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chowder)
#### Post date: [October 30, 2007, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-draw-a-pretend-picture-of-a-man-stealing-our-baby-say-murdering-parents-ro/424120/99 "2007-10-30T13:02:41Z")
Now the latest.
As reported on BBC TV and in the UK newspapers, The McCanns have utilised part of the £1m donated by the public towards the “Find Maddie Fund” to make 2 mortgage payments on their luxury £650K house.
It seems that they have not worked for 6 months, understandable, and so they are entitled to use this money to “sustain” themselves.
I don’t imagine the people who donated to the fund are all that pleased about it
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### Author:  [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)
#### Post date: [October 30, 2007, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lets-draw-a-pretend-picture-of-a-man-stealing-our-baby-say-murdering-parents-ro/424120/100 "2007-10-30T13:49:42Z")
In the same day’s news, apparently the Portuguese police have ‘accepted their version of events’ and are now thinking about looking for the possible abductor. Lets hope he has a bit of a limp and hasn’t managed to get very far away in the last few months.
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