In the space of a few days Gerry and Kate McCann had been to Italy to meet the
Pope, flown to Spain and spent the weekend with their two-year-old twins,
Amelie and Sean, in Portugal.
Now they were in Berlin, hoping to jog the memory of German tourists who had
been staying in the Algarve when their daughter Madeleine vanished last
month.
As they sat before 60 journalists and a live television audience of millions
on Wednesday they were asked the question they least expected.
Sabine Mueller, a German radio journalist, said: “How do you feel about the
fact that more and more people seem to be pointing the finger at you, saying
the way you behave is not the way people would normally behave when their
child is abducted? They seem to imply that you might have something to do
with it.”
Gerry replied: “There is absolutely no way Kate and I are involved with this
abduction.”
Unpleasant though the question was, it reflected wider concerns about their
publicity campaign. The British media, having followed the Madeleine story
so avidly, have begun to cast doubts about the value of the McCanns’
“speeding juggernaut of publicity”, as one columnist put it last week.
For Madeleine’s parents, the response is simple. They are doing everything in
their power to get her back; and, after taking the advice of police and
professionals, they believe that publicity is vital.
Gerry said last week: “If we had stayed indoors, locked ourselves away and
waited, and waited, and waited for a month, we would be shells of the people
we are. We are doing everything we can to try to become a family of five
again.”
They remain undaunted by the criticism. After Berlin, they flew straight to
Amsterdam, before returning to Portugal to spend more time with their twins.
Today they will end their series of appeals by flying to Rabat in Morocco.
They are planning a celebrity-backed “Madeleine day” and the distribution of
millions of bookmarks bearing her photograph with the new Harry Potter next
month.
But key questions remain. Five weeks ago the McCanns were an anonymous couple
from Rothley, Leicestershire. Today they are at the hub of a publicity
whirlwind.
How have they managed to captivate the world’s media? Who is the brains behind
their campaign? Does it improve the chances of finding Madeleine or hinder
the police investigation? And is it good for the McCanns themselves?
IN the dark hours following Madeleine’s disappearance on the night of May 3
the McCanns searched the streets of Praia da Luz until 4.30am. Later that
morning Kate called a family friend, Jill Renwick, who had worked with her
and Gerry at a Glasgow hospital.
“At that point she was crying out for help,” said Jill. “She was desperate. I
didn’t know what else to do so I picked up the phone and called GMTV. It was
a random thing to do.”
So began one of the biggest missing person appeals in history. As hundreds of
journalists began to flood into Praia da Luz, the McCanns realised the media
had a key role to play.
Within two days after Madeleine’s disappearance, the holiday firm Mark Warner
had sent a crisis management team to Portugal. It included Alex Woolfall
from Bell Pottinger, the public relations company. Woolfall, who has 20
years experience in PR, spent the next two weeks advising the family on how
to keep the media interested.
“From the outset the experience I had was two people in utter desperation,” he
said. “They feared that it would be a one-day story, a girl taken from a
resort and that’s the end of it. They were aware that there were journalists
outside, and that if they could get pictures to them it would increase the
likelihood of them finding their little girl.”
The McCanns were faced with what they have described as an “information void”.
The Portuguese police refused to release even the most basic of details
about Madeleine’s disappearance, including the clothes she was wearing.
“The reason [the McCanns] ended up doing more than they would have done if
this had happened in the UK is because there was a news vacuum,” said
Woolfall. “They knew that the pressure was on them in the absence of any new
information coming from police.”
Every morning, Woolfall and the McCanns worked on a strategy for the day after
they had brainstormed ideas overnight with a close circle of friends in
Britain. They then organised a series of carefully scheduled statements,
interviews and photo-opportunities.
Back in the UK, the McCanns relied heavily on their family and friends, asking
them to help in any way they could. Within days thousands of e-mails had
been sent.
“They are a middle-class family who knows someone, who knows someone, who
might know someone important,” said Woolfall. “They were trying to push
every lever.”
One early idea from the family was for Cristiano Ronaldo, Manchester United’s
Portuguese winger, to make an appeal. Gerry called a friend who had contacts
in the football world, and word reached Sir Alex Ferguson, the Manchester
United manager.
“The quote that came back from him was ‘the boy will do it’,” said a source
close to the family. Other football stars, including David Beckham, soon
followed suit.
Family and friends took direct action. Jill Renwick approached Gordon Brown’s
brother, John, who lives in her street in Glasgow.
Soon the chancellor contacted the McCanns and promised to help them “in any
way he could”. It is thought pressure from Brown helped force Portuguese
police to release details of a potential suspect seen by friends of the
McCanns. He is also understood to have been instrumental in putting the
request for the Harry Potter bookmarks to J K Rowling, the author.
When Woolfall left Portugal his role was later assumed by Clarence Mitchell, a
former BBC journalist who works for the Cabinet Office but was seconded to
the Foreign Office because of his experience of working in television.
Under Mitchell, the campaign stepped up a gear, with the papal visit and
European tour. The meeting with the Pope was not instigated by the McCanns.
It arose from a combination of the Catholic authorities in London and a
media request to the Vatican. The European tour, however, was very much
their plan.
Woolfall had already explained that they needed to raise awareness in
countries where Madeleine might have been taken and where potential
witnesses were based.
Many holidaymakers in Praia da Luz come from Spain, Germany and Holland. “It
all kind of clicked, and Gerry said, ‘yeah, I understand what you are
saying’.”
Wellwishers financed their journeys. Philip Green, the entrepreneur, provided
a private jet for their trip to Rome, and an unnamed company supplied a
plane for the other journeys. The McCanns paid for hotels and other costs
out of the Madeleine fund to which the public has donated more than
£700,000.
Is it all worth it? The Portuguese police are uncertain. They have raised
fears that the publicity campaign may be hindering the search for Madeleine.
In the first fortnight they complained that they were deluged with more leads
than they could cope with. Then last week Chief Inspector Olegario Sousa,
the spokesman for the investigation, warned that the intense media coverage
may deter Madeleine’s kidnapper from asking for a ransom.
“Who would ask for money for the girl when her image is running around the
world?” he asked.
The McCanns were advised by British police, however, that keeping their
daughter in the public eye raised the chance of her being found alive.
THEIR tour schedule was punishing, and concerns are now being expressed about
their mental state.
In each city the McCanns visited they met politicians, police and charity
leaders before conducting news conferences and multiple television
interviews. Those close to the family point out that the calm face they show
the outside world is a far cry from the inner turmoil they are experiencing.
Woolfall said: “I thought their focus was remarkable. However, the bit that
people don’t see is how they feel when they get back to the apartment. Their
first thought is that she is still not here, and they are devastated. There
is a discrepancy between what people see and what they actually feel.”
The couple, who are in regular contact with two psychologists provided by Mark
Warner, described the campaign last week as their way of “taking control”.
Gerry said: “It makes me feel temporarily better that we are doing things in a
positive way. We come out here and do this with determination because we
think it will help us increase the chance of getting our daughter back.”
The strain showed on Wednesday after a mystery caller, whose mobile was
registered in Argentina, phoned Spanish police with “credible” information
about Madeleine’s disappearance.
He demanded to speak to the McCanns, whose flight from Berlin to Amsterdam was
put on hold for three hours. They only continued with their journey after
the caller failed to get back in touch at a prearranged time. Police are
still attempting to reestablish contact.
By the time theMcCanns reached Amsterdam on Thursday, they were exhausted and
on edge. While they were composed and calm during interviews, off camera the
strain showed. Twice during the day Kate broke down in tears and needed to
be comforted by her husband before she was ready for the next interview.
According to Dr Lesley Perman-Kerr, a clinical psychologist who has helped
victims of 9/11 and 7/7, the McCanns are showing all the signs of
posttraumatic stress. In her opinion, their visits to European cities are a
way of avoiding dealing with the awful truth that Madeleine is no longer
with them.
Perman-Kerr said: “One way people often deal with trauma is to keep doing
things because it makes them feel less.
“In the McCanns’ case their response has been extraordinary. But they have to
be prepared for the fact they will crash at some point, and they will need
to preserve their energy and resources for this.”
The McCanns have acknowledged as much. When they spent last weekend with their
twins in Portugal, they found Madeleine’s absence almost too much to bear.
Gerry said: “When we have family time, just on our own, it is very difficult
because Madeleine is not there and it really brings it home for us. She is
such a lively, vivacious character. She fills our existence and Sean and
Amelie’s. We’re doing everything we can to try to become a family of five
again.”
He revealed yesterday that he wants time now to grieve. “In the first few
weeks when I slipped into dark moments of despair I was finding it quite
easy to emotionally switch a light back on, but I’ve been finding it
increasingly difficult to do.
“More importantly I don’t want to do that any more. I want to be able to
grieve and let those emotions out. Early on I was absolutely driven by a
focus I’ve never had before in my life. All my energies have been channelled
into anything I can do. I was concentrating on organising the main visits,
but after that I want my emotions to come out.”
at night I think about little maddie and what she is going through I am not a religous person I believe it is the reason we have all these wars in the world, but if there is someone up there please help little maddie. My thoughts are with the Mcanns, I believe she is still alive, only hope who ever has her finds it in there heart to give her back, she is such a small helpless little child please give her bacck to her mummy and daddy.
shirley anderson, royston, england
I cannot believe the comment made about the McCanns doing a Hollywood blockbuster. What a silly remark to make.
Are they so wrong in trying everything they can think of to find their daughter?.......no they are not.
They are doing what any loving, distraught, heartbroken, exhausted parent would do, they are doing everything in their power to locate this child.
I for one, salute Gerry and Kate McCann in all they are doing, they must be exhausted travelling back and forth, they must be terrified, and worrying about what Madeleine, may be going through and they also have two toddlers to care for also.
I along with milllions of other people all over the world, hope and pray, each day, that this little girl will be found, and that Madeleine and her family can go home to Rothley and get on with their lives.
God bless the whole McCann family and I will continue to light a candle each night for this little innocent girl, and for her family.
Ann, Glasgow,
I wake up in the middle of the night and i pray my hardest to the universe to interviene. I also will not give up on Madeleine. I have become more and more involved as time goes on. It totally overides any world news and makes everything else so un-important. Please look after this little girld and return her to her family. The McCanns are in a living hell and no one should be judging them now.
Emma, Marrakech, Morocco
Parents all over the world, the McCanns and their entire family need all our CONTINUED support in their efforts to bring Maddie back ! - let's NEVER give up and help finding her. Let's make our politicians and police work TOGETHER to bring MADDIE HOME - AND ALL THE OTHER MISSING CHILDREN. Dear McCann Family, I think about you day and night - with love, hope, respect and great compassion - We are parents like you and understand. You are not alone!!! Monika, mother of one little girl
Monika, Ulm, Germany
There's s.th. true in Mike's words about quality time. I sympathize with the McCann's and consider their media campaign a good thing, not only for their daughter but for missing children and attention to this problem in general. But honestly, when I read about their "schedule" and saw them kissing the twins good bye when they left for Rome, when everything they did became public including pictures of the twins, I thought this was stupid and somehow sterile like an operating room. Of course tthey are not involved in the abduction of their own child, they have an income and a decent profession and shouldn't be mixed up with thugs, but in their way of dealing with their children they seem to be too far from parental instinct. The only way I can explain this to myself is that it might be a follow-up of IVF and too much planning. I think this isn't their fault though. It's hard to be in love and not be able to conceive naturally. So in my opinion all this planning has a logic. Poor people.
Dany, Munich, Germany
Yes, as time has passed I find myself more involved in this story rather than less as you might have expected. It's affected me very deeply. I have a daughter of roughly the same age and very similar to Madeleine. I think the McCanns and their support team have done a brilliant job. There is nothing I wouldn't do if my child was abducted. The family of Elizabeth Smart, the American girl who was abducted and returned after nine months said that in circumstances like these, the media is your friend. I hope the media continue to be a friend to the McCanns and Madeleine. I had never even posted on one of these forums in my life believing them to be only for cranks. Now I'm the biggest crank of them all. Anything I can do for that family and Madeleine I will do. Even when the story does drop from the media, I'll continue to do all I can from Australia. There are many of us around the world who care intensely about this little girl and all abducted children.
JL , Sydney, Australia
I also have been moved to despair by this story. I have shed many tears at the frustration of the situation. How can anyone do something so awful as to ruin the lives of so many in that family?
I think one of the reasons it has hit home for me is that Madeleine is a symbol of innocence and beauty and it is apparent that some people are unaware of the value of that. Also I find it horrifying that we accept so readily that children just disappear. This should be such a priority for all governments. When you think of the energy put in to preventing deaths from drink and smoking. To me this form of - in many cases death, is far worse and far more important. Everything possible should be done on an international level to stop all children from just disappearing.
mary terry, bristol, UK
The psychologist is correct when she said they are avoiding reality. They obviously, even though medical & very intelligent have ignored the advice in favour of a PR consultant. Very middle class of Gerry to say "When we have family time" when they are travelling so much - they will destroy what they have left by neglecting the poor confused twins. Quality time was invented by the middle class to assuage their guilt of neglect. At least Portugal will have 2 tourists - they destroyed the rest of the tourism market. What has happened to all the cardiac patients on Gerrys waiting list? Typical of the RC church organising the PR for themselves - God knows they need some good publicity. All the praying - has God even given a sign of listening - all the Nuns must be baking pancakes in the hope the girls face appears. I will pull the bookmark out before I leave the bookshop - stop invading my family's innocence.
Mike, Dubai, UAE
when i read about people questioning the mcCanns i really cant believe it , i have a gorgeous daughter the same age as madeline and everytime i look at her, hold her it makes me cry ,i cant quite imagine the despair and thats what it is DESPAIR!!! .
If it was me i would be doing everything i possibly could to get her back even seeing the pope if it keeps madeline in everyones mind .I pray and pray that she will be found soon and for the mcCanns please hold on and dont give up.
Deborah, Cairo, Egypt
have no idea why this story has touched me so deeply too!
But every morning I hope my mother call me at work saying...have you heard the latest news??She has been found!I do beleive her mother.She is devastated as any other mother would be.She is beautiful and we do not have to blame her for that, sensible people won't look at her nice top, but at her sad eyes.We all pray this little innocent girl will be in her mother's arms soon.Please God.
Adriana, napoli, italy
I would like nothing more than Maddie to come home safely.. However, i must admit, at the back of my mind I question the publicity the Maccans are seeking.. Meeting the pope etc.. I am waiting for the dreadful news that they have been signed up for a hollywood blockbuster.. That would really shatter my perception of them..
Hamad , Thornton Heath, England
i totally agree with norah. i also don't know them and check the net for a breakthrough. i have a 6 year old boy and twins who are a boy and a girl 1 and a half years old. my heart aches. i just hope and pray every day many many times she gets back with her family safe and sound.
God bless the McCanns.
martha, traverse city, michigan usa
I have no idea why this story has touched me so deeply but I too follow every single internet story. It is a credit to the McCanns and their tireless work that the story si still in the newspapers.
Don't ever give up hope. She is still alive. Take some time to reflect, they can't keep up their punishing schedule without any rest. Don't give up though. She wil be found. 172 million peope won't give up. Stay strong.
Pray for Madeleine.
Rob, Droitwich Spa, UK
every day im on the net hoping there is a breakthrough. i dont even know gerry and kate, but i so much want this little girl found and there to be a happy ending.i hope somewere out there someone is reading all the emails and they feel guilty. im a nana and i have three grandchildren, yes the mccanns have been so brave ,and they do need time but they can never give up. i think by now everyone in the world are with them and in all of our prayers.if god is with maddy he will not let her down. keep your chin up.i admire u so much.
norah, perth, scotland uk.