One positive outcome from this sorry and tragic happening will be an improvement in the investigative processes used by the Portugese police so that all forensic evidence is identified and tagged as quickly as possible.Discovering traces of blood in the flat Madeleine disappeared from many weeks after the abduction doesn't instill confidence.
Vilification of the Portugese police doesn't help and sections of the British Media shoul hang their heads in shame for the disgraceful attitudes they show to the Portugese nation.

Eddie Keane, Brisbane,Queensland, Australia

I am trying to have faith that the Portuguese Police force know what they are doing but from day one there has been such inept investigative work in this case. So many basic procedures not carried out... I only hope that Kate and Gerry do decide to remain in Portugal to keep the pressure on the police. Reading other statements from Portuguese parents who have had children abducted who basically said, 'the police did nothing and didn't care' makes me lose what scant confidence I have in them. That said, I don't know what is happening behind the scenes. I just hope that it is more than boozy lunches laughing at the McCanns as they appear on television. The world is continuing to watch Portugal with interest over this case. I only hope I am proven wrong over the Portuguese Police force and they smash whatever ring may have taken Madeleine. Stay strong, Madeleine if you are still with us. Your parents and many, many people around the world are looking for you.

JL, Sydney, Australia

Oh Eduardo how tired I am of hearing how the Portuguese police did not close the borders/alert the border authorities etc. It seems there are many Britains still totally ignorant of the fact that mainland Europe no longer has border controls between member states. One merely crosses a river from Portugal into Spain (and on throughout the EU for that matter). Would the British police shut the border between say Scotland and England in the case of a child abduction? And if they had no clue what vehicle they were looking for, would they search every car? I do not think so. What outrage would be caused by the resulting chaos. (eg. as in the M40 closure for 24 hours when that motorcyclist was shot on Sunday) The borders of Portugal are the airports and the coastline. Both airport authorities and the maritime police were alerted. And surprise surprise they have their own search and rescue dogs which I myself saw at dawn May 4th on the beach at Luz .

max, Algarve,

the Portuguese police does not have as much experience as police in the UK or in the US. But let's not forget that the experienced FBI hasn't solved all its cases and in the UK recently a Brazilian was shot dead and the Police lied about the circumstances first saying that the man had run and second that he was wearing a bulky jacket and hiding something. Video cameras latter showed the police was lying. But who cares ? he was a Brazilian. 1st and 2nd class Human beings eh eh I just love to see how hypocritical people who write here are. The Portuguese media has been extremely respectful of the McCann, till now (100 days later) when they admitted that the parents could be considered suspects. I’m 100% sure that the media in the UK would have considered that hypothesis from the start , & would have been much more aggressive. What do we know of the details of case to judge the Portuguese police? The media in the UK is distorting the facts and bullying Portugal.

Pedro, Lisboa, Portugal

i feel so sorry for the McCanns i do hope like many thousands of people they find madeleine alive this wicked wicked person who as taken here must be hunted down no stone left unturned

david hewins, southport, england

I think the worst for Kate and Gerry is not knowing. In a way, at least if Madeline's body was found it would enable them to start the grieving process. While she is still missing they are unable to move forward. I hope with all my heart that she is found safe and I wish the UK tabloid newspapers would stop all this lurid speculation, it is not helpful.

Julie Clare, Tetbury, England

I think the McCanns should stay in Portugal as long as they can. By staying there, they keep the focus on the Portugese poIice and their 'investigation'. I am convinced that if they had come back earlier, the police would have quietly let the whole thing slip into the background.

Alan, Swindon, UK

I would like to know what has happened regarding the child therapist witness who was 100% sure that she saw Maddy McCann at cafe on the Dutch border. This aspect seems to have been dropped, although the persons with this child 'did a runner' when they realised they had been noticed.

Have these people been found? Are they still being searched for? Is their car still being searched for? If not, why not?

Humphrey, Bishopstoke, UK

How come other British newspapers are saying on their front pages that a break through is just about to be announced?

john oliver, london,

I am relieved that the blood samples are not Madeleine´s
but I never really believed they would be. It just didn´t
make any sense. Why would someone go through all
the trouble just to kill the child, the parents ofcourse are
not involved , that was mean to insinuate, and revenge
does not fit their profiles.
This leaves in my opinion two lines for reasoning , i.e. either she left the room on her own and the Club premises, fell in a ditch or something like that , being or not "rescued" by someone who does not want to give her back . The second line is the planned kidnap and here I think rather than letting the Portuguese auths handle the lot and making it their own "show" (as fear this way we will never get anywhere) it is something the Interpol should be looking at as their own matter , as a Worldwide or at least European investigation rather than a local matter.
I read that these kidnaps are usually "orders" , isnt there
a way to find out who placed it and via whom ??

Ana , Rio de Janeiro , Brazil

I can´t stop thinking of Madeleine and her parents, being a father of two boys myself (7 and 12). Our family just want to say that you all are in our thougts and we strongly believe that God will help her and Gerry and Kate to carry out this difficult situation. Please hang on and don´t go back to England yet. We love you Maddie and hope to see you returning to your family very soon. Your parents will find you and feel proud of them because they are good example of strength.

Rodrigo Arias, wife Teresa and sons.

RODRIGO ARIAS, MADRID, Spain

Don't give up! We are all familiar with recent cases in the States and Austria where teenagers have been found years after disapearing, there is still hope. Keep on searching and keep it in the media especially Europe because she could be anywhere.

Carla, London, UK

I strongly believe she is still alive. There is no evidence to prove otherwise. I think the McCann's should continue to look and continue to keep Madeline in the press. Just because she is missing, it doesn't mean the worst. People kidnap children for all sorts of reasons. Maybe they should consider using the donation fund as a financial reward to whoever finds her and returns her safely to her home.

Kassie, London, UK

I am very disappointed that no further clues are apparently available as to where Maddy could be. She is such a lovely girl and I am a mother of 5 (2 girls) with 6 grandchildren (3 girls) and I would fall apart if anything every happened to them.

Knowing how money can buy practically anything, I think that the media should publicise that a very large sum of money is offered to the person, who will succeed in finding Maddy or who has the vital clue as to where she is!!
Please, some of our very rich citizens and companies world-wide should contribute to this to tempt the person, who knows what happened to come forward and tell the truth. I think a million pounds would most likely have the desired effect!!! Why not try this approach? People are greedy and this amount of money would be life changing for anyone involved.
Hoping that someone will come forward I wish and hope that Maddy is still alive and waiting for her Mummy and Daddy to get her.

Angelika West, Basingstoke, UK

I believe that the whole investigation carried out b the Portugese police has been a bit of a shamble! However to say that our British police can do better and do is bit of an exaggeration. There have many cases that have not been solved and linger til now - with the poor parents waiting in hope for justice to occur. I guess it's easier to blame others at times like these. I just hope for the parents' sake that Madeline is found alive. The world has become a horrible place and I for one would not leave my child unsupervised. I can only imagine how draining this whole ordeal must be for Madeline's family and wish them hope and justice.

Sam, London, England

Madeleine

In the first week of her disappearance I emailed all the news media and the McCann’s to immediately make an appeal to all tourists who were at the Praia de Luz resort where the McCann’s were staying on the 1st 2nd & 3rd May to closely examine their Digital cameras, Video cameras and even phones to see if they inadvertently have Maddie in their picture for it’s almost certain they will have also captured a single white male stalker and that could be his mistake and hence his downfall.

Perhaps it’s not too late, so if anyone at the Times knows how to get this message to the McCann’s please do so.

Mr R P Carroll, Ashton under Lyne, Lancs

I sincerily hope that the Police in Portugal have more evidence than they are admitting. this poor, innocent, beautiful little girl must be found and it does not seem that all stops have been pulled to ensure this happens. The world must do all it can to make sure this case does not fade into the background.

JCP, Melbourne, Australia

The person who took Madeleine is;
1) is either also missing too
2) in the community which means she didnt go far.
Who suddenly disappeared from that area also? They must have had a life and have been seen around by someone or they are still living a day to day existance?

m russell, france,

They say the blood found was from a man could it be the man that took her have they thought of that?

Roberta, stroud, England

The head of the Portuguese police did not say they had no idea of "what happened to Madeleine" ; they said instead that "they don't know where she or her body is".

The public and the media can not know what the police knows. It is well obvious and normal that the police are not going to say exactely what they know. Any kind of statement at this level can be wrong, we are guessing ... if the people woorking on it, day and nigth, find the case complex and need lot's of information to come to a solution it is well obvious that public comments and media news can be very far from reality.

The police can not work with a scope where the data is based on "believe". It has to look for facts and analyse all possible "crime" situations. That's what they are doing. Crime investigation is their job. They are the experts.

We, public, have to believe that Madeleine is alive. She will come back. This child crime(and all the others) sould be strongly punished.

Nela, Axel, The Netherlands

My thougts go out to sweet Madeleine every day.
How can anyone do such an awful thing to a child, it`s to terrible to comprehend.
Never give up in your search, stay strong.
I bow my head and pray for Madeleines safe return.
Once again, stay strong and never give up!

Niklas Falk, Stockholm, Sweden

If I were the Portuguese police I'd pure and simple cut all contact with the press (particularly the British press), because let's face it, the Brits think anything South of Calais is 3rd world and anything the Portuguese police says or does is going to be twisted around anyway, so, really, why bother?

Gonçalo, Roma, Italy

Why does everyone here assume a paedophile took her from the room ? Where is the proof of this?The Portuguese are now admitting as much- they don't know what happened.

G.Lopez, London, UK

Why dont they admit that in the first place and say that they will do their best in finding Madeline instead of pretending they are so competent and at one point even accusing the parents!! Pride is the worst sin and it gets in the way of the truth. Finding a child that has been abducted is like finding a needle in a haystack and unless everyone co-operates, she will not be found. Whoever has done this evil act, dont think that you can get away with it as there is judgement at the end of your sick life. Why dont you put yourself in the parents' shoes and use your thick head to think how it must be for them. You have absolutely no right to take a person and keep them in captivity.!! You were once a child yourself and some sicko did not take you from your mother and kill you. Maybe someone should have !!

mia, Brisbane, Australia

Please note that PJ can't always say what they know, how they know... sometimes they want people to think that they don't know anything att all, including the person who took the child. Usually, it means they could be about to solve the mistery ;)

Ana, Porto, Portugal

I'm a father of two and I understand what the McCanns are coming through. Like Diana from Belleville, IL, USA, I cannot believe that Madelein was killed, it's nonsense. The only thing I want to say to the McCanns is don't give up your hope and good luck in finding your little girl.

cyberstranger, St. Pete, Russia

Maybe the Portugese police have tried this method: 1) Take known paedophiles from the area in for questioning 2) Lean on them until one of them says what happened to Madeleine - the TV programs say that paedophiles usually know each other.

Ike Eisenhower, Brisbane, Australia

This is policing within the EU ? Portugal goes on my list of dodgy countries for law and order - I had very positive feelings towards the place until this catastrophe and the way they have smeared the victims.

I wonder if they have been on a 106-day siesta and simply consigned a young child to the waste-bin

Observer, Bristol, England

We need to take this to a new level, lets get the big boys in te large multinational companies, banks retail chains, one big burst of advertising te photo and that magic eye in every courty in the world, it could be done so easily.

Karl, Leicester, England

Police have no idea where Madeliene is...well at least that has been admitted. Perhaps now all of the media speculation can end. I have never understood why everyone seemed so sure these specks of blood were Madeleine's. As a matter-of-fact, it made more sense to me that they probably weren't. As someone said, it doesn't make sense that someone would walk into a hotel room, kill a girl and take her body. It also doesn't make sense that her body could be there long enoght for sniffer dogs to detect it.

I am interested in knowing why the police are taling about revenge etc...

And guys, I'm sorry but it is fairly easy to expose of a body. I would like to agree that the fact that they haven't found a body proves that she is still alive but unfortunately, it doesn't. That being said, I don't believe she is dead. Why? I guess I don't want her to be. And it doesn't make sense. Do predators usually go to all that trouble to take a specific child only to kill? I don't know.

Diana, Belleville, IL, USA

i cant begin to know how you must feel as parents,being a mother of two girls myself and five grandchildren my world would fall apart if anything happend to either of them.you are being so strong as parents.my heart goes out to you both and your twins.keep strong and keep believing your princess will come home to you.thinking of madeliene everyday.

mandy, guildford, england

I really hope the parents dont give up hope to be reunited with their child again. Rcent statements to say they consider to return to the UK withou their daughter suggests they have given up hope.

Asu, Istanbul, Turkey

Our thoughts and prayers are with you. Being a mum myself i could not imagine what it must be like to experience something so heart wrenching.

Good Luck in finding your little princess
x

Natalie Newell, Greenford - Middx,

Madeleine could be anywhere in the world, the best thing
anyone can do is make her disaperance known as many places
as possible, to create awarness of the public. I cannot imagine
what Madeleine's family are going through at this time. I only know that this case will be resolved in time, no one can predict
what will happen or what has happened. Like most complicated cases, only time will tell.

RachelLeighBrowne, belfast, N,Ireland

good luck

Sean Gartland, Glasgow, Scotland

Good luck Madilane hpoe your still here with us.

Sean Gartland, Glasgow, Scotland