by Cipriana Leme

Created on: September 05, 2009   Last Updated: September 06, 2009

To me, it's obvious they made a mistake, gave her an extra high dosage of medication to make her sleep and keep her quiet, and ended up killing her by accident. The McCanns look like a sad couple, and so do their kids, even in photos prior to the "abduction".

Stress can do a lot of harm when you have a hyper-active kid and you want time out. Many couples make similar, although less deadly, mistakes because they just don't ask for help to look after their children.

To blame them because they made the mistake of leaving the kids alone is useless. Thousands of couples do that with seemingly worse consequences (fires, terrible domestic accidents) or no consequences at all and no one has ever complained. If they decided to check in on them every half an hour, then fine. If their child was taken within that time lapse, she still could have been taken at any other time.

Pointing fingers and shouting "negligence" is not helping Madelaine in the least. Some are also concerned about the amount of alcohol they took, which is ridiculous. The fact that they just wanted a good time without their kids, just supports the theory I believe in: they wanted to shut Madelaine up for the night and accidentally put her to sleep forever.

Crude as it may sound, I firmly believe this is the only possible explanation for a missing child and no other solid clues, proof or witnesses to the "crime".

Precious time was lost, I agree. But that happens in almost any country without an Amber alert. The stone faces, the visits to the Pope and other celebrities, and the stillness of the search is what bothers me. The world is looking for her, but they are not.

The reaction of Madelaine's mother when she heard about her missing child was also strange, although she says it was guilt for other reasons. And the fact that they left Portugal so soon.... I would have stayed and looked for her myself.

Hypnosis might reveal the truth, but I doubt they will ever resort to that. The fact that they are "hopeful" because another missing child reappeared 20 years later is also tell-tale. I would not find that comforting at all. I would want my child 'now', and might even find that terribly discouraging. They just seem to want people to forget, let 20 years pass, and leave them alone to spend their donations.

It's all a very sad story and I don't think it will ever be solved. I just wish so much effort and support would be provided to all parents of truly missing children. There are really desperate mothers out there looking for their kids and not getting any help whatsoever. They are just forgotten and ignored. That is what I find really sad about the entire Madelaine story. Are we fascinated because we suspect they did it? It would be a good question to ask.

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