Maddie McCann's Parents Cling To Hope

It was two years ago Sunday that British toddler Madeleine McCann disappeared from her parents' vacation apartment in a resort in Portugal.

She was four at the time.

Now, reports CBS News correspondent Richard Roth, her parents have granted their first interview in the United States, and released a new image of Maddy.

It is an artist's age-progressed image of what she might look like today at age 6.

In an interview with Kate and Gerry McCann scheduled to air Monday on "The Oprah Winfrey Show," Oprah asks, "Do you let yourself go to the worst sometimes?"

"I mean, I do. I think it's natural," Kate admitted. "I know people mean well and they say, 'Don't let yourself go there. It's not gonna help going there,' but as a mom, inevitably, there are times I do."

Maddie vanished while her parents were at a nearby restaurant.

Without any clues confirming what happened to her, a British former detective who's followed the case tells Roth probability points to just one conclusion.

"Within three hours," says Mark Williams-Thomas, "74 percent of children abducted by strangers are dead, and within the first 24 hours, it's 91 percent. So, statistically, it tells you that the chances are she's dead, and I believe she probably is."

Her parents, observes Roth, reject that premise.

"I tend to open and close the curtains morning and evening and just say, 'Hello,' really," Kate told Winfrey, "just tell her we're still going and, you know, we're going to do everything we can to find her."

Last July, Portuguese authorities halted their 14-month probe into Maddy's disappearance after detectives said they'd uncovered no evidence of a crime. The case was to stay on hold unless new evidence emerged, authorities said.

They added that detectives found no reason to charge any of the three people previously named as suspects: Madie's parents, and local man Robert Murat. All had strenuously denied involvement in the disappearance and won libel awards from newspapers that suggested links.

[realitychec6]

If this had happened in the US, the parents would have been accused of child neglect or worse. Why people don't recognize this is beyond me. It doesn't matter how far away the restaurant was, the parents left two infants and a young child alone in a room with no supervision. Anything could have happened as a result. The media has failed to put the blame where it belongs by not emphasizing the failure of the parents to properly care for their children. Instead they are made out to be normal parents who did nothing wrong, because.... the restaurant was 'nearby' ....?!? And, it is not the same as being outside of your home while your kids are inside.... no comparison at all. I agree that the disappearance of this child is similar to the disappearance of Caylee.

[tmittelstaed]

It is, of course, rather rediculous to attempt to draw conclusions about a crime still under investigation as the authorities have data regarding the crime that they still have not made public, and without that info, we are all just guessing.
The one thing that did strike me as curious about this abduction is that of everything that has been made public on this, it is a matter of public record that Sergey Malinka lied to police on initial questioning regarding his relationship with Robert Murat. It is true that he was cleared, along with Murat, of possible involvement - but the Portugal police also made many mistakes in crime scene investigation as well, one of the worst was in not sealing off the crime scene and restricting access to it immediately, it is likely that critical evidence was lost.
It is a very unfortunate situation for the parents. I don't believe theories about the parents killing Madeleine, both parents made plenty of money so any possible motive to getting rid of a child simply doesen't exist. Her parents did show bad judgement in my opinion as they should never have taken the kids with them on vacation - a 4 year old child is simply too young to get anything out of a vacation, and Kate's grandparents were available - I am sure that if they had been asked, they would have watched the children for a week or so while the parents went on their vacation.
As a parent myself of young children, it really makes me furious that so many other parents today seem to think that vacations for young children are beneficial. A young child's entire life IS A VACATION!!! What do they need a vacation from a vacation for!! The PARENTS are the ones who need a vacation from raising the KIDS for crying out loud!!! If my wife and I go to a resort to relax and unwind from the stresses of raising our kids the very absolute last thing I want to see is a pack of unsupervised children running around while their idiot parents ignore them. Leave the kids at home for pete's sake. And on top of that the kids DON'T WANT TO EVEN BE THERE ANYWAY!!! The kids are more than happy to sit at home with the grandparents rotting their brains out watching Sesame Street and Barney reruns the entire week while the parents are gone. The last thing they want is to be dragged along on your cruise ship that's stuffed with bluehairs. Get a clue, people! That's why God invented grandparents!!!

[YCantWeAllGetAlong]

I find it hard to read comments made by people who do not know what happened, but draw broad conclusions. None of us know what happened to her. Whether or not her parents are telling the truth remains to be seen. Until either Maddy or her remains are found, we will not know conclusively what happened to that little girl.

A lot of people judged the McCann's about the dinner. I wasn't there for that either. I don't think that I personally would have left my kids in the room, but that's me. Another poster here mentioned about how your party "goes outside" and the kids are inside sleeping. I don't know if I would say that is an exact parallel because it's your home and you're not in a foreign country in a restaurant. However, I wasn't in that circumstance and I don't know the whole story. I do know that my heart breaks for that little girl, as it does for all who are harmed. I wish we lived in a world where people treasured each other instead of hurting one another. What a wonderful place this could be.

[cathfrommn]

Carolhill814 - you should be ashamed of yourself. You probably don't have children. As a mother of three, there are times when I am at my wits end with with one or all.

The bottom line is this - Interpol, Scotland Yard and the FBI all came to the following conclusion: Madeleine was kidnapped by a stranger. These highly trained agencies would not invest the amount of time and effort they have if they came to the simple conclusion like you came to. The theory of the parents involvement has been scrutinized more closely than the stranger theory and they weren't able to pinpoint anything on them. I feel terrible for these parents and the fact that a madman is on the loose terrifies me and it should you as well.

Madeleine and the twins were left alone just yards from the parents, literally a pool's length away. This is no different than many other parents (myself included) that have left their children unattended at for example: a party that moved outside while the children slept inside. No different whatsoever.

Europe did not have an Amber alert system at the time but thanks to the tireless efforts of the McCann's, they now do. Countless pedophiles have been nabbed as a result of the investigation but due to the internet, pedophilia is literally becoming an epidemic.

As for the other comment from aka_KJB, what about Elizabeth Smart? What about Shawn Hornbeck? These were children missing for months and years and they were found. No parent could ever give up and a society shouldn't either. These pedo rings are out there and it will take a supportive community to combat them.

[realnews12]

Posted by carolhill814 at 2:15 PM : May 2, 2009

You're psychic, right ? Or were you there, watching it all unfold ?

[carolhill814]

Both of those parents need to be put in jail TODAY and that is a fact. She was left in that hotel for "someone" to take her. I believe with all of heart that she had never was in the hotel room in the first place.
Something happened to her much earlier in the day because nobody saw her after she got on the plane. They knew that police department in that area were not good and that is why they went there in the first place.
I know that children can be difficult but she never liked her after the twins were born so she needed to get rid of her they only way she knew how to do and she did it in a very smart way.
I don't know whether the husband is in on this but the cops will never be told the truth unless someone out there steps up to the plate and nails the both of them and that is a fact.
This is the orginal Caylee case only in that case they found the child's body because it happened in the United States.

[aka_KJB]

Take a good look at the picture on the left. Because that's all the older that little girl ever got. Maybe, MAYBE they'll find what's left of her someday (if they can find the remains of a frontier poet who was killed in the 30's recently, you can hold out hope for just about anything except a rational exchange between political parties right now) but there's no evidence (or not enough strong evidence) to tie the parents into anything sinister at this point and probably never will be so everybody just needs to accept it. Always keep your eyes open just in case but don't hold your breath for some miraculous reappearance. She's gone, baby, gone.