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The child´s head had been shaved, and it was already dressed in clothes of the opposite sex.
That`s a very very very old urban legend. Seems to take place at Disney resorts a "lot", it`s even "happened" at the Meadowhall centre in Sheffield. Funny how it`s never made the news.
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Could you say that woman had been negligent? Child snatchers can be both audacious and ruthless. Please don´t have a go at these unfortunate parents".
*Bit* of a difference between turning around for a few seconds to get some beans in a fictitious public supermarket and leaving three under-4s for an hour at a time in the evening while you go out to dinner, wouldn`t you say?
I just hope that Madeleine is found soon and the parents don`t pay for their carelessness with their daughter`s life.
This item was edited on Sunday, 6th May 2007, 15:01
Although I know it won`t make me many friends, my first thought when I heard about this was "If they don`t care about their daughter, why should we?".
(I should say, however, that of course I do care and hope for a happy resolution to the story)
As a father of two children (2-and-a-half and 1), I just can`t imagine leaving them alone for anything like the length of time they left their kids for. Literally anything could happen to them in half an hour, and they could do plenty of damage on their own. A three year old is probably capable of causing all sorts of mischief if given the opportunity, I know my 2 1/2 year old certainly could!
An additional point: in this country, it`s illegal to leave a child under the age of 12 (I`m fairly sure it`s 12, but I know it`s certainly more than three!) `home alone`. 
I really can`t believe the stupidity of the parents - the child could have got up, slipped over and banged their head on the marble floor and have been dead by the time they were checked on again. Unbelievable that they were left for an hour at a time.
I too sincerely hope for Madeline`s safe return - not so much for the parents, but for her - the poor girl will be absolutely terrified.
why take life so seriously..its not like you are going to make it out alive
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I really can`t believe the stupidity of the parents - the child could have got up, slipped over and banged their head on the marble floor and have been dead by the time they were checked on again. Unbelievable that they were left for an hour at a time
Spot on there mr Geezer. While I`d never wish the sheer torment and anguish the parents must be going through on anyone, it`s obvious that the parents weren`t thinking in the best interest of their children. I know that`s a bit of a harsh statement, but the establish facts are;
They were dining in a restaurant at least 200 yards away
They were checking on the kids every half hour.
Assuming this wasn`t their first night, I`d wager they`d used this process previously, which means there`s a good chance their actions were being watched.
So. Mother goes to check on the kids. They`re ok, so she leaves. Within 3 minutes she`s out of earshot with her back to the building. (BTW, has anyone established wether the restaurant was within eyesight of the apartment? Or was `200 yards` separated by a building?). In the next minutes the window is opened, the Girl taken and the door opened to leave. Then it`s less than a minute to a waiting car, and as it wasn`t for another 20-ish minutes until anyone noticed, then another 20 minutes for the `allegedly` lazy cops to do anything, then that baby & her abductor(s) were 40 miles away before anyone started looking.
I can`t seem to remember anyone finding Ben Needham either...
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Curse this infernal alcohol...
Writer`s Release
My Collection
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They were checking on the kids every half hour.
Some reports say that, sometimes they say every hour.
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They had taken turns to return from the restaurant to check on their children.
Madeleine, who turns four next Friday, was last seen by her father at about 2100 local time.
When Mrs McCann went to check on her about an hour later, she found the bedroom`s outside shutter and window had been opened and her daughter missing.
news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/6627605.stm
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In the next minutes the window is opened, the Girl taken and the door opened to leave.
That`s another thing that seems strange - a) Wasn`t the door locked from the outside? b) Why would they need to exit through the door when they fitted in through the window and logically the getaway car would have been waiting *right there*? The *road* was right outside the window in any case.
This item was edited on Sunday, 6th May 2007, 15:57
While of course I have sympathy for the parents they have been incredibly negligent.
If this had happened to a couple from an estate in Liverpool/Manchester/Newcastle/Glasgow/Birmingham etc... they would have been castigated far more harshly in the press than if they were doctors.. :¦
I would never dream of leaving my children unattended for a minute let alone go out to a restaurant for a meal....
Hope they get her back safe and cherish her that bit more than they have done..
Ste
We will pay the price but we will not count the cost..
Have they really been that negligent though?
I don`t have kids, so i`ll defer to those that have but from my point of view (provided what they say is actually true), then the kids were asleep and the parents were in a restaurant that was only yards away (someone mentioned in this thread that "yards away" actually meant 200 yards away, which is a bit different!), and they checked them every half hour.
This seems reasonable to me, provided that they were indeed checking every half hour and that the kids tended to sleep quite well.
How is this different from putting your kids to sleep upstairs and then watching tv in a different part of your house where you couldn`t hear them? Someone could still break in through a window and have them away before you knew anything about it. 
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Have they really been that negligent though?Yes. Besides what the law says, you simply don`t go out and leave them unattended. Of course, erm, somebody could break in and abduct them but come on. If they were to fall or have an accident or simply have an upsetting dream, you`re only downstairs. And that`s very comforting for a child.
Don`t forget she was the eldest of the children left unattended too.... :o >:(
And are we to believe it was opportunistic that the children were left alone on the occasion the abducter(s) took the child? Or had they left them before? I really can`t get my head around it. We even take the baby monitor into the garden in the evening if we`re sitting out - you simply don`t want your child to be upset and you`re not there quickly to help and calm them.
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I don`t have kidsSorry mate but you can tell.....
Ste
We will pay the price but we will not count the cost..
This item was edited on Sunday, 6th May 2007, 16:55
Fair enough. I`m certainly no expert.
I`m just reminded of a story that my mum told me once. She was bathing one of us in the garden in an inflatable pond type thing. She was sitting down with the bathing pond right in front of her and she was distracted for just a couple of seconds. She happened to glance down and the kid (can`t remember if it was me or one of my brothers) was under the water. She immediately grabbed the child, but thought to herself, another couple of seconds and some serious damage could have been done, and no one would have had any reservations about labelling her negligent for allowing such a thing to happen.
Is there no leeway to be cut here considering they were all on holiday?
Or does everyone calling them negligent have no story like the above to tell where, but for the grace of God, they too could have been branded negligent?
I cannot stress enough (nor i`m sure do i need to!) that i am not an expert on this, but i am interested in the opinions of those who have parental experience.