Madeleine McCann Search on Oprah | 05/04/2009 10:20 am

Madeleine McCann's Parents to Talk About Daughter's Search on 'Oprah'

On Monday’s ‘The Oprah Winfrey Show’ Gerry and Kate McCann still have hope that daughter Madeleine is alive

By The Staff at wowOwow.com

Gerry and Kate McCann on 'Oprah'

Two years after the disappearance of their daughter, Madeleine McCann’s parents speak to Oprah Winfrey about their continued effort to find her. Appearing on Monday’s "The Oprah Winfrey Show," Gerry and Kate McCann will relive the terrible night their daughter Madeline, then 3, vanished from a Portuguese resort. In their quest to find Madeleine, the McCanns released a poster last week of what a computer-generated image suggests their daughter would look like today.

2009_0504_nationalcenterformissingandexploitedchildren_madeleine.jpg
National Center for Missing and Exploited Children

Even if Madeleine is alive, top criminal experts believe that the British girl, taken at such a young age, would have no memory of her birth parents or be able to respond to her real name. Professor David Canter, who suspects Madeleine was stolen by child traffickers and sold to strangers, said Madeleine likely has no memory of life with her parents and may even be speaking a different language.

"You could call out Madeleine to her and she wouldn’t respond," Canter told The Sun. "She doesn’t remember being that child. Children have what is called infantile amnesia, which means that before the age of four they don’t really remember anything from their childhood."

The McCanns experienced intense police accusations and public scrutiny following details of the night of their daughter’s disappearance.
Both of their names have been cleared as suspects but the loss and anguish will never subside. Police urge anyone who has information about Madeleine McCann to call +44(0)845 838 4699 or visit www.findmadeleine.com.

Click here for more details of the McCanns’ interview on "Oprah."

5 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

That story is so sad for them. I had always want the little girl to be found, still do.

By Grande Camper on 05/04/2009 10:46 am

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The statement, "She doesn’t remember being that child. Children have what is called infantile amnesia, which means that before the age of four they don’t really remember anything from their childhood," is horse pucky. was exactly 2.5 years old when my mother took me to the hospital to have my tonsils removed. I remember everything, from the dress my mother wore, the little girl in the next bed who had an abdominal incision that hemmorhaged in the middle of the night, sitting on the table so my mother could put my shoes on, the ether, and how the ether was applied on a rag of sorts, which slid off, at which time I observed a tray of instruments. Of course I didn’t have the words for any of those things then, but it’s very clear in my mind. My mother was horrified when I was in my 20’s and told her everything which she verified [except for what happened in the OR]. So please don’t tell me that kids under four don’t remember.

I’ve always empathized with the McCanns and never for a moment thought there was foul play on their part.

For their sakes, I hope there is some resolution soon.

By Andrea Brandon on 05/04/2009 11:34 pm

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If that child is still alive, she has been locked away in a back room somewhere. Her face was on every major newspaper across the globe. Someone would have recognized her by now. I seriously doubt the parents harmed their little girl, but they should be in prison for child abandonment.

By Maggie W on 05/05/2009 7:59 am

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God I can’t even THINK about this it’s so horrid. Really. My heart just shatters for this child.

By Chrome Toe on 05/05/2009 9:24 am

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I would NEVER leave my children alone to go and have dinner…no matter how close the restaurant was to the room…they seemed so casual, saying they had done that every night that week…so yes, someone could have been watching them the entire time and formed the pattern…why this little girl and not any of the children of the other parents who also left their children alone? We’ll never know…as for this "infantile amnesia"…no…I have very clear memories of my paternal Grandfather, and he passed when I was 18 months old. My Father was stunned once, to hear me describing the way my Grandfather used to peel oranges for me…he said "You were just over a year old when he started doing that, I never told you that.." It depends on the child. My 35 year old son only remembers 1 trip to Hawaii that we took when he was 10…though we went twice a year from the time he was 6 until he was 13. He has NO memory of the housekeeper/cook from my Father’s house who was an enormous part of his life from the age of 5 until he was 13. Every child is different.

By J B on 05/06/2009 5:25 pm