A heartfelt letter from Kate McCann to Paul Rebelo

Article taken from the Telegraph Newspaper today:

Madeleine McCann: Text of Kate McCann's letter to Paulo Rebelo
This is the full text of Kate McCann's letter to Paulo Rebelo, the detective who took over the Madeleine McCann investigation in October last year:

Last Updated: 10:24AM BST 06 Aug 2008

4th December 2007


Dear Mr Rebelo,


I hope you do not mind me writing to you and that you will read my letter. I am Madeleine McCann's mother.

I am not sure if you are a parent or not, but for my husband and myself, and the whole of our family, the last seven months has been the most difficult, sad and unbearable time that any parent could possibly imagine. Madeleine is the most precious thing in our life.


As her mother, the pain and anxiety I feel for her is indescribable and the feeling of helplessness overwhelming. The 'accusations' and media smearing, although upsetting, are very much secondary.


I am appealing to you as a fellow human being to work with us (if possible include us) and to remember that we are Madeleine's parents and have needs.


With regard to this latter point, I would be grateful if you were able to keep us informed to some degree as to how the investigation is going - what work is being done to help find our daughter etc.


I'm sure you will agree that this request is not unreasonable and is in fact humane.


I am fairly familiar now with the workings of 'judicial secrecy' but even if we could have a little bit of information in the broadest of terms it would help.


Lack of communication and a void of information, particularly as the parent of a missing child, is torture. We will continue to work with the PJ (and are keen to do so as soon as possible!) as we have done since that moment when I discovered that Madeleine had been taken.


This shouldn't be about 'finger-pointing blame', nor should it be about differences in culture. It should be about a beautiful, innocent little girl who is still missing. She is the victim in all of this.


It would be good for Madeleine if we could all work together to help find her and the person(s) who took her.


I would be very grateful if you could give some thought and consideration to my letter and look forward to your reply. I can only ask.


Yours sincerely,


Kate McCann.




Oh my :( how heartwrenching. I wonder whether she ever had a reply? Torture is how she describes what she and her family have been going through and I'm sure continue to go through to this day. It is only humane she says but it would appear to have fallen on deaf ears. Shame on you people that believe that keeping everything under a veil of secrecy was the way forward. All she asked for was information in its broadest sense, so that she would know that the police were still looking for her daughter Madeleine. Sadly we now know that that wasn't the case from a very early phase in the investigation.

p.s. Just read another article again in the Telegraph which says:

'Clarence Mitchell, the couple’s spokesman, said: “Kate did write to the police, but she never got anything beyond a formal notification back, saying that her letter was being added to the file.

“She certainly didn’t get a personal response from Paulo Rebelo.”

I wonder who gave the newspaper the letter.

She was hardly asking Rebelo for the world, but it was still too much for them! Unbelievable!

Hi Sass,

I think you'll find that the letter was included in the files, and as we know these have been leaked prior to the McCanns getting site of them.

This has upset me beyond belief, coming hot on the heels of yesterday, we are now seeing a picture emerging here and it is heartbreaking.

I only hope and pray with all my heart that Kate and Gerry know that there are people that support them, have done all along and will continue to do so.

Why didn't Paulo Rebelo have the human decency to reply to Kate? Even if it was to say no? Why did he not have the common courtesy or the human decency to see her when he came to England last? It was not as if he did not know that the PJ had cocked this up big time was it? We now know that Goncalo Amaral knew all this back in September 2007, 4 days BEFORE the McCann's were made arguidos!

Maybe this is when Paulo Rebelo found out for certain what his colleague had done back in September 2007? This is why he apologised for the latest PJ leaks that occurred at that time (to coincide with K&G's trip the the EUP), cut short his visit to the UK and returned home to Portugal to start winding this investigation up? Makes sense doesn't it?

Even so he could have contacted the McCann's and had a brief word, or was he too embarrassed and felt too guilty about what had been done to them, to be able to face them?

I don't care about the sensitivities of Rebelo, or what his constraints were, as far as I am concerned he must have known and if he did not then why not? He should have had the human decency to talk to these parents, he knew all along what was happening. He should never have just ignored them, if he is half decent person he will now contact them and personally apologise to them.

None of what is emerging is looking good for the PJ or Portugal, I have a feeling that the tide is going to turn big time now, upon those that treated this couple so shamelessly.

Ths tsunami is here and it isn't going in Kate and Gerry's way!

What is also emerging loud and clear is the incredible drive and tenacity of this couple and to keep going with quiet and dignified courage and integrity, in the face of the most dreadful adversity and I applaud them and say that I am by no means sure I could have conducted myself with the same dignity as they have. Despite all what is said, has been said and is still being said, even when they could and in my opinion justifiably lash out at their half brained vicious critics, they do not, they remain dignified and silent, with the search for Madeleine taking precedence over everything else.

Poor Madeleine, she is the most important little person in all of this and because of Goncalo Amaral, she never stood a chance. I hope to God that now the truth is coming out that this may encourage others that have information to contact the help lines or the website or the email addresses, these are the people that may have been made to feel that their info wasn't any good because of the lies, leaks and smears emanating from "someone" close to the PJ in the Portuguese gutter press, trying to pin the blame for Madeleine's *ABDUCTION* on her parents.

If you have any Information Please Contact


Investigations Line +44 845 838 4699

investigation@findmadeleine.com

anonymous@findmadeleine.com

0845 8384699 (UK)

I think the McCanns probably have more and more people supporting them as this sordid mess comes to light.

I suspect Mr. Rebelo was unable to reply to Kate's letter a) the secrecy laws in Portugal and b) let's not forget Mr. Rebelo has superiors and I suspect they were the ones that made the decision to not respond to Kate's heartbreaking letter. Mr. Rebelo was already in trouble after making his comment that the PJ's had been too quick in making the McCanns arguidos.

Kate and Gerry's investigators have now the information - my sincere prayer is that Scotland Yard, FBI become involve and find Madeleine.

The letter was heart-breaking and had me in tears. I can just imagine her desperation.

I hope someone in Portugal will have the balls to stand up and denounce what has gone on here. At the time Rebelo received that letter from Kate, he knew very well The McCanns should not have been made arguidos, and that letter deserved more of a reply than just an acknowledgement. Knowing what Rebelo knows, I dont know how he can sleep at night, do these people have no conscience.

helenm wrote:Hi Sass,

I think you'll find that the letter was included in the files, and as we know these have been leaked prior to the McCanns getting site of them.

I wasn't sure if the McCanns had passed it on to show how little the PJ actually did for them.

calcite51 wrote: Mr. Rebelo was already in trouble after making his comment that the PJ's had been too quick in making the McCanns arguidos.

Hi,

It wasn't Rebelo who said so. It was Alipio Ribeiro, the Policia Judiciaria’s national director

http://uk.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUKL0255871920080203

My strong opinion is Rebelo has been just a credible façade for useless PJ and he has done nothing for Madeleine. Same stuff with Amaral and Christovao.

Minnea wrote:

calcite51 wrote: Mr. Rebelo was already in trouble after making his comment that the PJ's had been too quick in making the McCanns arguidos.

Hi,

It wasn't Rebelo who said so. It was Alipio Ribeiro, the Policia Judiciaria’s national director

http://uk.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUKL0255871920080203

My strong opinion is Rebelo has been just a credible façade for useless PJ and he has done nothing for Madeleine. Same stuff with Amaral and Christovao.

Hi everyone.

I used to get mixed up with those two names too. I once thought that Rebelo may have been the very man to get to the bottom of it all, but I was wrong. Dissapointed to say the least.

And also who was it that shoved Alipio Ribeiro from his post? I still can't get away with cristovao being Head of Missing Children in Portugal. Amaral and Cristovao would be at the top of my list of people I suspect know more than they let on. I read on another thread that they were NOT friends. If it's true I wonder if they fell out because amaral decided to cash in on Madeleine too...... I'm glad I'm not in their shoes......Not for all the tea in China.

Minnea wrote:

calcite51 wrote: Mr. Rebelo was already in trouble after making his comment that the PJ's had been too quick in making the McCanns arguidos.

Hi,

It wasn't Rebelo who said so. It was Alipio Ribeiro, the Policia Judiciaria’s national director

http://uk.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUKL0255871920080203

My strong opinion is Rebelo has been just a credible façade for useless PJ and he has done nothing for Madeleine. Same stuff with Amaral and Christovao.

Yes this is correct, Alipio Ribeiro is the National Director of Policia Judiciaria, in effect he is the political master of them, Mr Ribeiro has a boss too and his boss actually stuck by Mr Ribeiro when he mad his 'too hasty' comment.

I too thought that when Paulo Rebelo took over that this investigation would sprout wings, I had faith in him after reading about the man and as time wore on I became disillusioned with him also. He did nothing, if that sounds harsh then the truth often is!
There is no grey area here ne know long ago that the McCann's should not have been made arguidos and he should have done something about it, even if for investigative purposes he could not remove the arguido status, then please why did he not just privately contact Kate and Gerry and try somehow to reassure them that the PJ were doing all the could?
Truth of that is because I think that he could not say this because he know full well the PJ were NOT doing all the could and the investigation was in effect shelved in June 2007 on the strength of Goncalo Amaral becoming obsessed with blaming these parents for something they did not do.

I do not think he would have had too much trouble from Mr Ribeiro if he wanted to try and reassure Kate and Gerry in some way.

I also seem to remember that Rebelo and Amaral are 'friends' I thought I read that Rebelo was seen with Amaral on Amaral's infamous long boozy lunch! Or was it Ribeiro?

Anyone know?

OK, he didnt find Madeleine but he did do something right. He was thorough enough that he was able to get the arguido status removed from the McCanns without question. 'No Evidence' was the verdict, and that is down to Rebelo. He is technically proficient, so no one has questioned that there is no evidence against the McCanns. And the other thing he has done is make it absolutely clear where everything went wrong by leaving the damaging things in the files and he could easily have doctored them, who would know, they were secret. IMO he has pointed the finger at Gonc by making public things such as the email from the FSS 4 days before the McCanns were made arguidos, and the dutch sighting, as well as the Efits. He is giving it all over to the McCanns, with the hope that it gets somewhere.

Do not underestimate these things!!! He may never have been in a position to find Madeleine. Even if he had been on the case from the start. But he may have brought in experts to help, if it was his case at the start. But he got it so late and all that had been refused. What his actual brief was, we will never know but he has managed to get all the info to the McCanns for the case to continue with expert help.

It could be that by the time Rebelo took over, the PJ no longer had the resources to ever find her.