Amy Fitzpatrick

Missing for Three Years on 1st January 2011

Can you believe that it is 3 years since we started to pray for Amy’s well-being and recovery? Three long years for her parents, family and friends. Three years without clues or answers.

Amy moved from Clarehall in Dublin to the Costa del Sol with her mother, Audrey, in 2004. Her step-father, Dave McMahon, is an estate agent in the Spanish resort. Her father (Christopher) and extended family still live in the Irish Republic. With a unified and common purpose, they all continue to search for Amy.

Amy was aged 15 when she disappeared, at approximately 10pm on 1st January 2008, after saying goodbye to her close friend Ashley Rose. On New Year’s Eve, the girls had been baby-sitting Ashley’s brother at her friend’s house in Mijas Costa (Spain) and Amy stayed over-night. She called her Mum on the morning of 1st January to wish her Happy New Year. At 10pm that evening, Amy left her friend’s home and set off to walk to her own home on the Urbanisation Riviera del Sol. This should have taken about 10 minutes as it was only a short walk away. But, she never arrived.

Hundreds of people assisted the Spanish Civil Guard and joined in the search to look for Amy but nothing was found. There is speculation about her being abducted or having run away, but there are no concrete clues about her disappearance.

All we know is that Amy Fitzpatrick is still missing.

DESCRIPTION WHEN LAST SEEN

- Thin and pale

- 1.65 metres tall (approximately 5 feet 5 inches)

- Black hair

- Wearing brown crushed velvet tracksuit bottoms and a t-shirt with the word ‘Diesel’ on the front

AREA OF SPAIN WHERE AMY WENT MISSING

(click on maps to enlarge)

Now is not the time to speculate about information posted on blogs and forums or indeed, repeated in the press. Now is the time to remember a vulnerable young person who is still missing. All members of Amy’s family need our help, support and prayers.

As a New Year begins and we all celebrate with our families, perhaps a thought can be spared for Amy’s family. A family that is still grieving for a teenager who is missing without trace. When you hug your child, remember that there are parents who can’t do that, so squeeze and hug a little but harder in thanks.

Please remember Amy Fitzpatrick

REPORTING INFORMATION

Do you know anything about Amy’s disappearance?

Did you see anything unusual happening in this Spanish locality around the time of Amy’s disappearance?

Do you suspect someone else knows something?

- Contact your local police or law enforcement

- Spanish Guardia Civil +34-636-079-619

RESOURCE SITES FOR AMY

http://www.searchforamy.com/

http://www.bebo.com/helpfinda

You can follow Amy Fitzpatrick’s thread in the Find Madeleine forum HERE!

The Inspector of the Madeleine Case Accuses London of Pressurising Portugal

ABC.es

23-12-2010 / 16:30 h

Lisbon, 23 dic (EFE).-

The Portuguese ex – inspector who investigated the Madeleine case, Goncalo Amaral, is convinced that London pressurised Portugal in order to remove him from his post in 2007 and to avoid accusations against the girl’s parents, Kate and Gerry McCann.

In statements made to EFE, Amaral underlined that the conversations “at Ambassador level” between the US and the UK held days before he was forced to abandon the investigation and which were revealed by WikiLeaks “do not leave doubts” about the “interferences”.

Amaral led the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine on 3rd May 2007, when she was about to reach her fourth birthday and was removed in October of the same year.

In 2008, when the case was closed, he published a book, which was banned by legal action from the McCanns, in which he suggested that the couple was implicated in a presumed accidental death and the concealment of the girl’s body.

Portugal has a “weak government which is servile and submissive faced with the English “friends” and the archiving of the investigation into the mysterious disappearance of Madeleine McCanns constitutes a shame for our country and for the Portuguese justice system”, Amaral laments.

This is how the ex – inspector comments on the report elaborated by the then American Ambassador in Lisbon, Al Hoffman, with details about a meeting with his British counterpart, Alexander Wykeham, in September 2007, two weeks after the McCanns were declared official suspects in the case.

In this cable, Hoffman tells how the British Ambassador informed him that his country’s police has investigated the evidence existing against Madeleine’s parents, which contradicts the version previously known that attributed doubts about the couple’s innocence only to the Portuguese officers.

Amaral remembers that he was removed from duty in October 2007 and that it was on those dates that the Portuguese Prime Minister, José Sócrates and the British PM, Gordon Brown “mentioned the Maddie case” during a European meetings.

“In joking terms, or perhaps not, there are those who say that the UK signed the Lisbon Treaty at the cost of my head”, the now retired ex officer comments ironically, referring to the difficult re-negotiation of this historic European document during the Portuguese presidency of the EU.
In his opinion the information released by WikiLeaks is not a novelty, although it does reflect “that the news at the time were false, created within the headquarters of the “McCann couple support staff”.
They had the aim, he adds, of creating a “climate of mistrust between the Portuguese and British politicians” and to discredit the Portuguese officers.

Amaral is confident that the case will end up by being cleared up totally, but considers that it is necessary to re-initiate the police investigation and revise the case process.

"Madeleine McCann deserves justice to be done. Her probable death and mysterious disappearance can not only depend on political will", he insisted.

Amaral and the girl’s parents maintain a legal battle despite the fact that the Madeleine case was officially closed more then two years ago without the naming of guilty parties and due to lack of evidence.

The lawyers for the British couple have appealed the lifting of the banning of sales of the ex – policeman’s book “Maddie: The Truth of the Lie” and want him to sued for damages and harm to the parents, who have always declared themselves to be innocent.

But for the moment a Portuguese appeal court has agreed with the ex - policeman, in a statement made last October and the circulation of the book is again legal.

According to the McCanns, the book has caused great harm to their ongoing efforts to find the girl.

With respect to the millions in damages that the parents of Madeleine could obtain, Amaral says that the legal confrontation with the British couple has already left him and his family “in ruins, surviving at the cost of family and friends”.

However, despite the problems that the case has brought him, the ex – inspector, who decided to retire upon being removed from the investigation, confirms that he continues to analyse all the evidence and information about the case “in search of the truth”.

Original source: http://www.abc.es/agencias/noticia.asp?noticia=635191

Translated From Spanish by Ines: http://themaddiecasefiles.com/topic9841-5640.html

Lauryn Dickens Still Missing

The following is reprinted from  Victim's Heartland:

Post by artgal16 on Tue Sep 21, 2010 8:40 pm

Mother admits she gave away baby

Posted: Sep 20, 2010 9:23 PM
Updated: Sep 21, 2010 2:59 PM

By Kontji Anthony

MEMPHIS, TN (WMC-TV) - Police say a Memphis mother has admitted to giving her baby to a stranger, and not reporting the incident for ten days.

Police believe one of the baby's parents, Lauryn Dickens, knows where she is, and the convoluted situation may be a case of "custodial interference."

Family law books define custodial interference as "the taking or keeping of a child from the custodial parent with the intent to interfere with that parent's rightful physical custody."

Monday, jail records said baby's father, Benjamin Norfleet, was in jail on a building burglary charge. He told police he knows nothing about the baby's location.

But according to an incident report, the baby's mother, Shakara Dickens, told police she talked with Norfleet on September 7 about "the welfare of the child and her not being able to care for the child properly."

The report said Norfleet told Dickens to, "give the child to an unknown female-white."

Dickens said the woman came to her Raleigh apartment complex that day. She allegedly gave the baby to the woman, and has not seen her daughter for about a week and a half.

The woman who allegedly took the baby was described as a white female, 40 to 50 years old, who wears eyeglasses and has gray, shoulder-length, straight hair with a center part. The woman was last seen wearing a buttoned blouse, khaki Capri pants, and white, closed to sandals.

Lauryn Dickens, was last seen wearing a brown onsie with one pink flower and pink dots. She is one-foot, nine inches tall, and weighs just 17 pounds.

Monday, Shakara Dickens did not want to comment for this story. Police haven't issued an Amber Alert, because the mother consented to handing over the baby.

If you know where Lauryn Dickens may be, call Missing Persons at 901-636-4479.

Source: http://www.wmctv.com/Global/story.asp?S=13185835

View Lauryn's thread on the Find Madeleine forum HERE!

McCann Couple Make New Appeal to Maddie's Abductors

Record

(Translated)

Kate and Gerry McCann left a new message for the abductors of Madeleine McCann, who disappeared in May 2007 from Praia da Luz in the Algarve. Quoted by the “Daily Star”, the couple said that they hope that “whoever has Maddie would be treating her with love and respect, as she deserves” and appealed to the world to remember “the children who will not be with their families this Christmas”. The McCanns lament however, the “unfounded allegations” about the involvement of the couple in the disappearance of their daughter that were released by the WikiLeaks site.

http://www.record.xl.pt/fora_campo/interior.aspx?content_id=625590

Translated by Ines: http://themaddiecasefiles.com/topic9841-5450.html

WikiLeaks Publish New Info on McCann Case

Sponsored by

The Visitor

UK police 'developed evidence against McCanns'
                                     

Published on Thu Dec 16 16:11:27 GMT 2010

British police helped "develop" evidence against Madeleine McCann's parents from Leicestershire as they were investigated by Portuguese authorities looking into their daughter's disappearance, according to diplomatic cables published by WikiLeaks.

Britain's ambassador to Portugal, Alexander Wykeham Ellis, reportedly made the claim to his American counterpart on September 21, 2007 - two weeks after Portuguese police named Gerry and Kate McCann as "arguidos", or formal suspects, in the case.

In a cable to Washington, US Ambassador Al Hoffman wrote: "Madeleine McCann's disappearance in the south of Portugal in May 2007 has generated international media attention with controversy surrounding the Portuguese-led police investigation and the actions of Madeleine's parents.

"Without delving into the details of the case, Ellis admitted that the British police had developed the current evidence against the McCann parents, and he stressed that authorities from both countries were working co-operatively.

"He commented that the media frenzy was to be expected and was acceptable as long as government officials keep their comments behind closed doors."

The cable does not specify what evidence British police are alleged to have gathered, or whether UK investigators were involved in the decision to formally name the McCanns as suspects. They remained under official suspicion until July 2008 when Portuguese police shelved the investigation into Madeleine's disappearance and lifted the McCann's status as arguidos.

The three-year-old went missing from an apartment in the Algarve on May 3, 2007 while her parents dined with friends in a nearby restaurant.

Speaking at the time the suspect status was lifted, Mrs McCann said: "It is hard to describe how utterly despairing it was to be named arguidos and subsequently portrayed in the media as suspects in our own daughter's abduction."

A spokesman for the McCanns said: "This is an entirely historic note that is more than three years old. Subsequently, Kate and Gerry had their arguido status lifted, with the Portuguese authorities making it perfectly clear that there was absolutely no evidence to implicate them in Madeleine's disappearance whatsoever.

"To this day, they continue to work tirelessly on the search for their daughter, co-operating when appropriate with both the Portuguese and British authorities."

http://www.thevisitor.co.uk/news/uk_police_developed_evidence_against_mccanns_1_2855883

Countdown to Christmas - Focus on 12 Missing Children

Missing Children - Help Find My Child

· Countdown to Christmas campaign,

· 12 Days of Christmas - Missing Children Campaign

· Focus on twelve missing children from the UK

· Using Social Networking – Facebook and Twitter



December 13th marks the launch of a new Twitter and Facebook campaign by Help Find My Child (HFMC); a registered charity committed to the search for missing children Worldwide. HFMC specialises in combining the latest technologies with the incredible power and reach of online communities such as Twitter and Facebook.

Our Countdown to Christmas campaign, starting on the 13th December and culminating on Christmas Eve, will focus on twelve missing children from the UK, each having one of the 12 days of Christmas dedicated solely to them and their story.

We will update our Facebook page each day and on Twitter each morning at 8.00am we will send out a link to the blog of the missing child featured that day. The Tweet will also be sent to celebrities who will be asked to re-tweet, using their considerable influence to increase the profile of the child, the campaign and the issue of missing children.

The Christmas period has been chosen for the Twitter campaign as it’s such a traumatic time for those whose children are missing: Instead of a time of joy and happiness these parents face a huge void and soul-crushing pain. Kevin Gosden Father of missing teenager Andrew Gosden describes his experience:

It’s a pain most of us thankfully will never know. The biggest gift we can give these parents and their children this Christmas is to take a few minutes to memorise their precious child’s face and look for them as we do our Christmas shopping. We can take a few moments to encourage others to pass on the Countdown to Christmas link and to re-tweet. It could possibly lead to a family being reunited and a child being back where they belong.

“We still have gifts left for our son in 2007; unopened, untouched. We will go to church but there will be an empty space on the pew beside us. We will sit down to dinner with an empty place at our table and one less cracker to pull. We will open our gifts and enjoy giving them but inside will wish we had an extra one to give to the most special of people.



We will light a candle and wonder if it really can signify hope after so long. We will hug one another and still ache inside because we cannot hug one more much loved person. I don’t think we really know what to do with Christmas any more in our house. Not since Andrew went missing. “

1. Help Find Missing Children provide a service parents hope they will never need. For parents of a missing or abducted child it’s perhaps the worst nightmare anyone can endure they need our support and a rapid response. Help Find My Child (HFMC) are here to raise awareness for missing children by using the latest online technologies to get alerts out fast. Further information see our website : http://www.helpfindmychild.net/


2. The 12 children focused are listed below with links:


12. Donna Keogh - Missing aged 17, Cleveland 1998
http://www.helpfindmychild.net/donna-keogh

11. Daniel Entwistle - Missing aged 7, Norfolk 2003

http://www.helpfindmychild.net/daniel-entwistle

10. Hayley Evans - Missing aged 17 - London 2010

http://www.helpfindmychild.net/hayley-evans

9. Mohammed Serok - Missing aged 16 - London 2010

http://www.helpfindmychild.net/mohammed-serok

8. Paige Chivers - Missing aged 15 - Blackpool 2007

http://www.helpfindmychild.net/paige-chivers

7. Charles Watkinson - Missing aged 8 - London 2006

http://www.helpfindmychild.net/charles-watkinson

8. Leanne Foreman - Missing aged 15 - Staffordshire 20
http://www.helpfindmychild.net/leanne-foreman

5. Jordan Ratcliffe - Missing aged 16 - Manchester 2008

http://www.helpfindmychild.net/jordon-anthony-ratcliffe

4. Holly Bringan - Missing aged 2 - North Ayrshire 2009

http://www.helpfindmychild.net/holly-bringan

3. Ruth Wilson - Missing aged 16 - Surrey 1995

http://www.helpfindmychild.net/ruth-wilson

2. Damien Nettles - Missing aged 16 Isle of Wight 1996

http://www.helpfindmychild.net/damien-nettles

1. Andrew Gosden - Missing aged 14 - Doncaster 2007

http://www.helpfindmychild.net/andrew-gosden

3. For media interviews please contact:

Name: Emma Telford
Phone: 07780 997960
Mail: Emma@helpfindmychild.net or media@helpfindmychild.net

Twitter: @helpfindmychild

Charity No.SCO41522


Download Countdown to Christmas Press Release in PDF Form


View Countdown to Christmas Press Release on Scribd


http://www.helpfindmychild.net/Countdown-to-Christmas-Campaign

More Good news

I am delighted to say since I last posted we have had some more good news in the missing section of our forum!! We wish all these children well and hope that they have a bright future!


CHRISTOPHER CORY CARIOSCIA - FOUND!


ILYAS JAJI - FOUND!


JAMAR BRENDAN ANDERSON - FOUND!

UK's The Missing Kids Website

Having featured the US site for missing and exploited children, I felt it was important to also feature the UK's services for missing and exploited children. Both systems are similar as the UK site was built with the help of the US center. There are many organizations in the UK that work together to create a network to help find and recover missing and exploited children. The following was taken directly from the UK's Missing Kids website.  A police website dedicated to finding missing and abducted children. This is the only Internet site containing details of missing children approved by the Association of Chief Police Officers in England, Scotland and Wales, and the Home Office. It is managed by the  NPIA Missing Persons Bureau and is a partnership with the following organisations: <>  CA hosts the website, and donates technology and on-going services as part of its Commicmec.orgunity Relations programme. The International Centre for Missing and Exploited Children, provides support and works with international agencies to create a global network of partners.   Parents & Abducted Children Together, actively promotes the website and sponsors the distribution of posters. PACT's patron is Cherie Blair. The international charity was founded by Lady Meyer, the wife of Sir Christopher Meyer, who was the British Ambassador to the USA.

 One of the most important services listed on this website is the Child Rescue Alert. It is the equivalent of the Amber Alert system in the US and gets information out on an abducted child via the media with expediency.

Featured Services Child Rescue Alert 2010 Further information is available on the fact sheet page of The Missing Kids website as shown below: Fact Sheet It is estimated by the charity PACT that there are approximately 100,000 instances of children going missing in the UK every year. Some of these children have gone missing on more that one occasion. Further details of this research are contained in the reports Every Five Minutes and Beyond Every Five Minutes which are available on this website. Speed is critical in locating missing and abducted children. Modern technology offers a unique way in which the public, police, NGOs and the private sector can work together better to protect our children. The Missing Kids Website was originally created in the USA by the National Center of Missing & Exploited Children    The website is an extremely secure one fully protected by a complex security system. It is controlled by the police service and only trained police officers' and staff can place information on the site. The Website displays photographs and descriptions of missing children. By viewing the Website, the public can help the Police bring these children home safely. The US Website receives 2.8 million "hits" a day. To date one in every six children featured on this site is recovered as a result of someone recognising that child's photograph and calling authorities with information that has directly led to recovery. The Missingkids Website has already been introduced to 15 countries with the help of Computer Associates (CA). Each participating country enters its own missing children's cases, tracks leads, and reports progress in a centralised location for law enforcement, families, media, and government agencies to carefully monitor. Only the Police can input information on the UK site. These national sites are linked to a global network with easy worldwide access. Over 3,000 children's cases are posted. The technology includes age-progression techniques that have been successful in identifying and retrieving children years after their disappearance. The Website also allows the downloading of posters of missing and abducted children. In the United Kingdom, it is managed by the NPIA Missing Persons Bureau, and it is promoted by the charity PACT. The UK Missingkids Website is the only site of this kind which is approved by the Home Office, ACPO (Association of Chief Police Officers) and ACPO(S) (Association of Chief Police Officers Scotland). This state-of-the-art, searchable database can be viewed throughout the world 24 hours a day, 365 days a year Posters of missing children featured on the website, are displayed in Tescos' stores throughout the country. "This work is important in creating an effective safety net for our children. The problem of missing children does not recognise borders - in fact borders can make the problem of finding and recovering missing children more difficult. This website helps the police work across those borders more effectively." Assistant Commissioner, Richard Bryan, ACPO lead on Missing Persons. Resources: http://uk.missingkids.com/missingkids/servlet/PublicHomeServlet?LanguageCountry=en_GB

Portuguese President Cabinet reply to "A Voice for Madeleine" Petition

2 December 2010

Posted by Joana Morais

The email header

Portuguese President Cabinet reply received by email, on December 2, 2010

The email contains a reference text, the petition text in Portuguese and a PDF attachment [see below].

Please find enclosed letter No. 7382 of November 29, 2010.
DSDA - Office of Correspondence of the Portuguese Republic Presidency

Hon. Sir/Madam

I acknowledge the receipt and thank you for sending the exposure made by Your Excellency, requesting the reopening of the case concerning the disappearance of the minor Madeleine McCann.

Albeit understanding the reasons that motivate the referenced exposure, which, in the ambit of principles, reveals a highly commendable concern for the fate of a minor, I hereby inform you, that the matter in question does not fall within the competence of the Portuguese Republic President, a legal and constitutional framework that enshrines the separation of powers, that is, the independence of the

judicial function and the autonomy of the Public Ministry.

Yours sincerely.

The Chief of Staff to the President

José Manuel Nunes Liberato

Petition text [sign here, read here]

http://joana-morais.blogspot.com/2010/12/portuguese-president-cabinet-reply-to.html?utm_source=BP_recent
 
Portuguese President Cabinet Reply for Uma Voz para Madeleine Petition
 
Was it all in vain? I certainly hope not. Joana has stated in the comments on her blog that the petition has already been sent to the Public Ministry, and also to the Ministry of Justice and to the Portuguese Parliament.
 
Joana, we appreciate your efforts and hope that one day there will be justice for Madeleine McCann, who remains to this day a missing child and look forward with interest to seeing the replies of the other recipients of this petition.

More Good News On The Forum

I am delighted to say since last posting we have had some more good news in the missing section of our forum!! We wish all these children well and hope that they have a bright future!


YETNAYET TEKESTE - FOUND!

COLEENA ANTONOVA - FOUND!

EMILY GONZALEZ - FOUND!

ARMANI LAUREN MOORE - FOUND!

IBRAHEEM SHAH - FOUND!

GRACIE MCCARTHY - FOUND!

SARAH URRY - FOUND!