Rund Abdelfatah
By Rund Abdelfatah
A GERMAN holidaymaker has claimed he saw Madeleine McCann aboard a flight from Ibiza to Munich.
Frank Bode, 42, was returning home to Germany earlier this month following a five-day break in Spain when he caught sight of a girl that immediately reminded him of the missing toddler.
“My intuition told me that the girl, who was around seven to 10 years old, could be Madeleine,” Bode told the Olive Press.
“She didn’t seem to fit with her family at all. Her father was clearly German, as were her two brothers, both around 10 to 12 years old, but her mother appeared to be British.
“They were all speaking German except for the girl, who I clearly heard speaking British English.”
He continued: “The two boys were touching her strangely and the girl seemed totally out of place – nervous, stuttering, just not normal. And her mother, who bore no resemblance to the girl, was a strange woman and didn’t talk the entire trip.
“I was never very interested in the case but my instincts told me something was up, and I’m almost never wrong about these kinds of things,” added Bode, a sales manager for a currency printing company.
“I took a photo and showed it to some of my friends who agreed it could definitely be Maddie.”
Bode was so convinced the girl on his Lufthansa flight was Maddie, who disappeared from Portugal in 2007, he immediately contacted the British police.
“The woman at the hotline said it is on file, but that’s all she said.
“I’m mainly interested in the family getting the photo, but it’s difficult to find a channel through which to contact them.”
When the Olive Press contacted British police about Bode’s report, they said: “At this time we cannot find any record of his information.”
Solved at last. Many thanks.
These people make me sick, especially when he says I am never wrong in these cases. Why oh why did he/ and others not do something about it at the time !!!!!
Neil. We have to understand the timing of these stories. They are always released by Mitchell and TM to divert attention from something else. There are other things happening at the moment, on which they do not want you to concentrate. “Look over here, not over there”. Conjurors and illusionists have used the technique for centuries, and the last government used 11/9 to “bury” bad news. Mercifully one person at least was sacked for that, but the technique is alive and well. Always remember that Clarence Mitchell boasted of being able “to control what goes out in the press”.
not sure about these laters claims yet
but you never know,it could be maddie,it just a shame that we can see the picture a bit better
well the police want some more money for this case ,what have they done with the 2 million all i ask for is 1 20p phone call regards the car reg number i took in luz feb 2010 plus video i took of man & woman ,i took video to leicester police for them to do copy ,now it appears they do not have a copy so i sent another copy to met police they will not confirm they have got it ,one has to ask what the hell are they doing with this poor little girl.
No blonde child anywhere in the world is safe from this scam.
Yes she was by looking at that photo.
I have sent this latest possible sighting on this Ibiza flight to Operation Grange, Home Office, ICE – Homeland Security, FBI, BBC, SKY NEWS, ITV, investigation(@)findmadeleine.com and the N.S.P.C.C + NCMEC. However, although this young girl does bear a resemblance to Madeleine McCann, this child from what I can see looks younger than nine years old? The other issue is who would be so reckless as to take Madeleine on a flight to Spain. Madeleine is probably living in a remote village in Portugal. And in all likely hood never left Portugal. And the Portuguese Authorities are still refusing reopen Madeleine’s case review. This is where the major problem is!
Odd that she was supposedly spotted 3 days after she went missing, also with a German family who had two other children.
The police are asking for more money for the review which the government cannot affird for a washed out, hopeless case. Much better things to find such as the unemployed and hungry without paying to chase after ghosts. So, as happened with India, and the various birthdays and book launches, they’re on the scrounge again. They should be made to sell their fancy house and the new £20,000 car they just bought for their ‘Fund organiser’, then donate everything towards the current review. But as always they want their cake and to eat it as well. Just plain greedy
I think some people are cold and heartless! “Want there cake and eat it” what sort of comment is that 2 make! Why don’t u put yourself in there shoes! As as 4 selling there house and car for the police 2 do more to solve the case is stupid taxes are paid to make sure things like that are funded! Why do some people see the worse in everything and everyone!
Well done Rebecca I am glad there are still good people like yourself who have feelings for others. If I had won £148,000,000 I would fianance the search for Madeleine.
James Haskell. You are a sad man with a warped mind! Well done Rebecca.
@ Graham.
Amazingly I was just thinking the very same thing!!! If I had a lottery win I would offer to finance more of the investigation.
Madeleine could well be out there waiting to be found and could be anywhere in the world so we must keep searching for her.
It is not a washed out hopeless case. All of the evidence is there just needs putting together properly I think and Operation Grange may be almost there so this needs to be funded to the end now.
Hi graham, It gets me so angry how people can judge something they only read about in papers! Madeleines parents in my opinion have done all they can and more to try and find what has happened 2 there daughter and to keep the fact that she could very well still be out there fresh in everyones minds! As for selling there home and car to fund the search is pathetic they still have 2 young children to care for and make sure they have the best lives they are able to provide! Maybe if our goverment stopped funding the unemployed,scroungers and giving criminals new identitys and homes ect issues such as madeleines could be funded! Some people make me sick and there comments should just be ignored!
I wonder what James would do if it were his child that had been abducted? Nothing I suppose!!
I assume this photo has been taken on an airport bus?I say this, as the photo doesnt show a plane window!
Hi Julie,
The picture was indeed taken on the airport bus, but the family was also on the same flight as Mr. Bode.
Graham Perry – “I have sent this latest possible sighting on this Ibiza flight to Operation Grange, Home Office, ICE – Homeland Security, FBI…”
Wait is this subtle humor or are you serious? ICE and Homeland Security? Is she an illegal immigrant or a terrorist?
@ PM I think you’re libelling Clarence Mitchell. You also seem pertified of Madeleine being found.I wonder why that would be?
let’s just hope and pray that girl is madeleine and let her come home,it’s never tolate to do the right thing for madeleine,who ever has madeleine might one day let there guard down and madeleine run off
This child photographed looks younger than 9. She looks more 6-8 years of age. Look at the length of her arms, and unlikely a 9 year old would sit on a twelve year old boys lap!! Unless he really was not giving her a choice. What of CCTV at the airport?? Surely flights dates and times could be matched up. It would be lovely for it to finally be Madeleine, and the miracle all good people are pinning their faith to. A DNA sweep needs to happen. She will be found. Keep looking.
If Frank Bode had any suspicion that the girl could be Madeleine, then he should have contacted the Airport authorities immediately. It’s not cool to take pictures of other peoples children and post them.
Quite Mark. You spot a missing child on the plane, and what do you do on landing? You do not alert local authorities who can immediately stop people and check their passports, but immediately call the British police, and take a photo to show your friends. You also give the photo to the olive press to put on their front page, presumably with the innocent people knowing nothing at all.
When are any of these stories going to add up?
The picture is so blurred, it could be anybody and no doubt will start the ball rolling for more sightings to coincide with the McCann v Amaral case. Notice the Olive Press state that the British police who they contacted could find no record of Mr Bode calling.
I don’t think I have ever been described as ‘Pertified’ before. If Madeleine can be found alive, then she must be. The parents could have helped by answering some questions, and doing some searching, instead of playing tennis and jogging. However that was a long time ago. They could also have helped by not paying huge amounts of publicly donated money to dodgy private investigators from Barcelona, as far away as they could find on the peninsular, or to Halligen, whose credentials amounted to simple fraud. Or their last one, who set up the company in a cottage in Wales AFTER Mitchell had announced that it was an established company with a track record. He said it was Alpha Investigations, which is a US firm with considerable expertise and experience. It was not. It was set up as ALPHAIG in the UK. He may have been misled, or just be an idiot. I don’t know. The alternative is that he said these things knowing they were false. Which would be extremely serious if true. Rather like his stating that the TM had seen the photo from India, when in fact there never was either a photo or a sighting. I do not know. You decide.
These ‘sightings’ always occur when there is a birthday, anniversary, book launch or trial coming up–never at any other time. And now the Met has asked for more money for this worthless review–£3 million and fifteen months for nothing achieved–the sightings will be more numerous. Sorry, but it’s time to put this case on the back burner as the government has better things to spend its money on, and the police more pressing cases to deal with than this one. If the McCanns still think she’s alive–and only they know what happened to her–then they should rely on their gullible followers to finance their fancy and not the tax payer. I also agree with the last poster about India–it was made up.
Photo no Madeleine Mccann.
No I don’t believe this photo is of her nor do any of us know where she is alive or not however I think the way certain people talk about all off this is terrible god 4 bid one of your children should go missing bet your opinion would soon change then and wouldn’t want it “put on the back burner”
My children would not go missing because when we have a family holiday it means exactly that–we don’t treat them like unwanted luggage and leave them unattended while we go to the bar.
those people should walk past me with maddy I will do something about it my instincts are telling me that those people are making that girl uncomfortable and I agree it looks to wrong for a ‘ family
‘ I can promise you maddy if that is you and I see you I will save you.
people I think some of these comments are either over sarcastic or uncomforting to maddy and if dead or alive maddy suffered it in my guessing must be terrifying to happen, how would you feel if you were a little girl on holliday getting abducted only that person knows what happened so please be supporting for maddy yeah.
James H. I think you are spot on. There is not only the Met asking for more money, but the libel trial McCanns-v- Dr Amaral is starting sometime soon in Portugal. That is an interesting one, as they will have to prove that his position is not just wrong, or a mistake, which of course anyone can make, professional or not. They are going to have to show that he has libelled them, and also that he is not covered by privilege. Every Police officer and every prosecuting solicitor or Barrister STARTS by accusing a person of a crime. That is not libel, that is due process. And even if the defendant is found not guilty, they cannot claim defamation. I hope the OP will follow the trial and give us full details of how it goes.
PM
1. The ‘questions’ arguement comes up every time – and as always I reply by stating the facts – Kate McCann was acting on the advice from her lawyer when she did not answer the questions put to her by the Portuguese Police.
2. Neither played tennis after Madeleine was abducted, and they jogged to help relieve the despair they felt, which I should imagine was extensive especially after the way in which the police behaved in the first hours after Madeleine had been taken.
3. The ‘huge amount of public money’ was given freely by all concerned to help the McCanns trace their little girl. At the time of hiring the ivestigators they had no knowledge that they were crooks. In actual fact the investigators from Spain have helped the Metropolitan police in their research into the case.
James
How callous can you get? I sincerely hope there will never be a time when you have to enlist the help of the police, or anybody in a search such as this. Madeleine was a three year old, who was taken from her parents in a foreign country. Can you imagine how petrified that child would have been when she woke up to find herself in god knows where, with god knows who, I certainly can, and I would do everything in my power to bring her back home where she belongs. Even now she is 9 years old, and she is still a child that has to be found.
We, the tax payers, pay out far too much money, via the Government, to every Tom, Dick and Harry that requests it and unfortunately we cannot do a thing about it. As far as the search for Madeleine is concerned I would consent to them paying out double, and treble if there was a chance that she could be found. The 2.5 million, which the papers say has been spent so far, is a drop in the ocean in comparison.
So because they made a mistake admitted a very stupid mistake that not many would do this does not excuse that this little girl is still missing and as a parent yourself you should surely understand that a pain like that would be the worst ever and to still be having that same pain years later must be surely terrible! As I said b4 no ones knows if she is dead or alive but surley this family despite there very silly mistake of leaving them alone have been punished enough and people who have nothing but negative things to say just try and put your self in their shoes! And also me myself would rather see my hard earned tax each week go towards finding this little girl then paying for someone who just can’t be bothered to get off their ass and get a job!!
The girl in the photo looks way too young to be Madeleine…
PM – What is the point of this comment?
There is not only the Met asking for more money, but the libel trial McCanns-v- Dr Amaral is starting sometime soon in Portugal.
As far as I am aware the McCanns are not asking for money to support this trial, or do you know something that no-one else knows?
If you just stare at that photo for a moment and an eerie feeling comes and i can see the resemblance. She looks sad. But if it were me i would have called out maddie. Im sure she hasn’t forgotten her name.
I have a cousin who is 10 and looks younger than this. I too looked at this photo enhanced and zoomed in and put the one of madeleine next to it and felt shivers run down my spine and hairs on end, jaw line is the same, ears point up the same, nose looks similar. I think it could be her, she is without doubt still alive somewhere, a body would’ve been found by now I am sure…
The girl in the photo reminds me of Kate McCann very much. Her skin tone, facial outline, hair color and ears (yes those ears are distinctive) are very similar to Madeleine McCann. I hope so. Oh. And also Madeleine seemed on the small size so perhaps she still is small for her age.
I do hope the OP reports the libel trial with the full force of the investigative journalism of which we know it is capable (see the Amy story, passim). Just for the record – in case people bave forgotten
1 OCTOBER 2010: McCanns defeated when the Portuguese Appeal Court upheld Dr Amaral’s appeal against the banning of his book: The Court ordered his book to go back on sale, McCanns ordered to pay costs, Court said the banning was a Breach of Dr Amaral’s right to Free Speech under the European Convention on Human Rights.
2. MARCH 2011: Portuguese Supreme Court heard the McCanns’ appeal against the Appeal Court’s ruling, AGAIN the McCanns LOST and the McCanns were AGAIN ordered to pay Amaral’s costs.
This latest sighting disproved the theory that the book stopped people looking for Maddie…
June. Touché.
I am not sure what people who post negative comments about the Mccanns expect them to do? I think that any parent would do all they could if in the same position. It should be remembered that several extremely wealthy people chose to assist the Mccanns when they heard about their plight. That was their choice, and their philanthropy went to funding private detectives etc… It’s important to remember that all the negative press about what the Mccanns ‘may’ have used for private purposes, should not be taken as fact. As has been shown over and over in this case, there has been an enormous amount of unsubstantiated rumour. Kate Mccann is doing a lot to raise awareness of missing people in general, and there have been a number of circumstances that have led to her child having this level of publicity. It is very rare for British children to be abducted outside of custrody/access battles, and this case is extremely rare. It has also taken place at a time where technology provides journalists/bloggers etc… with informtion as it happens, and that has added to the unprecidented amount of press. I don’t think the Mccanns should be blamed for the fact that the disappearance of their child caused an unprecidented amount of publicity, largely due to the Portuguese Poice leaks and the tabloid Press in Portugal and Britain, where the event took on a life all of its own!
Well that girl could be Maddie, who knows! And I totally agree with Rebecca! The police should’ve keep an eye on this case, they shouldn’t do it for money, what if their children is missing one day? Wouldn’t they want the police to do it for a little girl? I’m sure Maddie misses home, she probably doesn’t remember but the McCann family is where she belongs.
To leave a child once could be considered a mistake, to leave three children under three years old, alone, every single night in a week – specially after those children cried for hours for being alone in the previous nights as witnessed by neighbours and as confirmed by the parents themselves – is NOT a mistake. It is neglect! It is a CRIME, in Spain, in Portugal, in the UK! As to this supposed sighting it’s just a farce, another attempt to perpetuate the McCanns’ propaganda – the girl is NOT Madeleine.
To these eyes, that photo doesn’t like anything much like Madeleine McCann looked in the older photos. Nor does the girl in the photo resemble the other girl who appears in tennis court photos released by the parents to depict their holiday time.
No idea why you would not alert flight authorities immediately!