'THEY'RE POSH AND WE'RE SCUM' Heartbroken mum of missing teen Carmel Fenech slams amount of publicity given to Madeleine McCann as she continues 20-year hunt

by **Jill Havern** 04.09.17 16:10

Heartbroken mum of missing teen Carmel Fenech slams amount of publicity given to Madeleine ...
The Sun
THE anguished mother of a teenager who vanished almost two decades ago has criticised the amount of publicity awarded to Madeleine McCann compared to her own daughter's case.

Deirdre Fenech, 61, has not seen her 16-year-old daughter Carmel since she failed to return to her home in Crawley, Sussex, in May 1998.

The youngster was addicted to crack cocaine at the time of her disappearance after mixing with a crowd of drug dealers in Peckham, South London.

Missing People, a national charity which coordinated the publicity in Carmel’s case, has continued to do so through their website including mentions on social media, TV and local and national newspapers.

But Deirdre is still bitter about the level of coverage her daughter has received over the years compared to the intensity of that of Maddie’s - who became embedded in the national consciousness.

While the circumstances surrounding Maddie and Carmel’s disappearance were completely different, Deirdre believes her daughter didn’t get enough attention.

Deirdre believes her daughter's disappearance is the result of the drugs underworld into which she had drifted.

She said: “My daughter was beautiful, she had her whole life ahead of her, she was intelligent, she was funny - she just got eaten up by vultures.

“When Carmel started secondary school, she was bullied. She had one leg slightly shorter than the other and became the brunt of cruel jokes. Classmates called her hop-along, limpy - that sort of thing. So her way to get the others on side is to be part of the ‘in crowd’, to be the class clown.

“Then, when she was about 14 years old, she asked me to go to this party with school friends. So I said of course she can go to this kid's party.

“What I didn’t know at the time, it was there she was then introduced to crack cocaine at this so-called party.

“I didn’t realise she had a drug problem for quite some time. At first, I thought it was the usual teenage angst.

“But she started staying out nights, pretending she was with friends. She would go away for a few days and come back or I’d trawl the streets hunting for her to bring her home.

“Neighbours had begun to tell me that Carmel had been spotted at local crack houses.

“I was devastated when I discovered she was taking cocaine and pleaded with her to stop.”

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/4385462/carmel-french-missing-madeleine-mccann-publicity/

by Liz Eagles 04.09.17 20:33

I've picked the following from the Sun article

'The UK National Missing Bureau says around 120,000 children and adults disappear each year.'

..............

Three things stand out to me:

The figure of 120,000 is not the figure quoted by Missing People who IIRC quote about double that figure

The UK National Missing Bureau is generally now an organisation more involved in finding the relatives of deceased people

Apparently texting Hope 70707 to donate £3 to Missing People will help bring Carmel to safety

by Liz Eagles 04.09.17 21:05

Here is a snip from UK National Missing Person Bureau. It's snipped from the first paragraph of about our website:

The aim of our website is to publicise information about unidentified people and remains, enlisting the public to help maximise the chances of identification. It is hoped the website will empower families of missing people to play an active part in searching for their loved ones and bring vital closure if they are identified. Our website will also feature general information around missing person investigations and is intended to be a valuable resource.
The public can review unidentified cases and send details regarding the potential identity via the online reporting form. We will acknowledge the e-mail within 5 working days, however depending on the quality of information provided we cannot guarantee that the force/coroner will be able to investigate further or how long the investigation may take.

http://missingpersons.police.uk/en/about/our-website-1
....................

Missing People - please take the time to read their website claim 250,000 to 275,000 people go missing each year within UK. These figures come from reports of missing people. Reports of missing people aren't the same thing as missing people.

Please take the time to read the Missing People website - it takes a long time - to understand that these figures are nonsense.

by JRP 05.09.17 14:54

This must be every parents nightmare, one of the most worrying times you have as a parent are when your kids are in their teenage years.

Carmel would be what, somewhere around 35 years old by now. It's possible that she's started a new life somewhere, but it's more likely that she's not alive anymore. I guess her mother knows that, but without that proof either way, it must be impossible to grieve.

I think she is wrong though, or the title of the article is wrong. I don't think she is scum, and neither do I think the McCann's are posh. There are reasons, which are yet to be revealed, why the McCann's have had government help for 10 years, but personally I don't think it relates to them being in any way posh.

The Missing People advert "Help us bring Carmel home, donate £3" is in my opinion misleading, especially when you take into account she has been missing for 19 years.
So based on that offer, if finding somebody only costs 3 quid, why then has Operation Grange spent £12 million trying to find a patsy, sorry, why has it cost £12 million to find Madeleine?
If it can be done for £3, can we have our £11,999,997 back please?

On the other hand of course, the cynic in me also thinks this article may be just another excuse to get Madeleine in the news again, and get some £3 donations flowing into Missing People. Kerrrrching!

'THEY'RE POSH AND WE'RE SCUM' Heartbroken mum of missing teen Carmel Fenech slams amount of publicity given to Madeleine McCann as she continues 20-year hunt

'THEY'RE POSH AND WE'RE SCUM' Heartbroken mum of missing teen Carmel Fenech slams amount of publicity given to Madeleine McCann as she continues 20-year hunt

Re: 'THEY'RE POSH AND WE'RE SCUM' Heartbroken mum of missing teen Carmel Fenech slams amount of publicity given to Madeleine McCann as she continues 20-year hunt

Re: 'THEY'RE POSH AND WE'RE SCUM' Heartbroken mum of missing teen Carmel Fenech slams amount of publicity given to Madeleine McCann as she continues 20-year hunt

Re: 'THEY'RE POSH AND WE'RE SCUM' Heartbroken mum of missing teen Carmel Fenech slams amount of publicity given to Madeleine McCann as she continues 20-year hunt

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