McGrilled

I haven't been following the Madeleine McCann story as closely as some of you out there, for obvious reasons, but I did hear that the parents are now officially considered 'suspects' .

While I have no idea if this has any merit -- it may very well be heading down the right path -- I can't help but think that if it's not, what an absolute nightmare for those parents.

I can't imagine having lost a child so randomly like this, suffering through heartache, sleepless nights, endless days, feeling completely helpless, and then suddenly someone points the finger at you. Clearly, if they are involved, it's warranted. But if they're not, what a nightmare upon a nightmare. I can't imagine.

I did hear that the police grilled the mother for 11 hours straight. I'm not sure that's a fair way to assess someone's potential guilt, unless there is some really hard evidence to point at. In a dejected emotional state over the loss of a child, if someone grilled me for 11 hours straight, I'm not sure what might come out of my mouth out of pure emotion and frustration. Certainly I would never confess to a crime if I hadn't done it, but I might grow weary and say something that the police would try to hang their hat on -- an inconsistency in a timeline or something, perhaps. And if they are on a mission to find someone guilty, they can certainly railroad someone into fitting their own needs. There have been accounts of people under stressful interrogation conditions who confessed to a crime they didn't commit, just to get them to stop badgering them. Seems odd, but it happens.

So I guess we'll see how this plays out, but after having lived with the JonBenet Ramsey case in our faces for years and years now, and having witnessed the way the police and press absolutely destroyed the lives and reputations of the parents over this (with basically no evidence), I'm a little wary of diving in and swallowing the line of thinking from the Portuguese police. It may very well be correct, but I'll reserve my judgement for later.