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The Official Site

Background to the official Find Madeleine site

Banner2

On the web

— Press reports claimed 90 million people visited the findmadeleine.com website last week; this is not true

— "Hits" refer to any file, or piece of data, requested by a site from a web server. When you visit a website, your computer has to call up numerous files just to display the homepage fully

— Alexa.com, which monitors internet traffic, said that 0.067% of users worldwide visited the site Saturday; 46% were from Britain, 16% from Portugal

— It was ranked the 2,649th most visited site in Britain and the 1,779th in Portugal

Source: Times database

Timesonline 21 May 2007

 
Registration of FindMadeleine.com domain name extended by another 2 years to 10 May 2010
 

Original registration: WhoIs

Domain Name: findmadeleine.com

Status: clientDeleteProhibited, clientRenewProhibited, clientTransferProhibited, clientUpdateProhibited

Registrar: GO DADDY SOFTWARE, INC.
Whois Server: whois.godaddy.com
Referral URL: http://registrar.godaddy.com

Expiration Date: 2008-05-10
Creation Date: 2007-05-10
Last Update Date: 2007-05-15

New details, updated 17 March 2007:

Domain Name: findmadeleine.com

Status: clientDeleteProhibited, clientRenewProhibited, clientTransferProhibited, clientUpdateProhibited

Registrar: GODADDY.COM, INC.
Whois Server: whois.godaddy.com
Referral URL: http://registrar.godaddy.com

Expiration Date: 2010-05-10
Creation Date: 2007-05-10
Last Update Date: 2008-03-17

 
The official site
 
The official findmadeleine.com website was set up primarily as a vehicle to collect donations from the public. It must be said that the content of that site (site relaunched in Feb 2008), particularly in relation to Madeleine herself, was sparse and woefully weak. For example, in the 'About Madeleine' section, all it told us about Madeleine was that she was 'born 4 years ago'.
 
It appears clear that the original website, 'bringmadeleinehome.com', was set up,  through the efforts of Philomena McCann, with genuine intentions of raising awareness of Madeleine's disappearance and helping to maintain her profile with the public. The aim being clearly stated in the website title: To bring Madeleine home.
 
When the website was relaunched a week later using a different domain name, 'findmadeleine.com', the motivation of the website had dramatically changed. It was still claimed to be about raising awareness but this was now subservient to the new driving goal of the site, which was to raise money through donations.
 
The website was relaunched (becoming the third version) on 01 February 2008, noticeably now without the running total of donations to Madeleine's Fund but with a vastly improved section on Madeleine herself.

 
Sunday Herald article released online 15/09/07 (original link)
 
Millions have contacted the Madeleine McCann appeal website.
 
Who runs it? Three teenagers from Ullapool
Inside the campaign HQ 

TWO YOUNG people hurriedly stuff yellow Look For Madeleine wristbands into envelopes, surrounded by cardboard boxes containing thousands more earmarked for the campaign. Nearby, in the untidy garage store room, Madeleine badges and posters are awaiting delivery to supporters around the world who have donated £2 for the bands that symbolise the search for the missing four-year-old.

Policeman's son Calum MacRae, 18, is responsible for the campaign's website and distribution network for Madeleine's campaign from the unlikely location of the Loch Broom garage, on a windswept industrial estate on the outskirts of Ullapool, Wester Ross.

Despite Madeleine's parents, Kate and Gerry, both 39, now being treated by Portuguese police as suspects in her disappearance while on holiday in the Algarve, Calum claims there has been a recent surge in interest in the website and wristbands.

"There's no let-up," said Calum, whose Infohost firm hosts the family's official website, run using some of the £1 million in donations being sent to the privately run Madeleine's Fund: Leaving No Stone Unturned. "There's been a big increase in orders since they became suspects. Somebody came back 30 times, ordering 100 bands. Sometimes people just want one or two, so we throw a couple of extra bands in. It's difficult to get rid of some of the medium-sized bands as they don't fit many people. People would still want the Madeleine bands even if she was found. Her face is a mark. It's everywhere."

Calum, who has designed websites "since he was 10" is paid out of the global donations to the fund, which won't be contributing to the McCanns' legal costs.

He refused to be drawn on how much his team of six are paid, and the Sunday Herald's repeated calls to the fund's spokeswoman, Esther McVey, were not returned. He added: "I can't tell you that, it's not much honestly. We are just covering our costs. You would need to speak to the fund about that."

Calum is convinced of the couple's innocence and says he will continue to run the website even if they are charged and tried in Portugal. He said: "I know from speaking to Gerry on the phone that he is 100% innocent. They are definitely not guilty. Gerry is very determined to find his daughter. You can tell it in his voice when he talks on the phone. He wouldn't have done all this if they were guilty. If the fund is still going, we will continue the website even if they are charged and face trial. They wouldn't want us to back off ..."

He remains convinced "someone" in Portugal knows the truth about Madeleine's whereabouts, and the family yesterday launched an £80,000 TV, newspaper and billboard campaign, which will be translated into several languages primarly aimed at Spain, Portugal and other mainland European countries, beginning in two weeks.

Madeleine's uncle, John McCann, from Glasgow, said: "The main objective of the Madeleine fund is to leave no stone unturned in the search for Madeleine."

Calum became involved after Madeleine's aunt, Philomena McCann, his former schoolteacher in Ullapool, approached him four days after the girl disappeared on May 3.

He said his staff spent between "12 and 20" hours each week on the website and wristbands. Although he claimed to have lost money on an earlier stunt for Premier League footballers to wear Madeleine t-shirts, he is pressing ahead with the distribution of T-shirts to the public in return for £10 donations.

Calum said: "We stopped every other thing we were doing that day and put the Find Madeleine site straight on. It's pretty much full-time doing the website and bands. We just invoice the fund, but it's not expensive compared with what other companies would charge. We have to account for how many hours are worked. It's not for us to decide what we are paid, but the fund insist we are."

The website's English-based server crashed when 1.5 million users tried to watch a video of Madeleine shown at the Uefa and FA Cup finals.

Figures obtained by the Sunday Herald show the Find Madeleine website attracted as many people as Missing People, the established UK charity formally known as the National Missing Persons Helpline, on September 7, the day Kate and Gerry were named as suspects in the case.

They show that 400,000 people viewed the Madeleine site, compared to only 150,000 for www.missingpeople.org.uk which is responsible for issuing appeals for thousands of people who vanish across the UK and Europe. American interest accounted for 103,000 hits on the Madeleine site, with only 15,000 from Portugal, and around 20,000 each from European countries such as Spain and Germany, which the family are hoping to target with the poster campaign.

Calum also revealed how Kate checks Gerry's blog before it is emailed to the site. However, Gerry has only posted one message since his return to Britain last week. Calum added: "It has got crazy at times, we've even got people going on in places such as Kurdistan."

Another worker on the site, Rona Eddington, 18, the daughter of a senior police inspector in Ross-shire, said: "We've had people saying in emails we killed her and taken her away' and we hate you.' We don't know if they are genuine, but they are passed to the police, who chase them all up. We've had so many like that and have to filter them. The website is about supporting the family."

Rona's father, chief inspector Paul Eddington, said he had no problems with his daughter's involvement in the website following Leicestershire Police's decision to take Kate's diary and Gerry's laptop, which he used to write his blog, for their Portuguese counterparts to examine last week.

The Portuguese magistrate examining the case is expected to announce this week whether the couple will face further questioning.

"I view what my daughter is doing as a parent, rather than a police officer. In the unlikely event that the investigation did involve the website, I would take a pragmatic view and wouldn't seek to get involved," said Eddington.

Calum is already working on new ventures after spotting a market in missing-person websites. Last week he contacted the family of missing schoolgirl Rosemary Edwards, from Hampshire, after her father made an emotional TV appeal. He said: "I don't think we should be making money out of it, but I would love to do more stuff like this. We phoned up to see if they wanted a website for that missing girl, but they haven't called back."

www.findmadeleine.com

 
When the Madeleine site was launched (original link)
 

Madeleine Web site gets 55 million hits

Published 18 May 2007

By Peter Griffiths

LONDON (Reuters) - A Web site set up to help find missing four-year-old Madeleine McCann has received more than 50 million hits, its operator said on Friday.

More than 7,500 people have left messages of support on the www.findmadeleine.com site and 55 million hits have been counted since its launch.

Thousands have downloaded appeal posters and forwarded an email chain letter started by Madeleine's family. The little girl disappeared from her bedroom at a hotel resort in Portugal on May 3 as her parents dined nearby.

"It is booming," said Calum MacRae, director of Infohost, the Scottish IT company behind the findmadeleine site. "We didn't expect this number of people.

"We had 10 million hits between 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Thursday -- our server just gave up, but we resolved that within five minutes."

The website www.bringmadeleinehome.com was launched on May 9 and it changed to www.findmadeleine.com on Wednesday.

Messages of support from across Europe, the United States and Australia have been posted on the site.

"You are in my thoughts every day," wrote Heidi from Finland. "I pray that she will be found soon safe and well."

Debbie Bates, from Australia, wrote: "As a mother of two, I cannot imagine for a moment what you are going through."

Parents Kate and Gerry McCann are taking "immense strength" from the messages, said family member Michael Wright.

"Their purpose is to turn hope into action," he said on Thursday. "We want everyone to have an image of Madeleine in whatever country in Europe they visit."

A video appeal will be shown on Saturday at the FA Cup final between Manchester United and Chelsea at Wembley Stadium.

Portuguese police say they have insufficient evidence to arrest anyone in the hunt for the girl.

One suspect has been identified by police -- a 33-year-old who lives in the area -- but his name has not been made public.

 
Article by Calum MacRae - Sky News 23 May 2007 (original link)
 

Calum MacRae

Inside The Website Engine Room

We were more than happy to oblige. We had a basic site up and running on the internet within a day.

Half a dozen of us who know Phil have been running the website for the past two weeks, night & day.

It soon became obvious to us that we needed to upgrade the site and get some people in to help with the messages that were pouring in through it.

We have received a huge response from the public with over 150 million visitors on the site from all over the world. We have just added a new banner for readers to download, to maintain momentum in the Find Madeleine campaign.

We have also received over 70,000 messages of support for the family and to date we have passed on over 200 messages to the police and crimestoppers with the hope that one of these will lead the authorities to find Madeleine.

We have also added the online payment facility to the site to allow members of the public to make donations to 'Madeleine's Fund : Leaving No Stone Unturned' Fund.

This has been very popular and we have seen money come in from every corner of the world.

The site is also allowing Jerry and Kate keep the public up to date with what they are doing from day to day, as they feel it is important for them to keep in touch with the public and to thank them for all their support.

Note: Despite setting up such a high profile site, Calum still doesn't appear to know how to spell Gerry's name!

 
Related links
 
Infohost Ltd
 
 
'Infohost LTD has been trading for 6 years now'
 
Deerwhistles Online Store - Deerwhistles are supplied by Infohost Ltd to the UK Market.  
 
Infohost has been trading in the UK since May 2003 and is VAT Registered. A VAT Receipt will be supplied with all orders.
 
 
Shares contact number with Infohosts Ltd
 
Cameron MacRae:
 

 
Press Release from FindMadeleine website, 26 August 2008
 
Oakley International FindMadeleine
 
Date Released: 26/08/2008
 
In the light of articles in some UK Sunday newspapers this weekend, we feel it is appropriate to comment briefly on our relationship with the investigation company Oakley International.

We appointed them several months ago to investigate the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. We continue to work with them to this end. The working relationship is managed by Brian Kennedy, who also confirms the relationship with Oakley International continues to be good and that it remains entirely focused on the search for Madeleine.