By now I’m sure you have heard the story of 4-year-old Madeleine McCann. She is the British girl who was allegedly kidnapped from her family’s vacation villa in Portugal on May 3rd. News of her disappearance made international headlines and inspired many celebrities to contribute to her reward fund.
Currently, the Madeleine McCann reward fund (given to the person or persons who provide information that helps assist in the child’s safe return) has exceeded $5 million. According to British press reports, Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling has to date pledged the single largest contribution to the fund. One newspaper called the amount “staggering,” but said the author asked the exact amount be kept secret (most insiders estimate the amount is about $600,000). Rowling’s major contribution was added to the $495,000 pledge from Topshop owner Sir Philip Green. Meanwhile, Virgin Air’s Sir Richard Branson offered $200,000, American Idol judge Simon Cowell donated $100,000, as did soccer star David Beckham.
In addition to her monetary pledge, Rowling also asked booksellers around the world to post pictures of the missing girl near cash registers at all stores where the new Harry Potter book is on sale. The author’s 65 publishers in more than 200 territories, including Malta (the last place a solid lead came in regarding McCann) agreed. Rowling told news reporters that she wanted the little girl’s picture “displayed prominently in shops all over the world” in hopes it would help find McCann and raise the profile of other missing children in different countries.
And today a new effort was launched in the hopes of finding the young girl alive. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: don’t underestimate the power of the Internet, specifically the video sharing site, YouTube. The parents of Madeleine McCann aren’t and have subsequently launched a new channel on YouTube to allow people to post videos, images and information about their missing children.
The site officially kicked off today. Madeleine’s parents who are working with Google, YouTube and the International Center for Missing and Exploited Children created it. Workers from the Center for Missing Children are responsible for making sure any child on a video that is posted is really missing, that authorities know the child is missing, and that the images are not exploitative.
YouTube has always been the place you could go to see what happens when you combine Mentos and Diet Coke or to watch what transpires when you leave a flying squirrel in a room with flypaper. Now it looks as though the website that has helped in the evolution of popular culture is making a difference in the lives of families with missing loved ones.
Take a look at the site and see if you recognize any of the children.