Is "may" the hardest word?

Did you see the BBC's Crimewatch programme about the disappearance of Madeleine McCann on Monday?  The police have now suggested that the abduction may have taken place as late as 10.00 p.m., which means that her mother may have been close to coming face to face with the abductor when she went to check on her around that time and found her missing.  And the headline in pretty well every newspaper the following morning?  "Mum missed kidnap by minutes" or something similar.  Note the absence of the word "may" - a possibility has been turned into a certain fact.  Lot of it about.