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Maddie McCann has been missing since 2007. Years after the disappearance, there is still hope. The most important information at a glance.
Wiesbaden/Praia da Luz – The missing case of little Maddie McCann from England has caused a stir around the world. Since the disappearance, the girl’s parents have mobilized the public to continue the search for their daughter. Years after the disappearance, there is still hope for a turnaround in this sad case – a chance to solve the crime.
Missing Maddie McCann: BKA announces trace to Germany – and asks for further information
A groundbreaking development occurred during the broadcast of “Aktenzeichen XY” on ZDF: The Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) in Wiesbaden announced that the investigations into the Maddie McCann case lead to a promising lead to Germany. The program had previously received information about a suspect. The investigators then appealed to the public to collect further information and to substantiate the suspicion against a German man who had already been convicted in Bavaria.
This is what little Maddie could look like as a teenager. © dpa / John Stillwell
Despite the girl’s disappearance years ago, the criminal case remains in the headlines. The tragic incident even caught the attention of Netflix, which made its own documentary dedicated to the missing person case. Kate and Gary McCann, the little Brit’s parents, have publicly reported the events on the evening of May 3, 2007 from the very beginning. The case has since received worldwide attention.
Maddie’s parents search diligently – and become the focus of the investigators themselves
Although Kate and Gary McCann’s statements brought them into the focus of investigators and the British press, they did not hesitate to continue to activate the media to draw attention to the fate of their daughter Madeleine. The circumstances of that fateful vacation day remain extremely mysterious.
Maddie, who was just three years old at the time, was on holiday in Portugal with her parents and two siblings in the coastal town of Praia da Luz on the Algrave. Shortly before the little girl’s parents planned dinner with their friends who had traveled with them, Maddie McCann and her two siblings, a pair of twins, were put to sleep in the holiday apartment.
The search for missing Maddie McCann immediately after the crime was unsuccessful
According to the doctor couple’s statements, the McCanns and their family friends regularly took turns checking on the children in the holiday apartments every 30 minutes. According to the parents, the holiday accommodation was only about 50 meters away from the complex’s restaurant.
At 10 p.m., Kate McCann noticed the sudden disappearance of her daughter Maddie during her walk and immediately raised the alarm with her husband and friends. An extensive search operation was immediately launched as the couple’s two twins from England slept peacefully in their beds. However, there was no trace of little Maddie, who was said to have slept in the same room as the twins.
Girls may have been abducted abroad – authorities inform airports and border crossings
According to Kate McCann’s statement to police, the previously locked window was now inexplicably open. In the days that followed the little girl’s disappearance, volunteers, investigators and police officers combed the area and the holiday resort with great effort, but little Maddie remained untraceable. However, only recently relevant information from a couple triggered a new search not far from the holiday resort. Around 50 kilometers from the crime scene, police officers searched a reservoir for three days for new clues in the missing person case involving Maddie McCann.
Due to the possibility that three-year-old Maddie may have been abducted abroad, all airports and border crossings were immediately notified of the situation. A family friend reported to police that she had seen a man at the resort with a bundle of blankets in his arms. It was only shortly afterwards that the girl’s disappearance was discovered.
Worldwide support in the search for missing Maddie – many clues turn out to be false
After the girl disappeared, the parents used the media to reach out to the public in the weeks that followed. Despite the distribution of wanted posters and a moving television appeal, their efforts were unsuccessful. Although the parents themselves soon became the target of investigators and the British press, Kate and Gary McCann were still able to count on worldwide support.
Authorities in England and Portugal received thousands of tips. Witnesses claimed to have seen the girl in Portugal, Malta, Morocco and various parts of Europe. But all of these clues turned out to be false and there is still no trace of Maddie. A forensic expert has now explained which three theories could be used for Maddie McCann’s disappearance.
Missing Maddie McCann: Cristiano Ronaldo and the Pope also support her family
Even world stars such as Cristiano Ronaldo showed their support for the McCanns in the search for their daughter. Even a visit to the Pope in Rome is intended to give the family courage and strength for the ongoing search for Maddie.
Years after their daughter’s disappearance, the parents from England have not given up hope. In the TV program “Aktenzeichen XY”, the couple once again appeals to holidaymakers from Germany to report suspicious observations to the authorities during their vacation in Portugal in 2007.
According to the investigators, information was actually received at that time regarding the man from Germany who was now a strong suspect. A father from North Rhine-Westphalia also hoped that the investigations into the Maddie case would provide new information about his son’s disappearance. The boy disappeared in 1996 near the same place where the English girl was kidnapped.
Machine assistance was used for this article written by the editorial team. The article was carefully checked by editor Bjarne Kommnick before publication.