The Latest Development in the Madeleine McCann Case Explained

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For 18 long years, Kate and Gerry McCann continue to hold on to the faint glimmer of hope, unyielding in their pursuit, that they may one day locate their beloved daughter Madeleine.

Or at least that they’ll learn the truth about what happened to her.

On the 18th anniversary of Madeleine’s disappearance, just a few days before her fourth birthday, Kate and Gerry wrote on their Find Madeleine website that time seems to be moving faster than ever. Although they don’t have any major updates at the moment, their commitment to leave no stone unturned remains as strong as ever. They are determined to do everything in their power to make this a reality.

Reflecting upon what would have been Madeleine’s 22nd birthday this year, the couple expressed, “Though we may be apart from her in distance, she remains ever-present with us each day, and even more so on her special occasion. We take this opportunity to honor and cherish her as the remarkable and one-of-a-kind individual she was. We deeply feel her absence.

The doctor duo, who are parents to now-20-year-old twins Sean and Amelie, have been striving to continue with their lives in England, despite a significant part of them remaining connected to Praia da Luz, Portugal. This is the place where their eldest child vanished during a family vacation in the spring.

Back in 2008, the case was closed in Portugal, but in 2011, Scotland Yard took over with a fresh investigation. Later on, in 2013, Portuguese authorities reopened the same case. Since then, with worldwide attention not fading, the case has remained active and ongoing.

2020 saw German authorities publicly identifying Christian Brueckner as a suspect in the McCann case. A former convict for sexual offenses, Brueckner is set to be released from prison soon following a seven-year sentence for raping an elderly woman. However, he maintains his innocence regarding Madeleine’s disappearance and has never been officially charged in connection with the case.

In a conversation with Sky News in January, prosecutor Hans Christian Wolter stated that there is no foreseeable indictment regarding the Maddie case at this time. Currently, the individual accused as Christian B is expected to be released from prison around early September.

 

2020 saw Metro Police confirm that an individual later identified as Christian B., spent periods, on and off, in the Algarve – Portugal’s beautiful southern region known for its coastal resorts, from 1995 to 2007.

The authorities circulated images and details of two potentially relevant vehicles: a camper van and a Jaguar that had been recently re-registered under a different name, following Madeleine’s disappearance in 2007. They appealed to the public for any information about these vehicles, particularly sightings during the spring and summer seasons of that year.

But it’s unclear as yet if the latest action in the McCann case has borne any fruit. 

On June 3rd, a fresh investigation began in the region stretching from the Portuguese resort where the McCann family was staying when Madeleine went missing in 2007, up to the location where Brueckner was residing during that same period.

The investigation concluded after three days, although the authorities haven’t disclosed any specifics. However, according to BBC’s report on June 6, their conversation with an officer implied that no substantial evidence was uncovered.

While waiting, Madeleine’s family has grown accustomed to handling each new development – one that might eventually crack the case – calmly and resiliently.

13 years have passed since Madeleine vanished, and it’s hard for all of us to comprehend the uncertainty her family must be feeling, not having any idea about what might have happened or where she could be. This was expressed by Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cranwell, who is in charge of the McCann investigation (Operation Grange), when he released a statement on June 3, 2020, following the recent development in the case.

After celebrating its ten-year anniversary, the Metropolitan Police learned about a German individual who had been present near Praia da Luz. We have collaborated with authorities in Germany and Portugal on this case, and this man is considered a suspect in Madeleine’s disappearance. The Met Police conducted several investigations, and in November 2017, they coordinated efforts with the German Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), who agreed to assist in the investigation.

Ever since then, extensive investigations have been conducted by the Metropolitan Police, BKA, and Polícia Judiciária. Currently, this individual is considered a suspect, but we remain open to the possibility of his involvement. This case still classifies as a missing person investigation. Our role as detectives involves tracing the evidence, keeping an open mind, and determining the sequence of events that occurred on May 2007.

What happened to Madeleine McCann?

The McCanns were on holiday with three other families in Praia da Luz when Madeleine went missing.

On May 3, 2007, as several accounts suggest, Kate and Gerry joined the other adults for dinner around 8:30 PM. Before this, they had put Madeleine and her siblings to bed in a shared room within the McCanns’ accommodation at the Ocean Club resort. The parents rotated checking on the children every thirty minutes by visiting their rooms periodically.

At 9:05 PM, Gerry made sure to check on the kids. Later on, Dr. Matthew Oldfield, another travel companion, admitted going in at 9:30 PM, but he became uncertain if he had indeed observed Madeleine in her bed during that time.

At ten in the evening, Kate went back to her apartment. The front bedroom’s door, where the kids were peacefully asleep, was ajar. She recollected from her 2011 book titled “Madeleine: Our Daughter’s Disappearance and the Continuing Search for Her” that, as she stood there in a bit of confusion, the door suddenly banged shut. Upon closer inspection, she discovered a draft coming from an open window.

In the heart-pounding silence of the night, as Amelie and Sean slumbered blissfully unaware, I found myself struck with an unsettling realization: Madeleine was no longer there. With a panic that threatened to choke me, I scoured the resort grounds in haste, every step echoing my growing dread. By 10:14 p.m., our worst fears were confirmed – our precious daughter, adorned in her Eeyore pajamas from Marks & Spencer and tucked securely under her pink blanket with Cuddle Cat by her side, was nowhere to be found.

Originally, they intended to mark Madeleine’s fourth birthday on May 12th, however, on that day, she mysteriously vanished with no sign of her whereabouts.

Beyond the initial 48 hours, nothing much has altered since then,” Kate shared with Sky News back in 2017, explaining that despite their daughter still being missing, there was no solid proof to suggest she had come to harm. The challenging part, she added, has been figuring out how we might locate her all this time.

However, Kate mentioned they should find encouragement in the advancements already achieved, and we should continue to adhere to the ongoing process and persist with it, no matter how long it may take. Yet, there remains optimism that we might eventually locate Madeleine.

2020 saw Metro Police stating that Christian B., later identified as such, spent periods on and off in Portugal’s Algarve, its southernmost region known for numerous beachfront resorts and holiday destinations, from 1995 to 2007.

Law enforcement officials disseminated images and details of two vehicles potentially connected to the suspect – a camper van and a Jaguar that was re-registered under an alias name a day following Madeleine’s disappearance, and urged the public to report any observed instances of these vehicles dating back to the spring and summer of 2007.

Furthermore, the police statement added that Brueckner had a phone conversation which concluded around the time Madeleine went missing. Consequently, the individual at the other end of that call is deemed a potential “critical witness” of high importance.

They made public the two mobile phone numbers implicated, each beginning with Portugal’s country code 351, and urged anyone with relevant information regarding either number to reach out to the authorities.

The next day, Cranwell said they had received more than 270 calls and emails.

In a statement issued in 2020, the McCanns expressed gratitude towards the police for their persistent efforts and the public for their unwavering support. They stated, “Our only wish has always been to discover her, reveal the truth, and bring those involved to account. We shall never lose hope that Madeleine is still alive. Regardless of the eventual outcome, we yearn to understand, as finding closure is crucial for us.

German officials, meanwhile, gave their own grim update on the case as well.

Previously unnamed Brueckner is reported to have multiple child sexual abuse convictions according to German authorities (cited by NBC News), and it appears he managed to make a living through illegal activities such as burglarizing hotel complexes and holiday apartments, dealing in illicit narcotics, among other criminal offenses.

On June 4, 2020, as reported by Reuters, the state prosecutor of Braunschweig, Wolters, stated that they believe the girl has passed away. The Public Prosecutor’s Office in Braunschweig is currently investigating a 43-year-old German citizen on suspicion of murder.

A few days after speaking with the BBC, Wolters stated, “We currently possess evidence suggesting that the suspect indeed committed the murder of Madeleine. However, the current evidence is not yet robust enough for a court trial.

The prosecutor stated that the evidence was “sufficiently robust to conclude that the girl is deceased and to implicate a particular person in murder—it’s that strong.” However, Wolter mentioned, “It’s important to be truthful and keep an open mind about the possibility that our investigation might not result in a charge, that it could end like other cases have. We are hopeful that this case will be different for us, but for that, we need additional information.

Up until now, the Metropolitan Police continue to categorize the probe into Madeleine’s disappearance as an ongoing search for a missing person.

For several years, a small number of individuals have been pointed out as potential suspects, among them Gerry and Kate. However, it wasn’t until July 2008, approximately ten months after the authorities admitted they lacked sufficient proof to continue interrogating the pair, that Portuguese officials officially declared them free from suspicion.

Robert Murat, a British resident residing near the Ocean Club and willing to assist in the search for Madeleine at her initial disappearance, eventually received over $750,000 in damages for defamation from four British media outlets due to their newspaper articles that heavily implied his involvement in some wrongdoing.

At a press conference, Kate expressed that it was incredibly difficult to put into words the profound despair they felt when they were labeled as suspects in our daughter’s abduction and subsequently portrayed as such by the media. She also added that it has been equally distressing to observe how this label negatively impacted the search for Madeleine.

Back in 2007, I was part of a large-scale operation by local authorities, codenamed “Operation Predator,” that targeted numerous properties associated with approximately 80 suspected pedophiles in Portugal. Regrettably, this operation did not yield any substantial leads related to the McCann case. Fast forward to 2012, Scotland Yard disclosed that they had identified 38 individuals as potential suspects in this case, among them 12 fellow Britons. By October 2013, the number of persons of interest had grown to 41, with 15 of those being British nationals.

Information and reported sightings of Madeleine arrived from various parts of the globe, even reaching distant locations like India and New Zealand.

Back in 2014, I shared news about a series of incidents that had taken place over a six-year span, from 2004 to 2010. These events, potentially connected, involved break-ins at vacation villas predominantly occupied by British families holidaying in the western Algarve region. A male intruder managed to gain entry into these properties.

Back in March 2014, NBC News stated that authorities were appealing to the public for assistance in identifying a suspect, whose peculiarity, according to them, was a fascination with young Caucasian girls.

In four cases under investigation, it’s suspected that a man, who is characterized as having a tan complexion, messy short dark hair, and speaking English with a foreign accent, allegedly sexually assaulted five girls aged 7 to 10 while they slept in their beds.

In June 2020, investigators in Stade, Germany revealed that the newly identified suspect is also under investigation regarding the 2015 vanishing of Inga G., a five-year-old girl who went missing from the woods near a family gathering in Stendal, approximately 60 miles west of Berlin.

A representative from the prosecutors’ office stated that they are examining if there’s a link between the two incidents.

Despite finding the update unsettling, a representative from the McCann family stated to NBC News that it seemed to be the most substantial advancement in the case thus far.

Clarence Mitchell, a previous BBC journalist who currently acts as a spokesperson for the McCann family, stated that this is an unusual instance in the past 13 years where police have provided such detailed information about a suspect, including phone numbers, vehicle details, and notably a known individual.

According to Mitchell, Gerry and Kate are doing their best to handle the situation, but they prefer to keep the spotlight on the ongoing police investigation. He also mentioned that they continue to hold onto hope.

Back in 2017, I shared with Sky News an insightful thought: “It’s not until you’re faced with no other choice that you truly understand your own strength.” I believe this sentiment rings particularly true during challenging times. Of course, such significant events can trigger a wave of reactions, trauma, and distress. However, it’s crucial to find the resilience within oneself to persevere, especially when there are little lives depending on us.

Gerry remarked with a gentle grin, “Before Madeleine went missing, I believe we had created a small, ideal nuclear family of five. But it was brief…Life changes, you adjust, and you establish a new normalcy. Sadly for us, our current normal is a family of four.

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2025-06-07 16:17