When a tiny blonde-haired, lively, funny, joyful girl woke up missing from a family holiday in the sleepy Portuguese resort of Praia de Luz, little did she, nor her parents, nor the world, know that for the next eighteen years her face would become the poster child for all missing children everywhere. Madeleine McCann woke up, but where was she or who was she with? and where was mummy?
Madeleine Beth McCann was nearly four years old, born on 17th May 2003, hailing from the Leicestershire village of Rothley. Her parents Kate and Gerry were both well respected doctors in the region. Her daddy, a Cardiologist at Leicester’s Glenfield Hospital, while her mummy was a local part time General Practitioner. Madeleine shared her parents with her non-identical twin siblings Amelie and Sean, both two years old.
Gerry – or Gerald – Patrick McCann was born on 5th June 1968 in Glasgow, where he attended University in his pursuit of becoming the renowned the doctor he is today. He achieved his Bsc in Physiology and Sports Science in 1989 before qualifying in Medicine three years later. He received his MD in 2002 and now works as a Cardiologist as well as being a Professor of Cardiac Imaging in the University of Leicester.
Kate Marie McCann, nee Healy, was born on 5th March 1968 in Huyton, Merseyside. She graduated from University of Dundee with a degree in medicine in 1992 and became a local GP in Leicester.
Gerry McCann married Kate Healy in December 1998 and immediately set about starting a family. Unfortunately they were not able to naturally conceive to create their dream of having a child. With that, they had to turn to attempting IVF which, fortunately from their point of view, yielded the first of three children in the shape of Madeleine. A year later, a long came two more with the birth of twins Amelie and Sean, also through the magic of IVF.
Two very hard working doctors and upstanding members of the community, the McCanns needed a break from the daily rigour of everyday life and booked a holiday at the Praia de Luz Ocean Club resort towards the end of April 2007. The first few days of the holiday went perfectly, the McCanns, along with their friends who had travelled with them, spent their days playing tennis and other activities, while the children joined their various clubs during the day to be entertained. The evenings saw the adults out eating and drinking while the children slept in their apartments.
Panic hit on the evening of the 3rd May 2007 when the group were out as usual at the Tapas bar eating, drinking, laughing, enjoying themselves. The routine was for one adult to periodically check on the children, approximately every half an hours. However, on the occasion of Kate McCann visiting her apartment to check on the twins and Madeleine, her heart stopped and her face dropped as she noticed her daughter’s bed was empty. The bedroom curtains were wafting as a breeze flowed through the open window.
“They’ve taken her!” she yelled as she ran back down to the Tapas bar to inform the others.
The group of adults picked themselves up and rushed back to apartment 5A. There they found an empty bed where Madeleine once slept and both the twins fast asleep in the cots. Kate panicked as she was unable to wake the small twins and even had to get the help of their friends, fearing they had been drugged or similar.
As the parents and adults searched profusely for the missing girl a horrible sinking feeling set in as it became very clear Madeleine was not in the apartment and was not simply hiding. She was gone. She was nowhere to be seen. The window was open. The bed was bedraggled and it was empty. Where was she?
“Madeleine!! Madeleine!!” Gerry cried out in his strongest Scottish accent.
The group of adults were soon joined by local residents and holidaymakers alike, searching the streets of the resort. Had she simply wandered off? Afterall they had left the veranda doors unlocked. Had she woken in the night, reached for the door handle and wandered off to find mummy and daddy? Maybe she was lost on the cobbled streets of Praia da Luz. Maybe. Perhaps.
Time was vital so the local police GNR were called to help, but unfortunately they failed to seal off the bedroom where Madeleine had disappeared from, allowing many many people to traipse through a potential crime scene. The higher authority Polícia Judiciária, responsible for criminal investigations in Portugal, were subsequently drafted in to take over the situation.
That night of the third of May was spent searching and crying and wailing. Kate in particular was distraught, as you would expect of a mother. The following morning, still with no sign of the young girl, the media circus began. News reports coming out of the Portuguese resort reverberated around the world as the three year old was headline news on every news station in every country. Madeleine’s face became the most famous face on television as the story gathered pace.
Gerry and Kate McCann stood in front of television cameras giving as many personal appeals as they could, pleading with whomever had taken their little girl to give her back. The story had the nation gripped. What happened to Madeleine McCann?
The Portuguese Investigation
The full investigation is available online at The PJ Files.
Polícia Judiciária (PJ) were tasked with uncovering the truth behind what had happened, led by Goncalo Amarel. All nine adults were interviewed and witness statements given. Gerry McCann stated that as a group they all went to eat at the Tapas bar and he went back to his apartment at approximately 9:05pm to check on his children. He opened the door, which was locked, with his key. He noticed the three children sleeping as they should be and he left, after using the bathroom for a few minutes. On his way back to the bar, he met a fellow British tourist whom he had previously played tennis with and had a short conversation with. He returned to the bar after this.
According to Gerry’s statement, his friend Matthew Oldfield checked on Madeleine and the twins at approximately 9:30pm. He did this by entering the patio doors, which were always kept unlocked. Matthew looked in on the children’s bedroom and noticed the twins sleeping but “he did not even notice whether Madaleine was there”.
Kate and Gerry’s friend, Jane Tanner testified that, during her trip back to check on the children at 9:15pm, she noticed a man ‘hurriedly’ walking while carrying a small child.
Matthew Oldfield’s statement slightly contradicted Gerry’s account when he said he went to check on his and the McCann children at 9:25pm but never entered their apartment and only checked from the outside. He saw the twins sleeping, but couldn’t see Madeleine. However, as it was all quiet, he assumed all was good.
According to Kate McCann’s statement, she was supposed to do her checks on the children at 9:30pm but her friend Matthew Oldfield had just checked. He had done so by entering the apartment. This is an interesting contradiction as both Gerry and Kate assert that Matthew had gone through the patio doors into their apartment but Matthew states he only checked from outside the building.
Kate says she went to make her checks at approximately 10pm by entering the apartment through the locked door using her keys. She noticed the children’s bedroom door was open and the window and shutters were also open. She subsequently noticed Madaleine was missing from her bed. She checked on the twins who were still in their cot. She then ran down to the bar to alert the others.
Kate also mentioned in her statement that that morning Madaleine had asked why she hadn’t come to check on the twins when they were crying the night before.
In the days after the disappearance, appeals were made to anyone who had seen anybody matching Madeleine’s appearance. Several possible sightings emerged, such as the one from a local gas station of a woman with a young child. However, all sightings were negative.
They drafted in two very special cadaver and blood hound dogs from England. The first dog, Eddy, an expert in detecting cadaverine and blood, alert to an area in the parents bedroom inside a wardrobe as well as an area behind the sofa in the living room. As Eddy could not determine whether it was cadaverine or blood he was detecting a second dog, Keela, was brought in as she was an expert in blood only. Keela subsequently alerted to the blood behind the sofa as Eddy did, but did not alert to the scent in the wardrobe. This suggested that the scent in the wardrobe was most likely cadaverine – human remains of some sort.
The spots of blood which were discovered up the wall behind the sofa were determined to be almost certainly belonging to Madeleine. Out of the 19 DNA markers tested, 15 matched Madeleine and four were unable to be tested due to the poor sample quality. This would have been sufficient in the UK to prove that it was Madeleine’s blood. However, in Portugal the law requires a 100% match which it was, baring the four markers which were unable to be tested.
The Suspects
Arguido is the term in Portugal to describe anyone who is an official suspect of a crime. One of the early arguido in this case was a man named Robert Murat. He was an English-born property consultant. Born in Hammersmith, London, Murat was 34 years of age and inserted himself into this story much in the same vein as the likes of Ian Huntly had during his media interviews before being convicted of the very crime he had tried to help solve. Murat had offered himself as an interpreter as their appeared to be a disconnect between the PJ and the McCanns where language was concerned. As an ex-pat, Murat was able to relay vital information between the two parties. However, one tabloid journalist became suspicious and reported their concerns to the PJ who in turn named him as an arguido.
Robert Murat’s life was turned upside down as his name and face were splashed across every newspaper as the main suspect in Madeleine’s disappearance. The Portuguese police turned his house as well as his life upside down as they searched his home. His car, computers, phones and video tapes were examined, as well as his pool being drained and his garden being thoroughly searched. Despite this invasive process, nothing was found.
In September 2007 both Kate and Gerry McCann were named as arguidos as the Portuguese police had the theory that Madeleine had died in the apartment in an accident and the parents had covered it up. This theory was based on evidence they had uncovered and pieced together. A few weeks earlier, the two cadaver dogs had been drafted in.
The combination of cadaverine scent and blood found was enough to put the McCanns well and truly on the radar of the Portuguese police and were officially named arguidos.
Despite Kate and Gerry McCann’s protestations about being completely innocent their demeanour and actions gave off a different vibe. For example, Madeleine’s favourite stuffed toy ‘Cuddle Cat’ was such a precious possession that kate carried it everywhere she went. Afterall, it still had Madeline’s smell on it, any parent would hold onto that scent for as long as possible. However, Kate washed it seventy days after she went missing. Seventy days. Not a year or even two or a lifetime as many parents may have done, but seventy days. Imagine washing away the last remaining scent of your young child. Unimaginable, but Kate McCann did it. By some coincidence, her decision to wash Cuddle Cat coincided with the cadaver dogs arriving. Perhaps it was a coincidence but it certainly draws attention.
Both Kate and Gerry McCann gave composed interviews which showed their cold side. These interviews have been dissected to within an inch of their lives as the public attempted to seek the truth. However, one interview which came especially under scrutiny was when Kate was quizzed by the police and she chose to refuse to answer any of the forty-eight questions put to her. Suspicions grew because why wouldn’t Madeleine’s mother want to answer any question which would help get her child back? Why wouldn’t she want to do anything she could to help the investigation instead of hinder it?
THE 48 QUESTIONS
1. On May 3, 2007, around 22:00, when you entered the apartment, what did you see? What did you do? Where did you look? What did you touch?
2. Did you search inside the master bedroom wardrobe? – what were your exact words?
3. (Shown two photographs of her bedroom wardrobe) Can you describe its contents?
4. Why was the curtain by the sofa near the side window tampered with? Did someone go behind the sofa?
5. How long did your search of the apartment take after you detected Madeleine’s disappearance?
6. Why did you say Madeleine had been abducted?
7. Assuming Madeleine was abducted, why did you leave the twins to go to the ‘Tapas’ and raise the alarm? The supposed abductor could still be in the apartment.
8. Why didn’t you ask the twins then what happened to their sister or why didn’t you ask them later on?
9. When you raised the alarm at the ‘Tapas’ what exactly did you say – what were your exact words?
10. What happened after you raised the alarm there?
11. Why did you go and warn your friends instead of shouting from the verandah?
12. Who contacted the authorities?
13. Who took part in the searches?
14. Did anyone outside the group learn of her disappearance in those following minutes?
15. Did any neighbour offer you help?
16. What does ‘we let her down’ mean?
17. Did Jane Tanner tell you that night she’d seen a man with a child?
18. How were the authorities contacted and which police force was alerted?
19.During the searches, with the police there, where did you search for Maddie, how and in what way?
20. Why did the twins not wake up during that search or when they were taken upstairs?
21. Who did you phone after the occurrence?
22. Did you call Sky News?
23. Did you know the danger of calling the media, because it could influence the abductor?
24. Did you ask for a priest?
25. By what means did you divulge Madeleine’s features, by photographs or by any other means?
26. Is it true that during the searches you remained seated on Maddie’s bed without moving?
27. What was your behaviour that night?
28. Did you manage to sleep?
29. Before travelling to Portugal, did you make any comment about a foreboding or a bad feeling?
30. What was Madeleine’s behaviour like?
31. Did Maddie suffer from any illness or take any medication?
32. What was Madeleine’s relationship like with her brother and sister?
33. What was Madeleine’s relationship like with her brother and sister, friends and school mates?
34. As for your professional life, in how many and which hospitals have you worked?
35. What is your medical speciality?
36. Have you ever done shift work in any emergency services or other services?
37. Did you work every day?
38. At a certain point you stopped working. Why?
39. Are the twins difficult to get to sleep? Are they restless and does that cause you uneasiness?
40. Is it true sometimes you despaired at your children’s behaviour and it left you feeling very uneasy?
41. Is it true that in England you even considered handing over Madeleine’s custody to a relative?
42. In England, did you medicate your children? What type of medication?
43. In the case files, you were shown canine forensic testing films. After watching them, did you say you couldn’t explain any more than you already had?
44. When the sniffer dog also marked human blood behind the sofa, did you say you couldn’t explain any more than you already had?
45. When the sniffer dog marked the scent of corpse coming from the vehicle you hired a month after the disappearance, did you say you couldn’t explain any more than you already had?
46. When human blood was marked in the boot of the vehicle, did you say you couldn’t explain any more than you already had?
47. When confronted with the results of Maddie’s DNA, carried out in a British lab, collected from behind the sofa and the boot of the vehicle, did you say you couldn’t explain any more than you already had?
48. Did you have any responsibility or intervention in your daughter’s disappearance?
Kate McCann refused to answer these questions most likely on the advice of her legal team. The question is, should she have listened or done everything in her power to help get her child back? What would you have done?
Other questionable behaviour from the McCanns included Gerry taking to a game of tennis just days after his daughter’s disappearance and Kate going for a run in the hills. Everybody reacts differently in times of crisis and trauma but these actions drew attention.
In June 2020, a major breakthrough in the investigation as a German by the name of Christian Brueckner was named an arguido after he made a jail house confession to a cellmate about killing Madaleine. Investigations showed that the man who was in prison or the rape of a 72 year old woman was in Praia da Luz at the time of Madaleine’s disappearance and was known to be a child predator. German prosecutors claim to have hard evidence of Madaleine from the back of Brueckner’s VW van which had been seen in the area at the time of Madaleine going missing. He had motive and opportunity and admitted to it.
Brueckner has been linked to NINE other missing/murdered children
Brueckner has also been linked to other disappearances of children, including a boy, six, in Portugal in 2000, a five-year-old girl in Germany in 2015 and a number of others.
In 2020, he was being investigated over the rape and murder of Tristan Brübach, a 15-year-old boy from Germany.
Belgian authorities have also linked him to the murder of teenager Carola Titze, 16. She went missing while on holiday in De Haan, Belgium on July 5, 1996 and her body was discovered amongst sand dunes severely mutilated on July 11.
Other cases believed to be linked to Brueckner include that of Inga Gehrike who went missing from Saxony-Anhalt in Germany on May 2, 2015, René Hasee, six, who vanished while on a family holiday in Aljezur, Portugal on June 21, 1996 and Jair Soares who disappeared in August 1995.
Peggy Knobloch’s case has also been linked to Brueckner after she went missing in May 2001. (courtesy Independent)
Operation Grange
The Portuguese investigation wound down and in 2008 the closed the case. As such all arguidos were ‘cleared’, although they were never cleared as such. Kate and Gerry McCann were released from suspicion by default.
British police took over the investigation and picked up the pieces of what they thought was a botched Portuguese investigation. On 12th May 2011, Operation Grange was set up with the sole purpose of finding out what happened to Madaleine McCann. British tax payers’ money was used to fund it which led to public scrutiny as many believed that the McCanns had already had enough donations from the public and asked the valid question ‘why should this case receive so much funding and exposure when children go missing every day and don’t get anywhere near the publicity?’ To date, Operation Grange has received a total of £13 million to fund it’s pursuit of the truth. However, without any tangible results from their investigation it may not seem like money well spent. In the United Kingdom, over 100,000 children go missing each year. Why was the Madaleine case singled out? Some might argue that Kate and Gerry McCann were lucky not to be prosecuted for negligence in their daughter’s disappearance, far less being afforded a £13 million search fund.
The Dogs
The two cadaver dogs – Eddie, specialised in cadaver scent (human only) and Keela, specialised in human blood scent. They arrived from England three months after Madeleine’s disappearance. Their handler Martin Grime assisted the dogs in their search round apartment 5A.
The way the dogs worked was Eddie would bark if he scented either human cadaver odour or human blood. Grime says that Eddie would “not bark at anything other than cadaver odour, blood or when he’s hungry.” He would not bark at other dogs or humans ever. So, when Eddie barked at a cupboard in the corner of Kate and Gerry’s bedroom, Grime’s professional opinion having worked with the dog every day is it was a clear alert of either cadaver odour or blood.
Eddie then also alerted to an area of the living room behind the sofa.
As Eddie would alert to either cadaver or blood, they needed to know which it was so Grime brought in the second dog Keela. She was shown into the apartment and also alerted to the section behind the sofa which confirmed there must be blood located there as she is an expert in blood scent. She did not alert in the area by the cupboard as Eddie had so this meant the he had detected cadaver odour in there.
Later, the dogs also alerted positively when tasked with checking McCann’s hire car and various pieces of clothing which belonged to the McCanns.
Just how reliable are the use of dogs in investigations such as this? Handler Martin Grime states “In six years of operational deployment in over 200 criminal case searches the dog (Eddie) has never alerted to meat based and specifically pork foodstuffs designed for human consumption. Similarly, the dog has never alerted to ‘road kill’, that is any other dead animal.”
The F.B.I. have rated the combination of Grime the dog handler and Eddie the cadaver dog as “two of the best in the law enforcement speciality of canine forensics, able to find evidence everyone else missed.”
In conclusion, the use of the dogs would weigh heavily in terms of reliability.
Kate And Gerry, Killers
The big question is ‘do Kate and Gerry know what happened to Madaleine?’ There has always been a question mark over the parents. The evidence suggests something happened inside that apartment to their daughter. Firstly, the blood found behind the sofa, underneath the tiles, which almost certainly belonged to Madaeleine. This blood has never been explained away by either Kate or Gerry. Why was there fifteen spots of Madaleine’s blood? Did she have a nosebleed or some other cut? and why was it spattered over the wall? Without an explanation the question marks will always remain. In addition to the blood spots, cadaver odour was also detected in the cupboard in the apartment. This is human cadaver the dog Eddie alerts to only so why was human remains detected in that apartment? That question is very hard to ignore.
The theory is Madeleine awoke in the night and saw her mother or father outside. She climbed on top of the sofa to get a better look. She leaned forward, slipped and fell off the back of the sofa, hit her head and died there in the apartment. The McCanns found her and, instead of seeking help or declaring it as an accident, they decided to cover it up because they had given Madaleine a stronger than recommended dose of Calpol. Their daughter had woken up the night before so they decided to give her more sedatives to keep her asleep. This theory is backed up by the fact the twins never woke during the commotion when everyone was searching for Madeleine.
Other theories include similar scenarios but the accident happened in previous nights so they did not rush on the 3rd May to dispose of their daughter’s body.
Alternative theories include the McCanns not being responsible for their daughter’s death, but still knowing what happened to her that night. Did they allow the trafficking of Madaleine? Did they fake the break-in? There was question marks surrounding the window and shutters. They did not appear to have been broken into.
One way or another do Kate and Gerry McCann know what happened to Madaleine?
Abduction
The most popular theory is that Madaleine was abducted from within the apartment on the night of 3rd May. The story goes that Kate McCann made her check on the children around 10pm. As she stood in the doorway of the bedroom the door slammed shut. She looked across the room and noticed the curtains wafting in the wind as the window remained opened. She then noticed that Madaleine was missing from her bed.
The assumption for a long time was that it was a bungled robbery which turned into an abduction. Would that be the case? Who knows?
One issue the investigation had was there was not a clear time that Madaleine had gone missing. It was definitely by 10pm as that is when Kate sounded the alarm. However, it is not clear whether previous checks had noticed her in her in her bed or not.
Appeals were made for anyone who had seen a small child all over Europe. Several possible sightings were reported, with no positive results.
Look-a-likes
Periodically the investigation produced an age-progression photo of Madeleine as the years went by, in the hope she would notice herself or somebody else would recognise her. Hundreds of girls and women have come forward over the years claiming to be Madeleine. These have all been quashed…
…. then along came Julia. Who’s Julia? A Polish woman called Julia Wandelt burst onto the scene in 2022 with a story which was not only plausible but a very distinctive look which mirrored Madeleine. Julia claimed to have an horrendous upbringing which involved her being used by multiple men. Her early years were hazy and to top things off, her parents refused to do a DNA test to prove she was theirs. All sounding very suspicious, she followed the Madaleine case very closely and wondered if she could possibly be.
Julia began compiling a long list of reasons she believed she was Madeleine and posted them to social media. Her campaign took off in a huge way like no other and she soon had thousands of people believing she was the long missing child.
Julia posted comparison photos of her as a child and Madeleine. Julia bore many resemblances, including the well-publicised mark on her eye as Maddie had. Not just that but many other similarities which were very believable.
Her story was soon picked up by a world-renowned celebrity psychic named Dr Fia Johansson who promised to help Julia in her plight. Fia flew Julia out to America to meet her before joining her in meeting her parents back home in Poland. Fia wanted answers but was met with a brick wall when Julia’s parents refused to co-operate. They simply stated that Julia was forever seeking attention and had mental problems. They would not be doing a DNA test as they did not need to. Fia promised Julia she would find out the truth of whether or not she shared DNA with The McCanns. She carried out an online DNA profiling. However, when the results came back, it was not at all what anyone expected. Julia Wandelt was 100% Polish. Confirmed.
Julia was not finished there, however. She was determined that the results were false, even to the point of accusing her mentor of falsifying them, lying about the results. The two of them had run their course and decided to go their own way. Julia of course would spend the next two years letting everyone know that Fia was a scam artist.
In the meantime, Julia continued in her quest to prove that she was indeed Madeleine McCann. She had many ‘experts’ draft up DNA profiles showing that she shared DNA with members of the McCann family, most notably Gerry McCann. She even had conversations with the Met Police which she posted on social media, whereby it was made patently clear that nobody would be doing an official DNA test between her and the McCanns.
Late 2024 Julia hired a ‘renowned’ lawyer, Surjit Singh Clair, who agreed to work for free to help her obtain her ‘right’ of a DNA test. The only problem with Mr Singh Clair was that he had a previous conviction for conspiracy to pervert the course of justice in a racially motivated crime. Singh Clair was given a three year prison sentence.
“The judge said he had no doubt that Clair, from Walsall, had played the most significant role in the plot and had taken part solely from greed.
The sales manager was jailed for a further 12 months for attempting to obtain money under false pretences by selling the story to a newspaper.”
Despite the notoriety of this man, Julia carried on regardless and placed her entire faith upon him to give her the ‘justice’ she felt she deserved.
Things took a huge twist in this case when, in February 2025, Julia was arrested upon entry to the UK. She was held on remand in prison until a court date in April of that year. She was charged with four counts of harassment against the McCanns. These were one for each of Gerry, Kate and the twins Amelie and Sean. Julia had continuously badgered them – phoned, messaged, gone to their house – for months and finally they took action against her. Julia remains in prison awaiting a further court appearance.
BURNING QUESTIONS
Are the McCanns responsible for Maddie going missing?
Whatever happened to Madeleine on that day in May 2007 the buck stops with Gerry and Kate McCann. We can blame whomever and whatever whenever as much as we want but ultimately the responsibility of their child’s disappearance lies squarely with her parents. They let her down that day. They were supposed to be her protectors. They failed. They left her in that apartment bedroom alone, with her younger siblings, while they went to eat, leaving the door unlocked and a gift for anyone that way inclined.
The McCanns have said over and over that they were not that far away and within eyesight of their apartment, plus someone was checking on them every fifteen to thirty minutes (depending on who’s version you believe). They also state time and again that it was normal for people to do this. However, there is no amount of pleading that will change most people’s minds. This was a very bad form of neglect. Leaving three children aged four and under alone in an unlocked apartment. Anything could happen to them. They could wake up needing their parents – which possibly did happen on one of the earlier nights. They could have an accident, perhaps an emergency? Or they could have an intruder…
This neglect led directly to the disappearance of their own child and they were ‘fortunate’ that it was only the one they lost. There is a case to be had for the parents to be prosecuted for this. However, many defend this and say they have suffered enough with losing their child. While this is true, it could also be argued that if this were a less wealthy and less well connected family then they would have been prosecuted for neglect. I firmly believe this to be true.
What Gerry and Kate McCann did that day was criminal and they got away with it.
Did McCanns Kill Maddie?
Over the years, I have been back and forth with this. Did they kill their own daughter and cover it up? Maybe they accidentally killed her – possibly overdosed her on Calpol due to Maddie having awoken in the night previously so they gave her more to make sure she didn’t wake again. Maybe something happened and she died. Did she wake in the night, find her parents missing, climb onto the back of the sofa to look outside, slip and hit her head?
The fact the twins appeared to not wake up at all with all the commotion when their sister was missing suggests they had been given a sedative to help them sleep.
But did Gerry and Kate kill their daughter and then carry out the biggest cover-up ever seen?
The biggest argument for this would be the dogs. The cadaver dogs sensed a body had been in that apartment at some point. Dogs don’t lie. This is the part I cannot get my head around and keep coming back to. Those dogs were well trained and known to be extremely accurate, to the point they were praised by the FBI.
The parents in my opinion behaved very oddly in the days and weeks after the disappearance. They were evasive when questioned and often times appeared cold and distant, which I believe is their character so making it difficult to judge and sometimes even to feel sorry for them. They don’t come across as a likeable pair.
Kate McCann refused to answer questions to the police which to some was strange. It is likely she was advised not to answer as it may incriminate herself. However, by doing so she is also hindering a police investigation which could help get her child back. Most, including myself, would sacrifice anything to help find our missing child. She didn’t.
When Kate washed Maddie’s favourite soft toy ‘cuddle cat’ it raised huge alarm bells. Why would you wash away any remaining scent from your missing child? Most would never ever wash it again. She did.
I find it hard to believe these two committed a major crime that day but there is always this niggling feeling of something not quite right.
Was Maddie abducted?
If Kate McCann is to be believed, the window to the bedroom was opened as it produced a gush of wind with slammed the door shut. However, there was little evidence of this window being open and it wasn’t clear how it would have been opened from the outside.
The door to the apartment had been left unlocked while the adults went out to eat at the same time every night, checking on the kids every twenty minutes or so. This was the same routine every single night. It would not have been difficult for anyone to have watched and noted this behaviour and knew exactly how to enter the apartment and abduct Maddie while leaving no trace.
Despite the inconsistencies in The McCanns’ story it is highly feasible this happened.
Why has so much been spent on this case?
To date there has been £13 million spent on this single case. But why? If we compare Madeleine’s investigation to other missing children in the UK, Ben Needham aged just 21 months when he vanished on the Greek Island of Kos in 1991. His investigation has warranted a comparatively low search fund of just under £2 million. Additionally, other missing children and adults do not receive anywhere near this amount in funding. So why are the McCanns different?
Nobody knows and I certainly don’t.
At best guess it is because this is such a high profile case. The parents are both doctors and well connected in their professional and private lives. Perhaps this is in some way down to the profile of the child who went missing – young, blonde, etc. It is perhaps the same reason why this case garnered far more media attention than any other similar case in history.
As much as it is sad the little girl disappeared, no child should be prioritised over another in these circumstances.
Did Christian Brueckner kill her?
The best suspect they have ever had in this case is Brueckner. He was proven to be in the immediate area at the time of Madeleine’s disappearance. He is a proven and convicted paedophile. He had motive and opportunity.
It really is hard not to make a case for Brueckner being the guilty party. Was he simply breaking into the apartment in order to rob the place as has been suggested? Upon seeing the girl he took his opportunity? It’s possible that’s how the scenario played out. However, whether or not it did I’m not sure and doesn’t really matter. Unfortuntely it’s more than likely that he committed the crime that day.
The one thing that doesn’t add up is how he would kidnap her, take her to his van without anyone noticing and dispose of her body in a place so well hidden that it was never found. All this on a spur of the moment abduction? There was no reports of his van – or any van – being parked near the apartment so he will have had to carry her a distance to wherever he was parked.
Is Julia Madeleine McCann?
Having followed this situation closely from the outset, Julia Wandelt made a very good case for herself. The likeness in some areas were undeniable, but in other areas it left me thinking ‘probably not’. Her campaign gathered huge pace and a lot of social media attention. Many were certain she was Maddie and they egged her on.
My opinions fluctuated over time but I always remained intrigued; mostly because she kept posting insane things like audio recordings of her calling and speaking to Gerry McCann. One such recording caught my attention and it was that of her speaking on the phone to the Met Police where they categorically told her she was not Madeleine McCann and they would not being doing a DNA test on her.
This left me wondering why wouldn’t they?
What are they hiding or what do they know that we don’t? Why wouldn’t they want to test her just to rule out the possibility? Seemed odd to me. Still seems odd. If nothing else just test her to get rid of her. They wouldn’t though and still haven’t.
Question is, how do they know for 100% certain she is not?j