Who Would Dare Lay a Finger on This Sweet Little Girl?
Ten years ago, three year old Madeleine McCann and her family took what was supposed to be a wonderful family vacation to beautiful Praia de Luz in Portugal.
Unfortunately, the trip was one the family would regret for years to come and their lives would never be the same.
McCann Family: Seemingly Perfect
Madeleine’s parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, met in 1993 and finally married in 1998. Madeleine was described as “a long awaited and longed for little girl”. Everyone that knew the family considered them to be picture perfect. But there was a lot behind the scenes that even their closest friends couldn’t have guessed.
They Weren’t Alone on Their Vacations
The family of five was “happily” living together when they decided to take a seemingly harmless vacation. This fateful decision would alter their lives forever in a way no one could have anticipated. Her parents had no idea they would come back as a family of four…
Old Friends are Not Always Who You Think They Are
Almost every night the adults would all dine together around 8:30 at the tapas restaurant located at the resort where they were staying. The McCann family had been primarily close with the Payne family for years. Kate and Fiona had known each other since they worked together at the Leicester General Hospital’s intensive care unit.
Praia de Luz: Cursed?
The Paynes were responsible for introducing the McCann’s to the other couples including Jane Tanner, Russell O’Brien, Matthew Olfield, and Rachael Olfield. Because of their work, Gerry, Russell and Matthew also knew each other for years. The families were looking forward to a fun-filled memorable weekend but what ended up happening was absolutely beyond imagination.
Apartment 5A: The Scene of the Crime
The McCanns arrived on to Praia De Luz on Saturday, April 28, 2007 for a Spring Break trip. They planned to stay for seven full nights. The town also has a very British concentration and is known by some as “Little Britain.” They rented an apartment through a British vacation company called Mark Warner Ltd, located at 5A Rua Dr Agostinho da Silva, which was an apartment owned by a fellow Brit from Liverpool.
Was This Room a Death Trap?
The apartment was a bottom floor apartment with two bedrooms. There were five other apartments in a series and the other families on the trip were staying in the other apartments. Everything about this gorgeous complex seemed safe, however that couldn’t be further from the truth.
An Evening of Regret
On the morning of May 3, 2007, little Madeleine made a strange comment at breakfast. She asked her parents why they didn’t come when she and Sean cried the previous night. Her mother brushed aside the comment, thinking nothing of it at the time although she did note that there was a strange brown stain on Madeleine’s pajama shirt.
Sleeping Soundly
That night the “tapas seven”, the group of adults on the trip with the McCann’s, went out for dinner at the nearby tapas restaurant at the resort. The McCann’s left their children asleep in the apartment, tucked away. The doors were only able to be locked from the inside so the McCann family left them unlocked.
A Parent’s Worst Nightmare
At around 9:30 PM, Kate was going to check on the kids, but Matthew Oldfield was going to check on his own kids and said he would check in on the McCann children as well. He noticed that the door was wide open but heard no noises so he thought everything was fine and didn’t look far enough to see if Madeleine was there. Kate later checked on her own around 10 PM. She also noticed the kid’s bedroom was wide open. She tried to close the door but she could feel a draft and saw that the bedroom window was open.
The Search Begins
It was then that she noticed Madeleine was gone. Her comfort blanket and her Cuddle Cat remained behind but the precious girl was nowhere to be seen. Kate searched the apartment quickly, but could not find her and ran back to the restaurant screaming “Madeleine’s gone! Someone’s taken her!”
A Strange Sighting
Soon, as police began investigating the disappearance, it was revealed that there were two separate sightings that may have actually bared witness to Madeleine being taken. First, Jane Tanner, one of the other adults on the McCann trip, said she saw a man carrying a child that night. She said when she had gone to check on her own daughter around departing at 9:00 PM, she passed Madeleine’s father who was making his way back after the check he did at 9:05 PM.
A Mistaken Sight
Gerry McCann was seen chatting with a fellow vacationing Brit, but neither one of the men remember seeing Jane. Jane was later accused of making up the sighting entirely. She remained steadfast that she saw a man carrying a young child heading away from the apartments.
The Smith Sighting
That night there was another sighting of a man carrying a child by an Irish couple named Martin and Mary Smith, on holiday from Ireland. At around 10 PM, the Smiths saw a man walking away from the direction of the apartment carrying a small child. They noted that the girl was around three or four years old, she had blonde hair and fair skin, had on light colored pajamas and bare feet. They also noted the man looked uncomfortable carrying the little girl.
Robert Murat
They also said that the man looked to be in his mid-30s was around 5’7” or 5’9” with a slim build and short brown hair. In 2013, Scotland Yard also said that this sighting seemed to be consistent with the time in which Madeleine was taken. However, the mysterious man was not the only suspect in the case.
A Possible Sighting On TV?
In 2014 the Madeleine McCann case was brought back under the spotlight again after an image of a young girl bearing a strong resemblance to Maddie at a televised soccer game went viral. The image from the Europa League final match was shared by hundreds on social media who were hoping this might lead investigators to the missing girl, however others were quick to point out that the girl in the image appeared to be much younger than Maddie would have been at that time.
Her Parents Claim Innocence
In the end police dismissed it as a lead, however Madeleine’s parents were grateful that people were still concerned for their daughters whereabouts, with a source close to the family telling the New Zealand Herald, “What is encouraging is that it shows everyone is still looking for Madeleine. That will give her family great strength.”
The Media Obsessed Over the Parents
The media focused majorly on The McCann’s and whether or not they had something to do with the disappearance of their daughter. The case is arguably one of the most highlighted in modern history and could be compared to the disappearance of famed pilot Charles Lindbergh’s baby.
Mistakes In The Investigation
Various media outlets have focused on the disappearance over the years including pundits like Nancy Grace. Experts have also said that the case marks one of the first times that people had to face “trial by media” particularly in the new age of social media in which people can speculate wildly among each other across various platforms.
After Thought
The McCann’s now think that Madeleine’s strange comments the morning she went missing about crying out the previous night, may have suggested that someone entered the room that night. Her parents also noted that the resort staff had left a note in the message book about the adults of the trip reserving a spot at the restaurant and that the kids were asleep in the apartments. They now believe someone may have seen that note, thus alerting them that the kids were alone.
Conspiracy Theories
Obviously, above all the families likely regret leaving their children alone when it seems quite likely that someone was lying in wait for such a moment. In 2012, investigators released a time lapsed image which would have shown Madeleine as a nine year old girl.
Did She Die in the Apartment?
While Madeleine’s parents hold out hope that she is still alive and will one day be reunited with them, one investigator close to the case is convinced this will never happen. Moita Flores who was a criminal investigator working with the Policia Judiciaria that initially lead the search for Madeleine when she first disappeared, revealed in 2017 that he strongly believes the little girl never made it out of the apartment alive ten years ago.
Is It Her?
He told The Sun magazine, “Maddie died in that apartment, I have no doubt.”
McCann’s Suing Portuguese Detective?
Kate and Gerry McCann have been at odds with Portuguese detective Goncalo Amaral over his beliefs about the disappearance of their daughter Madeleine. He has written several books and even made a documentary that presumes to tell the truth about what happened to her. Amaral was the detective who was initially investigating Madeleine disappearance back in 2007. The McCann’s have labeled his claims as “nonsense.” Amaral believes that Madeleine was killed, probably accidentally, in the apartment and was never abducted.
Did Portuguese Police Frame McCanns?
He furthers believes that the McCann’s actually created the abduction as a distraction from her death. The McCann’s have always denied all allegations of wrongdoing. The McCann’s attempted to sue Amaral various times over both his books and his documentary, however they lost their case in the Portuguese Supreme Court.
What To Gain By Police Framing?
Kate McCann’s mother, Susan Healy, has said that a similar thing that has happened with Joana Cipriano’s family is also happening to her daughter and son-in-law. Susan spoke to the Daily Mail saying, “This is a set-up. I know why this is happening – the police are trying to frame them for murder.
Most Believed Theory
If there is any evidence to implicate Kate and Gerry in any way then it has been planted.” Some have stated this has also been done in order to distract away from the issue of missing children in the area. Particularly, because Praia de Luz is known as a tourist hotspot and the way all locals make their money, thus if people stop going because of child abduction people in the area would suffer monetarily.
Accidental Overdose?
Pat Brown, told news.com.au “The evidence supports the theory of an accident occurring through neglect and possible medication.” Others have alleged similar things, such as a French newspaper, shortly after her disappearance, alleged that Madeleine died from an accidental overdose of sleeping medication. Guilhem Battut, who works as an investigative journalist for France Soir, said Portuguese police believed that the evidence indicates that Madeleine had taken sleeping pills in large quantities.
Casey Anthony
Pat Brown also asserted in her statements that she believes it’s unlikely a trafficker would abduct a British blonde child, as they would know it would generate major attention into the case. Pat Brown also says they are spending money looking in the wrong direction of this case when that money could go towards children who are actually missing.
Pizzagate Connection?!
In the midst of the 2016 election, a conspiracy called Pizzagate arose which said Hillary Clinton was in the middle of pedophile ring that was covered by a pizza restaurant front. Apparently, the theory grew out of emails talking about eating pizza that were taken in the Russian hacking and subsequent Wikileaks. Theorists somehow formulate the worst, but they were not done there. In real life, one of the believers of Pizzagate, actually went to the pizza chain purported to be the cover for the pedophile ring and fired a gun in order to “free the children”.
Pizzagate Conspiracists Involve Maddie
Of course, there were no children and he was arrested. Later the theory started to pull in claims from other conspiracy theories as well. These included that John Podesta and his brother Tony were somehow connected to Madeleine McCann’s abduction.
Maddie’s DNA Found
After Madeline’s disappearance, two British sniffer dogs arrived to Portugal. The dogs were specifically trained to aid in cases such as this, one was a trained to sniff out human blood and the other was trained to sniff out dead bodies. While both dogs were taken to multiple locations, they both alerted in apartment 5A, the place the McCann’s had been staying. The cadaver dog also gave an alert in a car used by the McCann’s.
Questionable Spending Of Money
While DNA samples were apparently inconclusive, the Portuguese police told various journalists that they matched Madeleine 100%. The police theorized that Madeleine had been accidentally killed by a sedative overdose, and then the parents faked her abduction. The police apparently later told Kate and Gerry McCann that if Kate admitted Madeleine died in apartment 5A, she would only be given a two-year sentence and her husband would not be charged. She refused.
Did Madeleine Wander Off?
Another theory that has arisen after Madeleine’s disappearance is that she possibly wandered off on her own after being left by herself and her young siblings. Many criticized the McCann’s for leaving their children alone in an apartment while they went to have dinner and drink at the local restaurant. When Kate found her daughter missing she came into the apartment through the back doors, the front door remained locked.
Child Trafficking Theories
The kid’s bedroom was also wide open. If young Madeleine had woken up and could not find her parents it would not be odd for the young girl to leave the apartment to search for them.
The McCann’s Refused To Answer Questions
When the McCann’s originally submitted for questioning, Kate McCann refused to answer forty some odd questions during an eleven-hour interrogation. The questions included everything from describing the surroundings within the apartment, to if she asked for a priest, to if she Kate herself could sleep, or if Madeleine was taking any medications.
Pamela Fenn
Kate only answered one question. The question was as follows, “Are you aware that in not answering the questions you are jeopardizing the investigation, which seeks to discover what happened to your daughter?” Kate replied, “Yes, if that’s what the investigation thinks.” Of course, it’s also worth mentioning that at the time Kate and Gerry were also under the impression that the Portuguese government was attempting to frame them for their daughter’s disappearance.
Brenda Leyland
Brenda Leyland was a British woman who took it upon herself to try to investigate the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. She also came to the forefront of media attention after her Twitter account was revealed to be among a dossier of people who were regularly tweeting out disparaging and harassing tweets on Kate and Gerry McCann. While there was apparently no reasoning for a criminal inquest Sky News in England began pushing the topic and even approached Brenda outside of her home about why she was sending out so many tweets.
Trial By Media
Less than two days later Brenda Leyland committed suicide. Her adult son later said that she had been “totally destroyed” by what happened as she valued her reputation greatly.
10 Year Anniversary
In May of 2017, it will be ten years since the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. The little girl would now be fourteen years. While there has been a constant stream of conspiracy theories over the years, there has been very little actual evidence revealed in the case.
Sadly, many believe that much of the evidence was destroyed and the investigations were subsequently botched. Her parents, Kate and Gerry, remain steadfast in one day finding their daughter and bringing her home. Hopefully, people will eventually stop focusing so much on conspiracy theories and instead focus on actually finding out what happened to Madeleine.