The Mysterious Disappearance of Madeleine McCann
The McCann family had gone on vacation to Algarve, Portugal. They decided to stay in a holiday apartment called Ocean Club complex located in Praia da Luz. The family was coming from the United Kingdom to enjoy a vacation. Kate and Gerry McCann decided to travel with Madeleine, their two-year-old twin siblings, and a group of family friends who brought their children as well (The Beneath Truth, ep.1). Her disappearance has been the most popular missing-person case. Madeleine McCann is still alive due to police incompetency, AMBER alert inaccuracy, and lack of proof.
The McCann family arrived at the Ocean Club complex on April 28th, 2007. They had been enjoying their time at this holiday apartment, which had a program for children so that parents could have fun while their children were being safely watched (The Beneath Truth, ep. 1) On May 3rd, 2007 all the parents decided to have a gathering at the Tapas Bar. They had accorded to come back to their respective apartments, and check on their kids every twenty minutes. First, Garry got up and checked on Madeleine and her twin sisters. They were doing good, so he decided to come back and left the door halfway open. Twenty minutes had passed, and when Kate was about to head to the apartment, a friend who was also going to check on his children told the McCanns that he could do it for them. He peaked at the room, and once again everything seemed to be in perfect condition (The Beneath Truth, ep. 1). Lastly, Kate decided to check on them once again, and at first, everything looked normal. Then she was about to close the door and instead a strong breeze coming from the window shut the door. She then realized that when they left they did not leave windows open, which forced her to check on the room once again and this is when the nightmare began. Madeleine was not in her bed. She came back running to her husband screaming “they have taken her” and this is when everyone decided to look for her (The Beneath Truth, ep.1)
The investigation of Madeleine begins. According to a Netflix documentary based on Madeleine’s disappearance, the police were called at 10:15 P.M after Rachel Oldfield spotted a man carrying a girl without shoes on. Local police arrived first at around 10:30 P.M and then at 11:00 P.M the Policia Judiciaria arrives. At this time the Policia Judiciaria finds the terrible job that has been done by the local police. They have not secured, assessed, and examine the crime scene. In addition, many people came in and out of the room. This made it impossible for the Policia Judiciaria to find possible matches to whoever took Madeleine. Lastly, the police looked for her until 4:00 A.M and decided to continue the investigation later in the day. Many even said that she might have run away and that she would appear any second, which infuriated Madeleine’s parents because someone had claimed that a little girl in light pajamas was being carried by a man. Until today, Gerry and Kate have continuously looked for her daughter, and have spent a serious amount of money to find her.
As it was mentioned before, Madeleine’s disappearance has been the most popular missing person’s case. Her case has become known everywhere around the world. In a research made by Lampinen and Moore, it was found that “repeated presentation of missing person alerts decreased participants’ intention to look for the missing person and also reduced participants’ expectations that they would later encounter the missing person. Both of these ratings were significantly correlated with the probability of spotting and reporting the target individual” (Lampinen, James, Moore, 595) This could explain the possibility of Madeleine has not been found during this time due to new cases appearing, and people focusing on them. Although AMBER alerts were implemented years later in Portugal (AMBER Alert), this allowed new cases to be filed, and the case of Madeleine slowly lost importance to various people. This happens due to prospective person memory, which means to remember to perform a task in the future (Lampinen, James, Moore, 588). This research gives out essential information to Madeleine’s case. Since there have been more cases recently, people have forgotten to pay attention to past cases. This leaves experts wondering if AMBER alerts are the best way of informing the disappearance of people, or if an alternative should be found.
The opposition claims that due to the length of her disappearance Madeleine has been most likely murdered. In 2020 new evidence was found about a possible suspect. His name is Christian Brueckner. He previously lived in Algarve, Portugal, the place of Madeleine’s disappearance. He had been previously accused of burglaries in hotels and accused of selling drugs. In addition, he is known to be a sexual offender. According to Gelman’s article, in an interview, Prosecutor Wolters stated: “We have strong evidence that Madeleine McCann is dead and that she was killed by our suspect, Christian B.” However, there is a lack of evidence to this claim. As of today, the remainders of Madeleine have not been found, nor any DNA that proves her death. Meanwhile, investigators get closer to an answer, they are still unable to say with certainty whether this little girl has disappeared or has been murdered. Therefore, this claim is solely based on an idea, not a theory supported by evidence. Additionally, according to BBC News, Christian B. is closely tied to the investigation of a German girl who disappeared in 2015. He remains to be a suspect for both of these cases, he has “17 previous convictions, including for theft, forgery, drug-dealing, firearms offenses, rape and sexual abuse of children” (Madeleine McCann) Therefore, police have been investigating him in hopes of finding clues that will reveal Madeleine’s location.
Madeleine’s whereabouts are still unknown, but there is still hope that she will be found. Her disappearance shocked an entire planet. Today she would have been seventeen years old. Her parents have not given up on her, they are still hoping to find her. There is strong evidence that leads the public to believe she is still alive after all this time. Police incompetency, AMBER alert inaccuracy, and lack of proof are factors that dismiss the idea that Madeleine has been murdered.
Works Cited
Gelman, Josh. “Do USB Drives Found Buried Beneath a Dead Dog Hold the Clue to What May Have Happened to Madeleine McCann?” BBC News. BBC, 28 Feb. 2021. https://www.cbsnews.com/news/madeleine-mccann-usb-drives-buried-48-hours/
Lampinen, James, and Kara Moore. “Missing Person Alerts: Does Repeated Exposure Decrease Their Effectiveness?” Journal of Experimental Criminology, vol. 12, no. 4, Dec, 2016, pp. 587–598. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1007/s11292–016–9263–1. http://content.ebscohost.com/ContentServer.asp?T=P&P=AN&K=120215683&S=R&D=sih&EbscoContent=dGJyMMTo50SeprM4y9fwOLCmsEmep7VSrq24S7aWxWXS&ContentCustomer=dGJyMPGutk6xqbRPuePfgeyx44Dt6fIA
“Madeleine McCann: What Is Known about the German Suspect?” BBC News. BBC, 05 June 2020. Web. 08 Mar. 2021. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-52937626
“The Beneath Truth” The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann, season 1, episode 1, Netflix Series 15 March 2019. Netflix, https://www.netflix.com/title/80194956
“AMBER Alerts.” NCMEC, www.missingkids.org/gethelpnow/amber#:~:text=The%20AMBER%20Alert%20system%20is,Islands%2C%20and%2027%20other%20countries. Accessed, 14 March 2021