The parents of Madeleine McCann, a British toddler who disappeared from an apartment while her family was on holiday in Portugal 15 years ago and captured global interest, still hope the police efforts of the three countries to unravel the mystery will eventually bring answers.
Kate and Jerry McCann, both British doctors living in England, said in a statement on the anniversary of their daughter’s disappearance on Tuesday that May 3, 2007 was a “truly horrific crime”.
They said on a website set up to help find Madeleine that “our need for answers is, in truth, very important.”
They thanked the police of Great Britain, Portugal and Germany, who continue to work on what happened when a three-year-old child disappeared from his bed in the Algarve region in southern Portugal.
She was in the same room with her two-year-old brother and twin sister while her parents dined with friends at a nearby restaurant.
Last month, Portuguese prosecutors formally charged the last suspect in the investigation.
They did not name the suspect under Portuguese privacy laws, but said they were acting at the request of German authorities and in co-ordination with British investigators.
In mid-2020, German police identified 45-year-old German citizen Christian Bruckner, who was in the Algarve in 2007, as a suspect in the case. Bruckner denies involvement in Madeleine’s disappearance.
The Portuguese indictment prevents the expiration of the statute of limitations in the case. It was due to expire 15 years after the alleged crime, but the suspect’s charges are being dropped.
Madeleine’s disappearance has sparked worldwide interest, public statements that she has noticed her far to Australia, and led to the publication of books and television documentaries on the matter.
The rewards for searching Madeleine reached several million dollars.
It was a sensational development. In one of the dramatic twists and turns, Madeleine’s parents were briefly named as official suspects after police found traces of blood in their holiday rental car.
