The disappearance of Madeleine McCann is one of the most mysterious cases I’ve ever heard of. Shockingly enough, it still remains unsolved.
Madeleine McCann was on holiday with her parents and their friends in Praia da Luz, Portugal in 2007. The girl was three years old at the time and had two siblings. Her parents, Kate and Jerry McCann, and their friends decided that they could leave their children asleep in the apartments as they dined at a nearby restaurant. The biggest issue was that they wouldn’t lock the doors as they claimed they had thought the resort was safe enough for their children’s well-being.
The kids were all asleep while the adults drank and ate at the “Tapas” bar, 50 meters away. Every half an hour, a parent would check on all of the children, but it all took a dark turn when Kate McCann realized that her three-year-old daughter was missing from her bed. So what happened to Madeleine McCann?
Unfortunate circumstances
When we think of a missing child, we automatically assume the worst. In Madeleine McCann’s case, the police seemed to have been ignorant. They searched wells, sewers, and ditches, but other than that, on the night of the girl’s disappearance, they failed to give the border police the necessary details regarding Madeleine McCann’s appearance. These details could have stopped possible child traffickers from getting out of the country.
There were no surveillance videos or pictures requested within the first 48 hours, so any gang of child traffickers could’ve easily gone unnoticed. Also, there were witnesses in Morocco reporting that they had seen Madeleine McCann. The country seemed like the perfect route to Mauritania, an African country where human trafficking is practiced. However, there was no further information related to this.
Abduction and identity change
Another possible theory claims that Madeleine McCann could’ve been taken by a childless couple that had been stalking her and the family during their holiday. This stemmed from the fact that Jane Tanner, a family friend that was also checking on the kids, had supposedly seen a man that did not look like a tourist carrying a little girl in his arms. She reported that she didn’t suspect anything then, but had later realized that she could have seen Madeleine McCann being kidnaped.
Provided that she had been abducted by a couple that desperately wanted a child, Madeleine’s parents said they would be at peace, as she would still be alive. Kate McCann also said that the window was wide open when she entered the apartment and noticed that Madeleine’s bed was empty, so this could suggest that someone might have taken her while she was still asleep. The lack of evidence makes it almost impossible to imply that she was abducted.
A dreadful accident
To be able to have fun and make the most out of their holiday, the couples agreed on giving the children some sleeping pills. This is a very controversial part of the story, as both of Madeleine’s parents worked in the medical field and they were supposed to know that it wasn’t a smart thing to do.
It is widely believed that on the last night the little girl was given an overdose of pills by mistake. This led to her passing away in her bed while her parents were dining at the restaurant. When Kate McCann found her daughter’s bed empty she had allegedly run to the restaurant to alert the others. What no one seems to understand is how a mother with a missing child would risk leaving the other two children that were still asleep, in the apartment from where her daughter had just disappeared.
Also, when the police arrived, nothing was in place as the mother had trashed the whole room, had opened and closed the shutters, and had touched everything in the room. A few days later, trained British sniffer dogs were brought to the apartment where, to everyone’s surprise, they reacted and showed signs of having detected blood. This did not point to Kate and Jerry McCann at once but later did so when the dogs felt that blood had been present in their rented car. It all added a huge twist to the story and people started to think that out of panic and despair the couple had disposed of Madeleine’s dead body.
The parents’ cold nature and calmness also pointed out that they could have been the suspects. For instance, three days after Madeleine McCann’s disappearance, her mother claimed that she was at peace and no longer in pain. It is by far the sickest theory that no one wants to acknowledge, but this alternative is my personal favorite, as it is the most probable one.
This is the most famous case of disappearance in British history and has sparked numerous theories since it happened. As time goes by, things become even more uncertain and the chances of finding the real culprit are decreasing each day.
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