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This is a March 2007 photo published by the McCann family, Madeleine McCann, 3 years old, who was lost in the Algarve region of Portugal. (The Associated Press) |
German prosecutor said Madeleine McCann, the British girl who disappeared in Portugal, died
The German prosecutor said Thursday that Madeleine McCann, the three-year-old British girl who disappeared in Portugal in May 2007, died after having identified a detained German girl as a suspect for his murder.
McCann disappeared from her bedroom during a family vacation in the Algarve while her parents were eating with close friends at Praia da Luz resort.
Her disappearance sparked an international search, with missing posters of the little girl's face posted around the world and appeals to celebrities for information that could help track them down and bring the kidnappers to justice.
"We assume the girl is dead," said Braunschweig state prosecutor Hans Christian Walters. "The Prosecutor's Office in Braunschweig is investigating a 43-year-old German citizen on suspicion of murder."
The suspect is in custody
German police said that the German man, whose name has not been released, lived in the Algarve between 1995 and 2007, and stole hotels and holiday apartments in addition to the drug trade. He is currently being held in Germany for a different matter.
British and German police appealed for information about the man and released photos of the vehicles - a Volkswagen and Jaguar - that he used at the time.
German police said earlier that the suspect, who had been living near Praia da Luz, had been sentenced on several occasions to prison for sexual abuse of children in the past.
They said they treat the case as a suspected murder, and they have determined the method used to kill McCann. No body was found.
"All we wanted was to find her, reveal the truth, and bring those responsible to justice," her parents, Kate and Gerry, said in a statement released before the German prosecutor spoke.
"We will never lose hope in finding Madeleine alive, but whatever the outcome, we need to know what we need to find peace."
Police said they wanted to speak to a second anonymous person, who has so far spoken to the German suspect from a Portuguese phone number on May 3, 2007, when McCann disappeared.
Madeleine McCann was missing on Thursday evening, May 3, 2007, who was on vacation with her parents and twin sister in the Algarve region of Portugal. Days before her fourth birthday, the British girl disappeared from the Praia da Luz resort and the parents stated that the child was left unattended in the bedroom on the floor. Ground while parents were eating in a restaurant 120 meters away, the preliminary investigation took place GNR who believed that Madeleine had been kidnapped and after three months a team of 10 Portuguese and British police officers, including two experts, announced that the child Madeleine may have been killed in her bedroom, after finding Blood was caused in the room by dogs and ultraviolet rays, and suspicions began that her mother was behind the crime
During the investigation, there were many allegations of seeing Madeleine in Portugal. In addition, in September 2007, two different people claimed to see the child in Marrakech, Morocco, a few days after her disappearance in May, when a special investigation squad was formed consisting of former intelligence officers and security men, since Madeleine's parents They visited Morocco in June and culminated in this by publishing a photo taken of a Madeleine-like girl near Tangier, and after conducting an analysis of the image, he discovered that it belonged to a Moroccan girl named Bushra Bin Issa.
Although several years have passed since her disappearance, the Portuguese authorities confirmed that she had not found any new information that would enable her to reopen an investigation into the case, and in 2011 the girl's parents released a book on the fourth anniversary of her disappearance, and some wealthy and businessmen announced a prize worth 10 million Dollars to anyone who reveals her fate
In July 2013, the British Scotland Yard Police launched special investigations into her disappearance, after finding new evidence in the case. The police have identified 38 suspects from 5 countries, 12 of them in England.
Today German prosecutor said Madeleine McCann, the British girl who disappeared in Portugal, died