Fifteen years after the disappearance of the British girl Maddie McCann in Portugal in 2007, a suspect was indicted in Germany at the request of Portuguese justice, announced Thursday April 21 the prosecution of Portimao (south).
To discover
LIVE - War in Ukraine: follow the evolution of the conflict minute by minute
Read alsoMaddie McCann case: German investigators have “proof” that the girl is dead
Le Figaro
takes stock of the many twists and turns in this international affair, which has been the subject of thousands of press articles, several books and even a documentary series on Netflix in 2019.
• May 2007: the disappearance of Madeleine McCann
In the spring of 2007, the British McCann family is vacationing in Praia da Luz, a seaside resort in southern Portugal.
On the evening of May 3, Kate and Gerald McCann let their three children sleep in their bedroom while they dined with friends nearby.
But around 10 p.m., when Kate McCann comes to check if all is well, she discovers that the bed of her eldest daughter, soon to be four years old, is empty.
Madeleine, nicknamed Maddie, has disappeared.
• Spring-Summer 2007: the start of an extraordinary investigation
This is the beginning of a sprawling investigation and a general mobilization to find the little girl.
In this spring-summer 2007, the McCann affair fascinates the media - especially the British tabloids - and the general public in Europe.
Interpol broadcasts a global alert, which will also be updated in 2012 with a computer-aged photo of Madeleine.
Over the course of the investigations, the indictments follow one another: first that of Robert M., a 33-year-old Briton who lives in Praia da Luz, on May 15.
Then - thunderclap - that of Kate and Gerry McCann in early September.
The police suspect the parents of having accidentally killed their daughter on the day of the tragedy, then of having concealed her body.
The head of the investigators, who firmly believes in this thesis, was also sacked in October after having publicly criticized the British police.
Read alsoMaddie: the head of the Portuguese investigators sacked
• July 2008: the case closed by the Portuguese police
On July 21, 2008,
"for lack of evidence"
, the Portuguese justice decided to
"put an end to the indictment"
of the McCann couple and Robert M. as well as to close the case.
The investigation may be reopened
“if new evidence”
justifies it, specifies the prosecution.
Kate McCann claims that she and her husband
will "never give up"
on the search for their daughter.
Read alsoMaddie: case closed
• July and October 2013: surveys relaunched in the United Kingdom and Portugal
The years pass but as Kate McCann had announced, she and her husband are not giving up.
In 2011, the couple wrote to Prime Minister David Cameron, who asked Scotland Yard to work on the case.
After two years spent studying the case, the British police decided to formally open an investigation in July 2013.
Read alsoScotland Yard reopens investigation into Maddie's disappearance
Three months later, it is the turn of the Portuguese police to reopen the investigation.
“We are very happy with the official reopening in Portugal of the investigation to find Madeleine, our missing little girl.
We hope that this will finally make it possible to find her and discover the person responsible for this crime
, ”comment the McCanns.
Read alsoThe investigation into the disappearance of Maddie is reopened
• 2013-2020: seven years of false leads
In the seven years that followed, the false leads followed one another.
Composite portraits, interrogations, searches yield nothing: the little girl remains untraceable.
Despite these successive disappointments, in 2017, on the occasion of the tenth anniversary of the disappearance of Madeleine, Kate and Gerry McCann ensure
"not to lose hope"
.
Read alsoDisappearance of Maddie: 10 years later, the parents "
keep hope
"
• June 2020: the hypothesis of a German pedophile
On June 3, 2020, several press releases from Germany, the United Kingdom and Portugal completely revive the Maddie affair.
In Germany, the public prosecutor's office in Brunswick (Lower Saxony) announces that it is investigating a German forty-year-old suspected of "
murder
".
The suspect, Christian B.,
"is a sex offender who has been convicted several times
" for "
sexual abuse of children"
, specifies the public ministry.
The 43-year-old is currently serving a prison sentence for the 2005 rape of a 72-year-old American woman in southern Portugal.
Read alsoChristian B., multi-recidivist pedophile suspected of having killed little Maddie McCann
In the United Kingdom, the Metropolitan Police specifies that the suspect has been known to investigators for several years.
"After the tenth anniversary, we received information about a German who was known to be in Praia da Luz and the surrounding area,"
said the head of the investigation cell.
In Portugal, the judicial police confirm that
“elements seem to show the possible intervention of a German citizen”
.
For its part, the Faro prosecutor's office indicates that
"the investigation is continuing with ongoing proceedings and more specifically the hearing of witnesses"
.
A new call for witnesses has indeed been launched in German, English and Portuguese.
The McCann parents
“are grateful and welcome this call for witnesses
,” their spokesperson said on the morning of June 4.
"They haven't given up hope of finding [Maddie] alive [...] But they are realistic and they say that whatever the outcome of this appeal for witnesses [...] they have need to know to find peace.”
The German authorities, meanwhile,
"believe that the little girl is dead"
, declared the Brunswick prosecutor during a press conference on June 4 at midday.
Two weeks later, a spokesperson for the Brunswick prosecutor's office confirms to AFP that the German investigators have
"proof or concrete facts"
concerning the death of Madeleine McCann, and
"not mere indications"
, but refuses to reveal more.
• April 2022:
a suspect indicted in Germany at the request of Portugal
A suspect has therefore been indicted in Germany at the request of Portuguese justice as part of the investigation into the disappearance of the British girl.
This suspect, whose identity has not been confirmed, was indicted on Wednesday April 20, the public prosecutor said in a statement.
