As of: February 8, 2024, 11:33 p.m
By: Victoria Krumbeck
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In the Maddie McCann case, there is an indication that the main suspect, Christian B., is said to have planned a child abduction shortly before the disappearance.
Praia da Luz – New allegations have emerged against the main suspect Christian B. from Germany in the case of Madeleine McCann, who disappeared in 2007.
A British emigrant is said to have learned of a kidnapping plan a week before the girl's disappearance.
He claims that Christian B. wanted to sell a child to a German couple.
This sheds new light on the mystery surrounding Maddie's disappearance.
Christian B.: Planned child abduction of Maddie McCann?
Ken Ralphs, a Briton based overseas, told
Sky News
that Christian B. had tried to get a friend of Ralphs involved in the kidnapping plan.
“We were sitting by the fire one evening after dinner, drinking a few beers, and in the early hours of the morning my friend started crying,” the 59-year-old told the station.
“I asked him what was going on and he finally confessed to me that he had gotten involved with Christian to steal a child from Praia da Luz from a rich family,” Ralphs added.
Madeleine McCann (left) disappeared in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in 2007 when she was three years old.
© Photomontage epa efe Real Madrid Tv/Luis Forra/dpa
At that time, Ralphs, Christian B. and the friend belonged to a nomadic bohemian community that lived in a remote region in southwest Portugal.
Ralphs showed the
Sky News
reporter the place where his friend lived in a tent with his family.
This location is about 32 kilometers from Praia da Luz, where Maddie McCann disappeared almost 17 years ago.
New allegations against main suspect in Maddie McCann case
"Christian knew the man was vulnerable and wanted to travel abroad, but he couldn't leave because he couldn't afford the plane tickets," Ralphs said.
His friend had told him that Christian B. intended to sell the child to a childless German couple.
After learning of Maddie's disappearance, Ralphs went to the police to share his knowledge.
On his return trip to the Algarve, he also informed the Portuguese police about Christian B.'s plans.
However, the police said they didn't know anything about it yet.
His friend also disappeared after Maddie disappeared.
Ralphs found the tent he was living in burned.
Christian B. was also untraceable.
Maddie McCann: Evidence of child abduction by Christian B.
Police made no further contact with Ralphs.
When Christian B. was publicly announced as the main suspect in the Maddie case in 2020, he contacted the police again.
The Portuguese officials then contacted Ralph's friend, who denied knowing Ralph.
“I have a dozen witnesses who will say he is lying.
I guess he just didn't want to be questioned by the police," he added.
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Ralphs also had contact with Scotland Yard investigators and German prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters, who is leading the Maddie case investigation.
Wolters told
Sky News
that he had forwarded Ralph's statement to German investigators.
Main suspect Christian B.: Trial for rape and sexual abuse of children
To date there is no trace of Maddie McCann, who has been untraceable since May 3, 2007.
The then three-year-old girl disappeared from an apartment in the Portuguese holiday resort in Praia da Luz while Maddie's parents were meeting friends.
The tracks always led back to the Algarve, but without success.
Christian B. is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence in Germany for the rape of a 72-year-old American woman in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in 2005.
A trial against the suspect begins in Braunschweig in mid-February.
However, this trial has nothing to do with Maddie McCann, although there is said to be new incriminating evidence against Christian B.
He is accused of three counts of aggravated rape and two counts of sexual abuse of children.
The Braunschweig public prosecutor's office had already charged Christian B. in October 2022.
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