A missing child is one of the most heartbreaking situations that can occur, and it is particularly tough for the parents to deal with. Sadly, this happens way too frequently, and 17 years ago, it took place in a vacation apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal.
It’s hard to believe that it was 17 years ago when Madeleine McCann, a three-year-old girl, disappeared from her apartment in Portugal. Since that time, it has captured the attention of people all over the world and is sometimes referred to as ‘the most heavily reported missing-person case in modern history.’
Kate and Gerry McCann are the parents of the little girl, and they have spent their lives looking for her. On the 17th anniversary of her going missing, they visited the Finding Madeleine website and posted a really sad update.
Before this update, Kate talked about something that might have caused her daughter’s disappearance. Madeleine went missing while they were on vacation, and she was in bed for the night. This happened on May 3, 2007, at a resort in Portugal.
She was sleeping with her twin siblings while her parents went out to eat with friends nearby. When they found out she was gone, a massive search began, but even with all the attention the case got, no one knows where the little girl is.
Over the years, there have been some updates, like when high-ranking officers went to London to meet her dad.
They apologized for how the detectives handled the case and how the family was treated. The parents didn’t comment on the apology.
During the investigation, a German prosecutor named Hans Christian Wolters said that the apology was ‘a good sign’. He explained, “It shows that, in Portugal, there’s progress in the McCann case.”
In 2022, a prisoner in Germany named Christian B was officially named as a suspect in the investigation. He had previously been cleared of s*xual abuse by a German court in a different case. He is also denying any involvement in the little girl’s disappearance.
Madeleine’s mother spoke before updates were shared about the case and mentioned a detail from the night her daughter went missing. This detail was included in her memoir from 2011 titled ‘Madeleine: Our Daughter’s Disappearance and the Continuing Search for Her’.
She revealed that she found something a year before the police documents were released to the public. She felt uneasy after coming across a note from the holiday apartment complex while reviewing police files.
In her book, the mother described that when Madeleine disappeared, there was a group of nine people who would go to a tapas restaurant in the evenings. It was difficult to find seating for such a large group, but they were able to get reservations for the entire week.
Kate reviewed the police documents and noticed how easy it was for the public to access the book and the restaurant. She wrote: “The note asking for our block booking was written in a staff message book, which was on a desk at the pool reception for most of the day.
“This book was open to all staff and, even if it was unintentional, probably accessible to guests and visitors as well.”
The book also included information about how the McCanns would leave their kids alone in the apartment.
She added: “To my shock, I noticed that, probably in all innocence and just to explain why she was bending the rules a little, the receptionist had included the reason for our request: we wanted to eat near our apartments because we were leaving our young children alone there and checking on them from time to time.”
She further explained how the group of nine would do their own ‘child checking service’ while dining at the restaurant instead of bringing the kids with them or asking for a child service to look after them.
She said: “We now bitterly regret it and will do so until the end of our days.”