Who Is Madeleine McCann?

Madeleine Beth McCann is a British girl who vanished from her holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on the evening of May 3, 2007.

“The most heavily reported missing-person case in contemporary history,” according to the Daily Telegraph.

Although German prosecutors believe she is dead, Madeleine’s whereabouts are unknown.

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Madeleine McCann

Madeleine, her parents Kate and Gerry McCann, her two-year-old twin siblings, and a group of family friends and their children were on vacation from the United Kingdom.

She and the twins were left in the ground-floor apartment at 20:30, while the McCanns and their guests dined in a restaurant 55 meters away (180 feet).

The parents kept an eye on the kids all night until Kate noticed Madeleine was missing around 22:00.

The Portuguese authorities began to suspect that Madeleine had died in an apartment accident and that her parents had covered it up during the following weeks, particularly after misinterpreting a British DNA study.

In September 2007, the McCanns were designated as arguidos (suspects), but that designation was revoked when the case was archived in July 2008 due to a lack of evidence by Portugal’s attorney general.

Madeleine’s parents used private detectives to continue the search until Scotland Yard launched Operation Grange, its own investigation, in 2011.

Madeleine McCann: False turns and a final breakthrough
Madeleine McCann

The top investigating officer declared that the disappearance was “a stranger’s criminal act,” most likely a botched kidnapping or burglary.

Madeleine McCann grew up in Rothley, Leicestershire, with her family. Shortly after her disappearance, she was appointed a ward of court in England, giving the court statutory rights to act on her behalf at her parents’ request.

Madeleine had blonde hair, blue-green eyes, a small brown patch on her left calf, and a characteristic black stripe on the iris of her right eye, according to police.

The McCanns shared age-progressed pictures of her at six years old in 2009, and Scotland Yard commissioned one of her at nine years old in 2012.

What Happened To Madeleine McCann?

In 2007, Madeleine went missing while on vacation with her family in Praia da Luz.

Madeleine, her parents Kate and Gerry McCann, her two-year-old twin siblings, and a group of family friends and their children were on vacation in the UK.