Perhaps the most widely covered modern missing person’s case of modern times, Madeleine McCann made headlines globally after she vanished from a holiday apartment in Portugal’s Praia da Luz on 3 May, 2007, while her parents dined with friends at a tapas restaurant.
Nearly 18 years on from her disappearance, authorities have been unable to definitively say what happened to the three-year-old, prompting a number of alleged sightings and conspiracy theories over the years.
Madeleine McCann has been missing for almost 18 years (PA)
The most notable lead involves a German man named Christian B (who cannot be fully identified under German privacy law), who is currently serving a prison sentence for an unrelated crime.
Christian B is scheduled to be released from prison this September, despite prosecutors in three separate countries attempting to charge him in relation to Madeleine’s disappearance.
However, hopes of charging the man over the disappearance are currently unlikely, with a prosecutor now telling Sky News there is ‘currently no prospect’ of an indictment.
“There is currently no prospect of an indictment in the Maddie case,” Prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters told the news outlet. “As things stand, the accused Christian B’s imprisonment will end in early September.”
This decision has been welcomed by Christian B’s defence team, who stated the update confirmed their suspicions that there was ‘no reliable evidence against our client’.
“This confirms the suspicions that we have repeatedly expressed, namely that there is no reliable evidence against our client,” defence lawyer Philipp Marquort told Sky of the update.
Christian B (Alexander Koerner/Getty Images)
“We regret that we have not yet been granted access to the investigation files. We have not yet been able to effectively counter the public prejudice arising from statements made by the prosecutor’s office.”
Evidence linking the 47-year-old to Madeleine’s disappearance in Portugal has widely been described as circumstantial. The German national has previous convictions for sex crimes against children, and is understood to have been residing in the area around the time of the child’s disappearance (with a mobile phone ping placing him close to the scene on 3 May).
He re-registered a vehicle the following day and is also said to have told a former cellmate that he abducted a young girl in Portugal.
Prosecutors in Germany currently believe that Madeleine is no longer alive but haven’t released what evidence they have. Wolters has previously stated that he believes Christian B was responsible for Madeline’s death – an allegation he denies.
German police are currently working on the case alongside authorities from Portugal and Scotland Yard.
