Madeleine McCann, Madeleine McCann was three years old

Madeleine McCann, Madeleine McCann was three years old. On the evening of May 3rd, 2007, Madeleine and her two younger siblings were sleeping in apartment 5A of the Ocean Club resort in Praia da Luz, Portugal. Her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, were dining with friends at a nearby restaurant. The apartment was checked periodically throughout the evening. At approximately 10:00 p.m., Kate McCann returned to check on the children. Madeleine was gone. The window shutter had been forced open. The bed was empty. A pink blanket lay on the floor. What followed became one of the largest and most scrutinized missing child investigations in modern history. Portuguese police opened a formal inquiry. British authorities became involved. Interpol issued notices. The case attracted global media coverage for months, then years. Madeleine was never found. The investigation was deeply compromised from the beginning. The crime scene was not adequately preserved. Evidence was mishandled. Key witnesses gave inconsistent accounts. Portuguese authorities at one point named Madeleine's own parents as suspects before dropping that designation without explanation. A British review launched in 2011 identified over forty potential suspects. In 2020, German prosecutors publicly named a new prime suspect. A convicted sex offender named Christian Brückner. A man who had lived in the Algarve region at the time of Madeleine's disappearance. A man with a documented history of crimes against children. As of this writing, no charges have been filed in connection with Madeleine's disappearance. No trial has been held. No verdict reached. She would be twenty-one years old today.