Photo: Jeff J Mitchell / Getty Images
May 3, 2007 , less than two weeks before her fourth birthday, Madeleine McCann of Rothley, England, disappeared during a family vacation in a tourist center in the south of Portugal. McCann’s disappearance sparked an international manhunt; however, she has never been found.
In May 2007, the McCann family (Parents Gerry and Kate McCann, Madeleine and her twin brothers from 2 years old, Sean and Amelie) were vacationing with a group of friends at the Ocean Club resort in Praia da Luz (“Beach of Light”), a resort town along the Portuguese Algarve coast.
On the night of May 3, Gerry and Kate McCann went with friends to the tapas bar at the Ocean Club, leaving Madeleine with her brother and sister sleeping in the family’s ground floor apartment, located near the tapas bar.
The McCanns and their friends agreed to check on the children every half hour. Around the 10 that night, Kate McCann went to the apartment and discovered that Madeleine was not there.
The Portuguese police initially believed that the girl had left and would be found quickly. As a result, they did not immediately distribute a description of the missing child or search vehicles crossing the border between Portugal and Spain, less than two hours from Praia da Luz.
McCann’s disappearance generated extensive media coverage in Europe and beyond. The star of the English soccer player David Beckham made a televised plea for her safe return, and “Harry Potter” author JK Rowling reportedly donated millions to help find the girl.
Gerry and Kate McCann, practicing Catholics, also had an audience in Rome with the Pope Benedict XVI, who blessed a photo of Madeleine.
September 7, 2007, Portuguese officials named Gerry and Kate McCann, both doctors, as suspected of the disappearance of his daughter. Shortly after, the authorities leaked the news that Madeleine’s DNA had been discovered in the trunk of the car that her parents rented in Portugal, almost a month after her disappearance.
It was speculated that the McCanns, to enjoy a night out, had given her children sedatives and that Madeleine had a reaction fatal at the dose she received. The McCanns subsequently faked her abduction and hid her body for weeks before transferring it to the trunk of their rental car.
Gerry and Kate McCann called this theory ridiculous, particularly given the fact that they were under intense scrutiny media and constantly followed by reporters.
In July 2008, Portuguese officials formally cleared Gerry and Kate McCann of any involvement in the disappearance of his daughter . A third person who had been considered the only other formal suspect in the case, a British man living in Portugal, was also acquitted. In addition, the Portuguese attorney general said there was not enough evidence for the police to continue their investigation.
The McCanns hired private detectives to follow searching for her daughter and have gone on publicity tours in Europe and the United States to raise awareness of her plight.
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