A new suspect has become the focal point of an investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. A 43-year-old German man, being named as Christian B, is currently in jail for a sex crime and police believe he may have had something to do with McCann’s disappearance 13 years ago. The young girl, who was three when she vanished, disappeared from an apartment at a Portuguese resort on the night of May 3, 2007, while her parents were at a nearby bar.
When McCann went missing, her parents Gerry and Kate McCann were labeled as formal suspects of the investigation but a year later in 2008 had that status lifted. During that time, another man, Robert Murat, was listed as a subject but was also removed from the investigation that same year. Gerry and Kate came out and thanked the police for continuing their search in the “missing persons” case — labeled as such because it does not have “definitive evidence” on whether she is alive or not — by saying, “All we have ever wanted is to find her.”
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Law enforcement is now reaching out to the public for help as they investigate into two vehicles that were once owned by the new suspect. “Someone out there knows a lot more than they’re letting on,” Det Ch Insp Mark Cronwell said according to BBC. London police force have clarified that German authorities have taken the lead on the case since the suspect was in custody inside their country. German police did tell ZDF TV that the suspect is a sex offender and that he has two previous convictions for “sexual contact with girls” according to Christian Hoppe from Germany’s federal criminal police office.
McCann’s original investigation cost roughly 11 million euros back in 2011 when it initially launched as police searched across Europe to find her. According to Cronwell, the prisoner visited the area she went missing in quite often and at the time lived a “transient lifestyle” in his camper. At the time of her disappearance, he was in the Praia de Luz area — which is the spot in which she was in — and transferred a Jaguar car into someone else’s name the same day. Along with these details, they have also released a phone number that he was using during that time and revealed another number that called him, who police feel could be a missing piece to help solve the case.
