Cops close Madeleine McCann disappearance case but the mystery is far from over

A key update on the disappearance case of British citizen, Madeleine McCann, comes 16 years after the British toddler went missing on May 3, 2007. Portuguese Police have collected some material from a Arade Dam reservoir in Algarve in Portugal, which will be sent to a German lab for tests. The Portuguese Police have now ended the search for Madeleine McCann.

Madeleine's disappearance

Madeleine McCann, who was 3-years-old when she disappeared on May 3, 2007, was vacationing with her family at the seaside resort town of Praia da Luz in Portugal. She was on vacation with her parents, Gerry and Kate McCann and her twin siblings, Sean and Amelie, who were 2-years-old at the time. Madeleine's parents were having dinner at a restaurant near their holiday apartment when Madeleine disappeared. Since then her parents and various authorities have made relentless efforts to find their daughter.

Latest developments in the case

The mystery of the disappearance of Madeleine McCann is still not solved, however, after scouring through Arade Dam Reservoir in Algarve in Portugal for three days, the police authorities found some material which would be delivered to German authorities for testing. Although, the Portuguese authorities believe that nothing conclusive has been found. 

• The search of the reservoir and the surrounding areas was requested by the German authorities who were trying to prove that Christian Bruckner, 45, who is a convicted rapist, had killed McCann.
• Christian Bruckner is the prime suspect in Madeleine McCann's disappearance case.
• So far, Bruckner has been charged with three offenses of aggravated rape of women and two offenses of sexual abuse of children that took place in Portugal between 2000-2017. However, these are all unrelated to Madeleine's disappearance.

Why do German officers think Bruckner killed McCann? 

German police claim that they only had "indications" and "tips" that led them to search. There were photographs discovered in 2016 that indicated that Bruckner frequently visited that reservoir and called it as "my little paradise".

• In 2019, Bruckner was sent to jail for the rape of a 72-year old American woman very close from the McCanns’ holiday apartment in Praia da Luz from where Madeleine went missing.
• The Portuguese authorities named him the official suspect because his mobile phone's signal indicated that his phone was located in the area of Mark Warner Oceans resort where the McCanns were staying at the time when their daughter went missing.
• He has not been charged with any offence related to Madeleine's case yet.

Polish woman who claimed to be Madeleine

• Earlier this year, a 21-year-old Polish woman, Julia Faustyna, who also goes by the name Julia Wendell and Julia Wandelt, made headlines and took internet by the storm when she claimed that she in fact was the missing British toddler. She created an Instagram account called “@iammadeleinemccann”.
• Julia Faustyna had publicly posted several side-by-side comparisons of her and Madeleine's physical features to show and insist that she was Madeleine.
• After taking a DNA test, the results proved that she was not actually Madeleine McCann.
• She also went on to apologize to Madeleine McCann's parents Kate and Gerry McCann.

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