Disappearance of little Maddie: 13 years later, a German suspected of murder
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Thirteen years after the disappearance of the little Madeleine McCann in Portugal, an investigation for murder has just been opened against a German of 43 years.
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Read moreMore than 13 years after the facts and hundreds of interrogations and searches, the mystery about the disappearance of little Maddie could finally be clarified. German courts have announced that they are investigating a new suspect and have called for witnesses. He is a 43-year-old German recidivist pedophile, currently imprisoned in Kiel, in the north of his country for drug trafficking.
The case dates back to May 3, 2007. That day, little Madeleine McCann, who was preparing to celebrate her fourth birthday, disappeared from her room in the small seaside resort of Praia da Luz, in the south of Portugal, where she was staying on vacation with her family.
After 14 months of controversial investigations, marked in particular by the indictment of the girl's parents, Gerry and Kate McCann, and finally their laundering, then the dismissal of the inspector in charge of the investigation, the Portuguese police had classified the case in 2008, only to reopen the case five years later. British police had opened their own investigation in July 2013, but Scotland Yard had since drastically reduced the number of investigators mobilized into the case. The parents were always convinced that their daughter had been kidnapped and could still be alive .
But this Thursday at midday, the spokesman for the Brunswick prosecutor's office in Lower Saxony left them little hope. " We believe that Madeleine McCann is dead, " he said. The murder suspect was presented as "Christian B.", a " sex offender who has been convicted several times, including being convicted of child sexual abuse, among other things . "
The German press thus reveals that the man, still a minor at the time, had been convicted in 1994 for assault, reports our correspondent in Berlin, Pascal Thibaut . He then lived for twelve years in the south of Portugal, near the place of residence of the McCann family. An investigator for the federal criminal office revealed last night on television that the suspect's mobile phone had been geolocated on May 3, 2007 near the hotel where the family was staying. Authorities released a Portuguese phone number used to call Christian B. on the same day, as well as photos of the two vehicles the man had.
The man returned to Germany a few years ago before returning to Portugal. Three years ago, he was extradited to his country of origin after a new conviction for pedophilia. In December, he was sentenced to seven years in prison for the 2005 rape of an American woman in Portugal.
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