Madeleine McCann’s parents receive apology over disappearance
Portuguese police travelled to London earlier this year to apologise to Madeleine McCann’s father in person, it has been reported.
Senior officers flew from Lisbon to meet Gerry McCann and tell him they were sorry for the way he and the rest of his family were treated during their investigation while also giving an update on the case, according to BBC News.
Gerry and his wife Kate were made ‘arguidos’ (suspects) in the Portuguese investigation in September 2007, four months after their daughter vanished from a holiday resort at Praia da Luz in the Algarve.
More than 16 years later, no trace of Madeleine has yet been found.
Detectives had suspected her parents staged the abduction and hid her body after she died in an accident at their holiday apartment.
The McCanns’ arguido status was dropped the following year, but they still face relentless abuse online from people convinced they are responsible for the disappearance.
According to the BBC’s Panorama programme, police in Portugal have said they did not handle the initial investigation properly and they should have given more consideration to the fact the McCanns were unfamiliar with the country’s systems.
In 2020, the case entered a new stage when German sex offender Christian Brueckner was named prime suspect.
Detectives from Germany’s Federal Criminal Police (BKA) searched a reservoir more than 30 miles from Praia da Luz earlier this year, but no new evidence was reported to have been found.
Brueckner has not been charged in connection with the disappearance of Madeleine, and he has publicly denied any involvement.
German prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters, who works on the case, told the BBC the apology from the Portuguese police was a ‘good sign’.
He added: ‘It shows that, in Portugal, there’s development in the McCann case.’
Kate and Gerry McCann shared a post on social media earlier this year marking Madeleine’s 20th birthday and vowing to never give up trying to find her.
They wrote: ‘Happy birthday Madeleine! We love you and we are waiting for you.
‘We are never going to give up.’
A message accompanying the post said: ‘Still missing. Still very much missed. Still looking. For as long as it takes…’
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