“AS LONG AS I HAVE HOPE, I WON’T STOP LOOKING” — INVESTIGATOR MAKES EMOTIONAL APPEAL NEARLY 20 YEARS AFTER MADELEINE McCANN VANISHED

Julian Peribañez, who worked with the private investigation team hired by Madeleine McCann’s parents, says he still does not know what happened to the little girl — but he refuses to give up searching.

Nearly two decades after Madeleine McCann disappeared during a family holiday in Portugal, one investigator who helped search for her says he still has no answers.

Julian Peribañez, a Spanish private investigator who worked with the team hired by Kate and Gerry McCann in 2008, has made an emotional appeal for anyone with information to come forward.

In an interview with The Olive Press published on October 25, Peribañez reflected on the case that has shaped much of his professional life.

He admitted that he still does not know whether Madeleine is alive or what happened to her after she vanished.

“I don’t know if she’s alive or not, because hardly anyone on Earth does,” he said.

“But as long as I have hope, I won’t stop looking.”

A LITTLE GIRL WHO DISAPPEARED DURING A FAMILY HOLIDAY

Madeleine was just three years old when she disappeared from her family’s holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on May 3, 2007.

Her parents were dining with friends at a nearby restaurant while Madeleine and her younger twin siblings were asleep in the apartment.

When Kate McCann returned to check on the children, Madeleine was gone.

The disappearance triggered an international search and one of the most widely followed missing-child investigations in modern history.

Despite years of inquiries, public appeals and renewed investigative efforts, Madeleine has never been found.

THE INVESTIGATOR WHO REFUSES TO GIVE UP

Peribañez joined the private investigation team hired by Madeleine’s parents the year after she disappeared.

He has continued pursuing his own lines of inquiry and says the search remains unfinished.

He is now appealing particularly to people in Portugal’s Algarve region who may remember encounters or events that could be relevant to the case.

“All I need is a name. Give me a name, and I’ll chase it wherever I have to,” he said.

For Peribañez, even a small piece of information could be worth pursuing.

HIS THEORY HAS NOT BEEN CONFIRMED

During the interview, Peribañez discussed his personal belief that Madeleine may have been abducted by an organised Eastern European trafficking network.

He urged anyone who may have information about people he believes could be connected to such a network to contact him.

However, this remains his own investigative theory. It has not been confirmed by police, and his latest appeal does not represent a breakthrough in the official investigation.

German authorities have separately focused on Christian Brückner, who was identified as a suspect in 2020. He has not been charged in connection with Madeleine’s disappearance and denies involvement.

THE CASE THAT CHANGED HIS LIFE

Peribañez says his work on Madeleine’s disappearance influenced his later efforts to protect vulnerable children.

He has since founded Guardianes de la Inocencia, an organisation focused on child protection, and written about cases involving child exploitation and abuse.

He has described Madeleine’s case as the starting point for much of that work.

Nearly 20 years later, the questions surrounding her disappearance remain unanswered.

For her family and those who continue searching, the hope of discovering the truth has not disappeared with time.

Madeleine was only three when she vanished. Today, there is still no confirmed account of what happened to her.

And Peribañez says he will keep looking for as long as hope remains.