MADELEINE McCANN MYSTERY: INVESTIGATOR WHO REFUSES TO GIVE UP MAKES NEW APPEAL NEARLY 20 YEARS AFTER SHE VANISHED

Spanish private investigator Julian Peribañez is urging people with information to come forward, while sharing his own theory about what may have happened to the missing child.

Nearly 20 years after Madeleine McCann disappeared during a family holiday in Portugal, a private investigator who once worked on the case says he has no intention of giving up the search for answers.

Julian Peribañez, a Spanish investigator who joined the team hired by Madeleine’s parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, in 2008, has renewed his appeal for information that could help explain what happened to the little girl.

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.

“I don’t know if she’s alive or not, because hardly anyone on Earth does. But as long as I have hope, I won’t stop looking,” he said.

AN APPEAL FOR ONE NAME THAT COULD MATTER

Peribañez is particularly appealing to people in Portugal’s Algarve region who may remember suspicious encounters or individuals who could be relevant to his inquiries.

He believes Madeleine may have been abducted by an organised Eastern European trafficking network that was operating in the region around the time she disappeared.

He urged anyone who may have encountered people fitting the profile he has been investigating to contact him.

“If you’ve had encounters with people who fit the profile, please reach out,” he said.

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

However, his trafficking-network theory remains his own investigative belief. It has not been established as the explanation for Madeleine’s disappearance, and his latest appeal does not represent a confirmed breakthrough in the official investigation.

WHAT HAPPENED TO MADELEINE?

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

Her parents had been dining with friends at a nearby restaurant while Madeleine and her younger twin siblings slept in the apartment. The adults took turns checking on the children during the evening.

At around 10 p.m., Kate McCann discovered that Madeleine was missing. Her disappearance triggered an international search and one of the most widely followed missing-child investigations in modern history.

Despite years of police inquiries and thousands of leads, Madeleine has never been found.

THE OFFICIAL INVESTIGATION REMAINS UNRESOLVED

German authorities identified convicted sex offender Christian Brückner as a suspect in Madeleine’s disappearance in 2020. However, he has not been charged in connection with her disappearance, and no court has established his involvement in the case.

Peribañez has continued pursuing his own lines of inquiry, while his latest comments have renewed public attention on the unanswered questions surrounding the case.

His work on Madeleine’s disappearance also influenced his later efforts to protect vulnerable children. He founded Guardianes de la Inocencia, an organisation focused on tackling child exploitation and abuse.

Nearly two decades after Madeleine vanished, there is still no confirmed account of what happened to her.

For Peribañez, the uncertainty is not a reason to stop searching. He says he will continue following potential leads for as long as there is hope that answers can still be found.

Madeleine would be 23 years old today. Her family, and those still searching for answers, continue to face the same question that has remained unanswered since 2007: what happened to her?