Madeleine McCann's parents urge German authorities to show evidence that made cops declare their daughter dead
Madeleine McCann’s parents have reportedly urged German authorities to tell them what evidence led them to declare their missing daughter dead. Gerry and Kate McCann have said that they still have not been given any reason why the German police have deemed the investigation into their daughter's investigation a murder hunt.
The news comes after German authorities last week, on June 3, had revealed a new prime suspect in Madeleine's disappearance. The police had announced that Madeliene could be dead, adding that the pedophile suspect, identified as 43-year-old Christian Brückner, could be behind her possible murder. The German police, in assistance with Scotland Yard, is now probing Brückner, a convicted rapist, in Maddie's case. The detectives, last week, had revealed that they were convinced that Maddie was dead and knew how she was killed. They, however, do not know where her body is.
Madeleine mysteriously disappeared from her parents' vacation apartment at The Ocean Club Resort in Portugal on the night of May 3, 2007. At the time, her parents were just 50 meters away from the apartment, dining at a tapas restaurant with several close friends while Madeleine and her twin siblings slept in the house. Thirteen years later, the child is still missing. Madeleine's disappearance is the most widely-reported missing person's case in modern history.
The McCanns' spokesman Clarence Mitchell, after the recent development, had stated that the family continues to hope Maddie's alive but they are "realistic" about her fate, according to the Daily Mail.
German prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters, while addressing a press conference last week, had said: "We think that Madeleine McCann is dead and are appealing for witnesses. The 43-year-old suspect is a multiple sexual predator already convicted of crimes against little girls."
German police are reportedly facing scrutiny in the case after they allegedly tipped off Brückner off about the investigation in 2013. The federal criminal police in Germany has reportedly contacted Brunswick in October 2013 for more information about him. However, while calling him in for questioning, police in their letter specified that the questioning was linked to the "Madeleine McCann missing persons case" and "personal examination of Christian B," according to Spiegal.
The letter would have given Brückner enough time to destroy any evidence in the case, the report stated, adding that it was a serious mistake on the officials' part.
"This should not have happened and in no way corresponds to the usual procedure in such a sensitive case," an experienced police officer was quoted as saying in the report.
Reports state that authorities, despite revealing Brückner as the prime suspect in the case, have not yet called him for questioning. The interrogation can reportedly only take place after an investigation is concluded.
The 43-year-old suspect is known to have carried out burglaries on holiday villas and apartments at the time of Madeleine's disappearance. "These sightings have been a mystery for years and have been the subject of numerous police appeals," a source told the Sun. "With a suspect now in custody it seems like they may have finally been solved."