The mystery of Madeleine McCann's disappearance: A brief timeline

The search of the Arade Dam reservoir and surrounding areas in southern Portugal “resulted in the collection of some material,” which will now be expertly analysed, Portuguese police said in a statement, but there was no indication that anything conclusive had been found, the NYT report said.

Since her disappearance, Madeleine McCann’s case has captivated and horrified the British public, and much of Europe. She has been the subject of a 16 year long investigation costing millions of pounds. Her parents also have been paid large sums in damages by tabloids for baselessly blaming them for their daughter’s disappearance.

However, speculation on her disappearance continues with no definite answers till date.

The disappearance

On May 3, 2007 Madeleine McCann was out on a holiday with her family at the Ocean Club in Praia da Luz, Portugal. While her parents were out for dinner at the property’s restaurant, Madeleine remained in the room with her brother and twin sister.

According to the BBC, when mother Kate McCann went to check on the children, she found her daughter missing and called the cops. What ensued was a night-long search operation with hotel staff and other guests participating alongside Portuguese police and the McCann family.

Border police and airport staff were also put on alert and over the next few days, hundreds of volunteers joined the search.

Dwindling hope of finding her alive

On May 12, nine days after Madeleine’s disappearance, Portuguese police said they believed Madeleine was abducted but is still alive and in Portugal. On May 26, the police issued a description of a man seen on the night of Madeleine’s disappearance, possibly carrying a child.

However, as time passed, hopes of finding the toddler alive dwindled. A senior police official, around a month later, acknowledged that vital forensic clues may have been destroyed as the crime scene was not protected properly.

By August, 100 days since Madeleine disappeared, investigators for the first time publicly acknowledged that she may not be found alive.

Parents become suspects

On September 6, Portuguese police interviewed Kate McCann as a witness. On 7 September, detectives made the couple (Kate and Gerry) “arguidos” (suspects). However, just days later, the couple flew back to the UK.

In April 2008, Portuguese police flew to the UK to sit in on interviews conducted by Leicestershire Police of the McCanns’ friends they had dinner with on the night Madeleine disappeared. The McCann’s remained suspects in the eyes of the Portuguese.

It was only months later, in July, that the couple’s arguidos tag was finally removed by the Portuguese police as they submited their final – and inconclusive – report and shelved the investigation.

Parents keep search alive

Even when they themselves were under suspicion, Gerry and Kate McCann continued to put pressure on the authorities to find their girl.

As early as November 2007, Gerry McCann had publicly stated that he believed his family was watched by “a predator” in the days before his daughter’s disappearance. In January 2008, the McCann even released sketches of a “suspect”, based on a description by a British holidaymaker of a “creepy man” seen at the resort.

However, the investigation had stalled with no new leads or evidence found. To keep the search for their daughter alive, the couple decide to write a book on her disappearance, which was released in May 2011. Following the book release and the publicity that it generated, the British government decided to get involved more actively.

Then Prime Minister David Cameron asked the Metropolitan Police to help investigate. A two year review of the investigation by the Metropolitan Police followed but the Portuguese refused to reopen their own investigation.

The Scotland Yard gets involved

In May 2013, UK detectives reviewing the case say they had identified “a number of persons of interest”.

In July, the Scotland Yard announced it had “new evidence and new witnesses” in the case and opened a formal investigation. Over the course of its investigation, it identified 41 potential suspects, compelling the Portuguese to re-open their own investigation with the new information gathered.

Over the next six years, both British and Portuguese authorities carried out multiple searches in and around the Ocean Club and interviewed various persons of interest. However, despite opening multiple “significant” lines of inquiry, no definitive answers were found.

A suspect emerges

Finally, in June 2020, investigators revealed that a 43-year-old German prisoner, Christian Brueckner, had been identified as a suspect. He would be formally named a suspect in 2022.

Brueckner lived in Portugal on and off from 1995 to 2007, has a criminal record including convictions for sexual abuse of children, and is currently serving a sentence in a German prison for an unrelated sex crime. He has thus far denied any involvement.

The current investigation revolves around Brueckner’s supposed whereabouts on the fateful night. Given his prior record and the time that has passed since Madeleine’s disappearance, authorities are treating it as a murder inquiry.

However, even after the latest search, which used sniffer dogs and divers, Madeleine McCann’s disappearance remains a mystery.