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Home / World

Ex-detective says Madeleine McCann case 'unsolvable' because crucial CCTV camera was turned off

NZ Herald
12 Jan, 2020 07:53 PM2 mins to read

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The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann Trailer. Video / Netflix

A former detective who has been involved in major missing person cases believes the disappearance of Madeleine McCann will never be solved.

Mark Williams-Thomas, 49, says after years of investigations, McCann's disappearance is "unsolvable" due to vital missing CCTV footage.

In his new book Hunting Killers, Williams-Thomas says a crucial CCTV camera was turned off at the time she vanished, allowing her kidnapper to go undetected.

READ MORE:
• Madeleine McCann mystery: Could this note have led to Maddie's disappearance?
• Former Portuguese police chief Gonçalo Amaral says Madeleine McCann suspect is in German prison
• Madeleine McCann breakthrough: Cops 'closing in on new prime suspect'

"The abduction of Madeleine McCann is one I'd put into the unsolvable category.

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"I believe Madeleine was the victim of an opportunistic criminal whose act was random – she wandered out of the apartment and into the path of this person.

"The case hasn't been solved simply because a crucial CCTV camera was turned off, meaning that whoever took Madeleine was not identifiable at the scene."

A former detective who has been involved in major missing person cases believes the disappearance of Madeleine McCann will never be solved.
A former detective who has been involved in major missing person cases believes the disappearance of Madeleine McCann will never be solved.

Despite desperately wanting answers, he says statistics show Maddie's case will likely never be solved.

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"The sad reality is, this far on, the likelihood of Madeleine being alive now is incredibly slim.

"Unfortunately, in almost every case of stranger child abduction, within the space of 24 hours the child is dead."

Kate and Gerry McCann. Photo / Getty
Kate and Gerry McCann. Photo / Getty

Maddie, who was 3 at the time, vanished during a family holiday in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in May 2007.

The young girl was left alone with her younger twin siblings in their room while their parents Kate and Gerry McCann were having dinner in a nearby tapas restaurant with friends.

Discover more

World

'Not possible': Top cop's shock Madeleine McCann kidnap theory

07 Mar 03:35 AM
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Madeleine McCann mystery: The 48 questions Kate McCann wouldn't answer

17 Mar 02:46 AM
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McCann insider: What I think really happened to Maddie

28 Mar 07:55 PM
World

New Maddie suspect is jailed child killer

04 May 10:53 PM

The McCanns are clinging to hope their eldest child could still be alive.

Maddie would now be 16.

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