All language subtitles for How It Really Happened s07e02 Madeline McCann 2

That was my shoe.

That is your shoe.

What colour is it?

These are my shoes.

Are they new?

Yeah. And what colour are they?

Pink. Lovely.

Hello, and welcome.

I'm Jesse L. Martin.

The southern coast of Portugal.

Beautiful beaches, perfect weather,
picturesque towns.

It's the ideal setting for a getaway.

But for one British family, the perfect
vacation became an unimaginable horror.

May, 2007.

Three-year-old Madeline McCann
disappeared from her bed at the Ocean

Club Resort.

What went on in Apartment 5A?

The answer would remain a mystery for
years.

This is how it really happened.

Kate and Jerry McCann had two adorable
twins. They were two years old.

Madeline was almost four.

Madeline had a stuffed animal that was
her comfort toy she brought everywhere

with her.

Cuddle Cat.

They wanted to go on a great vacation
with their three children.

Praia da Luz is a beautiful little town
in Portugal.

The Ocean Club was basically like a
small hotel where you would rent a

little apartment.

They had a nice pool there.

It's close to the beach.

I think it's fair to say that Kate and
Jane McCann had no idea.

what they were in for when they stayed
at the Ocean Club back holiday in 2007.

We've always had a routine with the
kids. Twins usually went to bed about

seven and Madeline used to have a little
bit of extra time.

Pretty much took them into the bedroom,
read them a story and tucked them into

their cot for the twins and Madeline
into her bed.

And then we got changed and ready and
we'd arranged to have dinner with our

friends. They would leave the kids in
the apartments by themselves.

The tapas restaurant where the McCanns
would go with their friends was in the

resort, right across the swimming pool
from the family apartment.

It's only about 50 metres away.

For me, you know, if your children are
sleep-ups there in a bedroom and you're

dining in the garden, you're out of
sight and you can't hear them.

And that's the similar thing to me.

The McCanns and their friends, every
half hour, would check on everyone's

kid.

So at 10 o'clock, around 10 o'clock, it
was Kate's turn to go and check on the

apartment.

I went through the patio doors at the
bath.

I just noticed that the children's
bedroom was quite far open.

So I went to close over the children's
door.

Just as I was about to close it, the
gust of wind shut it.

And then I went back to open the door
again a little bit. Just glanced at

Madeline's bed.

And she thought Madeline was gone.

Cuddle Cat was still there.

If Madeline would have gone away by
herself, she would have taken Cuddle

Cat.

She freaked, you know, absolutely
freaked.

Groups were going around the whole
resort, just shouting her name, looking

for her.

I went into the bedroom and I found it
just as Kate described. And when I saw

that window pushed wide open and the
shutter up, which we'd left down the

whole week, it was horrible.

And the club phoned the police.

It took them quite a while to figure
out, hey, this is an abduction.

There was almost no evidence to follow.

It was almost as though the little girl
had vanished into thin air.

Words cannot describe.

The anguish and despair that we are
feeling as the parents of our beautiful

daughter, Madeline.

And then a potential break in the case
from the night Madeline went missing.

Jane Tanner was one of the other parents
in the party. Around 9.15, Jane

went back to check on her own children.

And she reports that she saw a man
carrying a child across the street.

into the night.

I know what I saw and I think it's
important that people know what I saw

because, you know, I believe Madeline
was abducted.

There is a sketch here of this man who
was seen carrying a child away wearing

identical pyjamas to Madeline shortly
after I checked on him.

The Tanner sighting became one of the
most scrutinised aspects of the case,

but it was always unclear...

what exactly Jane Tanner really thought
and who that was.

Eventually, the lead went cold.

Jerry was invested in the idea that his
child needed to be everywhere,

her photo everywhere.

Her parents have mounted an
international campaign to keep her name

in front of the international public.
They have toured Europe, North Africa,

and the United States.

The Pope now the latest player in a
relentless media campaign that has grown

beyond the borders of England and
Portugal.

It wasn't long before there were
theoretical sightings of Madeleine all

over the world.

This investigation has not been short of
tips. Police have received hundreds.

Tantalizing frame of CCTV footage has
emerged from Dunedin on the South Island

of New Zealand. It shows a little girl
with a striking resemblance to Madeleine

McCann. Authorities say that they are
looking at a picture of the little girl,

or a little girl that looks a lot like
her. Take a look for yourself.

Here's the photo.

A Spanish couple says they took it about
a month ago while they were on vacation

in Morocco.

There have been lots of sightings in
Morocco and in other countries, and no

matter how well-intentioned the people
who reported them were, none of them so

far have come to anything.

Three months after Madeline's
disappearance.

Something occurred that no one saw
coming.

Cadaver dogs can smell the smallest
particles of blood.

So they brought two dogs over and were
sent into the apartment.

Portuguese media has been reporting
blood traces found in the family's

holiday apartment might indicate
Madeline was killed there.

Its investigative significance is not at
all yet clear. That blood is being

tested at a laboratory in Britain.

This begged the question, were Jerry and
Kate responsible for Madeline's

disappearance? Could she have actually
died in the apartment and they tried to

cover it up?

We welcome you back now to a story that
turned on a dime this morning, and it

seems people all over the world are
talking about it.

Police are focusing their attention on
two suspects, Madeline's mom, And dad.

Whistles and boos greeted Kate McCann as
she entered a Portuguese police station

for a second straight day of
questioning.

Kate and Jerry, because of their suspect
status being imposed on them, they

thought it best to go back to the UK.

I flew back with Kate and Jerry
yesterday.

I was on the plane that brought them
back to England from Portugal.

Kate was just looking out of the
aircraft window.

quietly sobbing, and you can just
imagine the emotion for her coming back

home without Madeline.

But then the blood samples that were
sent to the lab came back.

Because those lab results were
inconclusive, it led to the winding up

of the police investigation.

The McCanns were no longer suspects.

Why? Because there was no evidence
against them. At the most point, I

thought her family was going to be
destroyed.

But ultimately, the overwhelming
objective that we have is to find

Madeline. Despite all the rumors and
reports, one fact remains painfully

clear. Madeline is still missing.

I will never forget them driving up to
their home after being gone in Portugal

for a month.

I'm looking at this throng of
international media waiting outside

their home.

And the one thing that really stuck with
me is that the front window of their

home is filled with stuffies and
children's toys.

And it is just a reminder that just
months ago, this was a house that was

bursting with the energy of three
children.

And these parents are coming home
without one of those three children.

Just after noon, the McCanns step in
front of the cameras for the first time

since Sunday to take their twins to play
at an undisclosed location.

Despite the McCanns being clear to
suspects, the innuendo about the family

did not fade.

Every day, Madeline's picture was on the
cover of tabloids. And the British

people, half of them thought,
absolutely, they did it.

And the other half thought, there's no
way.

Eventually, the Portuguese investigation
came to an end without any conclusion.

The Portuguese police had looked into
the leads, found nothing, and closed the

file.

I conducted CNN's first interview with
Kate and Jerry McCann, and I will

never forget it. It was haunting to see
these two people.

Nearly a year later, still struggling
with their daughter's disappearance.

Obviously there's been a lot written and
a lot of criticism about us eating at

the tapas restaurant and checking on the
children, as we did. I mean, and I've

said many a times, you know, there's a
limit to how much you can be persecuted.

But if there was a second of doubt in my
head that I was placing my children at

risk, it wouldn't have happened.

The problem with that, and there's been
a lot of focus on it, is you can't

change it.

And if you dwell on, why didn't you do
this, why didn't I, you know, why didn't

I stay in, it would destroy you.

One of the things that I remember most
vividly is what happened after the

interview.

Jerry got up and left the room and Kate
went over to the window and just gazed

out and...

You could just see the unthinkable grief
on her face.

She just looked like the loneliest woman
in the world in that moment.

Things started to pour out, strange
things.

There was a very deep unknown reality in
Algarve.

And it's frightening in retrospect when
you hear that.

Despite Kate and Jerry McCann being
ruled out as suspects in the

disappearance of their daughter,
Portuguese police coordinator Gonzalo

Amaral insisted they were guilty, even
publishing a book accusing the couple of

playing a role in their daughter's
disappearance.

By this time, Amaral had been taken off
the case after doing the interview,

accusing British authorities of
protecting the McCanns.

The accusations and litigation between
the McCanns and Amaral would continue

for years.

In 2009, the McCanns managed to have his
book banned.

But in 2017, Portugal's highest court
upheld his right to freedom of

expression and dismissed the couple's
libel case against the former police

coordinator.

The girl with that special mark in her
eye is still nowhere to be seen.

We would like to play a few words.

The person who is with Madeline or has
been with Madeline.

Madeline is a beautiful, bright, funny
and caring little girl.

The McCanns must have been really
desperate that the case would just go

unsolved and her daughter would be
forgotten.

We are determined to find Madeline and
we will do anything to do that.

So they went after every single lead and
every sort of help they could get.

Even before their Arguido status was
lifted, Kate and Jerry were going

outside traditional channels to find
their daughter.

One way they tried was by going to
private investigators.

The first team of investigators that
were hired were a Spanish outfit from

Barcelona, Matodo 3, who came with lots
of promise. They were very experienced.

The parents began learning information
few knew about.

It turns out that Praia da Luz, in the
Algarve region, was not the quiet little

place that the Bacan thought they were
going to when they went on vacation.

Here, Gary, we're on holiday.

There was a very deep unknown reality in
Algarve that was hidden

from the news.

Those ears.

when Madeleine disappeared, 2007, it was
a place not only unsafe,

but very dangerous.

What the McCanns didn't know, and I
think what almost any vacationer

wouldn't have known, in this very
beautiful, quiet resort area, is there

had been a string of burglary.

Things started to pour out, strange
things like guys that were knocking the

doors. Around Friday, Lou's asking for
money for an orphanage.

Maybe four, maybe five, maybe six of
them are going door to door asking,

raising money for an orphanage. Now,
what's interesting is there's no

orphanage in this area.

And it's frightening in retrospect when
you hear that.

It'd be more frightening that you
wouldn't have known that.

Do you have any blame that you would
attach to the resort itself?

You can argue, well, maybe we should
have known about burglaries. Maybe that

would have changed our behaviour.

And if you'd known there had been a
number of burglaries there, that

probably would have changed your
thinking. It may have, but, you know, I

don't think it's constructive from our
own point of view. We made the mistake.

We felt safe.

We didn't have a heightened awareness.
The resort was incredibly quiet.

One tourist had said a guy had come to
the door and she'd chatted to him for a

while and he'd looked through and seen
her child playing on the floor of the

apartment and she felt here that it kind
of had quite an uncanny sort of look at

her, quite fixated look at the child and
it concerned her.

Then we cut to the following day. The
child was playing downstairs in the

sitting room and she came down the
stairs and the door was open.

And she saw someone fleeing.

She's certain the same person had been
there the day before. And she felt the

person could have snatched her child
very easily.

You have to realize that Algarve is the
main touristic point in Portugal.

It's not good information for Algarve to
say abroad that it's not a safe place.

The level of criminality there was
brushed under the carpet by the tourist

board. In light of the new information
about burglaries and possible scam

artists, fresh questions were raised
about the fate of Madeleine McCann.

Well, there were lots of theories that
were explored at various times. One was

that she could have been the victim of
human trafficking.

Southern Spain and southern Portugal are
heavily influenced by the drugs trade,

people smuggling, people trafficking.

You could get in a boat and go to
Africa, go to other parts of Europe very

quickly.

It's remarkable how easy it is to move
out of the Algarve through Spain into

France.

Borders are not manned. There's lots of
places that you can cross and very

quickly.

Now British police say they have new
leads.

I still genuinely believe that there is
a possibility that she's alive.

Her face is unmistakable, the face of a
missing child and heartbreaking mystery.

Her parents have worn the grief and
anguish on their faces day after day.

We beg you to let Madeline come home.

We need our Madeline. Sean and Emily
need Madeline and Madeline needs us.

Please give our little girl back.

Despite the efforts of the private
investigation, the McCanns were no

closer to finding out what happened to
the daughter.

I think eventually the McCanns just lost
patience that no progress was being made

and then cast around for better
organizations that they thought might do

more to find Madeline.

And they really didn't have much luck.

It seemed like the trail was going cold.

With no one actively looking for their
daughter, Kate and Jerry knew they had

to do something to reignite the
investigation.

So, about four years after the daughter
disappeared, Kate comes out with a book

about her daughter, about the
investigation.

Why have you done the book?

I suppose it's always been the end.

To get the truth out there, obviously,
when there's been so many stories

written, but we've always had things to
weigh up.

I mean, ultimately, Madeleine's fund was
running out, and I knew that we'd need

to raise money, really, to continue to
serve.

And they ultimately appealed to the then
British Prime Minister, David Cameron.

And they touched a nerve. He understood
that nothing officially... was being

done to find Madeleine. And so he asked
Scotland Yard to do a review of

everything that had been done to date.

Now British police say they have new
leads and are reopening the

investigation called Operation Grange.

They were starting from day one.

The Portuguese were very nervous because
with a fresh look on the evidence and on

the investigation, many of the blunders
that had been made, especially in the

first 48 hours of the investigation.

were shown to the public.

Did not search streets near the hotel,
did not interview all the hotel guests,

didn't check video of vehicles leaving
the resort, did not check motorway cams.

These pictures of police on the Spanish
border are deeply worrying. The officers

are supposed to be checking vehicles
leaving Portugal.

Instead, for 40 minutes, they sit in
their own cars, out of the rain.

Given that there was nothing to go on,
British investigators investigated

everything from scratch and appealed to
the public.

We believe this is what Madeleine will
look like today as she approaches her

ninth birthday next weekend.

With regards to the age progression, if
you have seen a little girl who looks

like this, please contact the police
immediately.

Please don't hesitate.

One thing working in a family's favour.

that law enforcement could build upon
the work that had already been done by

the private investigators.

All the information held by our private
investigation team, everything has been

handed over. British police say their
help from private investigators has made

a difference.

This included a report of men accepting
donations for an orphanage that

apparently did not even exist.

British police say Portuguese burglars
operating a bogus charity may have been

linked with a string of robberies in the
area at the time.

17 days before Madeline went missing,
there were two separate break-ins near

the apartments where the McCanns were
staying on holiday.

One of the very strong theories that
Scotland Yard pursued was the idea that

somebody had been breaking into the
apartment, Madeline had woken up, and

the burglar, for some reason, had
decided to leave but take Madeline with

him.

And the fact that the McCanns and their
friends spent each evening at the tapas

bar may have made them a target.

Reservations were made for them every
evening.

They block-booked a table, the same
table, by the pool within the holiday

complex, and they kept to a pretty rigid
timetable. They would eat more or less

at the same time each night.

And of course the maitre d' would have
been like, great, okay, reservation

book, scribble at the top.

You know, the McCanns and friends will
eat every night at this table.

There's a belief that maybe the abductor
or the person who took her saw that

note, knew she was sleeping back there.

Operation Grange was spending a lot of
money trying to do all the efforts to

find Madeline.

There are lots of opportunities, lots of
new leads and new information crucially

emerging, which will be incredibly
useful for taking us forward.

And after 16 visits to Portugal and
reviewing more than 30,000 documents,

police are hopeful.

There is no clear definitive proof that
Madeleine McCann is dead.

And so on that basis, I still genuinely
believe that there is a possibility that

she's alive.

Praia da Luz, a beach resort town in
Portugal, now partially cordoned off as

British police dig in the wasteland.

Investigators are using sniffer dogs and
ground-penetrating radar.

that can detect disturbed earth.

Welcome back to How It Really Happened.

When Scotland Yard launched Operation
Grange, investigators were hopeful.

Could the disappearance of Madeleine
McCann finally be solved?

The new information seems promising, but
there's so much more that remains

unanswered.

The last two years of children and young
women being found after having been

taken and held for very long periods of
time, we've always had hope. And as

parents, we wouldn't accept Madeline is
dead until we see evidence, clear

evidence, that that is the case.

Investigators from Operation Grange
interviewed people all over Praia da

Luz, and they discovered some very
interesting details.

There was a good deal of information
about...

Strange men, for want of a better word,
who were seen hanging around the

McCann's apartments in the days before
she disappeared, on the days she

disappeared.

There are two witnesses who say,
independent one another, that they saw

what they described as a very ugly,
pockmarked or spotty-skinned man

watching apartment 5A.

Another witness reported having seen
suspicious men on a balcony near the

McCann's apartment, just hours before
Madeline disappeared.

One of the strong theories that emerged
was based on a series of incidents over

several years in various resorts of men
who were seemingly targeting

young children, particularly young
daughters of British families.

Police have identified a series of 12
potentially linked crimes that took

place between 2004 and 2010 in the
western Algarve area of Portugal. In

four of the cases, little girls between
the ages of 7 and 10 were sexually

assaulted in their beds while their
parents were home.

This all happened just a few kilometres
away from where the then three-year-old

was last seen.

Now police are trying to find the
suspect who they describe as having tan

skin, short, dark, unkempt hair. He
spoke English with a foreign accent.

We need to be able to prove or disprove
whether these offences and that offender

is connected to the disappearance of
Madeleine McCann.

In all of those cases that have been
reported, no child had been abducted.

But sexual predators often up the level
of their offending.

And it's quite feasible that somebody
who started by going into an apartment

to sexually attack a child might, to get
a bigger thrill, decide that one day he

was going to steal a child.

Scotland Yard, for a while, focused very
much on that idea.

While Scotland Yard was revisiting the
case, the Portuguese investigation

remained shelved.

Given the large amount of investigative
opportunities and the new information

that has recently come to light, we hope
that Madeleine's case is formally

reopened in Portugal in the near future.

And sure enough, in October 2013, the
Portuguese authorities reopened their

investigation. Both forces started
looking back.

at what they'd done and looking for
opportunities to continue the

investigation. After seven years
searching for Madeleine McCann, this is

the area of Portuguese scrubland now
being scoured for any trace.

Whenever a new trace came up or
something that was regarded as a new

trace by Operation Grange, a new search
would pop up. This news would come. They

were searching another field. They were
searching the area again.

British and Portuguese investigators are
using sniffer dogs and ground

-penetrating radar that can detect
disturbed earth.

I know from the very beginning that
people had said, in Portugal, if I

wanted to make a kid disappear around
here, I'd throw him in a well, because

every second house has a well in the
backyard.

Praia da Luz, a beach resort town in
Portugal, now partially cordoned off as

British police dig in the wasteland.

So, whenever there was a search, There
must have been something they thought

might take us further.

They were searching another well.

They were searching another piece of
forest.

Media reports at least two other
locations in the area may also be

searched in a renewed effort to discover
the toddler's whereabouts.

But again, it didn't throw up what
police hoped they would find.

Three days of searching by radar, by dog
and by dig.

Still no sign of Madeleine McCann's body
along the Portuguese coastline.

But that's not surprising after so long.

It is ridiculous. After seven years, to
come back here to dig and to ask

questions, they are only ruining
tourism.

It is ridiculous.

Operation Grange cost more than $13
million.

And still, after spending the money, all
that time, all these investigators, they

really haven't found out anything.

A lot of people were criticizing the
millions of pounds spent on this

investigation.

The investigation clearly hadn't
achieved the results that they'd hoped

for. They were nowhere nearer finding
out the explanation for her

disappearance than they were when they
started.

Despite the monumental effort in trying
to find Madeline, hope was dwindling

once again.

Now there's a new suspect in her
disappearance.

There was a person. There was a face.

There was a profile.

Madam McCann has been gone for 13 years,
the little blonde girl with blue-green

eyes. I think the strangest part of the
case is that there was never any real

evidence. No DNA, no blood, no trace, no
nothing.

And it's just hard to believe that
someone could cover their track so

expertly. I thought the case would never
be solved.

It had been so long since Madeleine
disappeared.

But then in 2020, something very
significant happened. German authorities

say they have someone who's in prison on
another crime who they believe might be

the person responsible for the
disappearance.

of Madeline McCann.

Now there's a new suspect in her
disappearance.

He's a German pedophile, authorities
say. A 43-year-old man who is currently

serving a long jail sentence.

Now there was a person, there was a
face, there was a profile.

CNN has confirmed his name to be
Christian B.

Prosecutors say the suspect lived in
this house in Praia da Luz, Portugal, at

the time the then three-year-old
Madeleine McCann disappeared from this

tourist resort in 2007.

Journalists learned the suspect's full
name was Christian Bruckner.

Investigators theorized he was closely
watching visitors who came to the area,

hoping for criminal opportunities that
might arise while their defenses were

down. He's a deeply, deeply troubling
man.

a very dangerous individual that we only
really know probably around a fraction

of his crimes that he's committed.

1% of all human beings are what we call
psychopaths. And I see many of these

traits in Christian Beats. No empathy,
no deep feelings and no conscience,

having a very strong desire for power.
He lives a nomadic lifestyle in

all aspects.

So he basically moves from one place to
another, he moves from one relationship

to another, he moves from one job to
another, and also from one crime to

another. There is a connection between
Christian B. and the Ocean Club, and

there was some evidence that he knew
that area quite well.

And he rented a small house just in the
hills outside Pravaloosh, looking down

on the village.

He was just living on his wits, really.

I think he cleaned some pools.

People suggest that he might have even
cleaned inside the Ocean Club. I knew

the Ocean Club quite well.

Others say that even when Madeline
disappeared, he was going in and out

because he knew people working there.

By the time Madeline disappeared, he had
become a full-time criminal, breaking

into apartments, stealing things.

There was one aspect which is
interesting. He committed a lot of

crimes in Germany, and whenever he got
in trouble with law enforcement in

Germany, he went to Portugal. And then
he committed a lot of crimes in

Portugal, and whenever he got in
trouble, he came back to Germany.

Just two years before Madeleine went
missing, a 72-year-old woman was raped

in Praia da Luz.

Now, what happened, the night in
question, was that she was in the house,

and in came Mr. Bailiff, who set up a
camera, carefully, filmed.

Everything he did.

Friend of Brückner back in the day and
another friend broke into Brückner's

apartment to steal valuables. So we can,
you get an idea of their friendship,

right? And they stole a video camera and
a couple of other things and this

witness claimed that they watched the
tape that were taken by the video

camera.

Eventually, some of Bruckner's
acquaintances turned it in to the

police.

There's this hair that was found in the
house of the victim.

Now it was analyzed in Germany, and they
got the conclusion that DNA is from

Christian Bruckner.

This led to Christian Bruckner being
tried for rape and being sentenced to

seven years.

He began serving his time in 2019, but
German investigators were curious.

about what else he'd done.

They believe Christian B. has harmed
more people, the prosecutor tells me.

According to the information available
to us, it is almost certain that there

will be further victims, he says.

And as they looked into his past, they
discovered he might be tied to the one

crime that even some members of law
enforcement thought might be unsolvable.

German authorities say Christian
Bruckner lived under the radar prior to

Luz. But in 2019, after he went to
prison for the rape of an elderly

American woman, they began discovering
more disturbing details about him.

His name popped up when one of his
former friends said that Christian

Bruckner had confessed to killing
Madeleine McCann.

This witness used to hang out with
Bruckner in the days of Madeleine

McCann.

And this man alerted police and said
they know something about the Madeleine

McCann case.

News reports claim that as police probed
further, they discovered more

indications he might have hurt
Madeleine.

Praia da Luz, the Portuguese resort from
where then three-year-old Madeleine

McCann vanished in 2007.

Investigators believe the man they now
think murdered her, 43-year-old German

Christian B., lived in this house less
than a mile away at the time.

Police raided his house, and amongst the
things they found in his laptop were

various chats, talking openly about
snatching something small, trapping it,

keeping it for days, and abusing it.

Cellphone tracking puts him near the
crime scene the night Maddy disappeared.

And this, of course, is a very
interesting circumstantial piece of

evidence.

Once you have taken this opportunity,
once you have committed this crime, you

will have to finally decide what to do
with the child you have taken. And then

you must either bring it back or kill it
and dispose of it.

What makes you so certain that Madeleine
McCann is dead?

We have some evidence for this. We have
no forensic evidence, but we have other

evidence. But I'm not allowed to speak
about this in detail at the moment.

Is that strong evidence?

I think it's strong.

You wouldn't come out and say that
Madeleine McCann was dead if you thought

there was a chance that she wasn't,
correct?

Yes.

At the time Madeleine McCann
disappeared, Christian Bruckner was

driving a dark red Jaguar with German
number plates.

And for some reason that are not really
clear, he re-registered the car the day

after Madeleine McKenna disappeared.

He asked a friend back in Germany to go
to the office and have the car re

-registered. What the motive for that
is, we don't know.

If a vehicle is involved in the crime,
it's a very good idea to get rid of any

kind of evidence.

Prosecutors say Christian B. also bought
this abandoned factory about 100 miles

away. Police conducted several searches
here in the past years.

As you can see, there's still a lot of
stuff laying around here. But the

authorities say that it wasn't until
they started digging on this property

that they found several data carriers
with lots of pornographic material,

including child porn, on them.

The local prosecutor also says that
children's bathing suits were found on

the premises.

He sent a couple of letters to media
outlets.

He pretty much said, you are after the
wrong person.

I am not guilty.

Bruckner says he was somewhere else on
the night that Madeline disappeared.

But in April 2022, Portuguese
authorities declared Bruckner an

arguido. in Madeline's disappearance.

How sure are you that you have named the
right man?

At the moment, we think we have the
right person.

He's our only suspect in this case.

We found some things. I can't speak
about this in detail at the moment.

Like other Arguidos, though, Bruckner
had yet to be charged with any crime

in the Madeline McCann case.

In May 2022,

Bruckner's lawyer said that the
prosecution had not released any

evidence that it supposedly had and
reiterated that Bruckner denies any

involvement in the crime.

But it's obvious Mr. Bruckner is a
horrible man, okay? He's raped a woman.

He is a child molester. We know these
things.

Has he attacked Madeline? Did he?

Capture her? Did he hide her? Did he
kill her? We don't know.

In a statement, the McCanns added that
even though the possibility is slim,

they still hoped Madeline was alive and
that they would see her again.

Madeline would legally be an adult
today.

There have been different suspects,
different theories.

Different types of investigations.

But still, there's not one piece of
evidence.

Forensic, physical, just ideas.

It's just a horrifying mystery.

It's likely she's dead, but we haven't
confirmed it.

And that's why the interest in this case
endures.

Spin around, darling.

Right around. Oh, yes, I can see your
wings.

Big smile.

Oh, yes.

One more. Big smile.

I think a lot of good's come from the
case. The McCanns should be very, very

proud of the awareness they've raised to
the very thorny issue of child sex

trafficking.

They've always said this is not about
our child. This is about any children

that have gone missing.

We don't know exactly how this is going
to end.

One thing we do know for sure is that
Jerry and Kate McCann will

never stop looking for the daughter.

Do you ever think, how long can we do
this? When do we stop?

You have moments where you feel
absolutely exhausted and you just think,

you know, can't do this anymore.

You can't give up. Who would ever give
up on their child?

The world is a different place than when
Madeleine McCann disappeared.

Technology has advanced, awareness has
been raised, but there's still so much

we don't know about the case.

But like the McCanns, we continue to
hold out hope.

I'm Jesse L. Martin.

Thanks for watching.

Good night.