Private Investigator Claims New Theory on Madeleine McCann Disappearance
Julian Peribañez, hired by the McCanns, says he believes Madeleine was taken by an Eastern European trafficking group and urges witnesses in Portugal's Algarve to come forward.
Julian Peribañez, the private investigator retained by Kate and Gerry McCann, said he continues to search for Madeleine McCann and has advanced a theory that the child was abducted by an Eastern European trafficking gang. He told the Olive Press, "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." Peribañez appealed for information from anyone in Portugal’s Algarve region who may have encountered individuals matching the profile, stating, "If you’ve had encounters with people who fit the profile, please reach out. All I need is a name. Give me a name, and I’ll chase it wherever I have to." Madeleine McCann, then three years old, disappeared from her family’s ground-floor holiday apartment in Praia da Luz on the evening of 3 May 2007 after her parents left her and her twin siblings sleeping while they dined nearby. The case triggered an extensive international investigation, including Scotland Yard’s Operation Grange, but remains unsolved. German prosecutors have focused on convicted rapist Christian Brueckner, identified as a prime suspect in 2020 after phone records placed him near the resort on the night of the disappearance. No murder charges have been filed, and legal proceedings have stalled. The investigation continues to examine leads across Europe, with authorities still seeking new information that could clarify what happened to the missing child.