Nearly 20 years after three-year-old Madeleine McCann disappeared during a family holiday in Portugal, a private investigator who has spent years pursuing leads in the case is making another appeal for information, saying that even a single name could help move the search forward.

Spanish investigator Julián Peribáñez, who was hired by Madeleine’s parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, in 2008, says he has no intention of abandoning his efforts to understand what happened to the missing child. In recent comments reported by British media, he urged anyone with potentially relevant information to come forward, particularly people who may have encountered individuals connected to his lines of inquiry in Portugal’s Algarve region.

His appeal comes as the case approaches its twentieth anniversary, with Madeleine still missing and no publicly established explanation for her disappearance. Despite years of investigations across several countries, authorities have not announced a resolution.

For Peribáñez, the search remains deeply personal. He has said he cannot know whether Madeleine is alive, but as long as that possibility remains open, he intends to continue looking.

A PRIVATE INVESTIGATOR WHO HAS NEVER GIVEN UP
Peribáñez became involved in the case in 2008, approximately a year after Madeleine disappeared from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, a coastal resort in southern Portugal.

While the official investigations have evolved over the years, Peribáñez has continued pursuing his own inquiries. His work has taken him beyond the immediate circumstances of Madeleine’s disappearance and toward broader efforts to investigate the exploitation of children.

He later established an organisation called Guardianes de la Inocencia, or Guardians of Innocence, which works with law enforcement and others seeking to expose child exploitation and abuse networks. He has also written about institutional scandals and the difficulties involved in bringing powerful offenders to justice.

Peribáñez has explained that his work on Madeleine’s case influenced the direction of his later efforts. Although his book Stolen Innocence: The Price of Power does not tell Madeleine’s story directly, he has described the search for her as an important influence behind it.

His continuing involvement reflects the enduring uncertainty surrounding the case. While investigators have pursued multiple leads over the years, the available public evidence has not provided a definitive account of what happened to the child after she disappeared.

‘ALL I NEED IS A NAME’
In his latest appeal, Peribáñez urged people who may have encountered individuals matching the profile he is investigating to contact him.

His message was straightforward: one name could give him a lead to pursue. He said he would follow that information wherever it took him.

The appeal is directed at people who may have information that has never reached investigators, including individuals who might have witnessed something relevant or learned details that they did not initially recognise as significant.

In a case that has generated an enormous amount of public speculation, however, the distinction between a genuine lead and an unverified claim is especially important. A name, an alleged encounter or a recollection would need to be checked against reliable evidence before it could establish a connection to Madeleine’s disappearance.

Peribáñez’s appeal is therefore a request for information, not an announcement that investigators have identified a new suspect or uncovered a confirmed breakthrough.

His comments also underline a continuing difficulty in long-running missing-person investigations: information that might be important can remain undisclosed for years, while memories fade and potential witnesses become harder to locate.

HIS THEORY ABOUT A POSSIBLE TRAFFICKING NETWORK
Peribáñez has expressed a theory that Madeleine may have been abducted by an Eastern European trafficking gang. He has encouraged anyone in the Algarve who believes they encountered people fitting the profile he is investigating to come forward.

That theory is his own investigative view and should not be confused with a conclusion established by police or a finding proven in court. Publicly available information has not confirmed that a trafficking network was responsible for Madeleine’s disappearance.

The possibility of organised criminal involvement has long been discussed in public commentary about the case, but many theories have circulated during nearly two decades of intense media attention. Some have produced investigative leads; others have not been substantiated.

The central facts remain unchanged: Madeleine disappeared from her family’s holiday apartment on May 3, 2007, and she has never been found. Authorities in the United Kingdom, Germany and Portugal have investigated the case, but no publicly confirmed account has explained exactly what happened that night.

Peribáñez’s latest comments demonstrate that he continues to explore his own lines of inquiry. They do not establish that his theory is correct, and there has been no public confirmation that investigators have identified a trafficking group linked to the disappearance.

WHAT HAPPENED THE NIGHT MADELEINE DISAPPEARED?
Madeleine was three years old when she vanished from a ground-floor holiday apartment at the Ocean Club resort in Praia da Luz, Portugal.

On the evening of May 3, 2007, Kate and Gerry McCann were dining with friends at a nearby tapas restaurant while Madeleine and her younger twin siblings remained in the apartment. The adults took turns checking on the children during the evening.

At approximately 10 p.m., Kate went to check on the children and discovered that Madeleine was missing. The bedroom was empty, and the circumstances prompted an urgent search.

The disappearance triggered a major investigation by Portuguese police and eventually drew in British and German authorities. Madeleine’s photograph spread internationally, and appeals for information reached audiences around the world.

Investigators examined the apartment, interviewed witnesses and followed reports of possible sightings. The case also generated intense media coverage and competing theories about what might have happened.

In the early stages, Portuguese police investigated several possibilities, including the involvement of people connected to the area. Madeleine’s parents were formally treated as suspects by Portuguese authorities in September 2007, but that status was lifted in July 2008 because there was insufficient evidence to continue against them. They have consistently denied any involvement in their daughter’s disappearance.

Over the years, numerous reported sightings and claims have emerged. None has resulted in Madeleine being found or provided a publicly established answer to the mystery.

CHRISTIAN BRÜCKNER REMAINS A CENTRAL FIGURE IN THE GERMAN INVESTIGATION
One of the most significant developments came in 2020, when German authorities identified Christian Brückner as their main suspect in the case. Portuguese authorities formally declared him a suspect in 2022.

Brückner, a German national with previous convictions for serious offences, had lived in the Algarve region. German prosecutors have said they believe Madeleine is dead and have linked their investigation to Brückner, but he has denied involvement in her disappearance.

He has not been charged in connection with Madeleine’s case, and no court has found him responsible for what happened to her.

Brückner was released from prison in Germany on September 17, 2025, after completing a sentence for an unrelated rape conviction. His release did not mean that the Madeleine McCann investigation had been closed. British police subsequently confirmed that he remained a suspect in their investigation.

In September 2026, reports drew renewed attention to statements attributed to Brückner about his whereabouts in Praia da Luz on the night Madeleine disappeared. He reportedly said he had been in the area and selling drugs, while maintaining that he had nothing to do with her disappearance. These reported claims do not establish responsibility for the case.

The distinction is important because investigators have yet to announce a charge against Brückner relating to Madeleine. His status as a suspect is not proof of guilt, and the case remains unresolved.

POLICE INVESTIGATIONS CONTINUE ACROSS EUROPE
The Metropolitan Police launched Operation Grange in 2011 to review the circumstances surrounding Madeleine’s disappearance. The review later became an active investigation, with British detectives working alongside Portuguese and German authorities.

German prosecutors have conducted their own inquiries, including searches in Portugal. In June 2025, Portuguese police carried out a new search operation in the Algarve at the request of German authorities. The searches covered areas in the municipality of Lagos, with evidence intended to be transferred to Germany for examination.

The operation demonstrated that investigators were still pursuing specific lines of inquiry many years after Madeleine vanished. However, the searches did not produce a publicly announced resolution to the case.

British police have continued to support the investigation, while the authorities involved have generally released limited information about the evidence they are examining. That restriction makes it difficult for the public to assess individual claims or determine whether a new lead is likely to prove significant.

The case remains open, and authorities continue to ask anyone with relevant information to contact the appropriate police service.

WHY EVEN A SMALL DETAIL COULD MATTER
Peribáñez’s appeal highlights the importance of information that may appear insignificant at first. In a case spanning several countries and almost two decades, a witness might remember a conversation, a person or an unusual event without realising its potential relevance at the time.

Investigators must still establish whether such information is accurate, whether it can be independently corroborated and whether it connects meaningfully to the evidence already collected.

That process can be difficult in an investigation this old. Memories may change, witnesses may be difficult to locate, and details repeated online can become mixed with speculation. For that reason, official investigators generally need more than an unverified claim before drawing conclusions.

Nevertheless, Peribáñez believes that someone may hold information capable of directing him toward a new lead. His request is aimed at encouraging that person to come forward rather than allowing potentially useful information to remain unreported.

A FAMILY STILL WAITING FOR ANSWERS
For Kate and Gerry McCann, Madeleine’s disappearance has remained an unresolved family tragedy since 2007. Their daughter was only three years old when she vanished, and the international attention surrounding the case has continued throughout her childhood and into the years when she would have become a young adult.

The investigation has generated extensive public discussion, but the volume of attention has not produced a definitive answer. The family’s search has continued alongside police inquiries, private investigative efforts and appeals for information.

Peribáñez’s latest comments offer no confirmed breakthrough, but they show that he remains committed to pursuing leads. His request for one name reflects his belief that information from someone who has not yet spoken could be significant.

For now, Madeleine’s whereabouts remain unknown. Christian Brückner remains a suspect in the investigation, but he has not been charged in connection with her disappearance and denies involvement. The theory of a trafficking gang remains an unproven investigative view rather than an established finding.

As the twentieth anniversary approaches, the essential question remains the same: what happened to Madeleine McCann after she disappeared from the apartment in Praia da Luz?

Until reliable evidence answers that question, the case remains open, and appeals for credible information continue.

SOURCES

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