Madeleine McCann (2007)
The disappearance of 3 year old Madeleine McCann on May 3, 2007 is remarkable due to the involvement of law enforcement forces from several countries and world wide press coverage. Madeleine, a British national, went missing from her hotel room while on a family holiday in the Algarve region in Portugal. Madeleine and her twin siblings were left unsupervised in their hotel room while their parents were having dinner with their seven friends in a hotel bar which was only 130 yards away. Madeleine's parents and their friends took turns to check on children in their ground floor room. Madeleine's last sighting was about 21.15 when her dad Gerry checked on the children. However, when her mother came in the room at 22.00 she found Madeleine's bed empty and an open bedroom window. Immediately, a search of premises was conducted by police officials and several people including Madeleine's parents, their friends and hotel staff were questioned. One of the friends of the couple Jane Tanner, had reportedly seen a man carrying a child, going down the road at about 21.20. However, she failed to make the connection that the child could be Madeleine. Portugal police (Polícia Judiciária) detained several people including Madeleine's parents and their friends and arrested several others in connection with the kidnapping. However, Madeleine's parents were eventually given a clean chit and allowed to fly back to UK. Over the course of time, several secret service agencies from Portugal, UK and France were deployed to follow several investigation leads. However, none of them could successfully trace Madeleine's whereabouts in spite of several reports of her possible sightings in the following months. While Madeleine's parents were heavily criticized for their negligence, their remorse couldn't bring their daughter back. To this date, the fate of Madeleine McCann remains unknown.