What happened
Three-year-old Madeleine McCann disappeared from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in Portugal’s Algarve while her family was on vacation in 2007.
The investigation
Portuguese, British and German authorities have pursued changing lines of inquiry, conducted searches and reviewed large volumes of witness and forensic material.
What the courts or investigators concluded
No one has been convicted of causing Madeleine’s disappearance, and the case remains unresolved despite sustained international investigative activity.
Why the case remains significant
Few missing-child cases have received comparable global attention, making the investigation a study in cross-border policing, media pressure and the difficulty of separating evidence from speculation.
Case context
Crime by Region organizes cases geographically so readers can move from one file to other investigations from the same country. For unresolved or contested cases, the wording above reflects the distinction between confirmed events, investigative theories and findings actually established in court.