THE parents of missing Madeleine McCann last night welcomed news that caged Christian B has been made an official suspect. Kate and Gerry also said they hoped their daughter was still alive. B was declared an “arguido” by police in Portugal ahead of the 15th anniversary of the three-year-old vanishing on the Algarve. Speaking directly […]
THE parents of missing Madeleine McCann last night welcomed news that caged Christian B has been made an official suspect. Kate and Gerry also said they hoped their daughter was still alive.
B was declared an “arguido” by police in Portugal ahead of the 15th anniversary of the three-year-old vanishing on the Algarve.
Speaking directly about the 44-year-old German for the first time, Kate and Gerry said in a statement: “We welcome the news that the Portuguese authorities have declared a German man an arguido.
“This reflects progress in the investigation. Even though the possibility may be slim, we have not given up hope that Madeleine is still alive and we will be reunited with her.”
They spoke as it emerged B had finally given details of his “alibi” to a TV show — after nearly two years of maintaining a stony silence with police.
The convicted rapist and child sex predator claims he can prove he was elsewhere when Madeleine was snatched in 2007.
Details will be aired on May 3 — the 15th anniversary of her disappearance — in documentary Madeleine McCann: Prime Suspect, by US network AMC Crime.
A source close to the case in Germany, where B is in prison, said: “He has had nearly two years to explain himself but has constantly declined to comment.
“It’s baffling as to why he should maintain that silence then finally come up with an explanation now.
“And it’s even more odd that he should give the details to a TV documentary rather than the authorities.”
Hinting at possible desperation over the “arguido” move, they added: “Why didn’t he give his version of events on day one as soon as he was made a suspect?”
Declaring B an arguido gives Portuguese authorities greater powers with any future requests to their German counterparts and it could eventually lead to him being extradited to the Algarve for formal questioning.
Madeleine disappeared while on a family holiday in Pria da Luz.
A source close to Kate and Gerry, of Rothley, Leics, said: “Anything that implies progress in the case is to be welcomed.”
The new three-part documentary features British investigator Mark Williams-Thomas.
He told The Sun: “B had agreed to talk to me but the interview was blocked by prison authorities.
“We have since been in contact at length in writing and he has explained his position to me in detail.
“He has told me exactly where he was on the night Madeleine disappeared — and that he was not where the police say he was. He also insists that he is entirely innocent.
“My inquiries have unearthed evidence which is pretty explosive, but I’m not saying whether I believe what he told me. That’s for viewers to judge.”
B, in jail for the 2005 rape of a US pensioner in Portugal, was first named as a suspect by German police in June 2020.
They traced a mobile he was known to have been using to near a phone mast 200 yards from Kate and Gerry’s Ocean Club apartment on the day Madeleine was taken.
Former detective Mr Williams-Thomas claims in the documentary the phone could have been up to 22 miles away when it received a half-hour call as the mast covered a large signal cell.
Police work was last night said to be focused on gleaning “potentially crucial” forensic evidence from a VW camper van B drove while he lived on the Algarve.
Former pal Dieter Fehling tells the documentary that B boasted: “I remodelled and fixed up a hiding place big enough to fit small children.”
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Children’s swimsuits and underwear are known to have been recovered from the van by police. The “arguido” move is believed to be linked to a 15-year statute of limitations under Portuguese law, which was due to be exceeded on May 3.
B was informed of his new status in Oldenburg Prison in northern Germany, where he is serving seven years.
MAY 3, 2007: Kate and Gerry McCann leave their children asleep in their apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, while dining with pals. At 10pm, Kate finds that Madeleine is missing.
SEPT 7, 2007: Detectives make the couple “arguidos”, or formal suspects, but this is later withdrawn.
2011: Scotland Yard laun-ches a review of the case.
APRIL 25, 2012: Met detectives say they believe Madeleine could be alive, release a picture of how she might look aged nine, and call on Portuguese authorities to reopen the case. But Portuguese police say they have no new material.
JULY 4, 2013: Scotland Yard says it has launched Operation Grange. It says it has “genuinely new” lines of inquiry and has identified 38 people of interest, including 12 Britons.
OCT 24, 2013: Portuguese police confirm that a review of their case has uncovered new lines of inquiry, and they reopen the case.
MAY 3, 2019: Local media say Portuguese detectives are investigating a foreign paedophile as a suspect in the abduction of Madeleine.
JUNE 3, 2020: Police reveal a German prisoner, later named as Christian B, 43, has been identified as a suspect.
JUNE 4, 2020: Operation Grange, which had received £12.3million in funding to April, is still a missing person inquiry.
APRIL 21, 2022: B is made a formal suspect.
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