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Are Madeleine McCann's

parents guilty? All the
theories that they were
involved in her disappearance
Kate and Gerry McCann have never
been able to shake accusations they
were responsible for Maddie's
disappearance - and here's why.

MAY 23, 2023 10:45AM BY REBECCA SULLIVAN

What Kate and Gerry McCann have

experienced over the past 15 years is every
parent's worst nightmare - and it all began
on the evening of May 3rd, 2007.

The British couple were on a family holiday in

Portugal, along with a group of friends and
their children, when their three-year-old
daughter Madeleine disappeared.

Earlier that evening, the couple dined with

friends at their hotel's tapas restaurant, while
Madeleine and her younger twin siblings
Sean and Amelie, both two, slept soundly in
their hotel room just 55 metres away from
the restaurant. It was agreed that one parent
would check on the children throughout the
evening, to ensure all was well.

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Madeleine's father Gerry carried out the first

check, at 9:05pm. But at 10pm, when Kate
McCann went to check on her young children,
Madeleine was gone.

She was missing from her bed, while her

younger siblings slept soundly beside her.

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Very quickly, the McCann parents became

prime suspects in their daughter's
disappearance.

And despite their tireless efforts over the

years to find Madeleine, the couple still can't
shake the constant rumours that they
somehow played a hand in the tragedy.

Now the case is back in the spotlight as the

Portuguese police have restarted their search
as requested by German authorities. The
search is expected to last two days and will
take place at a southern Portuguese region,
Algarve which is roughly 50 kilometres inland
from the beach resort where Madeleine went
missing.

Back in February 2023, the investigation

reappeared in headlines after a Polish
woman claimed to be Madeleine McCann
went viral, but DNA testing proved these
claims to be false.

Maddie's disappearance also faced renewed

interest in 2019 following the release of the
Netflix documentary, The Disappearance of
Madeleine McCann.

But the McCann family refused to be involved

in the project, citing the ongoing police
investigation into their daughter's
disappearance.

"We are aware that Netflix are planning to

screen a documentary in March 2019 about
Madeleine's disappearance," Kate and Gerry
McCann wrote in a statement at the time.

"The production company told us that they

were making the documentary and asked us
to participate. We did not see and still do not
see how this programme will help the search
for Madeleine and, particularly given there is
an active police investigation, could
potentially hinder it," the statement read.

"Consequently, our views and preferences

are not reflected in the programme."

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Kate and Gerry McCann with a digitally-altered photo of what

their daughter Maddie might look like now. (Image: Getty)

So why have the McCann's been unable to

shake the accusations against them?

We explore every single theory linking the

parents to Madeleine's disappearance, so
you can decide for yourself.

READ NEXT: Meet Madeleine McCann's

forgotten twin siblings

Early suspicions

Kate and Gerry McCann were labelled as guilty very early on.
(Image: Getty)

During one of their first press conferences

following Madeleine's disappearance, Kate
and Gerry McCann were asked by a German
radio reporter if the "finger of suspicion" was
being pointed at them.

"How do you feel about the fact that more

and more people seem to be pointing the
finger at you, saying the way you behave is
not the way people would normally behave
when their child is abducted and they seem
to imply that you might have something to do
with it?" the journalist asked.

Both parents immediately denied the

accusations.

Kate McCann replied: "To be honest I don't

actually think that is the case. I think there is
a very small minority of people that are
criticising us.

"The facts are we were dining very close to

the children and we were checking on them
very, very regularly. You know we are very
responsible parents and we love our children
so much. I think it is very few people that are
actually criticising us."

Gerry McCann said he had "never" heard

anyone considering them suspects.

"There is absolutely no way Kate and I are

involved with this abduction," he said.

The "Pact of Silence"

The mysterious "Pact Of Silence" is one of the
many theories addressed in the new Netflix
documentary.

It was actually the original headline on a

controversial article by Portuguese
journalists Margarida Davim and Felícia
Cabri, which suggested the McCanns and
their friends had agreed to not talk about
what really happened on the night of
Madeleine's disappearance.

The McCanns holidayed with seven friends

and their five children in Portugal, and they
dined together almost every night at their
resort's tapas restaurant, which led to the
media labelling the group, "The Tapas
Seven".

Felícia told the documentary makers that she

found it odd that local police had not properly
investigated the McCanns, because "we
know that in most cases, the culprit is
someone who is close to the child."

One of the odd inconsistencies she found

was in Gerry McCann's claim that the table
at the restaurant had a direct "line of sight to
the apartment," which is why they chose to
dine there.

"From the position I was in, it was completely

impossible to see the apartment or the room
where they had left the children to sleep,"
Felícia responded. "As an investigative
journalist, I have to ask, why? Why would
you lie about such a simple thing?"

They also heard that the "Tapas Seven"

gathered to work out their timeline and then
revised it.

"The word that we ended up using in the title

– pact – came from David Payne [one of the
McCann's friends] when he said that they
had agreed with Gerry not to talk about what
happened ... there seems to be an alliance
between everyone to protect someone,"
Felicia said.

Despite the rumours, both the McCanns and

the "Tapas Seven" have always denied any
such pact existed.

"We wish to state that there is categorically

no 'pact of silence' or indeed anything
secretive between us - just the desire to
assist the search for Madeleine," the group
said in a joint statement at the time, in 2007.

The couple were accused of forming a "pact" with their friends, so

everyone would keep quiet. (Image: Getty)

Charity money used to pay

their mortgage
In May 2007, the McCanns set up
Madeleine's Fund: Leaving No Stone
Unturned, a charity designed to accept
financial donations to assist with the
mounting legal cost associated with the case.

Millions of pounds were donated by high

profile Britons and celebrities, including J.K
Rowling, Richard Branson and Simon Cowell.

But in October 2007, the McCanns were

criticised for using some of the fund to make
two mortgage payments.

They defended their decision at the time,

with the family's spokesman Clarence
Mitchell issuing the following statement: "The
fund has always had the ability to assist the
family financially if necessary."

But as soon as the couple were formally

name suspects in the case, they no longer
used the fund for personal expenses.

"When they were made arguido [suspects], it

stopped, which was a mutual decision on the
part of the fund and the McCanns,"
Madeleine's uncle John McCann said at the
time.

"They were happy to accept that their

changed status meant they were no longer
entitled to that assistance."

They have campaigned tirelessly for their daughter's cause.

(Image: Getty)

McCanns officially named as

"arguidos", or "suspects"
Portugese police discovered two DNA
samples in the McCanns' hire car - one of
which was a "100 per cent match" to
Madeleine - were reportedly the type that
had come directly from her body, not from
clothes she had worn.

On September 7, 2007, Kate and Gerry

McCann were officially named as "arguidos",
or "official suspects" in their daughter's
disappearance and were both interrogated
by local police. Gerry responded to some
questions, but Kate refused to answer any of
the 48 questions she was asked over an
intense 11 hour interrogation period.

By now, police were alleging that the couple

had faked Maddie's abduction and had
hidden her body.

But new revelations uncovered in the Netflix

documentary reveal the DNA samples were
actually fairly common and Portugese
detectives had manipulated the DNA results
to get the answer they wanted.

A Portuguese TV reporter Sandra Felgueiras

said she was told by her police sources there
was a match of "80 per cent minimum"
between the DNA samples found insider the
car and on Madeleine, but months later final
forensic reports confirmed there was no
viable evidence linking Madeleine's DNA to
the holiday apartment or car.

"Ultimately when you read through the detail

of the DNA you see the absolute red herring
it was, but it was a dangerous red herring
because I think investigators in Portugal
thought this was a smoking gun," Jim
Gamble, a former top child protection officer,
told the documentary producers.

A bungled DNA sample implicated the McCanns as suspects.

(Image: Getty)

A court cleared them of any

involvement in Madeleine's
death
In July 2008, the McCanns were formally
cleared as suspects by a Portugese court and
no longer named as "arguidos" in the case.

Portugal's attorney general said there was

insufficient evidence to continue the police
case.

Kate and Gerry said they were relieved by the

court's ruling, but still had no reason to
celebrate.

"It is hard to describe how utterly despairing

it was to be named arguidos and
subsequently portrayed in the media as
suspects in our own daughter's abduction,"
she said outside court.

"It has been equally devastating to witness

the detrimental effect this status has had on
the search for Madeleine."

The couple's spokesman Clarence Mitchell

said the couple should never have been
charged in the first place.

"There is a degree of relief but no air of

celebration whatsoever," Mr Mitchell said.

"They should never have been arguidos

[formal suspects]. The fact that they have
emerged from this without being charged
proves that."

WATCH BELOW: Kate and Gerry McCann

talk about the years since Madeleine
disappeared. Story continues after video...

10 years without Madelein…

They've always denied any

guilty accusations

Amelie, Gerry, Kate and Sean McCann. (Image: Getty)

Kate and Gerry McCann have always denied

any involvement in Madeleine's death, and
they've vowed to "never give up" hope of
finding their daughter.

Kate often visits Praia da Luz, the Portugese

resort town where her daughter disappeared.

"I do go back for personal reasons," she told

the BBC. "It's obviously the last place we
were with Madeleine and I still walk those
streets and I guess try and look for answers.
It helps me, most of the time."

She says losing her child is the most

horrendous experience no parent should
have to go through.

"As a parent of an abducted child, I can tell

you that it is the most painful and agonising
experience you could ever imagine," she
wrote on the couple's website.

"My thoughts of the fear, confusion and loss

of love and security that my precious
daughter has had to endure are unbearable -
crippling.

"And yet I am not the victim, Madeleine is. No

child should ever have to experience
something so terrible."

READ THIS NEXT

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Rebecca Sullivan

RELATED TAGS: MADELEINE MCCANN

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