TRUE CRIME NEWSEpstein Files Expose Eerie FBI Tip Claiming Ghislaine Maxwell Was Spotted With Missing Toddler Madeleine McCann in 2009
An anonymous individual claimed to see Ghislaine Maxwell with missing toddler Madeleine McCann in 2009.
Feb. 26 2026, Updated 5:52 p.m. ET
A newly surfaced document from the Department of Justice’s files related to Jeffrey Epstein reveals an eerie FBI tip alleging Ghislaine Maxwell was spotted with a young girl resembling missing toddler Madeleine McCann in 2009.
The document, dated July 7, 2020, details an online tip submitted to the FBI’s National Threat Operations Center by a person in the United Kingdom.
According to the intake report, the individual claimed that in late September or early October 2009, they saw a woman who "looked just like Ghislaine Maxwell" walking with a little girl who appeared to look like McCann.
'The Woman I Saw Looked Just Like Ghislaine Maxwell'
The tipster claimed to see Ghislaine Maxwell with a little girl who resembled Madeleine McCann.
“In September 2009 I was living in [location redacted],” the tipster wrote. “It was a Sunday and very quiet. I turned off from my street onto the main road and found myself walking behind a woman and a little girl.”
The person alleged the woman appeared “agitated” and was attempting to hurry the child along. The tip further claimed the little girl “held her hand over her right eye the whole time” and “kept on turning round to look at me.”
“When I got up close to the girl I noticed she looked like Madeline[sic] McCann,” the submission reads. “The woman I saw looked just like Ghislaine Maxwell.”
Madeleine McCann's 2007 Disappearance Remains Unsolved
Madeleine McCann vanished at age 3 in 2007 while on vacation with her family in Portugal.
The tipster said they reported the sighting to local police at the time but did not think about it again "for years" until seeing social media posts about Maxwell and theories linking her to child trafficking.
There is no indication in the document that the tip was substantiated, and authorities have not publicly linked Maxwell to McCann’s disappearance.
As OK! previously reported, McCann vanished from her family’s holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in May 2007 at just 3 years old.
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Ghislaine Maxwell Was Convicted of S-- Trafficking in 2021
Ghislaine Maxwell was found guilty of s-- trafficking in 2021.
Her disappearance sparked one of the most widely reported missing person cases in modern history. Nearly two decades later, there has been no confirmed sighting, recovery of remains or final resolution in the case.
Maxwell, a longtime associate of Epstein, was convicted in 2021 on federal s-- trafficking charges related to the exploitation of minors and is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence.
Jeffrey Epstein Died by Suicide While Awaiting Trial in Prison in 2019
Jeffrey Epstein died by suicide while awaiting trial for s-- trafficking in 2019.
Epstein was arrested in 2019 on federal s-- trafficking charges and died by suicide in jail while awaiting trial later that same year.
The resurfaced FBI intake report gained renewed attention after Lebanese-Australian entrepreneur and commentator Mario Nawfal shared claims on X that a tip “buried in the Epstein files” alleged Maxwell had been seen with a girl resembling McCann.
However, the document itself reflects only a single, unverified tip submitted more than a decade after the alleged sighting. Authorities have not indicated that the claim altered the trajectory of the McCann investigation, which remains open.
