TRUE CRIME NEWSMadeleine McCann Investigation Hit With Tough Blow as 19-Year Anniversary of Toddler's Unsolved Disappearance Looms
Madeleine McCann vanished in 2007.
March 30 2026, Updated 12:16 p.m. ET
Authorities are not giving up on the case of Madeleine McCann despite nearly 19 years having passed since the 3-year-old disappeared while on a family vacation in Portugal in May 2007.
While a report revealed the Metropolitan Police team have been approved to continue the investigation for at least one more year, the budget they were given was slashed. This year, they were granted £86,000 (around $113,499 USD) for the search, which is down from 2025's budget of £108,000 ($142,534).
What Happened to Madeleine McCann?
The budget for Madeleine McCann's case was decreased this year.
The Mirror claimed the lengthy probe has cost over £13 million (around $17 million) since it began.
As OK! reported, Kate and Gerry McCann were on vacation and staying in an apartment with their daughter and their two other children when they left them alone on the property to dine out with friends at a nearby restaurant. The couple reportedly checked in on the kids every 30 to 40 minutes, eventually discovering Madeleine was missing at around 10 p.m. local time.
It's still unknown whether Madeleine is alive.
Who Is Suspect Christian Brueckner?
Madeleine McCann was 3 years old when she went missing in Portugal.
In 2020, Christian Brueckner was declared as a prime suspect in the disappearance, though they never uncovered enough evidence to formally charge him.
Evidence they did have included his phone data revealing he was near the McCann family's place of residence at the time of the tot's vanishing. He also has multiple other convictions, including sexual offenses involving children.
He has always denied being involved in the young girl's disappearance. Last year, Christian was released from prison after serving seven years behind bars for raping a 72-year-old woman.
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Authorities have not been able to find concrete evidence to charge Christian Brueckner with the abduction of Madeleine McCann.
His ex-associate Helge Busching is still convinced he's guilty, sharing in a British ITV News 2025 interview, "I want Christian go behind bars for this, for the case of Madeleine McCann. This was him, I am 100 percent sure."
"He can say I am innocent. I know what he was doing, I saw it with my proper eyes," Busching alleged. "I know he's a dangerous man."
'He Is Involved'
One of Christian Brueckner's former associates insisted he's 'involved' in the toddler's abduction.
Though Helge was involved with Christian during their days of petty crime, he said he turned a new leaf while his former "dangerous" acquaintance has not.
He even alleged that one year after the toddler's vanishing, Christian made a chilling comment about the crime.
"I told him I don't understand how somebody can rob little children from a hotel," Helge said, recalling that Christian's reply was, "She was not screaming."
"How [do] you know this... yeah he [has] something [to do] with this," he insisted. "He took Maddie out from this hotel. He is involved."
