The 2007 disappearance of Madeleine McCann has been making waves online recently- HOLR is breaking down why the unsolved case is resurfacing and if Madeleine has reportedly been found.

Image Credit: Getty Images

What happened to Madeleine McCann?

The question is the subject of a thread on Reddit, which walks users through the unsolved missing person case of a young Madeleine McCann. According to the thread, McCann disappeared on May 3rd, 2007, while on vacation in Praia da Luz with her parents Kate and Gerry McCann, and two-year-old twin siblings.

During dinner one night, the children were left in the apartment to sleep while their parents and friends had dinner downstairs. Periodically during the dinner, the parents left to conduct nightly checks on the children. During one of the checks, closer to 10 pm that night, Madeleine’s mother checked the room and noticed that the children’s “bedroom door was wide open. She also noticed the window and exterior shutter was open.” Madeleine was not in bed anymore and Kate ran downstairs screaming that Madeleine had been abducted.

Following this, a series of events unfolded where the parents were blamed for the disappearance and were even considered suspects at one point. Lack of evidence and mistakes made by local police (i.e. the crime scene not remaining secure) led to virtually no answers coming from the disappearance. To this day, people are still talking about the case and looking for Madeleine.

Madeleine McCann Reddit

Reddit users have taken to the platform to discuss the ongoing case and disappearance.

“I don’t think the parents were involved. The timeline was too tight; more importantly, it is extremely unlikely that they could have been lucky enough to completely hide her body in a setting that was unfamiliar to them,” said one user.

“Unfortunately, I agree. I think she was targeted by pedophiles looking for an opportunity. Her parents were mistakenly too trusting when there were predators in the area,” stated another.

Madeleine McCann Update

Has Madeleine McCann been found?

According to this article (and other reports such as this), a Polish woman who recently became familiar with the story is reportedly claiming to be missing person, Madeleine McCann.

As stated in the article, “A 22-year-old Polish woman claims to have proof that she is Madeleine McCann, the British child who vanished in Portugal 16 years ago while on vacation with her family.”

This woman, named Julia Wendel, reportedly claimed she was Madeleine McCann on social media recently.

Image Credit: Via TikTok / Julia Wendel

According to the article, her claims stated: “a German pedophile who was a primary suspect in the disappearance had assaulted her as a child.” She also claims the McCann family approached her to conduct a DNA test. 

Although she is 21, Wendel claims her age could be wrong as this would make Madeleine 19, having been born in 2003. Wendel also claims to have a similar eye deformity to that of Madeleine, in that she also believes she looks like Madeleine’s parents.

So, how did Wendel come to the conclusion that she is supposedly Madeleine McCann? When she started asking about her parents’ stories regarding her childhood.

“The memories are very blurry, and when I talked about them with my parents, things didn’t match up. They always tried to change the subject,” said Wendel. My teacher at school said that I didn’t always attend school, but my parents insist that I did,” she continued. “After all that confusion, I started doing my own research, I discovered what happened to Madeleine McCann, and I connected the dots. It’s so stressful trying to get people to believe me.”

Wendel being Madeleine has not yet been confirmed, but this is the latest break in an ongoing case that has been investigated for years.

If Wendel is actually Madeleine, it could be the happy ending the world was waiting for in terms of having her be reunited with her family.

Published by HOLR Magazine.