Madeleine McCann could have been kidnapped by a paedophile gang connected to a notorious Belgian child killer, an ex-official believes. The three-year-old vanished on a family holiday in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in May 2007 and, despite years of investigation, no one has been brought to justice for her disappearance. A former top Belgian official who led an inquiry into the serial killer and child molester Marc Dutroux has put forward a new theory, however, questioning whether a network of traffickers were responsible for the crime that has held the nation’s attention for almost two decades.
Marc Verwilghen, who served as Belgium’s justice minister for three years, said the country’s authorities had issued an alert to their European counterparts just days before Madeleine went missing, warning of intelligence that a paedophile gang had ordered that a small child be snatched. “I have never had access to the Madeleine McCann files,” Mr Verwilghen said. “All I can say is [that] as soon as I heard about the case I had deja vu – because it reminded me straight away of Dutroux.”
“When you look at the case, it is of course possible Madeleine was stolen to order,” he told The Sun. “The alert that was sent looks like it must have come from Belgium police and it should have been taken seriously.
“Dutroux investigators uncovered reports of possible paedophile rings operating in Belgium at that time, but couldn’t finish their enquiry as this was focused on Dutroux, handling him as a lone actor.”
Dutroux was arrested in 1996 and jailed for life in 2004 after kidnapping and raping six girls in Belgium in the 1990s. He is thought to have links to European-wide networks of child sex traffickers.
“It was clear paedophile networks and child trafficking really did exist in Europe,” Mr Verwilghen added. “We [knew] this since Detroux but the enquiry committee was never allowed to look into them properly.
“Intelligence suggests a paedophile ring in Belgium made an order for a young girl three days before Madeleine McCann was taken. Somebody connected to this group saw Maddie, took a photograph of her and sent her to Belgium. The purchaser agreed that the girl was suitable and Maddie was taken.”
The prime suspect in Madeleine’s disappearance has long been Christian Brueckner, a convicted rapist who is set to be released from prison after a seven year sentence this month.
Police were alerted to the alert from Belgium police shortly after the three-year-old disappeared, reports suggest, and British authorities probed the possibility of a gang of European traffickers kidnapping her in 2016, although the theory never gained significant traction.
“Police take seriously the claims that emerged from Belgium – that Maddie was ordered to be stolen,” a source close to the case in Germany told The Sun. “But there is not interest in the network. That creates too many new agencies and they want to keep their focus on the current suspect.”
Despite being at the centre of German police enquiries over Madeleine’s disappearance, and those of other international law enforcement, Brueckner has yet to face any charges in relation to the case. It recently emerged that he has turned down the Metropolitan Police’s request to question him. Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cranwell said: “We will continue to pursue any viable lines of enquiry.”