German prosecutors assume Madeleine McCann is dead, are holding suspect
German investigators are questioning a 43-year old convicted pedophile on suspicion of murder, on the assumption that thirteen years ago, he was in the area where Madeleine, aged three, was last seen while on a family holiday in Portugal. Her parents Kate and Gerry, who have never given up on their efforts to trace Madeleine, said Thursday that the new development in the case was “potentially very significant.”.
Hans Christian Wolters, from the Braunschweig Public Prosecutor’s Office, said, “We are assuming that the girl is dead. We are talking about a sexual predator who has already been convicted of crimes against little girls and he’s already serving a long sentence.” In their appeal to the public for help, the prosecution released photos of two vehicles – a VW camper van and a Jaguar car – believed to be linked to the man, as well as a house in Portugal. The day after Madeleine vanished in 2007, the suspect transferred the Jaguar to someone else’s name.