Nearly 20 years after Madeleine McCann vanished without a trace, a private investigator who has spent years pursuing his own leads says he still believes there are answers out there.
Brought in by Madeleine’s parents
Few missing-child cases have left such a deep sense of fear and uncertainty as the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, who was only 3 years old when she vanished without a trace.
Despite searches, investigations and countless theories, there has never been a definitive answer about what happened to her.
Gerry and Kate McCann have continued to speak out for their daughter and push for answers about what happened to her.
Despite the years that have passed, they say they have never given up hope of finding Madeleine, who would now be in her early 20s.
For Spanish private investigator Julian Peribañez, the disappearance of Madeleine McCann has became far more than another case.
He was brought in by Madeleine’s parents about a year after their daughter vanished from their holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal. Since then, he has continued following leads of his own, even as the years have passed and the case remains without a definitive answer.
“All I need is a name”
His work on the case eventually led him deeper into investigations involving child abuse and exploitation, including scandals involving powerful and influential people. In 2024, Peribañez founded Guardianes de la Inocencia, an organization focused on helping expose child abuse and protecting vulnerable children.
He says the organization itself grew out of his work searching for Madeleine.
“And of course, Guardianes came from Maddie as well,” he told the Olive Press.
Yet Madeleine’s disappearance remains deeply personal for him.
Peribañez has developed his own theory that Madeleine may have been abducted by an organized Eastern European trafficking gang.
He is now appealing to people in Portugal’s Algarve region who may have information about individuals he believes could be connected to the alleged network.
“If you’ve had encounters with people who fit the profile, please reach out,” he says.
“All I need is a name. Give me a name, and I’ll chase it wherever I have to.”
And despite everything that has happened since Madeleine disappeared, Peribañez says he still refuses to give up hope.
“I don’t know if she’s alive or not, because hardly anyone on Earth does,” he says.
“But as long as I have hope, I won’t stop looking.”
Focused heavily on Christian Brückner
The idea that Madeleine may have been taken by a trafficking network is not new. It was investigated as one possible explanation in the early stages of the case, with theories suggesting she could have been moved out of Portugal and even taken toward Morocco.
Over the years, reports of possible sightings abroad and unverified intelligence about organized child-trafficking groups have kept the theory alive.
But no evidence has ever established that Madeleine was taken by a trafficking gang. Julian Peribañez is now putting forward his own version of that theory, saying he believes an organized Eastern European network may have been responsible.
Over the years, investigators have pursued different possibilities and potential suspects. German authorities have focused heavily on Christian Brückner, whom they have identified as their main suspect.
He was released from Sehnde prison in Germany in September 2026, after serving a seven-year sentence for an unrelated 2005 rape in Portugal. That assault occurred in Praia da Luz — the same area where Madeleine vanished two years later.
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