Police in Portugal on Tuesday resumed their search for missing British child Madeleine McCann, who disappeared from a resort in 2007.
Around 20 officers, using rakes and other digging tools, searched a patch of land near a dam about 30 miles from where McCann disappeared 16 years ago, the Associated Press <a href="https://apnews.com/article/madeleine-mccann-portugal-algarve-missing-germany-uk-4528b15895180b3e1d9a9aecde06bfcc" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. It is not clear if progress has been made in the search.
Portuguese police are leading the operation with help from German and British law enforcement. It began after German authorities made a request. This is the fourth such search for McCann, following the initial search after her disappearance in 2007 and additional searches in 2013 and 2014. Germany also conducted its own search in Germany in 2020. The current search is reportedly the first one near the dam.
Madeleine McCann was three years old <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/unsolved-the-disappearance-of-madeleine-mccann" target="_blank" rel="noopener">when she disappeared</a> from her bed in an apartment her family rented while on vacation in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in 2007. She would be 20 years old today.
The McCann family — parents Gerry and Kate along with Madeleine and her twin siblings, who were two years old – was on vacation with seven friends, now known as the Tapas Seven, along with their children.
On the morning of May 3, 2007, the children played at the resort’s Kids’ Club before joining their parents at the pool, after which they returned to the Kids’ Club until Kate took them back to their apartment. Kate and Gerry put their children to bed before joining their friends at the resort’s tapas restaurant, located across the pool from the apartments where they were all staying. From their table, the parents could see the top of McCann’s apartment but not the doors, and they left the patio doors unlocked but closed. About every half hour, someone from the parents’ group would leave to check on their children.
A message book at the resort’s swimming pool reception area contained a note to block the same table for the McCanns and their friends each night for four evenings, with a message saying the children were sleeping in the apartments. Kate would come to believe that whoever abducted Madeleine must have seen the message book.
Another member of the Tapas Seven agreed to check on the McCann’s children around 9:30 p.m. He found the children’s bedroom door wide open, but since he didn’t hear anything, he left without checking to make sure the children were indeed in their beds.
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Kate then completed her own check on the children around 10 p.m. and found her daughter missing. She quickly searched the apartment before running back to the restaurant screaming, “Madeleine’s gone! Someone’s taken her!”
By 10:10, a member of the Tapas Seven told the resort’s reception desk to call the police, and by 10:30, the resort began its missing child search protocol, which involved 60 staff members and guests searching the premises until 4:30 in the morning.
Portuguese police said they arrived within 10 minutes of being called. Kate said they arrived around 1 a.m. They also began searching for Madeleine, but many issues with the search would later come to light. Border and marine police were not given descriptions of the missing girl for several hours, and police didn’t conduct any house searches. Kate told media outlets that the roads weren’t blocked until 10 a.m. the morning after Madeleine disappeared. Surveillance images of vehicles leaving the resort on the night of the disappearance, or the surrounding roads weren’t requested, nor was the road monitoring company approached for information.
In addition, many people staying at the resort at the time weren’t immediately interviewed, with some contacting police on their own.
The crime scene was also not properly secured, with at least 20 people entering the apartment before it was blocked. The apartment was empty for a month after Madeleine’s disappearance before the resort began renting it out again. In August 2007 – nearly three months after the disappearance, the apartment was closed once again for additional forensic tests.
Just 12 days after Madeleine disappeared, a suspect was named. The man lived close to the resort and was seen outside the McCann’s apartment shortly after their daughter disappeared. The suspect’s home and cars were searched, and his associates were questioned, but nothing linked him to the disappearance, and he was eventually cleared, later suing authorities and receiving a large settlement.
As with most child abductions without quick answers, the parents became suspects. Media in Portugal and then the U.K. began suggesting the parents were involved in Madeleine’s disappearance and had made a “pact of silence” with the Tapas Seven. Forensic dogs were brought in to search the apartment and the car the McCanns rented, but their findings have been disputed.
Still, the McCanns were named suspects, with Portuguese police claiming they accidentally killed Madeleine and hid her body, with leaks to the media falsely claiming the evidence against them was stronger than it actually was. Despite being named suspects, the McCanns were allowed to return to the U.K.
On July 21, 2008, the Portuguese attorney general announced there wasn’t enough evidence to say the McCanns were involved in Madeleine’s disappearance, clearing them as suspects and closing the case. The McCanns, however, have never stopped looking for Madeleine, setting up <a href="http://findmadeleine.com/about_us/madeleines-fund.html#:~:text=Madeleine's%20Fund%20%2D%20'Leaving%20No%20Stone,the%20Voluntary%20and%20Community%20Sector." target="_blank" rel="noopener">Madeleine’s Fund</a>: Leaving No Stone Unturned Ltd just two weeks after their daughter disappeared. It has since raised nearly £750,000.
The family has also hired several private investigators throughout the investigation and beyond, while the U.K. has conducted several additional probes – none of which have found Madeleine.
The most significant break in the case came in 2020, when police named “Christian B” <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/police-in-uk-have-massive-breakthrough-in-madeleine-mccann-kidnapping-cold-case-name-suspect" target="_blank" rel="noopener">as a suspect</a>, later identified <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/15-years-after-madeleine-mccann-disappeared-official-suspect-named-as-deadline-looms" target="_blank" rel="noopener">as Christian Brueckner</a>. Brueckner is from Germany and is currently in prison for drug offenses, as well as a seven-year sentence for the rape of an elderly woman. Jim Gamble, a former British police officer who in 2010 led an official review of McCann’s disappearance, said in April 2022 that phone data put Brueckner near the scene of the crime within a 30-minute timeframe. Brueckner had also allegedly stolen from vacation homes in the area, with children’s clothing reportedly found in his vehicle.
“I think the circumstantial evidence that I know exists is extremely strong … I wouldn’t be surprised if charges follow,” Gamble noted. “It would just be fantastic to be able to give the McCanns peace of mind so far as knowing exactly what happened.”
Brueckner, however, denies any involvement in Madeleine’s disappearance.

Missing Madeleine McCann

Portuguese Police Resume Search For Madeleine McCann, Who Disappeared From Resort In 2007

Children

Crime

Europe

kidnapping

Missing Person

True Crime

United Kingdom

World

An 8-year-old girl in Alpena, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/michigan" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Michigan</a>, was saved from a teenager who attempted to kidnap her Wednesday when her 13-year-old brother came to the rescue armed with a slingshot, according to the Michigan State Police (MSP).
The girl was hunting for mushrooms in her backyard when a male came out of the woods, grabbed her, and put his hands over her mouth, but the girl’s big brother was there to witness the incident, police said. The girl managed to break away from the potential kidnapper after her brother fired his slingshot at the 17-year-old suspect, hitting him in the head, Newsweek <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/boy-saves-sister-slingshot-kidnapper-1800129" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
&#8220;The girl was able to struggle and get away and he shot another one that hit the suspect in the chest and he then fled the scene,” said Lieutenant John Grimshaw of the MSP.
Grimshaw added that the boy&#8217;s shot also helped police identify the suspect because he had marks on his body from the slingshot projectiles. Another member of the siblings’ family saw the suspect run off and alerted police to the attempted kidnapping, MLive <a href="https://www.mlive.com/news/2023/05/7-year-old-escapes-abduction-attempt-in-northern-michigan-brother-hits-suspect-in-head-with-slingshot.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Troopers found the suspect hiding at a nearby gas station and arrested him.
According to Newsweek, the girl’s uncle posted on Facebook about the incident, writing, “Hey everyone, earlier today my niece was almost kidnapped out of her own yard here in Alpena on the south end of town, a young 17-year-old with a black mohawk grab[bed] my niece and tried kidnapping her[,] my nephew heard her screaming and saw through his window and shot the guy with a slingshot.”
The suspect allegedly told detectives that he planned on beating the girl after abducting her. He was charged Thursday with one count of attempted kidnapping/child enticement, one count of attempted assault to do great bodily harm less than murder, and one count of assault and battery. The 17-year-old was charged as an adult and his bond was set at $150,000, according to MLive.
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Slingshot

13-Year-Old Boy With Slingshot Saves Sister From Would-Be-Kidnapper: Police

Michigan

Rescue

U.S.

An Ohio man has been charged with attempted murder, kidnapping, and more after police found a 60-year-old woman “stuffed and folded into a small, black tote” in his home.
Dalontay Edmond-Geiger, 31, of Cleveland, allegedly stabbed and beat the woman, whose name is not being released. She is being treated for life-threatening injuries at MetroHealth Medical Center, WOIO <a href="https://www.cleveland19.com/2023/05/09/cleveland-police-find-woman-stuffed-tote-home-citys-west-side-graphic/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
A police report obtained by the outlet said that officers were called to the crime scene around 3:30 p.m. on May 2 after a woman called 911 from a nearby store to say a woman was tied up in the basement. Officers went to the home and Edmond-Geiger claimed he was a confidential informant, telling police they needed to leave because they were “making this place hot,” WKYC <a href="https://www.wkyc.com/article/news/crime/cleveland-police-officers-find-woman-stuffed-inside-tote-suspect-in-custody/95-fdb03551-6d4a-4eb9-b7c9-b5ef86e38404" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. After about 30 minutes, however, he let them search the basement. Police found an air mattress and nothing else.
Later that evening, police asked a woman in the area if she knew anything about the house. The woman, according to the police report, told officers that a woman had been brutally attacked in the home and that the suspect had actually shown her pictures of the attack, WOIO reported. The woman said that she, Geiger, and two other people had been stopped by vice officers two separate times a few days earlier. Geiger apparently believed that the woman he allegedly kidnapped had been a “snitch.”
Around midnight, police returned to the home. An officer in the living room reported that he heard moaning, and that every time he heard it, Edmond-Geiger allegedly turned up the volume of music on his phone.
Officers tracked the moaning to the front porch and questioned Edmond-Geiger repeatedly about the sound. Eventually, he admitted that there was someone stuffed inside the tote, the police report said. Police found the woman and were able to free her.
Edmond-Geiger reportedly tied the woman up and stuffed her in the tote. After his arrest, he allegedly told police that he had moved her body from room to room to avoid police finding her as they searched the home.
“I have seen a lot of truly terrible cases over the years, and this one is one of the most horrific I’ve seen,” Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O&#8217;Malley said in a statement, according to WKYC. “Thankfully, law enforcement found her alive, and I am praying for her recovery.”
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Edmond-Geiger is currently being held on a $500,000 bond at the Cuyahoga County Justice Center. His next court date is scheduled for May 18 at the Cleveland Municipal Court. He is charged with attempted murder, kidnapping, felonious assault, and evidence tampering, WOIO reported.

bound human hands

60-Year-Old Woman ‘Stuffed’ Into Storage Container, Freed When Police Heard ‘Moaning’ At Suspect’s Home

60-Year-Old Woman 'Stuffed' Into Storage Container, Freed When Police Heard 'Moaning' At Suspect's Home

Cleveland

Ohio

Two Americans who survived being <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/4-u-s-citizens-kidnapped-by-gunmen-in-mexico-fbi-offers-reward-for-return" target="_blank" rel="noopener">kidnapped</a> last month by a Mexican drug cartel — in an attack that killed two other U.S. citizens — told the story of their traumatic trip over the southern border.
LaTavia Washington McGee and Eric Williams <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/12/us/kidnapped-americans-mexico-interview/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> CNN host Anderson Cooper on Tuesday that they were driving to a medical appointment in Matamoros, Mexico, with their friends Shaeed Woodard and Zindell Brown when they heard a car horn behind them. Brown looked back to see what was going on and saw a gun. He told the driver not to stop the car, but then gunfire erupted. 
“Zindell and Shaeed, they jumped up to run and they were gunned down,” Williams said. Williams was then shot in both legs when he tried to escape the vehicle after one of the gunmen beat on the window. 
The two survivors said that Woodard and Brown were still alive when the cartel threw their limp bodies in the bed of a pickup truck before speeding away. The Americans were taken to a location where they were interrogated, but Woodard didn’t make it. 
“That’s where Shaeed said, ‘I love y’all, and I’m gone.’ And he died right there,” Williams said.
Williams, who was shot in both legs, told Cooper that the cartel took him to receive medical treatment, but they didn’t give him any pain medication or check to see if the bullet was still lodged in his body. “They put my leg on a two-by-four and they stitched it up,” he said.  
McGee was meanwhile placed in a room with Brown, who was slowly dying from his wounds. The cartel said they would take Brown to the hospital, but they didn’t come back to get him until an hour later, according to McGee. 
“He was fighting for his life and they didn’t do nothing,” McGee said. “I talked to him the whole time. … I just told him sorry because I asked him to come with me.” McGee said that Brown told her “It’s okay. I’m your brother. I’m supposed to be there for you. I love you.”
The survivors said that the cartel, believed to be the Gulf Cartel, was apologetic after learning they had kidnapped and killed Americans. U.S. officials believe the cartel mistook the Americans for Haitian drug dealers when they attacked them. 
McGee said that one of the cartel members told her and Williams, “There’s nothing that we can do to bring your two brothers back. But we’re sorry. Somebody made the wrong call. They was high and drunk.” 
The cartel turned five of its members over to authorities and wrote an apology letter to the “affected American people and families” as well as to the relatives of a Mexican woman who was killed by a stray bullet during the attack.
After the cartel’s apology, the kidnapped Americans said they were placed back in a truck and driven around all night, worrying that they would never be rescued. 
“They had police scanners and all types of stuff in their trucks. They knew what was going on. They were always a step ahead. So I was like, they’re never gonna find us like this,” McGee said.
After four days in captivity, Williams and McGee were finally dropped off at a wooden shack where they would eventually be rescued and brought back to the U.S., along with the bodies of their friends. 
“[Our friends] didn’t deserve that. None of us deserved it,” McGee said. “But we’re alive – we have a lot of recovering to do.”

Americans Kidnapped in Mexico

‘Somebody Made The Wrong Call’: Americans Who Survived Mexican Drug Cartel Kidnapping Share Details Of Traumatic Days In Captivity

Americans Who Survived Mexican Drug Cartel Kidnapping Share Details Of Traumatic Days In Captivity 

attack

Drug Cartels

Mexico

The woman who gained social media notoriety after claiming to be missing child Madeleine McCann has learned she is not the missing girl.
DNA results showed that Julia Wendell, 21, who is too old to be McCann anyway, has been definitively ruled out as the little girl who was abducted from a vacation rental nearly 16 years ago, People Magazine <a href="https://people.com/crime/polish-woman-claimed-to-be-madeleine-mccann-not-missing-toddler-dna/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Wendell, who is Polish, gained a social media following and media attention earlier this year after she claimed to share similar birthmarks to McCann. Her spokeswoman, Dr. Fia Johansson, however, confirmed that Wendell could not be McCann following DNA testing.
&#8220;We finally know the reality,&#8221; Johansson wrote <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cqm5l2MjW-g/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">on Instagram</a>. &#8220;Although it is impossible to tell for sure without the parent&#8217;s DNA results on either side, the test results speak to the origins of Julia&#8217;s roots. The test results revealed that she is 100 percent of Polish heart, with negligible influence from Lithuania, and Russia.&#8221;
Johansson insisted that Wendell wasn’t just “making a claim to get attention.”
&#8220;This story is much more complicated than a simple girl from a small town in Poland making a claim to get attention. She truly believed what she was saying, and with so many questions about her childhood it is easy to understand where she was coming [from],&#8221; Johansson wrote in the same post.
Wendell’s parents <a href="https://www.jpost.com/international/article-736345" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reportedly</a> released a statement shortly after she made her claims saying they were false. Wendell even went on “Dr. Phil” to deny her parents’ allegations that she stole her own birth certificate along with childhood photos to hide who she truly was while claiming to be McCann, the New York Post <a href="https://nypost.com/2023/04/05/madeleine-mccanns-parents-issue-statement-after-dna-test-finds-polish-woman-is-not-missing-girl/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>.
“For us as a family it is obvious Julia is our daughter, granddaughter, sister, niece, cousin and step niece. We have memories, we have pictures,” Wendell’s family said in a statement aired during the program. “Julia also has these photos because she took them from the family home with the birth certificate, as well as numerous hospital discharges.”
In response to the DNA test, McCann’s parents released a statement saying: “There isn’t anything to report at this time. If and when there is, it will come from The Metropolitan Police.”
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Madeleine McCann was three years old when she disappeared from her bed in an apartment her family rented while on vacation in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in 2007. No trace of her has ever been found.
The biggest break in the case came in 2020, when police named “Christian B” <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/police-in-uk-have-massive-breakthrough-in-madeleine-mccann-kidnapping-cold-case-name-suspect" target="_blank" rel="noopener">as a suspect</a>, later identified <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/15-years-after-madeleine-mccann-disappeared-official-suspect-named-as-deadline-looms" target="_blank" rel="noopener">as Christian Brueckner</a>. Brueckner is from Germany and currently in prison for drug offenses, as well as a seven-year sentence for the rape of an elderly woman. Jim Gamble, a former British police officer who in 2010 led an official review of McCann’s disappearance, said in April 2022 that phone data put Brueckner near the scene of the crime within a 30-minute timeframe. Brueckner had also allegedly stolen from vacation homes in the area, with children’s clothing reportedly found in his vehicle.
“I think the circumstantial evidence that I know exists is extremely strong … I wouldn’t be surprised if charges follow,” Gamble noted. “It would just be fantastic to be able to give the McCanns peace of mind so far as knowing exactly what happened.”
Brueckner, however, denies any involvement in Madeleine’s disappearance.

First Anniversary Nears For Missing Madeleine McCann

Woman Claiming To Be Missing Child Madeleine McCann Gets DNA Results

Madeleine McCann was 3-years-old when she disappeared from her bed in an apartment her family was renting while on vacation in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in 2007.
The case has become one of the most famous missing person cases in the 21st century, generating global interest with multiple people claiming to be the missing girl, including a recent <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/world/madeleine-mccann-disappearance-polish-police-reportedly-dispute-womans-claims-she-is-missing-british-girl" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Polish woman</a> who has amassed one million followers on social media.
The McCann family — parents Gerry and Kate along with Madeleine and her twin siblings, who were 2-years-old – was on vacation with seven friends, now known as the Tapas Seven, along with their children.
On the morning of May 3, 2007, the children played at the resort’s Kids’ Club before joining their parents at the pool, after which they returned to the Kids’ Club until Kate took them back to their apartment. Kate and Gerry put their children to bed before joining their friends at the resort’s tapas restaurant, located across the pool from the apartments where they were all staying. From their table, the parents could see the top of McCann’s apartment, but not the doors, and they left the patio doors unlocked but closed. About every half hour, someone from the parents’ group would leave to check on their children.
A message book at the resort’s swimming pool reception area contained a note to block the same table for the McCann’s and their friends each night for four evenings, with a message saying the children were sleeping in the apartments. Kate would come to believe that whoever abducted Madeleine must have seen the message book.
One of the McCann’s friends, Jane Tanner, would tell Portuguese police that when she left the table to check on her children at around 9 p.m., she saw a man carrying a young child walking near Madeleine’s bedroom, heading away from the apartments. She didn’t think anything of it at the time, but after Madeleine disappeared, her memory became known as the Tanner Sighting.
Scotland Yard, who helped investigate Madeleine’s disappearance, dismissed the Tanner Sighting, saying six years later, in 2013 that they had determined another British father had been the man Tanner saw. They said the man had been picking up his daughter from the resort’s Ocean Club.
Another sighting, however, from two other vacationers, was used to create a composite sketch of a man who may have abducted Madeleine. The Smith Sighting, made by Martin and Mary Smith, said they saw a man around 10 p.m. the night Madeleine disappeared holding a young child and looking uncomfortable.
Another member of the Tapas Seven agreed to check on the McCann’s children around 9:30 p.m. He found the children’s bedroom door wide open, but since he didn’t hear anything, he left without checking to make sure the children were indeed in their beds.
Kate then completed her own check on the children around 10 p.m. and found her daughter missing. She quickly searched the apartment before running back to the restaurant screaming “Madeleine’s gone! Someone’s taken her!”
By 10:10, a member of the Tapas Seven told the resort’s reception desk to call the police, and by 10:30, the resort began its missing child search protocol, which involved 60 staff members and guests searching the premises until 4:30 in the morning.
Portuguese police said they arrived within 10 minutes of being called. Kate said they arrived around 1 a.m. They also began searching for Madeleine, but many issues with the search would later come to light. Border and marine police were not given descriptions of the missing girl for several hours, and police didn’t conduct any house searches. Kate told media outlets that the roads weren’t blocked until 10 a.m. the morning after Madeleine disappeared. Surveillance images of vehicles leaving the resort on the night of the disappearance, or the surrounding roads weren’t requested, nor was the road monitoring company approached for information.
In addition, many people staying at the resort at the time weren’t immediately interviewed, with some contacting police on their own. 
The crime scene was also not properly secured, with at least 20 people entering the apartment before it was blocked. The apartment was empty for a month after Madeleine’s disappearance before the resort began renting it out again. In August 2007 – nearly three months after the disappearance, the apartment was closed once again for additional forensic tests.
Just 12 days after Madeleine disappeared, a suspect was named. The man lived close to the resort and was seen outside the McCann’s apartment shortly after their daughter disappeared. The suspect’s home and cars were searched and his associates were questioned, but nothing linked him to the disappearance and he was eventually cleared, later suing authorities and receiving a large settlement.
As with most child abductions without quick answers, the parents became suspects. Media in Portugal and then the U.K. began suggesting the parents were involved in Madeleine’s disappearance and had made a “pact of silence” with the Tapas Seven. Forensic dogs were brought in to search the apartment and the car the McCanns rented, but their findings have been disputed.
Still, the McCanns were named suspects, with Portuguese police claiming they accidentally killed Madeleine and hid her body, with leaks to the media falsely claiming the evidence against them was stronger than it actually was. Despite being named suspects, the McCanns were allowed to return to the U.K.
Months after Madeleine was taken, the investigation’s coordinator, Chief Inspector Goncalo Amaral was removed from his position, later being charged with perjury in relation to another child disappearance.
On July 21, 2008, the Portuguese attorney general announced there wasn’t enough evidence to say the McCanns were involved in Madeleine’s disappearance, clearing them as suspects and closing the case. The McCanns, however, have never stopped looking for Madeleine, setting up <a href="http://findmadeleine.com/about_us/madeleines-fund.html#:~:text=Madeleine's%20Fund%20%2D%20'Leaving%20No%20Stone,the%20Voluntary%20and%20Community%20Sector." target="_blank" rel="noopener">Madeleine’s Fund</a>: Leaving No Stone Unturned Ltd just two weeks after their daughter disappeared. It has since raised nearly £750,000.
The family has also hired several private investigators throughout the investigation and beyond, while the U.K. has conducted several additional investigations – none of which have found Madeleine.
The biggest break in the case came in 2020, when police named “Christian B” <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/police-in-uk-have-massive-breakthrough-in-madeleine-mccann-kidnapping-cold-case-name-suspect" target="_blank" rel="noopener">as a suspect</a>, later identified <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/15-years-after-madeleine-mccann-disappeared-official-suspect-named-as-deadline-looms" target="_blank" rel="noopener">as Christian Brueckner</a>. Brueckner is from Germany and currently in prison for drug offenses, as well as a seven-year sentence for the rape of an elderly woman. Jim Gamble, a former British police officer who in 2010 led an official review of McCann’s disappearance, said in April 2022 that phone data put Brueckner near the scene of the crime within a 30-minute timeframe. Brueckner had also allegedly stolen from vacation homes in the area, with children’s clothing reportedly found in his vehicle.
“I think the circumstantial evidence that I know exists is extremely strong … I wouldn’t be surprised if charges follow,” Gamble noted. “It would just be fantastic to be able to give the McCanns peace of mind so far as knowing exactly what happened.”
Brueckner, however, denies any involvement in Madeleine’s disappearance.
The McCanns have also been contacted by a number of women claiming to be Madeleine, including a Polish woman named Julia Faustyna, also known as Julia Wendlet, who has gained one million followers on social media after claiming to be the missing girl. Faustyna has claimed she has a spot on her right eye similar to Madeleine as well as marks on her leg that match those of the missing girl.
Shortly after her claims made media headlines, Faustyna claimed the McCanns had agreed to provide DNA to prove whether or not she was their missing daughter, a claim that since has been retracted by a medium who had become her spokesperson.
To date, a body has never been found and no living person has been identified as Madeleine McCann. She remains a missing person.
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Gerry And Kate McCann Launch Their Book ‘Madeleine’

Unsolved: The Disappearance Of Madeleine McCann

Readers Pass

The suspect of a kidnapping and torture in Oregon <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/01/us/oregon-kidnapping-suspect-benjamin-foster-dead-wednesday/index.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener">died</a> on Tuesday from a self-inflicted gunshot injury, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/02/01/1153149820/oregon-kidnapping-suspect-dies-of-self-inflicted-gunshot-police-say" target="_blank" rel="noopener">according</a> to a police spokesman. 
Grants Pass Police Department Lt. Jeff Hattersley <a href="https://ktvl.com/news/local/police-believe-attempted-murder-suspect-benjamin-foster-is-inside-grants-pass-home" target="_blank" rel="noopener">said</a> that the suspect, Benjamin Obadiah Foster, died at the hospital on Tuesday night. For multiple hours, police carried out a standoff with the man who is suspected of attempted murder.
Foster closed himself in beneath a house as law enforcement swarmed the area, established a command post, and brought a SWAT team together while trying to get him to turn himself in. 
Before 8 p.m. on Tuesday night, Hattersley said the incident was &#8220;resolved&#8221; and law enforcement later said he had been arrested. They said he had died from his wounds thereafter.
On January 24, a woman was discovered tied up, unconscious, and almost dead in a house in Oregon. She was still in the hospital in serious condition as of Wednesday, according to the <a href="https://apnews.com/article/oregon-grants-pass-crime-law-enforcement-9858ce1798696d7eb06a03a334c7066c" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Associated Press</a>. 
Hattersley noted that officials had gotten “credible information” that the suspect had gone into the home where the woman was discovered, according to The Daily Courier.
Law enforcement <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/oregon-kidnapping-suspect-benjamin-foster-dead-after-hours-long-standoff-police" target="_blank" rel="noopener">enlisted</a> the help of the public in searching for Foster and put out a picture of him, clarifying that he might have changed what he looked like since the photo was captured. Grants Pass law enforcement also put out a warning in the community and said he might still be loose on Tuesday afternoon prior to his capture. 
Foster had also evaded law enforcement when they raided a location last week. Investigators don’t think that he operated on his own, but rather believe that someone helped him get away.
The suspect had a history of criminal conduct related to the way he had allegedly treated a former girlfriend. 
He <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/US/manhunt-underway-oregon-man-accused-torturing-woman-police/story?id=96792681" target="_blank" rel="noopener">pleaded</a> guilty to battery counts in 2021. In 2019, he kept his girlfriend at the time as a prisoner in her apartment for several weeks. He was sentenced to one to two-and-a-half years in prison and could have been forced to serve out nearly 200 more days in state custody after taking into account the days he had waited in jail to go to trial. However, he was let go the day he was taken to prison, according to Nevada corrections department authorities on Monday.
Last week, Grants Pass Police Chief Warren Hensman said that it is “extremely troubling” that Foster ended up being hunted in Oregon instead of staying in prison in Nevada.

“Police patrol lights on car roof”

Oregon Torture, Kidnapping Suspect Dead From Self-Inflicted Wound After Standoff With Police

Oregon

Police searching for a kidnapped infant in Indiana found him at a restaurant, moments after they had given up searching.
Five month-old twins Kyair and Kason Thomas went missing last week. Police found Kyair hours later, outside the Dayton International Airport in Ohio. Police in Indianapolis spent most of Thursday searching for the car that Kason was believed to be in; officers gave up the search late Thursday afternoon and stopped at a local restaurant to eat. Right then and there, officers found the car and the boy.
“We stopped to decompress and talk about the day and what happen to Kason so as parents we understand,&#8221; Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Officer Shawn Anderson told local news station <a href="https://www.wishtv.com/news/i-team-8/baby-at-center-of-amber-alert-found-in-car-after-2-days-woman-arrested/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">WISH-TV</a>. &#8220;It was time for us to decompress because we were disappointed that we could not find him and then God opened up the heavens to us and almost took him and put him right in our hands.”
According to WISH, the two officers stopped searching for the day and stopped to eat at a restaurant. Across the parking lot from the restaurant at a Papa John&#8217;s pizzeria, the officers spotted the black Honda Accord the kidnapper had used to steal the infant. An employee of the Papa John&#8217;s noticed the car sitting in the parking lot, but said that abandoned cars are fairly common so he thought nothing of it. “Fortunately, they found a baby in the car that had been sitting there for a few days,&#8221; the employee said. &#8220;Thank God he was OK.”
The employee also said that he saw the suspect on Tuesday when she inquired about a job. “She came in Tuesday morning probably around 8 o’ clock and was asking about bus passes and asking if we were hiring. I didn’t think too much about it. She was here for about 20 minutes and left and walked right past the car, and I didn’t see her again.”
Kason and Kyair were <a href="https://www.tristatehomepage.com/news/ohio-amber-alert-issued-after-twin-babies-disappear-with-car-from-parking-lot/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">kidnapped</a> on Monday. Their mother, Wilhelmina, was picking up a DoorDash order from Donato&#8217;s Pizza in the Short North neighborhood of Columbus, Ohio. She left the car running while she picked up the order.
The suspect, later identified as Nalah Jackson, reportedly left the restaurant out a side door, got into the running car, and sped away with the twins still inside. According to police, Jackson is homeless and had a previous criminal record that included theft, receiving stolen property, interference with custody, and endangering children.
Kyair was found in the pre-dawn hours Tuesday morning. A traveler walking around the economy parking lot at Dayton International Airport, nearly an hour&#8217;s drive away from Columbus, around 4:15 A.M. Tuesday, when he heard a baby crying. He found Kyair Thomas in a car seat, wrapped in a quilt, in the lot. The traveler called 911, and police arrived on scene and took charge of the infant. He has since been reunited with his parents.
Jackson was charged with two counts of kidnapping by the Franklin County court on Tuesday, and a warrant was issued for her arrest. She was <a href="https://www.10tv.com/article/news/local/columbus-police-announce-charges-against-woman-accused-kidnapping-twin-5-month-old-boys/530-475879f4-f0fe-43b0-a4bb-17e5dfcfa407" target="_blank" rel="noopener">arrested</a> on Wednesday. According to WISH, she faces charges in Ohio, and federal charges for taking Kason Thomas across state lines.

Emergency lights on a us police car – stock photo

Police Searching For Missing Infant Give Up And Stop At A Restaurant. That’s Where They Find Him.

Indiana Police Stopped At A Restaurant While Searching For Missing Infant, Then Found Him 

Indiana

Police

Jonelle Matthews was a 12-year old Franklin Middle School student in Greeley, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/colorado" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Colorado</a>, when she <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/kidnapping" target="_blank" rel="noopener">disappeared</a> from her home on December 20, 1984.
Earlier that evening, she had sang Christmas songs with the Honor Choir at a concert at her school. Her friend’s father took the young girl home around 8 p.m. Jonelle was home alone, her mother out of state taking care of her own mother, and her father attending Jonelle’s older sister’s basketball game.
Jim Matthews, Jonelle’s father, returned home that night to find Jonelle missing. Police would find footprints in the snow outside the windows of the house, with what appeared to be rake marks attempting to hide them, Jim <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/pictures/jonelle-matthews-murder-steven-pankey-trial/14/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> “48 Hours” in August of this year. Those footprints were the only physical evidence investigators found at the Matthews home.
When police ran out of leads, they turned their attention to Jim, who was eventually cleared as a suspect. Decades passed without answers to what happened to young Jonelle, even with continued investigations and putting her picture on milk cartons. That is, until police zeroed in on Steven Pankey, who lived in Greeley with his family just two miles from the Matthews home at the time Jonelle disappeared.
Pankey regularly had minor run-ins with the law, typically stemming from public arguments. In one example, Pankey reportedly was accused of creating a nuisance and harassment at a local bank in Greeley. His former defense attorney, Anthony Viorst, told “48 Hours” that Pankey “argued with a bank teller and the police were called.”
&#8220;That&#8217;s the kind of thing that&#8217;s happened to Mr. Pankey over the years. He&#8217;s had periodic sort of spats with people because he is an irascible, prickly guy,&#8221; Viorst added.
A few years after Jonelle’s disappearance, Pankey and his family moved several times, eventually settling in Idaho where he ran for several offices, including sheriff, municipal council, lieutenant governor, and governor, though he was never elected.
In Idaho, Pankey also had run-ins with the police, and mentioned Jonelle’s case in several court filings. In 1999, he told the Idaho Supreme Court that the conviction stemming from the incident at the bank was “an attempt to force” him “to become an informant” in Jonelle’s case. He also claimed in court filings that he was afraid he could &#8220;get the death penalty for revealing the location of Ms. Matthews body.&#8221;
Still, Pankey wasn’t connected to Jonelle’s disappearance for another two decades. In July 2019, oil and gas workers found Jonelle’s remains in an unincorporated area in Weld County, Colorado, People <a href="https://people.com/crime/jonelle-matthews-murder-steven-pankey-guilty-murder/">reported</a>. A year later, in October 2020, Pankey was arrested following for Jonelle’s murder following a grand jury indictment.
Viorst, Pankey’s defense attorney at the time, told “48 Hours” that there was “no indication that he committed this murder, no indication that he had anything to do with burying the body.”
The indictment against Pankey alleged he knew about a rake used to hide the footprints outside the Matthews house the night Jonelle disappeared.
Pankey was originally tried in 2021, but it ended in a mistrial when a jury couldn’t reach a unanimous verdict. A jury did find him guilty of false reporting in 2021, however. He was convicted of felony murder and second-degree kidnapping on October 30, 2022.

Pankey

Former Idaho Governor Candidate Convicted Of 1984 Cold Case Murder Of 12-Year-Old Girl

Colorado

Murder

Police in Thurston County, <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/washington" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Washington</a>, have released the audio of a chilling 911 call from a woman who was allegedly buried alive by her estranged husband.
Young An, 42, managed to call 911 using her Apple Watch after her husband, Chae An, 53, allegedly bound and gagged her with duct tape, KIRO 7 <a href="https://www.kiro7.com/news/local/authorities-release-audio-911-call-made-by-lacey-woman-before-being-buried-alive-by-husband/G5JRYAMMUNGCTIOX7LM3M253AI/?fbclid=IwAR0m1PkUaruScZg2R5ENsgUcB05u6ShQcL-zc5LwwF2f4hNP2FF-e5bYyy0" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Chae had left the bedroom after binding Young, allowing her to make the call, which lasted about 7 minutes and consisted of the dispatcher asking Young questions and Young responding with muffled screams.
“Can you hear me?” the dispatcher asked Young, who appeared to try to yell “Yes! Yes!” through the duct tape covering her mouth.
The dispatcher asked Young what was going on and said she would send help and stay on the line before asking if Young was hurt.
At some point during the call, Chae allegedly dragged Young into the garage and smashed her Apple Watch with a hammer – while it was still on her wrist.
&#8220;The dispatch was an ‘unknown trouble call,’&#8221; Sgt. Shannon Barnes <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/suspected-washington-kidnapper-speeds-past-police-car-wife-tied-up-back-of-van-video-shows" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told</a> Fox News on Wednesday. &#8220;So, he had no information about anything he was walking into.&#8221;
Chae had managed to abduct his wife before the police arrived. They found the garage door to the house open. The resident’s children arrived a short time later and said they had last seen their parents at the home about half an hour earlier.
Police searched the home and found no one, but soon learned that Young had a domestic violence protection order against Chae, The Daily Wire previously <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/woman-survives-being-buried-alive-says-husband-was-trying-to-kill-her" target="_blank" rel="noopener">reported</a>. Police issued an Endangered Missing Persons Alert and canvassed the neighborhood. A security camera caught Chae pulling into the home’s garage and shutting the door briefly, but he left just before officers arrived.
About 12 hours after police first arrived at the home, someone in another neighborhood awoke to find Young banging on their door and pleading for help, telling the resident “my husband is trying to kill me,” according to a declaration of probable cause <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/washington-state-woman-buried-alive-estranged-husband-manages-escape-s-rcna53232" target="_blank" rel="noopener">obtained by NBC News</a>.
Thurston County deputies responded to the scene and found that Young had sustained non-life-threatening injuries. Young told detectives that Chae had kidnapped her from her home and taken into the woods.
“She had duct tape still wrapped around her neck, lower face and ankles,” detectives wrote in the court filing. “There was extensive bruising to her legs, arms and head and her clothing and hair were covered in dirt.”
Young reportedly told police that Chae had taken her after they spoke about their ongoing divorce. He allegedly bound her hands behind her back with duct tape, placed duct tape over her eyes, legs, and ankles, and dragged her into the garage. She told police that he drove her to the woods and heard him digging in the dirt before stabbing her in the chest.
“She was drug and put into the ground. … A heavy tree was put on top of her,” a court filing said, according to NBC. “After being put into the ground she could hear her husband walking around the hole and dirt being put on top of her.”
Young said she had difficulty breathing, but kept moving around to keep the dirt off her face. She told police she believed she was in the shallow grave for hours, and was able to wiggle free from the duct tape after night fell. She was then able to see the van Chae drove with a light still on. She said she ran for about 30 minutes to find help.
Young also told investigators that her husband had previously threatened to kill her, saying he would “rather kill her than give her his retirement money,” in the divorce.
Investigators were able to corroborate the woman’s story by finding the shallow grave where she was buried.
“The hole appeared to be freshly dug. Outside the hole was a piece of duct tape,” police wrote in the court filing.
Chae has pleaded not guilty to attempted first-degree murder, first-degree domestic violence kidnapping, and first-degree domestic violence assault.

Police line do not cross – stock photo

Police Release 911 Call From Woman Allegedly Buried Alive By Estranged Husband

Washington

A <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/washington">Washington</a> state woman survived being buried alive and told police her husband was the culprit.
On Sunday at around 1 p.m., police went to a home in Lacey, Washington, after receiving a disturbing call featuring muffled screaming and what sounded like a struggle, according to <a href="https://cityoflacey.org/police-media-release-8/">a news release</a> from the police department. They arrived to find the garage door to the house open. The resident’s children arrived a short time later and said they had last seen their parents at the home about half an hour earlier.
Police searched the home and found no one, but soon learned that the resident, Young An, had a domestic violence protection order against her husband, Chae An. Police issued an Endangered Missing Persons Alert and canvassed the neighborhood. A security camera caught Chae pulling into the home’s garage and shutting the door briefly, but he left just before officers arrived.
About 12 hours after police first arrived at the home, someone in another neighborhood awoke to find Young banging on their door and pleading for help, telling the residents “my husband is trying to kill me,” according to a declaration of probable cause <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/washington-state-woman-buried-alive-estranged-husband-manages-escape-s-rcna53232">obtained by NBC News</a>.
Thurston County deputies responded to the scene and found that Young had sustained non-life-threatening injuries. Young told detectives that Chae had kidnapped her from her home and taken into the woods.
“She had duct tape still wrapped around her neck, lower face and ankles,&#8221; detectives wrote in the court filing. &#8220;There was extensive bruising to her legs, arms and head and her clothing and hair were covered in dirt.”
Young reportedly told police that Chae had taken her after they spoke about their ongoing divorce. He allegedly bound her hands behind her back with duct tape, placed duct tape over her eyes, legs, and ankles, and dragged her into the garage. She told police that he drove her to the woods and heard him digging in the dirt before stabbing her in the chest.
“She was drug and put into the ground. … A heavy tree was put on top of her,” a court filing said, according to NBC. “After being put into the ground she could hear her husband walking around the hole and dirt being put on top of her.&#8221;
Young said she had difficulty breathing, but kept moving around to keep the dirt off her face. She told police she believed she was in the shallow grave for hours, and was able to wiggle free from the duct tape after night fell. She was then able to see the van Chae drove with a light still on. She said she ran for about 30 minutes to find help.
Young also told investigators that her husband had previously threatened to kill her, saying he would “rather kill her than give her his retirement money,” in the divorce.
Investigators were able to corroborate the woman’s story by finding the shallow grave where she was buried.
“The hole appeared to be freshly dug. Outside the hole was a piece of duct tape,” police wrote in the court filing.
Chae has been arrested but not formally charged, though the court filing recommends numerous charges, including first-degree attempted murder, first-degree kidnapping, and first-degree assault.

Crime scene investigation. Forensic science specialist working on human remains identification.

Woman Survives Being Buried Alive, Says Husband Was Trying To Kill Her

Washington Woman Survives Being Buried Alive, Says Husband Was Trying To Kill Her

A man has been arrested for allegedly <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/kidnapping">kidnapping</a> and <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/murder">killing</a> four members of a <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/california">California</a> family, including their baby girl.
Jesus Manuel Salgado, 48, was arrested Thursday night and charged with four counts of murder and four counts of kidnapping in the deaths of 8-month-old Aroohi Dheri and her parents Jasleen Kaur and Jasdeep Singh, as well as her uncle Amandeep Singh.
Merced County Sheriff Vern Warnke said “there’s a special place in hell for this guy” on Wednesday night when he announced the bodies of the missing family had been found, CNN <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2022/10/06/us/california-family-found-dead-thursday/index.html">reported</a>. “The circumstances around this, when we are able to release everything, should anger the hell out of you,” Warnke added at the time.
Salgado had been detained two days before he was formally arrested, CNN <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2022/10/07/us/california-family-kidnapped-killed-friday/index.html?fbclid=IwAR3JL4tdgPfaLo0mPCvUNT1O1YL4mARlMkFbJxg661NWHZUFAcpWdNS0Apk">reported</a>, and police said he used to work for the family he is accused of killing. Police have not revealed what position he held in the family business.
Surveillance footage showed the four members of the family being forcibly taken from their workplace Monday morning. Jasdeep Singh arrived at the business’ parking lot at 8:30 a.m., with his brother Amandeep arriving nine minutes later. Just before 9 a.m., a man carrying a white trash bag confronts Jasdeep outside the business and appears to pull out a firearm. By 9:11 a.m., Jasdeep and Amandeep are seen with their hands tied behind their backs and getting into a truck before it pulls away.
The truck returns to the business soon after and the kidnapper enters the business. Shortly after, he exits the business holding a gun and directing Jasleen Kaur to get into the vehicle as she holds her baby.
The family vehicle was found abandoned and on fire later that morning.
That same day, a local farmer found two cell phones belonging to the victims along a stretch of road. He ended up answering one and speaking to a relative of one of the victims.
While Salgado is the main suspect in the case, police believe others could be involved.
“I fully believe that we will uncover and find out that there was more than just him involved,” Warnke said earlier this week.
Prior to his detention, Salgado attempted to commit suicide and was treated with a sedative due to him acting violently when he was conscious.
It is still unknown why Salgado allegedly murdered the family members, Warnke said, and police have not revealed how the family was killed.
In 2007, Salgado was sentenced to 11 years in prison for first-degree robbery with use of a firearm and attempted false imprisonment, among other charges.

Close-Up Of Woman Hand On Mirror

Man Arrested For Kidnapping And Killing Four Members Of A California Family

California

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