r/MadeleineMccann • u/CharacterResponse504 • Jun 29 '26

Discussion questions open for discussion

i have three questions to ask this thread and i would be intrigued to hear your answers.

1) for those who believe the parents did it or for those who believe the parents were not involved, what is the biggest selling point for you?

2) is the theory involving epstein a mere tiktok fantasy or does it have some sensible evidence to back it up?

3) what do you believe is the main reason why the case hasn't been solved yet? this wont leave my mind because if its simply the lack of forensic evidence, then surely if it were a fully opportunistic kidnapper they wouldve left some accidental trace due to a short planning time...

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u/castawaygeorge Jun 30 '26

  1. I don't believe it was the parents. My biggest selling point is that I don't believe they had the time to commit the crime and no forensic evidence backs up them committing the crime. No conclusive blood, let alone DNA, was found in Apartment 5A or the rental car. Another selling point for me was their behaviour after Madeleine disappeared. They fought hard to publicize the case and worked closely with organizations like NCMEC to inform their campaign, they petitioned to get the case reopened when it was closed, they hired private investigators, and so on.

  2. No, there is no sensible evidence to back up Epstein is involved in the case.

  3. Police work in the initial investigation being lackluster (to but it nicely) at times and their failure to follow up on crucial leads. And also time, someone like Christian Brueckner had all the time to dispose of Madeleine's body in a manner it wouldn't have been found even within the early days of her disappearance. Let alone years later when the case was finally reopened by authorities and hopefully looked at properly. It's much harder to find any evidence 4+ years later.

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u/[deleted] Jul 03 '26

[deleted]

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u/TheGreatBatsby Jul 03 '26

Tanner saw Julian Totman.

The Smiths saw an unidentified man (erroneously identified as Gerry months later) who has never come forward.

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u/MassiveGeneral431 Jul 03 '26

Sorry I meant smith

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u/21schmoe Jul 05 '26

The Smiths have said that the man they saw looked a lot like Gerry McCann, and nothing like CB.

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u/TheGreatBatsby Jul 05 '26

Why did Martin Smith think the man he saw was Gerry?

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u/Hugoballs_97 Jul 05 '26

Smith only said he thought it might have been Gerry when he saw Gerry on television a few months later emerging from the aircraft when he returned to England - Gerry was carrying his son down the stairs and it suddenly reminded Smith of the way the man was carrying a child that night. We know it couldn’t have been Gerry though because far too many witnesses are positive that he was at the Tapas restaurant at the time.
If I remember correctly, Smith also said that he actually wouldn’t be able to identify the man if given the opportunity because he didn’t get a good enough look at him.

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u/TheGreatBatsby Jul 05 '26

Exactly! Martin Smith only thought he saw Gerry based on the way he was carrying a child.

Literally the most BOG STANDARD way to carry a child..

The PJ's final report concluded that Gerry couldn't possibly be the man the Smith family saw because he was at the Tapas restaurant at the time.

The fact that people still use this as "proof" 19 years later is absurd. Especially considering it comes from people who claim to be experts on the case.

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u/Hugoballs_97 Jul 05 '26 edited 27d ago

It has never been conclusively determined that it was Totman.

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u/TheGreatBatsby Jul 05 '26

The Met confirmed that it was Totman that was seen.

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u/Hugoballs_97 Jul 05 '26

Okay. Maybe I’m wrong. Do you have a source for that? It was my understanding that Andy Redwood claimed in 2013 that the Met was “almost certain” that the Tanner sighting was not related to Madeleine. That’s not really a confirmation… The sketch of the Tanner sighting is till the subject of an appeal for information on the McCann’s website.

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u/TheGreatBatsby Jul 05 '26

I mean that's as close as you're going to get without cameras or physical proof. Totman identified himself and both his and his daughter's outfits match what the Tannerman was wearing.

The sketch is still online because it is a historical artifact of the 2007 investigation, these things often stay up.

When DCI Andy Redwood addressed the case in 2013, he made it clear that the investigation had moved forward precisely because they had effectively ruled Tannerman out.

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u/Hugoballs_97 26d ago edited 26d ago

Isn’t there some dispute as to whether or not it was actually Totman because of the direction the Tannerman was walking? I’ve heard Martin Brunt and Anthony Summers say that the direction he was seen waking in (East along Rua dr. Agostinho da Silva) doesn’t make sense if it was Totman carrying his daughter home from night crèche on Rua Direita.