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Investigator Julian Peribañez says he believes Madeleine McCann was taken by trafficking gang

Julian Peribañez, described as a private investigator hired by the McCanns, told the Olive Press he doesn't know if Madeleine McCann is alive, believes she was kidnapped by an Eastern European trafficking gang, and appealed for names. The case remains formally unsolved.

2 outlets · 1L · 0C · 1R First reported Account updated
Image: Daily Express
Image: Daily Mirror

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The story, neutrally told

Mixed · 2Julian Peribañez, described by the Daily Express as the private investigator hired by the McCanns to find Madeleine, has given a new statement to the Olive Press about the case. Mixed · 2Peribañez said: "I don't know if she's alive or not, because hardly anyone on Earth does. But as long as I have hope, I won't stop looking." Mixed · 2Both outlets report that Peribañez has continued to pursue their own lines of inquiry and believes Madeleine was kidnapped by an Eastern European trafficking gang. The Mirror attributes this to the Daily Express.

Mixed · 2Peribañez urged anyone in the Algarve region with information to come forward, saying: "All I need is a name. Give me a name, and I'll chase it wherever I have to." Mixed · 2Madeleine was three when she vanished from a ground-floor holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on the evening of 3 May 2007, while her parents Kate and Gerry dined at a tapas restaurant about 55 metres away and checked on the children in turns. Mixed · 2At around 10pm Kate found the bed empty and the bedroom window open, prompting an international search; the multi-agency inquiry, including Scotland Yard's Operation Grange, pursued thousands of leads across Europe, yet the case remains formally unsolved.

Mixed · 2German prosecutors have long focused on convicted rapist Christian Brueckner, identified as prime suspect in 2020 after phone records placed him near the resort that night, but no murder charges have been brought against him over her disappearance and the case has stalled amid legal battles and separate trials. Mixed · 2Both outlets note Brueckner was accused of five offences in Portugal between December 2000 and June 2017, with an appeal made against only four, and that judges found witnesses' descriptions of an allegedly filmed rape of an elderly woman insufficient to establish what happened. Left · 1The Mirror adds that a two-part documentary, 'Madeleine McCann: The Case that Broke Britain', aired earlier this month on Prime Video, covering the disappearance, online conspiracies and trolling.

Every sentence links to the reporting it rests on. The pill in front of each says where its sources sit: Left, Centre or Right when one side supplies at least half of them, Mixed when they are evenly split. The number is how many outlets it cites.

Left1 outlet

Framing
The Mirror presents Peribañez as a 'Top cop' with a 'plea' and new update, rewrites the Express's material and adds a promotion of a Prime Video documentary.
Emphasis
Peribañez's determination and theory, background on the case, and the documentary series.
Leaves out or plays down
Does not state that Peribañez was hired by the McCanns; calls them a 'cop'.
Charged language
“Top cop”“plea”
For example
“Top cop Julian Peribañez has shared a new theory in the Madeleine McCann investigation almost 19-years on.” — Daily Mirror

Centre0 outlets

No centre outlet in our sources has covered this story yet.

Right1 outlet

Framing
The Express leads with a 'bombshell' and 'harrowing' update from the private investigator hired by the McCanns.
Emphasis
The trafficking-gang theory and the appeal for information, with case background.
Leaves out or plays down
Gives no independent evidence for the trafficking theory; no mention of the documentary.
Charged language
“bombshell”“harrowing”
For example
“Maddie McCann investigator issues bombshell new update on what happened to missing girl” — Daily Express

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