What Happened to Madeleine McCann? Theories
The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann: 5 Theories About What Really Happened
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One theory — actively pursued by Portuguese law enforcement — was that Madeleine's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, were involved in their daughter's disappearance. The going theory was that the McCanns had intended to simply sedate Madeleine so she would sleep soundly while they went out to dinner, but that something went wrong and they turned to the kidnapping story to cover it up.
The Netflix documentary explores this theory, highlighting the parents' denial of involvement in a press clip in the trailer. Amateur sleuths on Reddit and other forums seem to be remain suspicious of the McCanns, years after they were officially cleared (and even won a libel case against a former detective who wrote a book claiming they were involved).
"I think her parents sedated her, something went wrong, and they accidentally killed her. I think they used the times they returned to the apartment to check on the children to stage the kidnapping," wrote Reddit user rainbowlilies. Dozens of comments on threads inviting theories about the McCann case follow a similar train of thought, emphasizing the parents' changing stories about the night of the disappearance and questioning their behaviour during the investigations. The "cover-up" theory is by far the most widespread; few seem to believe that Madeleine was intentionally harmed by her own parents.
The McCanns declined to participate in Netflix's documentary, issuing a statement that reads, in part, "We are aware that Netflix are planning to screen a documentary in March 2019 about Madeleine's disappearance. The production company told us that they were making the documentary and asked us to participate. We did not see and still do not see how this programme will help the search for Madeleine and, particularly given there is an active police investigation, could potentially hinder it. Consequently, our views and preferences are not reflected in the programme. We will not be making any further statements or giving interviews regarding this programme."