Madeleine McCann’s parents Tuesday denied receiving a letter from German authorities telling them there is “concrete evidence” their daughter is dead — while Scotland Yard said it still considers the child’s 2007 disappearance a “missing person’s case.”
“The widely reported news that we have received a letter from the German authorities that states there is evidence or proof that Madeleine is dead is FALSE,” the British girl’s parents said in a statement issued on their website, FindMadeleine.
“Like many unsubstantiated stories in the media, this has caused unnecessary anxiety to friends and family and once again disrupted our lives.”
The parents issued their statement the day after German prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters told a news agency, “We have written to the McCanns to tell them Madeleine is dead and explaining we just cannot say what the evidence is,” according to the UK’s Sun.
Earlier this month, German authorities said they currently have a convicted rapist in prison who they believe killed Madeleine while she was on vacation with her family in Portugal 13 years ago.
“We have concrete evidence that our suspect has killed Madeleine,” Wolter said of Christian Brückner, a 43-year-old rapist and child sex offender.
The prosecutor said he couldn’t share the “evidence” yet with the McCanns or even Scotland Yard because doing so might jeopardize the case, but he added that there was “no realistic hope [Madeleine] is alive.
“This is a murder case, not a missing person’s case,” Wolter said.
Asked Tuesday about the McCanns’ denial that they were told of the “evidence,” Wolter added to the Sun, “I am not able to say whether the letter has reached the family or is still on the move.”
Meanwhile, Scotland Yard said Tuesday that as far as it’s concerned, Madeleine’s disappearance “remains a missing-person inquiry,” the UK’s Evening Standard reported.
The little girl vanished from a room in the family’s villa apartment while her parents were at dinner — sparking international headlines. Madeleine would have turned 17 on May 12 this year.
