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The case of the kidnapped Maddie McCann is one of the most famous cold cases in the world. In 2007, the then three-year-old girl disappeared without a trace from a room in a Portuguese holiday apartment in the Algarve. For years, the authorities were puzzled – because no body was ever found. But in 2008 a witness turned up on the Maddie hotline set up by Scotland Yard’s London police and accused Christian B.*. Today B. is the main suspect in the Maddie case.
The key witness is Helge B.*. In an interview with “Bild” he tells for the first time what he knows about the Maddie case. He was a criminal himself at the time of the kidnapping and got to know Christian B. through colleagues. Together they broke into holiday homes.
When Christian B. was arrested for theft, Helge B. took the opportunity to climb into B.’s finca together with another colleague and steal something. Helge B. found video cameras, film and a gun. On the videos he saw how Christian B. raped an American woman (72) and tied a young person naked. “Then I knew what kind of man B. is,” says Helge B.
According to his own statements, he threw the gun into the Portuguese reservoir of Barragem do Arade and sold the camera. Fearing to incriminate himself, Helge B. left the films behind. He does not know what happened to them later. But what he saw still haunts him.
Christian B. accidentally admitted the act to him
In 2008 Helge B. and Christian B. met again at the Dragon Festival in Orgiva, Spain. “He came to us, we talked,” says the witness in an interview. The suspected kidnapper asked whether Helge B. often went to Portugal. He said no and said, “Since the girl disappeared there, there are too many police checks for me.” Anyway, he doesn’t understand how Maddie could have disappeared without a trace, he added. “She didn’t scream”, Christian B. is said to have said. Helge B. about “Bild”: “I immediately checked what he said there.”
At this point it is clear to Helge B. that his former colleague has admitted to kidnapping Maddie McCann. And Christian B. also seems to understand that he said too much. He escapes that same night. “He’s gone”, it sounded when Helge B. was looking for him.
Helge B. then contacted the Maddie hotline. “I said I know someone who probably has something to do with it and gave that name,” reports Helge. “They took my personal information, my phone number. But nothing happened there. Nothing! I was never called back.”
“My theory is that he planned a burglary”
Only ten years and one prison sentence later did the witness discover that his call was of no use. Helge B. tried Scotland Yard again and made a statement in London in 2017. “My theory is that he was planning a burglary. That it went wrong and he found the kids in the apartment. And then he took Maddie. That was probably not planned at all,” says Helge B. He doesn’t know if Christian B. also killed the girl.
Helge B. is the witness who put Christian B. behind bars. He will be detained until 2026 for the rape of the American (72). But there’s not enough evidence to charge him with kidnapping Maddie. “I’m afraid that B. will get away with it,” admits the key witness. Since his statement, his life has been hell, he is under the protection of the German Federal Police and he is constantly on the run. He wants to say to his former companion: “Christian, I hope you don’t get away with this story. With what you did.” (jwg)
*Name known
Source: Blick
I am Amelia James, a passionate journalist with a deep-rooted interest in current affairs. I have more than five years of experience in the media industry, working both as an author and editor for 24 Instant News. My main focus lies in international news, particularly regional conflicts and political issues around the world.
