The German and Portuguese authorities have resumed searching this week for Madeleine McCann, who has been missing for eighteen years. But how much sense does that still make after such a long time?
It is definitely still useful, but it depends on the circumstances, experts tell NU.nl. One thing is clear: the longer the time passes, the more difficult it becomes. Even if a missing person has died.
That has to do with the environment, among other things. “If little changes, it offers much more chance, because you are then searching in the original situation,” says criminologist Jasper van der Kemp. “If we assume a situation in which a body is buried, you are also dependent on the police in a country, the changes, the type of soil and whether wild animals can dig something up, for example.”
The remains of adults can still be traced for a long time, says pathologist Frank van de Goot. He refers to archaeological finds of human remains that are sometimes four hundred years old.
That is more difficult with children. “If Maddie is buried in Portugal, she is in dry soil. You can still recognize large bones. And if you find something of tooth elements, you can still extract a DNA profile from it.” But that is more complicated with an acidic soil, such as a peat soil in Drenthe. Acid dissolves bone remains, so that little of a body remains in the long run, Van de Goot explains.
The vast majority of long-term missing persons are never found, says the pathologist. “And sometimes you have coincidence. For example, bone remains are found when trees are cut down. Or people get sick and suddenly start talking on their deathbed.”
Uncertainty about new indications McCann
Whether the new search for McCann in Portugal will yield anything is therefore the question. The German and Portuguese authorities searched an abandoned building in Lagos on Wednesday and conducted soil research. That abandoned building is a few kilometers from the holiday resort where McCann disappeared in 2007.
The building is being investigated at the request of the German police. They hope to find evidence that a convicted German sex offender can link to the case. He lived in the building during McCann’s disappearance. The man himself denies any involvement.
Whether the authorities have a specific indication to search in the abandoned building has not been announced. Van de Goot thinks so: “There must be information behind it that is not shared with us.”
For example, a tip may have come up. But you never know in advance how valuable such a tip is, says cold case investigator Carina van Leeuwen. “All ‘tips’ from clairvoyants have in any case never brought anyone back. So I can only hope that this action is based on hard facts and indications.”
‘Mediagenic’ cases more investigated
According to experts, it is certain that McCann would most likely not have been searched for so long if the case had not received so much media attention. “You see that in general with many missing persons cases,” says criminologist Van der Kemp. “The ‘mediagenic’ cases, especially when it comes to young children or young women, often receive more attention and are investigated more.”
Van de Goot and Van Leeuwen join in. Detective Van Leeuwen would prefer to give all disappearances sustained attention, but also sees that this is not the case. “Whether it comes to Maddie because this case received a lot of (media) attention from the beginning or because the parents keep the attention alive, I do not know. But continuing to ask for attention can work. Although you have to be able to do that as a survivor.”
At the same time, the other extreme is that there is no search at all, says pathologist Van de Goot. “Then we will not find anything anyway. And then I would rather have some missing people searched, under whatever conditions, than not searched at all.”