Madeleine McCann’s name appeared in recently released court documents related to the Jeffrey Epstein case, due to an unconfirmed witness statement that mentions Ghislaine Maxwell.
However, authorities have repeatedly stated that there is no official link between McCann’s disappearance and the Epstein case.
Madeleine McCann, a British girl who disappeared in Portugal in 2007 at the age of three, remains the subject of an ongoing investigation by the Metropolitan Police Service as part of Operation Grange.
Online, conspiracy theories say Madeleine may have been sold by her parents to Epstein.
What do the new documents say?
In recently released materials related to the Epstein case, a witness mentions Madeleine McCann.
According to document EFTA01249618, the witness claims that in September 2009 he saw a woman resembling Ghislaine Maxwell walking with a little girl who reminded him of the missing child.
According to the statement, the woman and her daughter were walking down a street when a middle-aged man stood a few meters ahead of them. At the time, the witness did not connect the sighting to any criminal activity. It was only years later, after becoming more familiar with the McCann case and online theories, that he decided to document the memory.
The witness noted that the girl was covering her right eye, which reminded him of a known feature of Madeleine, a rare eye condition (coloboma), visible as a dark line on the iris of the right eye. In 2009, Madeleine would have been six years old, an age he said matched the girl he saw.
Authorities in Britain and the US have clarified that this statement has not been verified and does not constitute concrete evidence. It has not led to the opening of any new official lines of investigation.