Netflix has announced a documentary about the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. The Maddy McCann documentary will be an eight-part series covering the case of her disappearance when she was just 3-years-old and taken from her hotel room while on holiday in Praia de Luz, Portugal in 2007.
Over the last decade numerous suspects and sightings of McCann have been alleged, but the authorities have never arrested anyone and the infant has remained missing. The still untitled eight-part series on Maddy McCann from Netflix will feature a variety of interviews with investigators, as well as others who were involved in the investigation. It’s not yet known if this will include Madeleine’s parents Gerry and Kate.
The duo were eating in a restaurant close to their hotel room in Portugal when Madeleine disappeared. Kate and Gerry McCann left Madeleine and her twin siblings, Sean and Amelie, asleep in the room. When they went to check on the kids, they discovered Maddy had vanished.
In the weeks after Madeleine went missing, Portuguese police not only misinterpreted British DNA analysis, but also theorized that the three-year-old had died in an accident in the hotel room, and that her parents had tried to clear it up. Gerry and Kate McCann were only cleared of this in July 2008 due to a lack of evidence. The disappearance amassed huge international interest across the world, and it is little surprise that Netflix has decided to try and tap into this audience.
Those that have been intrigued by the case over the years will be hoping it provides some finality in the same manner that Netflix’s most recent documentaries have. Last year Netflix’s “Amanda Knox” documentary examined the murder of British student Meredith Kercher, and featured interviews with Knox and several of the officers involved.
Netflix’s biggest success came with “Making A Murderer,” which took a look at the convictions of Steven Avery and his nephew Brendan Dassey for the murder of Terersa Halbach. The ten-episode series provoked huge public interest, and the conviction of Dassey has since been challenged and could lead to his release from prison.
Another of Netflix’s documentaries, “The Keepers,” proved so convincing that it led to the buried body of a prime suspect being exhumed for further analysis. It’s not just Netflix that’s had this impact, as HBO’s series “The Jinx” lead to Robert Durst being arrested on first-degree murder charges the day before the finale aired.
Fingers crossed that those involved can provide the same kind of results when the Madeleine McCann documentary eventually airs.
