Christian B worked at the vacation resort where Maddie disappeared

Christian B. worked at the vacation resort where Maddie disappeared

Published29. February 2024, 5:24 pm

Madeleine McCann: Christian B. worked at the holiday resort where Maddie disappeared

A witness claims that Christian B. worked at the Ocean Club restaurant before Maddie McCann disappeared. That was when he met the British family for the first time.

Karin Leutholdin

  • Christian B. is suspected of having something to do with Maddie McCann's disappearance.

  • A British expat now claims that B. worked at the restaurant where Maddie's parents dined on May 3, 2007.

  • B. wanted to kidnap a child with an accomplice to get money quickly.

German Christian B. would have worked in the apartment complex in Praia da Luz, Portugal, from where Madeleine McCann disappeared in 2007. This is what British Ken Ralphs says, who met B., aged 47, through acquaintances. According to Ralphs, B. worked hourly at the Ocean Club tapas restaurant at the time.

There, Christian B. would have met Kate and Gerry McCann and their three young children. British emigrant Ralphs suspects that at that moment B. and an accomplice had the idea of ​​kidnapping Maddie to sell her to a childless couple.

After the kidnapping, B. was unable to sell Maddie

The 59-year-old told the Chron that the two criminals kidnapped the child from the bedroom of the McCanns' apartment on the night of May 3, 2007, while the parents were having dinner with friends at the restaurant. Christian B. had access to the reservation list for the Ocean Club restaurant. This way, he knew exactly which guests left their children alone in the apartments.

B. and his accomplice reportedly panicked after the crime when they saw the extensive report on the case. The police and media highlighted Maddie's special characteristics – making it impossible to sell the child. Despite extensive searches and numerous calls from her parents, the case was never solved and Maddie remained untraceable.

Victims must be rich and have several children

The witness reports how he found out about the kidnapping plans: He looked for B.'s acquaintances a week before Maddie's disappearance. He lived in a tent-like tent with his wife and two young children. After a few beers around a campfire, B's accomplice reportedly told the Brit that the German was planning to kidnap a child as a way to get money quickly. The accomplice cried while talking about it with Ralphs.

B. specifically intended to sell the kidnapped child to a German couple. It is said that Christian B. preferred “wealthy parents with several children” who would not suffer so much over the child's disappearance after the kidnapping. According to Ken Ralphs, he warned the accomplice not to get involved with B.

A week later the friend left

When the Brit found out about Maddie's kidnapping through the media a week later, he contacted the British police. He gave employees precise information about the location of the tent. When he returned to Portugal for a few days and visited an acquaintance, he discovered that the tent had been set on fire. Since then, he has never seen his acquaintance again.

Ralphs also states that he has expressed his suspicions to the police several times, both in Portugal and in Great Britain. To this day, it is not clear to him whether investigators from both countries followed up on the lead.

Christian B. has been on trial in Braunschweig since February 23rd.

He is accused of three counts of rape and two counts of child molestation. B., aged 47, must answer in the case for sexual crimes he allegedly committed against five women and girls in Portugal between 2000 and 2017. These allegations are not related to the Maddie case.

Are you a minor and suffering sexual violence? Or do you know a child who has suffered sexual violence?

Cocoon, counseling center for children, teenagers and young people

Castagna, counseling center for sexual violence in children and adolescents

Victim Support counseling centers in Switzerland

Pro Juventute, counseling for children and young people, Tel. 147

Are you also a pedophile and don't want to become a criminal? You can get help from Forio, Beforemore and UPK Basel.

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