Featured Image Credit: PA/VASCO CELIO/AFP via Getty Images
Topics: Madeleine McCann
Brenna Cooper
Often dubbed the 'most reported on missing person's case in modern history' no story has gripped the nation like the tragic disappearance of Madeleine McCann.
Madeleine was on a family holiday in Praia de Luz, Portugal when she disappeared from her bed during the family holiday apartment back in May 2007. She was just three years old at the time.
In the years following the tragedy, various conspiracy theories about what could've happened to the youngster have done the rounds on the internet while the Met Police are reported to have spent £13,200,000 investigating the case (as of March 2024).
While questions about the harrowing case continue to linger, many have been wondering about the fate of the holiday apartment the family were stopping in at the time.
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The apartment was located in Praia de Luz, Portugal.
In the immediate aftermath of Madeleine's disappearance, apartment 5A Rua Dr Agostinho da Silva became the eye of a media storm as the world's press descended to report on the story.
However, in the 17 years following the youngster's disappearance the two-bedroom apartment has had quite a surprising journey.
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Surprisingly, the apartment has been rented out to two families for their respective one-week and two-week holidays before the Portuguese police opted to seal it off as part of the investigation.
The apartment was then put up for sale in 2008 after the local authorities closed their investigation for £250,000.
Unsurprisingly the apartment was a hard sell, with the memories of Madeleine's disappearance deterring potential buyers from making an offer.
The apartment remained vacant until 2017, when British widow Kathleen Mcguire-Cotton reportedly purchased the property for just £113,000, less than half of the original asking price.
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Looking for a sunny escape from Southport, UK, she used the apartment as her own holiday home instead of a rental.
Mcguire-Cotton revealed she has declined offers from dark tourists looking to visit the place.
"I’ve been offered money by the whole world but I’m not interested," she told The Sun back in February 2017.
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She added: "I don’t think that’s very fair to the McCann family or the people of Praia da Luz, upsetting everybody – it’s terrible. It happened a long time ago and I don’t have any opinions on it."
While she has since kept the apartment out of the spotlight, Madeleine's story has not.
The case continues to haunt the minds of her family, with parents Kate and Gerry McCann recently issuing a heartbreaking statement on what would've been their daughter's 21st birthday.