A detective who hunted Madeleine McCann for three years said that he believes someone is protecting her kidnappers.
Retired Detective Inspector Dave Edgar opened up for the first time to appeal to anyone who may know something.
He believes that a child-sex gang probably took her, and someone involved will have most likely confessed to a friend or relative. It's to these confidantes that he is aiming his emotional appeal.
He said: "Someone knows what happened and it's time they came forward.
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"Someone knows, it must be on someone's conscience, please come forward."
As someone who helped with the investigation for a long time, he also believes:
- There is no evidence to suggest Kate and Gerry were involved
- It was a well planned abduction
- There was no evidence against two prime suspects of abducting her from Praia Da Luz in May
- The motive for taking three-year-old Madeleine was sexual
- There is still hope she is alive
In regards to his theory that the motive for taking her was sexual, he said: "There was a very narrow window of opportunity for them to get away with Madeleine. So it does point to it being planned and some level of surveillance, perhaps of the apartment."
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He added: "If the motive was gang-related child prostitution, there might have been more than one involved."
He hopes that this appeal of the heart could bring a breakthrough: "They [kidnappers] can't keep it to themselves and research has shown they always confide in someone else.
"I think that someone else apart from the perpetrator knows and that is one of the best hopes of getting to the truth, that someone comes forward and says what they know."
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When asked about the involvement of Madeleine's parents, Mr Edgar said: "I was looking at everything and that would include them.
"If I found any evidence against Kate and Gerry I would have given it to the police immediately. Kate and Gerry would expect no less. But I found no shred of evidence.
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"We obviously look at all factors - motive, preparation, opportunity - and there was absolutely nothing."
The McCanns were recently locked in an eight-year long battle with another former-detective, Goncalo Amaral, over a book he wrote claiming the parents pretended Madeleine went missing to cover up her death.
In 2015, a Lisbon court ordered Amaral to pay Kate and Gerry €500,000 (£424,000) in compensation for the claims made in the book. But an appeals court overturned that conviction last year before reaching Portugal's top court.
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Investigative journalist and former policeman Mark Williams-Thomas took to ITV's This Morning earlier this month where he went into detail about his own suspicions.
Credit: This Morning/ITV
Mark told Holly Willoughby and Phillip Schofield: "I think Maddie was aware they were in the tapas bar in the resort. In order to get to the bar you have to come out of the premises, walk on a public road and go back in again.
"The concern I have, I believe she woke up and went looking for them, she left the apartment and came out - we already know the patio door was insecure."
Credit: PA Images
The journalist also mentioned how disappointing it was that the conversation about Madeleine has focused more on the legal battle between her parents, Kate and Gerry, and Goncalo Amaral.
"The sadness of all of this is that the real focus is Maddie and should always be Maddie but the legal process between Goncalo and the McCanns detracts from what is going on which is the on-going police investigation by the Met Police, which is being reviewed in April, and the Portuguese police review."
He added that there is the possibility that she's not only alive, but still in Portugal.
Featured Image Credit: PA ImagesTopics: Madeleine McCann