Madeleine McCann 'Could Have Been Snatched For A Rich Family'

Detectives have claimed that Madeleine McCann could have been snatched 'to order' by slave traders and sold to a rich family.

There are gangs who operate in Mauritania, West Africa, and they apparently sell children to rich Middle Eastern families.

Speaking to the Mirror, ex-Scotland Yard detective Colin Sutton said: "The Mauritania line is certainly a possibility and needs to be looked at.

"If someone wanted to get a three-year-old child into Africa, it's the obvious route. The infrastructure and contacts for people smuggling are clearly there."

The McCanns hired private detectives who have said that there are 'strong reasons' to believe that she was taken to Morocco.

This comes after a 'credible' sighting of Madeleine took place on a key trafficking route in Morocco.

Mari Olli says that she's 'convinced' that she saw Madeleine. However, at the time of the sighting, she had not heard the news of the young girl's disappearance.

Mari got in touch with Portuguese and UK authorities and then gave a statement to Scotland Yard cops. Apparently, they said they would call but but they never did. She wrote in an email: "I saw the girl inside the shop. She was wearing clear blue pyjamas.

"Some pattern on the top, trousers little darker. Don't think the trousers had any pattern. She was very small. Under one metre. She was with a man. She was standing alone, the man about a metre from her.

"I looked back at her, she was very sweet. It was a strange situation because the man didn't look like her father.

"And it was very strange to see a blonde, small girl standing alone in Marrakesh.

"She was very small and normally you would hold her in your arms or at least her hand. And he was turning away from her. She looked sad. I looked at her face, she looked at me. Then she turned to the man and said something that sounds like, 'Can we see Mummy soon?'"

Mari says that she still tortures herself over not stepping in, as she explained: "I'm still questioning it, of course I am. Even after all this time I still think about what I saw.

"I can't handle it, to be honest, it's so difficult to talk about that I just start crying. I try not to think about what I could have done. The one thing I'm still convinced about is that it was Madeleine.

"I could kick myself for not doing more. If I'd known then that Madeleine had been taken, then of course I would have done something."

It's been 10 years since Madeleine's disappearance.

Topics: Madeleine McCann

Mel Ramsay

Mel Ramsay has been a Senior Journalist for Tyla and LADbible since 2015. She started her career writing obituaries and funeral guides online. Since then, her work has been published in a wide variety of national and local news sites. She is part of the BBC's Generation project and has spoken about young people, politics and mental health on television, radio and online. Contact her - [email protected]

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