Cops are locked in a ‘race against time’ to establish fresh leads

GERMAN cops leading the probe into Madeleine McCann are scouring the files of missing kids cases – including another Brit girl who vanished on holiday.

Detectives remain convinced Christian B is responsible for Maddie’s disappearance – but they are said to be desperate for new leads.

Madeleine McCann vanished in 2007 while on holiday in Portugal
7

Madeleine McCann vanished in 2007 while on holiday in PortugalCredit: PA

BEST QUALITY AVAILABLE BLACK AND WHITE ONLY Undated family handout photo issued by New South Wales Police (NSW) in Australia of Cheryl Grimmer, aged three, who was kidnapped from a changing area after spending a morning at the seaside with her mother and three brothers in 1970, near the city of Wollongong in NSW. PA Photo. Issue date: Sunday January 12, 2020. Police have offered one million Australian dollars for information about the abduction and suspected murder of a British toddler who vanished from an Australian beach 50 years ago. See PA story MISSING Toddler. Photo credit should read: Family Handout/PA Wire NOTE TO EDITORS: This handout photo may only be used in for editorial reporting purposes for the contemporaneous illustration of events, things or the people in the image or facts mentioned in the caption. Reuse of the picture may require further permission from the copyright holder.
7

Cops are scouring files of other missing kids for clues on Maddie – including Brit Cheryl Grimmer who vanished in Australia

Pic from Caters News/ Fairfax Media - (Pictured: The military join police in the search for three-year-old girl, Cheryl Grimmer, who disappeared from Fairy Meadow Beach, NSW, two days earlier. Picture taken in Wollongong, 15 January 1970.) Australian police believe they have fresh information on the disappearance of a three-year-old English girl who vanished from a beach 46 years ago... and they think the man who took her could still be alive.Cheryl Grimmer was abducted outside the change-rooms of Fairy Meadow Beach, North Wollongong, in New South Wales, at the height of the Australian summer on January 12, 1970. Witnesses spoke of seeing a male grab the child after she had gone to the showers to wash up after a morning by the idyllic seaside beach with her family including mum Carole and brothers Ricki, eight, Stephen, six, and five-year-old Paul. SEE CATERS COPY
7

The military joined police in the search for three-year-old CherylCredit: Caters News Agency
But officers are now locked in a “race against time” to establish fresh leads in the probe.

To try and force a breakthrough, a source close to the case revealed how cops have been conducting a cold-case review of other investigations about missing children.

Revealing details of the intelligence drive, the insider said: “History has shown again and again that children who have gone missing can either be found after many years – sometimes decades.

“Often there are similar trends within each of the cases that officers involved in the Maddie investigation think they lean on to try and drum up new leads.

“They desperately need something fresh to go on if they are to have any hope of pinning this on Christian B.

“Detectives are in a race against time and need new leads as soon as possible.

“By looking at old cases they are looking out for methods or ideas that were used by the police in finding information that led to the child being found or the case being solved.

“Many of the Portuguese detectives think it is another case of the German officers clutching at straws.

“But the view among the investigating cops is what have they got to lose?”

The Sun understands officers in the German team have been tasked to review old cases in recent months, and their work has stepped up since October.

Cases they’ve looked at are believed to include the disappearance of three-year-old Cheryl Grimmer.

The British toddler went missing more than 50 years ago in Australia – but last month it emerged a new witness had come forward.

The mystery of Cheryl’s disappearance has been compared with that of Madeleine, who was also three when she went missing in Portugal in 2007.

Both girls vanished while they were on holiday with their families – and they have never been found.

Other cases which German officers have been looking at as part of the intelligence gathering drive include Aranza Maria Ochoa Lopez, who went missing in 2018 in the US and was later found in Mexico.

Detectives have also been reviewing the case of Kayla Unbehaun who was abducted at the age of nine but found alive and well after a local shopkeeper recognised her from a Netflix documentary.

Kayla disappeared in 2017 and the case was featured on the streaming platform’s Unsolved Mysteries series.

Kayla’s father, Ryan Iskerka, had full custody of her at the time of her disappearance and informed the police she was missing after finding Kayla wasn’t at her mother’s house in South Elgin, Illinois on July 5, 2017.

It comes after German cops were said to be trying to track down the ex-lovers of Christian B.

Detectives believe his former partners hold vital clues in piecing together the “confused timeline” of the years the 54-year-old spent “drifting” around Praia De Luz.

Officers face a race against time in linking the convicted paedophile to Maddie’s disappearance.

The Sun told how detectives fear the investigation could collapse by the New Year unless a fresh lead is found.

A source close to the case said: “German detectives remain convinced Christian B was involved in Maddie’s disappearance.

“But they still have a very confused timeline of Christian B’s life spent on Praia De Luz.

“For years he is thought to have been drifting around the island living in a van and they want to understand more about what he was doing during this time and who he was seeing.

“The big problem they have is that relations with Portuguese cops are at an all-time low.”

They added: “Hardly any intelligence is now being shared.

“This has therefore left German cops with little choice but to work backwards and to try and trace as many friends, colleagues, former girlfriends and lovers of Christian B as possible.

“They might hold vital clues.

“Cops remain sure someone, somewhere, knows information which could be of vital importance.”

(AUSTRALIA OUT) John Grimmer with his daughter, Cheryl Grimmer, who disappeared from Fairy Meadow Beach on 12 January 1970. She was three years of age. (Photo by Fairfax Media via Getty Images/Fairfax Media via Getty Images)
7

John Grimmer with his daughter Cheryl Grimmer, who disappeared in 1970Credit: Getty

Kayla Unbehaun, a missing child, was spotted at a shopping center in North Carolina earlier this month
7

Kayla Unbehaun was found alive in 2023 after she vanished in 2017

STOLEN CHILDHOOD Missing girl, 8, who was snatched from shopping mall in 2018 is found alive and well thousands of miles away</p> <p>The FBI had offered a $10,000 reward for information leading to Aranza Maria Ochoa Lopez's recovery after she was last seen on a supervised visit with her mother.</p> <p>Aranza Maria Ochoa Lopez, who had been in foster care, was kidnapped by her biological mother from a shopping centre in Vancouver, Washington, when she was four years old.
7

Aranza Maria Ochoa Lopez was found after being missing since 2018Credit: FBI

Christian B was named as the prime suspect by German cops
7

Christian B was named as the prime suspect by German copsCredit: Enterprise