One theory, that has always been prominent, is the Madeleine was taken to be trafficked. The Netflix documentary look at this story in depth, despite it being unproven, as the best case scenario for being able to find Maddie alive.
Private investigator Julian Peribanez says in the documentary: "The value that Madeleine had was really high. If they took her it's because they were going to get a lot of money."
At the time, The Telegraph reported there had been an usually high number of assaults on young girls in the area. The report said: "Police identified nine sexual assaults and three 'near misses' in British girls aged between six to twelve in the three years before Madeleine went missing. In one case from 2005, a ten year old girl was assaulted in an apartment Praia da Luz, close to the spot from where Madeleine vanished."
This information correlates to the theory Madeleine was abducted by a predator, or may have been taken for sex trafficking.
Police also released an artist impression of the person the McCann's friend, Jane Tanner, had seen carrying a child when she had been out checking on the children.
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There was a night crèche nearby to the apartment, and a couple did come forward saying they thought this sighting may have been them - but the theory this had some relation to Madeleine still stands.
