Featured Image Credit: PA/PATRICIA DE MELO MOREIRA/AFP via Getty Images
Topics: Madeleine McCann, Crime, True Crime
Rhianna Benson
Topics: Madeleine McCann, Crime, True Crime
It's been almost two decades since British toddler Madeleine McCann disappeared while on a family holiday in the Portuguese Algarve.
Naturally, followers of the the tragic story still have a multitude of questions surrounding the status of the rented apartment from which she was snatched.
The toddler went missing from the bedroom she was sharing with her younger twin siblings, Sean and Amelie, in a Praia da Luz holiday complex back in 2007.
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Madeleine's parents Gerry and Kate had left their three children in their Algarve apartment to enjoy dinner with their friends at a nearby restaurant that fateful night.
Only when returning to the two bedroom apartment at around 10pm did Madeleine's mum discover that the youngster was missing.
Since then, millions of pounds have been invested into the investigation into the Madeleine's whereabouts, which has often been branded the 'most reported on missing person's case in modern history'.
The tot's disappearance has also been the subject of countless documentaries and global conspiracy theories, though authorities are seemingly no closer to determining what heartbreaking fate befell the toddler despite several promising leads.
Amongst the countless questions raised by followers of the tragic tale are that of the fate of the holiday apartment in which the McCann's were residing.
The last location that Madeleine was reported to have been seen alive was located in the popular Praia de Luz area of Lagos, in southern Portugal.
The family had booked apartment 5A Rua Dr Agostinho da Silva, an apartment which subsequently became the eye of a media storm as the world's press flocked down to report on the case.
Portuguese police immediately sealed off access to the apartment after it was classified as a crime scene.
A year later, the property was rented by only two families - one of whom stayed for a week, and the other of whom stayed for two - before the apartment was listed for sale by its owners for £250,000.
However, it seems as if holiday homeowners avoided the apartment due to its chilling recent history.
Eventually, it was purchased for less than half of the asking price.
A Brit bought the house in 2017 - 10 years after Madeleine was taken from it - for just £113,000.
Though countless true crime fanatics have inquired about visiting the property from which Madeleine disappeared, the homeowner has said that she declines out of respect to the toddler's loved ones.
Speaking to The Sun after purchasing the property, the homeowner explained: "I’ve been offered money by the whole world but I’m not interested.
"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."