Netflix Releasing Madeleine McCann Documentary Against Her Parents’ Wishes

It has been more than a decade since 3-year-old Madeleine McCann went missing from her family’s holiday apartment in Portugal, but her parents, Gerry and Kate, have refused to give up hope of finding their daughter. Each time money dedicated to the investigation was set to run out, they campaigned hard to get funding from a different source so that the search can remain active.

Thousands of man hours were put into interviewing hundreds of people after she vanished, but every single trail and lead has gone cold over the years for one reason or another. This year will mark 12 years since she disappeared, and she would be turning 16 this May.

Streaming giant Netflix has announced it will be releasing a documentary on Madeleine’s disappearance this month, according to the Daily Mail.

Kate and Gerry have refused to participate or get involved with the documentary, despite 18 months’ worth of requests from Netflix and producers. Friends of the couple, including those who were on the ill-fated holiday with them, and their spokesperson have stood by their decision and also refused to speak to Netflix.

Despite the lack of help from those closest to the case, Netflix has stated it has “riveting new interviews” about the story.

Netflix is due to launch Madeleine McCann documentary this month https://t.co/Tu7maE7jyB

— Daily Mail U.K. (@DailyMailUK) March 2, 2019

“Everyone everywhere is fascinated by the Maddie story. We would have welcomed the opportunity of working with the McCanns directly, but they informed us they couldn’t and wouldn’t consider taking part while a police investigation is into their daughter’s abduction is ongoing,” a statement from Netflix said.

“But we have interesting new interviews with people close to the inquiry and we believe we can give justice to this unbelievably tragic story.”

Originally, when Netflix first tried to negotiate with her parents to be involved, the streaming service wanted to create an eight-part series looking into Madeleine’s disappearance. With the release now right around the corner, it is not known if Netflix has stuck with that plan or scaled footage down to just a single documentary rather than a series.

There was also talk that the release was intended for 2018, but Netflix reportedly experienced some delays in production.

Despite the lack of cooperation from Madeleine’s parents and their friends, Netflix is hoping that it has another hit on its hands, much like the the recently released Conversations with a Killer: The Ted Bundy Tapes, which came out at the end of January.