In a stunning development in the Madeleine McCann case, investigators have reportedly recovered deleted GPS data from a digital device linked to the Ocean Club resort — the very place where the three-year-old disappeared in 2007.
According to a senior source close to the investigation, the data was extracted from a security vehicle’s navigation system that had long been archived and thought to be corrupted. Forensic analysts working with a private contractor in Lisbon successfully restored a portion of the file — revealing a 47-minute sequence from the night Madeleine vanished.
The GPS trace, which abruptly stops without explanation, reportedly follows a route between the resort’s staff parking area and a remote service road leading toward the Praia da Luz cliffs. The sudden termination of the signal has left both investigators and the McCann family deeply unsettled.
“It’s not just where it ends — it’s when it ends,” said one official familiar with the file. “The timestamp overlaps exactly with the window when Madeleine was last seen.”
The revelation has prompted authorities to re-examine the vehicle and its former operators, including several staff members who were never fully cleared at the time.
Sources within the investigation say the newly uncovered data could hold the most precise timeline evidence yet recovered in the 18-year mystery.
A spokesperson for the McCann family confirmed they were informed of the findings earlier this week, describing the news as “devastating but necessary to finally learn the truth.”
Portuguese and British police are now collaborating to determine why the GPS signal ceased at exactly 47 minutes, and whether the missing data that follows could finally explain what happened to Madeleine McCann that night.
