Portuguese people find this case really frustrating because there was literally 0 police work and to this day people still try to find Rui Pedro. Most of the things/leads you referred in the video were not even discovered by the police but instead discovered by investigative journalists from portuguese news channels
i am portuguese, heard and saw things about these case tones of times and it's really sad, cuz it seems that people cared more about Madeleine than him. Both cases are serious, but police didn't do much about his case, in my opinion. and you're right, journalists digged much more into it than auorities.
It's is very frustrating! I remember his disappearance being spoken on the news when I was little (I was 6 in '98 so, as a kid it worried me to hear about another kid - not that much older! - had gone missing). It was also very frustrating because, I remember going on a trip when I was 11 (therefore, his age) and I had my first experience going to an airport... and it was traumatising to see the amount of missing children pictures on a wall! Why weren't those kids heard of? Even more frustrating, and infuriating: The lack of awareness OVERALL! Police's website has a tab for missing people and another tab John/Jane Doe found people... I'll go all in and bet barely anyone knows about this... Have you ever heard of people that are found dead and haven't been identified? Adults that went missing? Well... they sure exist... and I think those are the information worth sharing with the public. I partially understand why Maddie's case got a lot more attention than Rui's. When Maddie went missing, it got a lot more interest from the general "public" because it was a foreign kid going missing while on holidays with her family; it was a potential kidnapping of a very young child while her two siblings were left in the room; her parents had different conditions (not to mention both Portuguese and English police got involved, so... that's more eyes to look for one child), whereas Rui had barely any coverage! Not to mention, Maddie went missing in 2007, nearly a decade later than Rui Pedro, social media was a thing at nearly anyone's reach... You might still hear about him once in a while, very rarely, though. I think there was a "memorial" regarding his disappearance because it's been TWENTY years and no one seems to show his face around for awareness! The saddening part is, his mum still keeps her hope alive that someday he'll be found, and not too long ago there was an outdoor dedicated to him to remember that he's still missing because otherwise, people would/will forget about it. It's "sort of" understandable that back in '98 we didn't have the resources to deal with missing people. Rui Pedro was probably the first big case, - I mean, there were a couple others, but those were national, and solved - I get the lack of experience, the lack of detectives that had the necessary knowledge to know what to look for and how to proceed, the technology needed (...) in my opinion, they simply had no idea what they were doing, and chances are, if they re-open the case (again) they won't get too far because they probably didn't gather all the evidence they'd need back when he went missing. For instance! I'm pretty frustrated because "recently" a grown man was reported missing. Only one (minor, local district) newspaper covered the case (at least, sharing a picture and basic information) and no other bigger newspapers covered it. If this is how missing person's cases are handled in 2018, I can only imagine the lack of resources (and effort) 20 years ago, when social media wasn't a thing at one's reach!! I'd like to know the excuse. I would very much rather be showered with missing persons' pictures as ads on facebook rather than stuff that isn't relatable to me and that I'm not interested in, because one thing is for sure: people that are abducted/kidnapped or run away generally won't stay in the same place where they went missing from (well... sometimes they do, but that's bad news). This, or I'm probably just a really furstrated person.
what is even more sad is that his mother is still looking for him, and a couple months ago she appeared in the news asking for people to not forget him
@Its Just Liz you clearly can't, and this guy was taking this child to prostitutes and brothels, obviously that's not a friendship that's an adult building trust with a child to get away with sexual abuse.
I’m almost done with the video, and I’m convinced it was grooming. This whole situation is disgusting. These children are victims of such atrocious acts. I wish the police had done more and faster.
I am 100% convinced it was grooming. How did his parents not realize this sooner!? I had a friend 5 years older than me and my parents were sketched out and never wanted me to play with her!
Wouldn't be surprised if some of the cops or higher ups in the area were in that pedo ring ... that incompetence is just a little much to not be deliberate.
I don't think so. I'm from Portugal and unfortunately back in the day the mentality of being in government jobs was "do the least you can. the boss is not watching you" so yeah imo they were just terrible detectives that weren't willing to do their job. it's sad af because I feel like if they had acted and did follow that Benidorm tip they could've found him
I agree. Like the case of those 3 siblings in Australia. the Beaumont children. From what I've read nd watched its too likely they were victims of a pedo ring and it seemed the higher up people were apart of it
yeah, i agree. the portuguese police really doesn't know how to handle this type of situations, not a lot of murders and kidnappings and those type of crimes happen in portugal (thankfully), so when they do the police really isn't prepared to deal with them
I swear the police were in on it they never took anything seriously and kept insisting he probably just "wandered off". Like something fishy is going on there that becomes very clear when they found those photos, confirmed to be Rui, on the ringleader's computer and they did nothing with that. No one knew how old the pictures were meaning he could have still been alive for all we know. I'm glad they put the new task force on it but it took far to long, and any evidence or leads they police had and should have followed up on immediately had/have most likely gone cold.
@@calibaby6913 with the lack of effort they put into the case, it seriously seems like it. I wouldn't be surprised at this point. if not though, that's just saddening.
sleepyxdeathbeds yeah just so many things left unfollowed and not taken seriously. I think the reason I want this to be the case and believe it, is because the thought of the police just being this uncaring and blaise about a missing child is to sad for my head/heart to imagine.
please can u do a video on anthony moskvin he was arrested in 2011 for having 26 “dolls” that were actually young girls!!!! edit:omg 😂 checked my emails thanks for all the likes n replies. still no video tho :(
I am Portuguese and Rui Pedro and Maddie McCann are the most mediatic and iconic disappearances! Thanks for talking about these cases! P.S. - Your pronunciation of Portuguese names is the cutest!
Do you have any more information on why a 21 yr old man was friends with an 11 yr old? I’m just really curious as to why that was okay with his parents? Was he like a family friend?
@@huntertyler648 from what I've seen in the news he asked his mom to play with the 21 year old guy but his mom didn't let him, i think she never liked that situation but Rui still found a way to see him
That doesn't just sound like police incompetence or negligence-- this is straight up compliance. You said one of the rings that was busted had high ranking officials, which leads me to believe that could include officers of the law as well. I don't think this was just police not doing their jobs-- this was them actively avoiding investigating this case in order to not indict themselves. They aren't going to investigate their own crimes.
I kind of do think that the child in the picture from Disneyland is Rui because of his ears, he has really specific ears, and chin too, but ofcourse I might be wrong. Such a mindblowing and sad case
@@liaf2269 Yes youre right! An infamous impostor from france moved in with an american family pretending to be their missing child. I think the child was called nick Barclay, I watch too many vids like this to keep track of names lol.
I’m only at 8:44 and sorry but that Disney land photo, everyone looks relatively happy.. I mean they’re at Disney land right, everyone seems happy EXCEPT that little boy who looks quite scared and nervous. Not to mention the ears and jawline/chin are all pretty identical. Just my take on it
I'm portuguese and this case is HUGE. People still talk about it today. This year there was an investigation on a guy that looked a lot like Rui Pedro (how they imagined he would look like all these years later) and the police thought it could be him, but it turned out that he wasn't. The Police never take anything seriously here. It's honestly scary because even though the crime rates are low, when there are serious crimes not much is done. It's like they're not prepared to deal with something like this. Also, the sentences are always such bullshit. The biggest sentence is like 20 years but people NEVER stay in prison for that long. They're ALWAYS released early and it's so so rare that they even get that much time. Thank you for covering this case, I absolutely love these videos. You're incredible
Rita Almeida na verdade este caso foi bue mediatico porque os pais recorreram logo a imprensa. se fores ao site da policia judiciaria podes ver a quantidade de pessoas desaparecidas q a policia anda a investigar e precisa de ajuda com pistas, testemunhas etc, incluindo caso do rui pedro
It's crazy that you've done a video about this case, I'm from Portugal and I've heard about the story of this little boy ever since I was little. In the beginning of this year an interview/appeal with his mom was made marking the 20 years of his disappearance. It's such a sad horrible case, she is still completely devastated. Thank you for talking about it!
We are Portuguese, I was a little girl when this happened so I don't remember much of it, but my family and everyone still say till this day that this was such a difficult case specially because of the authorities, they did nothing.. it was usual to let the kids play outside even today in some areas small kids play outside till nightfall. Every year Rui's mother talks about him on the day he disappears, she is still looking for him and she begs to whoever took him to bring him back.. it's heartbreaking. About the photo I don't think it's Rui.. his features are wait to different. Have you heard of Joana Cipriano? I remember that case more since I was older. You might find it interesting to investigate and share it.. thou it is very disturbing.
Cases like this terrify me and make me hesitant to bring a child of my own to a scary world like the one we live in. One of my biggest wishes is that I hope cases like Rui and Madeline are solved before I die because I always wonder where they are right now and how they’re feeling.
@@margaridaferreira8029 no offence but the Portuguese police are incompetent af. Disgusting the way they treated people over the Madeline case, a lot of innocent people were hurt with no real evidence, they just wanted the case closed, they’re a laughing stock
I really love that you tell these story's that aren't told or aren't solved or aren't investigated and are basically swept under the rug. I live in a very small town and had a cousin who was murdered. The word is out in the street, people know what happened. His brother, dad and sisters found his body. No one is doing anything about it. The investigators didn't do their job. We had a huge search for him even had a helicopter with the thermal search? He wasn't there, then later on that night they found his body. They say he died from hypothermia, he had wounds all over his body, he was wrapped in plastic, his shoes were laying next to his body. It was sick, no one will tell his story. If you are interested, I think the family would really appreciate someone speaking up for them. Plz lmk?!? Thanks Bella❤
the disney land photo looks like rui, take a closer look at the ears they are so unique with every person and often used to id people! (the nose looks similar too)
Yeah exactly and I mean someone maybe was stupid enough to take him to Disney and at the same time maybe not as stupid cause it’s not like he got caught 😩
Personally I think the kid at Disneyland looks like Rui (esp the ears), but I agree it's counter-intuitive that his captors would take him to such a public place. Also besides being an enormous creep who was obviously grooming Rui, the fact that Alfonso said something about him being taken out of the country really cemented in my mind that he is responsible and sold him to the pedophile ring. Like, why would he say that and how could he be so certain? I hope Rui is still alive and is okay. These cases really break my heart.
also I don't think he's alive sadly because he would be thirty by now and I'm certain that he would try to meet his mom. it's so sad because till this day his mom still searches for him and she's so skinny it hurts just to watch her state
Actually when Afonso went to trial a couple of years back, one of the key evidence was that shortly after Rui's disappearance Afonso bought a new car. Everyone in the country think Afonso sold Rui. Police too. The problem was the lack of evidence, apart from the new car.
Im Portuguese and I want to thank you Bella for raising awareness about this case. This case is huuuuge here , every year it is talked about but nobody cares no more ... it hurts so much to see his mother in pain still looking for answers but no soul comes forward. Its so so scary, so frustrating...thanks Bella
Everyone cares. That's not a single portuguese that does not know about Rui Pedro, and who is heartbroken everytime we hear his mother speak on the news. Rui Pedro will never be forgotten and the proof is how the country mobilized a couple of years ago when that homeless guy that looked a lot like Rui Pedro showed up on a video.
I'm Portuguese and I think you should look into THE CASE OF JOANA CIPRIANO. It's heartbreaking because we already know the end of the story, what hapenned with the body and who did it... So sad just thinking about it :/
this story was really sad at the time, his mom is still looking for him. I was a really a big story. My parents are from portugal but we heard it on the news it’s was really horrifying. And by the way I really love your videos 😘❤️
The Disney picture!!! That absolutely has to be him. Rui has large ears and so does the boy in the picture, Rui has a slightly flat chin and so does the boy in the picture.
Hearing one of your favourite youtubers talk about a case of Portugal is mind blowing. Unfortunatly, police work here sucks. Thank you for raising awareness about Rui Pedro. P.S. I loved hearing you say Paços de Ferreira lol
Bella! At the end of the 12 days, you should put together a bloopers video from all the times you messed up trying to film these videos ;) 🤪 *btw I commented that^^^ on Bella’s Instagram post and she liked it, just letting you know before you come at me 😂
Daniela Yurco but thats not the point of making these kinds of videos, blooper compilations for other videos she has make more sense since they’re more light hearted and overall positive :) this would make them funnier and more enjoyable
Legendary Zee Monica's Purple Door by “bloopers” I mean, her saying the wrong date, or clips she messed up on or when something funny accidentally happened. NOT making fun of what happened to the people in all these videos *which is truly heartbreaking and sad* hope that clears it up! :)
Mirela by “bloopers” I mean, her saying the wrong date, or clips she messed up on or when something funny accidentally happened. NOT making fun of what happened to the people in all these videos *which is truly heartbreaking and sad* hope that clears it up! :)
In the photo comparison, the ears are very distinctive. That is the same child. Ears are unique to each individual, just like fingerprints, iris patterns, lip prints, and sinus cavities.
I'm from Portugal and the case of Rui Pedro and Madeleine McCann are so incredibly frustrating. When i was a kid i remember hearing about the case of Rui Pedro and he disappeared before i was even born!! It breaks my heart hearing about the disappearance of these lovely children in my country :( Btw, I really like your videos and I'm glad that you talked about these cases that happened in Portugal.
I'm from Portugal and I was born in 1999. Since I was little that my parents are really afraid of something happening to me because of Rui's case. Everyone wants to know what happened and till this day this is talked about on the news. I hope he's ok wherever he is.. I don't really think he's alive Portugal still suffers because of this Thank you for talking about it Bella. I hope someday we get to know what really happened.. (Sorry if my english is not very good)
@@whocares8983 basicamente foi uma miuda que desapareceu e nunca foi encontrada e desconfia-se que foi asssasinada pela mae e pelo tio e depois foi dada aos porcos por isso é que nunca foi encontrado o corpo
@@JoanaMafalda a mae e o tio estao presos pelo homicidio e o tio confessou que a cortou aos bocados e a meteu numa arca congeladora e depois deitou o corpo numa pecuaria que havia perto da casa deles
The Portuguese police work is somewhat shameful. Portugal doesn’t invest in security and our government thinks that bad things only happen abroad. Our maximum sentence is 25 years!! If a serial killer was arrested, he could only be locked up for 25 years! In my city, recently, a group had been committing serious robberies involving stabbings and scary stuff, they were caught and sentenced for a few months. A man was caught stealing food (value was 6.50€) and this man got a larger sentence than the thieves. Our prison system is unfair
5 лет назад
The maximum jail time here in Portugal is only 25 years... I guess that says a lot about our judicial system
Well, the judicial system's NOT for punishing but to reform. If it actually works that way is a whole other question... but take a look at Halden Prison, in Norway. Norway has one of the lowest recidivism rates in the world at 20%. The US has one of the highest: 76.6%. Norway judicial system focuses on rehabilitating prisoners. And yes, Halden is a high security prison, for murderers and such. I am very proud that the portuguese system only allows for 25 maximum jail time. I don't want us to turn into the US any time soon.
I'M PORTUGUESE! Omg Bella you've done a great job and you're accent is funny. But you didn't find a curious and recent fact. Three months ago was circulating a video of a Portuguese young man with the same age that Rui Pedro would have now. He had the same eyes and a lot of memory problems that made him forget his childhood, he did not even know who Rui Pedro was, and they suspected it was the epilepsy attacks that the boy might have had when he was kidnapped that cause this. Everyone in Portugal was sharing that video and came to PJ (our police) and the family of Rui Pedro who was full of hopes that was the son. A month later they released the information that they did DNA tests and it was not him, it was heart breaking. Everyone was hoping that was him even the boy of the video.
The little kid in the Disney photo for sure has to be Rui - if you look closely, the ears are the same and line up the same, the lips are the same and the jawline is the same. Too much similarity in one person for it not to be Rui.
I used to live in Portugal but Rui disappeared before I was born. My mum remembers this case. I live in England now but me and my mum are so happy you covered this case because it’s so sad. We loved watching this. Thank you!! 🥺💖
This is so huge in Portugal, to this day people still say that they have seen him in places like france and that he has a different name now but no one really knows. His parents ended up getting divorced and his mom has never been able to move anything in his old bedroom, and keeps everything in the last place her son put them, meaning it has been almost "frozen" all these years since he disappeared.
About these alleged apparitions in France, do you think he may have forgotten who he is? Many people after being kidnapped also get used to that life, finding it normal.
I clicked on the video as soon as I saw a Portuguese name! ps I live in Portugal so it's very interesting to hear you talking about it(Not in the best circumstances of course)! btw i love your videos! 😘😘😘
Somehow you make these tragic and horrible crimes so interesting! The way you tell these stories, include important information, tell your opinion, you really do a great job! Thank you!!!
That kid at Disneyland is definitely him. I know its been commented on several times probably. The ears do not lie. Not mention looking exactly alike also. The ears are way too similar. Someone sick and stupid enough to abduct someone is pretty unpredictable. It wouldn't be surprising to find out he was brought to Disney. Lots of creepiness happens there and its shuffled under the rug.
Hey Bella, Another interesting but very sad South African case is that of Karabo Mokoena. She was a university student who was burned to death by her boyfriend. Please look into it. I hope you cover it one day 💞
This video hits home for me. Thank you for explaining it so well and giving your time to translate everything so it makes sense since google translator isn’t exactly reliable. Honestly, police in Portugal just isn’t great; that’s mostly because we’re a small country, we also don’t have a lot of funding for police investigations, gear, structures; the only time I was in a police station, it looked more like a decorated shed. The good thing is that we also don’t have a lot of cases like Rui’s, or murders in general. Still, I think the work they did here was shitty, and could’ve been avoided, but I don’t fully blame them since I know police can’t do much with what’s given to them. Overall, it’s just a really sad and tragic situation, and I do hope the family gets closure someday, whatever it may be. I love watching all your crime videos, watching others just isn’t the same, I’m gonna be sad when 12 days of Christmas is over 😂
Bella, I am so happy you decided to do a video about this case because this one hits home. I am portuguese and ever since I was a little girl (I was born a few months before this happened), I have always heard of Rui Pedro. Sadly, the portuguese police/justice is known for not doing their job and releasing criminals that have literally admited their crimes. To this day people still talk about him and try to find him but I don't really think those parents will ever see their son again which completely breaks my heart because if the police had done their job, maybe this case would have some closure.
I'm Portuguese and this is one of the the reasons why I want to work as a forensic investigator for the police to help these cases that are getting colder and without any leads because of the non cooperative action from the police. I love you for sharing this case with the world means a lot to us, portugueses who are a small country and we can't get this much awareness to these cases! Thank you 😍
I love these videos Bella! Please do a video on the Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 (solved but still interesting!) or the unsolved disappearance of Claudia Lawrence, she was from my home town and my aunt was one of the last people to contact her (they worked together) x
Ummm...21 year old friends with an 11 year old...that doesn't sound good whatsoever, probably (I believe it 100%) groomed the poor boy, disgusting to say the least and extremely unfortunate. This made me extremely mad tbh, I hope for justice for this boy and his family. I hope Rui isn't suffering.
thank you for shining some light on this case, bella! you're the best 💜 lots of love from portugal (also, your pronunciation of portuguese words is adorable)
Oh and by the way recently a foto of an homeless man that didn’t know who he was went viral in Portugal because he looked a lot like Rui. I know Rui’s family was investigating that but don’t really know what happened after. Possibly just a false information but gave us all hope.
honestly the police doing nothing when the ring was discovered makes me think... idk them not taking action makes me feel they could have been in on the ring? like there's no other reasonable explanation? It's not exactly impossible since so many celebs etc. have been busted for shit like this.
hi, im so thankful that you talked about this case! actually some weeks ago i was searching for videos about the rui pedro case and i didnt find any, so, thanks for sharing with your public one of the most frustrating cases of “”“kidnapping””” that keeps making the portuguese people really intrigued and revolted... kisses from portugal and totally love your vids, keep doing great
Hey Bella, pleaaaase do a video on the murder of Amina and Sarah Said! Their murder was classified as an "honour killing" and the killer was their own father, he is currently on the run and there is a $100,000 USD reward for anyone who knows his location. It would be good to raise awareness and get some justice for these girls!! xx
I love that Bella does cases from all around the world... It really brings awareness to a range of different cases and highlights that these things can happen anywhere and everywhere
Thank you so much for talking about this case Bella! It’s so heartbreaking the fact that Maddie’s case had so much media coverage all around the world but the disappearance of a portuguese boy who came from a poor family didn’t get half the attention.. This is the most frustrating case and the biggest mistake our police has ever done (and they’ve done plenty). So again, thank you so much for talking about Rui Pedro, people still have hope that he’s alive and his mother has never stopped fighting for him!
I’m portuguese, and I’m happy that you chose a Portuguese case! They’re many others like “Meco tragedy”, “18-month-boy that disappeared in Madeira island” and etc. Btw your pronunciation when you say the names is so cute, love you!
FINALLY I’M HERE ON TIME LOVE YOUR VIDEOS AND YOU!💖🥰🥰 EDIT: I just finished watching it wow...it’s such a disappointment that they let him free and he only served 2 years..
Bella thank you so much for covering a case so important in my country ❤️ I've been following you for a while now and I really appreciate all your efforts to keep cases like this alive
This case is still so relevant in Portugal even after 20 years, i've just found out your video after seeing Rui's mother on a talk show this week and its still so touching seeing his mother still in pain after all this years.
I am portuguese and i got really excited when i saw that you did a video talking about Rui Pedro's case. There is actually a theory that basically says that Afonso must have sold the little boy to a big human trafficking network, a lot of people believe that he is still alive just like McCann. And another theory says that the portuguese police was involved in some sort of corruption thing and that was the reason why this case didnt went anywhere. Its actually really frustrating how this cases dont have any answers. :/
I’ve never heard of any of the cases you done so far this week. It’s always so sad realizing how many disturbing people are really out there. As always, great video💛
This case has always made me so sad, mostly because of how much you could see their parents suffer,his mum lost a lot of weight and was very depressed. There's also a very famous case in Portugal, the case of Joana Cipriano, would love a video covering that one! Kisses from Portugal
As a portuguese subscriber, I'm so happy you covered this case especially doing the amazing job you always do. I hope to God this case gets answers someday because the sadness in his mother face hasn't left been my mind in years and years.
