UK police say 49-year-old German remains a suspect in disappearance of 3-year-old girl in 2007
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Madeleine McCann, a three-year-old British girl, went missing on May 3, 2007, while on holiday with her family in the Algarve town of Praia da Luz.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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LONDON – British police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, a three-year-old British girl who vanished from Portugal’s Algarve region in 2007, said a 49-year-old German man remains a suspect in their investigation.
The German suspect, Mr Christian Brueckner, who lived in the Algarve at the time she vanished, is due to be released from a German prison in September. He was first named as a suspect by British and German police in 2020.
“We are aware of the pending release from prison of a 49-year-old German man who has been the primary suspect in the German federal investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance,” Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cranwell, the senior investigating officer from Britain’s Metropolitan Police, said in a statement on Sept 15.
“We can confirm that this individual remains a suspect in the Metropolitan Police’s own investigation.”
Madeleine went missing on May 3, 2007, while on holiday with her family in the Algarve town of Praia da Luz, sparking a frenzied search and gaining the attention of the world’s media. She has never been found.
The German suspect refused a request for an interview from British police, the police statement said, adding that officers will continue to pursue any viable lines of inquiry.
“We can provide no further information while the investigation is ongoing. Any questions about the conditions around his release should be directed to the German authorities,” the statement added.
German police said in June 2020 that she was assumed dead and that Mr Brueckner was likely responsible. He has denied any involvement and has not been charged with any crime related to the case.
The convicted child abuser and drug dealer is behind bars for raping a 72-year-old woman in the same area of the Algarve.
Ahead of his expected release, Portuguese and German police spent four days in June searching for evidence related to Madeleine’s disappearance in the Algarve. REUTERS
