On Thursday 21 April, Portuguese authorities confirmed that they finally had a massive breakthrough on one of the world’s biggest missing person cases. They have officially named a formal suspect in the Madeleine McCann case – who disappeared only a few days before her fourth birthday.
Madeleine McCann has been missing for 15 years
The British toddler was vacationing with her family in the Algarve region of Portugal in May 2007. And while visiting a coastal town, Praia da Luz, Madeleine’s parents, Gerry and Kate McCann, were out at dinner at a tapas bar in the same resort where they were staying.
And as they were having dinner within close walking distance to where Madeleine and her younger twin brothers were sleeping, the parents took turns to go check on them in the apartment.
But shockingly, when it was one of the mother’s turns, she found an empty bed where Madeleine was meant to be sleeping and she was nowhere to be found in or around the apartment. An international hunt was immediately started but sadly, Madeleine was never found.
Both Gerry and Kate were named suspects at the beginning of the investigation. However, throughout the years, the heartbroken parents were both cleared as suspects.
The suspect
The Prosecutor’s Office in Faro, Portugal, revealed in a statement on Thursday that an official suspect has been named by German authorities. However, neither the German or Portuguese officials – who are now working together on the case – named the suspect publicly.
It was also stated that the suspect has not yet been charged.
German sex offender suspected
Although the suspect has not been named, many believe that the suspect could be convicted sex offender Christian Brueckner (45).
In 2020, German authorities believed that Brueckner could be a suspect in Madeleine’s case since phone records show he was in the same coastal town where the toddler disappeared.
It is believed that the suspect travelled between Praia da Luz and Germany in a VW camper for a few years before Madeleine vanished. And according to Sky News, German investigators will focus their forensic work on the van.
And according to Business Day, Brueckner reportedly lived in the Algarve region between 1995 and 2007, where he burgled hotels and holiday flats.
It has also been reported that Brueckner allegedly confessed to the kidnapping of Madeleine while at a German bar on the 10th anniversary of her disappearance.
“The legal grounds for making [Brueckner] an arguido (formal suspect) include the fact that he allegedly confessed to a friend he had snatched Madeleine and mobile phone records placed him in Praia da Luz the night she vanished.”
A Portuguese source confirmed to SkyNews
Christian Brueckner is currently in jail in Germany for raping a woman in the Algarve region.