Madeleine McCann

Kate and Gerry McCann are likely to take limited solace from Portuguese authorities designating a convicted German sex offender a formal suspect in the ...

And while the development brought hope that the case of the child’s disappearance may one day be solved, the German state prosecutor’s office has said it has “concrete evidence” that Madeleine is dead. In March 2010, a released file from the Portuguese police on potential sightings was described as “gold dust” by a spokesperson for the family. Brückner’s lawyer has said that his client has not been charged over the case. But by then, investigators had already made a string of potentially crucial, basic errors that included not only falsely suspecting the McCanns but also failing to seal off the scene at the family’s Praia da Luz holiday apartment. The Metropolitan police’s involvement, known as Operation Grange, has continued to this day. It would be January 2009 before the McCanns returned to Portugal, launching a fresh public appeal for information.

Police in Germany revealed in 2020 that the prime suspect was a child sex offender who was already in jail there — and that they believed he had killed her.

At one point in the investigation, Madeleine's parents were also declared arguidos. Media reports have identified that suspect as a pedophile called "Christian B" who is suspected of raping an Irish tour representative and serving a prison term in northern Germany for the rape of a 72-year-old American in Praia da Luz in 2005. The public prosecutor's office in the southern Algarve city of Portimao said the suspect, whose identity was not confirmed, was identified as an official suspect on Wednesday.

For the first time since Madeleine McCann disappeared from a resort in Portugal in 2007, Portuguese authorities say they have a formal suspect in the case.

"We should have been a family of five for all that time. Madeleine disappeared while on vacation in Praia da Luz, a coastal Portugese town, on May 3, 2007. He has not been charged in the case.

Prosecutors in southern Portugal are formally accusing a suspect in the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, a British girl who.

Get a head start on the morning's top stories. Get the Morning Rundown Brueckner, 45, is serving a sentence on drug offenses in a German prison and has a pending seven-year sentence for the 2005 rape of a 72-year-old American woman in Portugal. The rape also took place in Praia da Luz.

Police in Germany revealed in 2020 that the prime suspect was a child sex offender who was already in jail there — and that they believed he had killed her.

At one point in the investigation, Madeleine's parents were also declared arguidos. Media reports have identified that suspect as a pedophile called "Christian B" who is suspected of raping an Irish tour representative and serving a prison term in northern Germany for the rape of a 72-year-old American in Praia da Luz in 2005. The public prosecutor's office in the southern Algarve city of Portimao said the suspect, whose identity was not confirmed, was identified as an official suspect on Wednesday.

The convicted child abuser travelled between Praia da Luz and Germany in a camper van for several years before Madeleine vanished - it is understood ...

However, there are not thought to be any immediate plans to do so. A Portuguese source added: "The legal grounds for making (Christian B) an arguido 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." Christian B is in prison in Germany after being convicted of raping a 72-year-old woman in 2005, in the same town where Madeleine went missing.

Portuguese police tell Christian Brückner, in prison for rape in Germany, he is 'formal suspect'

However, British officers continue to treat it as a missing persons case and her parents “still hope” Madeleine is alive. “We note the announcement from Faro, but it does not affect our own work in a significant way,” Wolters said. They were formally cleared of suspicion in 2008.“ ”, or “formal suspect” – the first time Portuguese authorities have

MADRID (Reuters) - Portuguese prosecutors said late on Thursday a man had been formally identified as a suspect in the disappearance of British toddle...

He was jailed for seven years in 2019 for raping and robbing a 72-year-old American woman in her home in the Algarve. However, the early investigation by Portuguese police produced no major leads and the detectives began to focus attention on the parents themselves. The apartment was broken into while Madeleine and her twin baby siblings were asleep, and local police concluded it was a kidnapping. In September 2007, Gerry and Kate McCann were questioned by police as formal suspects. Brueckner has not been charged with any crime related to the disappearance and denies any involvement. The following July, the Portuguese police dropped their investigation because of a lack of evidence and cleared the McCanns of any involvement.

Prosecutors formally accuse a suspect in the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, who vanished nearly 15 years ago while on a family ...

You may click on “Your Choices” below to learn about and use cookie management tools to limit use of cookies when you visit NPR’s sites. If you click “Agree and Continue” below, you acknowledge that your cookie choices in those tools will be respected and that you otherwise agree to the use of cookies on NPR’s sites. NPR’s sites use cookies, similar tracking and storage technologies, and information about the device you use to access our sites (together, “cookies”) to enhance your viewing, listening and user experience, personalize content, personalize messages from NPR’s sponsors, provide social media features, and analyze NPR’s traffic.

The convicted pedophile officially declared a suspect in the 15-year-old disappearance of Madeleine McCann has now been formally interviewed about it for ...

Brueckner has a long history that includes sex-crimes offenses — as well as burgling holiday flats like the one Maddie was in while he lived in the Algarve between 1995 and 2007, the year she disappeared, according to Agence France-Presse. While the convicted sex attacker has been long eyed as a prime suspect in the case, it is the first time he has been formerly quizzed about it, the report said. The convicted pedophile officially declared a suspect in the 15-year-old disappearance of Madeleine McCann has now been formally interviewed about it for the first time in prison, according to a report Friday.

Portuguese prosecutors said late on Thursday a man had been formally identified as a suspect in the disappearance of British toddler Madeleine McCann 15 ...

He was jailed for seven years in 2019 for raping and robbing a 72-year-old American woman in her home in the Algarve. However, the early investigation by Portuguese police produced no major leads and the detectives began to focus attention on the parents themselves. The apartment was broken into while Madeleine and her twin baby siblings were asleep, and local police concluded it was a kidnapping. In September 2007, Gerry and Kate McCann were questioned by police as formal suspects. Brueckner has not been charged with any crime related to the disappearance and denies any involvement. The couple and their friends who were with them on the night Madeleine went missing successfully sued a number of British tabloids for libel for suggesting they were involved in their daughter’s disappearance.