Officials officially declared a convicted German sex offender a suspect in the Madeleine McCann case.
Christian Brueckner was officially named as a suspect in the toddler’s disappearance in 2007 but has not been charged with a crime, according to The Times.
The Portuguese prosecutor’s office issued a statement on Thursday: “As part of the investigation into the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of Madeleine McCann in 2007, a person was suspected on Wednesday.”
In 2020, German police first named Brueckner as a person of interest in connection with the case.
“The person has been made a suspect by the German authorities in the execution of a request for international judicial cooperation issued by the Ministry of State of Portugal.”
Madeleine McCann disappeared in 2007 while on a family holiday in the resort of Praia de Luz in Portugal’s Algarve region. METROPOLITAN POLICE/AFP via Getty Images)
“The investigation was carried out in cooperation with the English and German authorities,” the statement concluded.
Brueckner, known as Christian B in Germany due to the country’s strict privacy laws, is currently serving a prison sentence for raping a 72-year-old woman in the same town where McCann went missing.
Kate and Gerry McCann, the parents of missing 4-year-old British girl Madeleine McCann, hold up a picture of Madeleine during a news conference June 6, 2007 in Berlin, Germany. Getty Images
Madeleine McCann is pictured during the UEFA Cup soccer match between Sevilla and Espanyol at Hampden Park stadium in Scotland May 16, 2007. AFP via Getty Images
The three-year-old disappeared in 2007 while on a family holiday in the resort of Praia de Luz in Portugal’s Algarve. She disappeared from the resort on May 3, a few days before her fourth birthday.
The toddler’s parents had let their three children sleep in the home while they went to a nearby restaurant and returned regularly to check on McCann and her siblings.
But when her mother checked on the children at 10pm, she was horrified to find the door and window to her bedroom were wide open and the toddler was nowhere to be found.
Next month will mark the 15th anniversary of McCann’s disappearance.