In 2020, the mysterious disappearance of Madeleine McCann won unprecedented hypotheses with the emergence of a new prime suspect: Christian Brueckner. Now, 15 years after the case, the Portuguese police have officially announced that the man has been charged with the crime. According to the BBC, the request was made by the Portuguese judiciary in partnership with the German authorities.
Brueckner is in prison accused of raping a 72yearold American woman in 2005 in Praia da Luz, Portugal, the same place where Madeleine was last seen. He is also accused of drug trafficking. This year the man will go on trial in another rape case, a 20yearold woman, also in Portuguese countries in 2007.
According to local media, the charges were considered essential for the continuation of the investigation. Since the case will end 15 years on May 3, there was a risk of statute of limitations, that is, the judiciary would lose the right to punish the author of the crime within the period established by law.
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New Lines of Investigation
In June 2020, the name Christian Brueckner went down in history. Currently imprisoned in Germany for other crimes, he would have been living in the southern Algarve region of Portugal in 1993 and 2007, when Madeleine disappeared. According to the Braunschweig public prosecutor’s office, the boy committed a number of crimes in addition to drug dealing, including robberies of apartments and hotel complexes.
Christian Brueckner became the prime suspect in the case. (Photo: Reproduction)
Authorities have since said they consider the case a murder and no longer an enforced disappearance. “We assume that the girl is dead,” said prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters at a press conference on June 4, 2020.
According to him, there is “concrete evidence” for Madeleine’s murder that could not yet be uncovered so as not to jeopardize Brueckner’s investigations. From there, properties and properties associated with the man were searched for possible remains of the little girl.
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As early as May 2021, the German police were confident that the story could finally be solved. Officials told The Mirror newspaper Madeleine was killed in Portugal. Previously, the theory was that Christian kidnapped the child in Praia da Luz and took him to Germany, where he lived. “I am optimistic that we will solve this case,” said prosecutor Wolters.
Madeleine McCann would have been murdered in Portugal. (Photo: Reproduction)
The conclusion came after German police did a lot of investigation into where Brueckner lived. “Since Christian didn’t have the property at the time of Maddie’s disappearance, he couldn’t have buried a body there,” Wolters clarified. The suspect’s lawyer, Friedrich Fulscher, has denied the allegations and said his client had nothing to do with the crime.
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Consider the case of Madeleine McCann
Little Madeleine McCann disappeared at the age of three while vacationing with her family in Praia da Luz, Portugal. She would be four years old in 10 days. The girl was in her hotel room with twin brothers Sean and Amelie, then two years old. His parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, had gone out to dinner with friends at a nearby restaurant inside the tourist complex, leaving the children unattended. As soon as they came back they found Madeleine gone.
Kate and Gerry McCann in 2007. (Photo: Playback/YouTube)
Madeleine’s own parents were considered suspects by Portuguese police, with the hypothesis that Kate and Gerry hid their daughter’s body following an alleged accidental death. The investigative line was later abandoned. Another suspect was BritishPortuguese Robert Murat, who lived near the hotel.
With no big conclusions, the case remains a major mystery that arouses public interest to this day. Maddie has been spotted around 9,000 times in over 100 countries all the clues were wrong. The documentary “The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann” on Netflix also followed the story and featured interviews with the main actors. Watch the trailer: