A man has been named an official suspect connected to the disappearance of a British girl named Madeleine McCann, a Portuguese prosecutor said Thursday.
Madeleine vanished from her family’s vacation apartment in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz in May 2007, days before she turned four, CBS News reported Friday.
The outlet continued:
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 announcement comes after German police revealed in 2020 that the prime suspect was a child sex offender who was already in jail in Germany and that they believed he had killed her.
The suspect was identified as a pedophile named “Christian B,” who was also suspected of raping a tour representative and serving time behind bars in Germany for raping a 72-year-old American in Praia da Luz.
A former United Kingdom police detective involved with Madeleine’s case spoke about the man being named a suspect.
“Well I think the problem is here we got two very different legal systems, the Portuguese and German systems, which are also very very different from what we know in England and Australia,” Mike Neville told the Morning Show:
"We can only hope for a miracle"A former UK police detective who worked on Madeleine McCann's case has spoken about the latest development surrounding her disappearance after a German man was declared as a formal suspect.
Posted by The Morning Show on Thursday, April 21, 2022
“The problem at the moment in Portugal, there is a 15 year statute of limitations, so, next month will be 15 years since Madeleine disappeared. And it’s very possible that after that date, they won’t be able to charge anybody. So, the Portuguese authorities are obviously doing their best to do something about this,” he added.
9 News Australia reported Christian Brueckner was named as the suspect in the case:
Madeleine’s body was never located, the CBS article said, noting the suspect had prior convictions that included child sex offenses.
“He made a living doing odd jobs in the area where Madeleine was taken, and also burglarized hotel rooms and holiday flats,” the outlet reported, adding the German was on a list of people of interest when the girl disappeared, but officials could not find him.
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