Where was he that day?
de Noticias said the phone number – (+351) 916 510 683 – was registered to a man called Diogo Silva.
No more details about him have been revealed but he is believed to live in northern Portugal.
A Snapchat account in his name was also linked to the phone number, as was a Whatsapp account which has since been deactivated.
Scotland Yard released the phone number and Brueckner’s number on Wednesday as part of an appeal for information.
Silva’s phone rang Brueckner’s at 7.32pm and the call ended at 8.02pm on May 3, 2007.
Madeleine disappeared around an hour later, between 9.10pm and 10pm the same evening.
Det Chief Insp Mark Cranwell of Operation Grange insisted the caller was a “key witness” and was not in Praia da Luz when the call was made. He added: “Any information in relation to these mobile numbers during the spring and summer of 2007 could be critical to this investigation.” Brueckner is thought to
have left
DETECTIVES are trying to piece together Christian Brueckner’s movements on May 3, 2007… 9am-midday: Madeleine and twin siblings Sean and Amelie are at Ocean Club resort’s Kids Club.
Mccanns have lunch in apartment then hit pool. 3pm-6pm: Mccann children are back at Kids Club.
Kate bathes kids while Gerry has a tennis lesson. the farmhouse in around 2005 and stayed with pals in Silves, 30 miles away. He also used a distinctive VW camper van, which he sold to a fellow German mechanic after briefly returning to Portugal in 2015.
The owner of the yard where Brueckner sold the camper van said
Kate and Gerry get ready for their tapas night out. 7.32pm: Brueckner gets a call on his Portuguese-registered mobile from a Portuguese mobile registered to a man called Diogo Silva. Brueckner’s phone was in the area of Praia da Luz but Silva’s was not.
The call between Brueckner and Silva ends. 8.30pm: Kate and Gerry join detectives swooped without warning last year. He said the German had a “passion” for classic cars and “seemed normal” each time they met.
He said: “The police suddenly turned up and said they needed the van as part of the investigation into Madeleine Mccann’s disappearance.
The house suspect lived in, circled, overlooks Praia da Luz friends at tapas restaurant in the complex, leaving their kids alone. 9.05pm: Gerry checks on kids. 9.15pm: Friend Jane Tanner goes to check on her kids. Her sighting of a man carrying a kid in pyjamas becomes a key part of the probe. 9.30pm: Friend Russell O’brien, goes to sit with his ill daughter, passing the Mccanns’ apartment. 10pm: Kate returns to apartment and finds Madeleine missing.
TAPAS BAR
MAN IS SPOTTED CARRYING CHILD
MCCANNS’ APARTMENT
It was all very sudden because there had been nothing on the TV or the papers about the case at that time.
“The guy seemed normal and I never thought I’d see his face as a suspect in this famous case.
“He came round a few times and we talked about classic cars and vans.”
Brueckner has also been linked to another property further inland called Escola Velha, where he used to used to “sofa-surf ”.
Both properties are owned by Brits who have no connection with the German or the police investigation.
German magazine FOCUS Online claimed Brueckner had a year-long relationship with a British woman while in Praia da Luz.
Another report said he had worked as a waiter in the resort.