Madeleine suspect probed three years before identity revealed

THE prime suspect in the Madeleine McCann case was being investigated by the police for three years before his identity was made public, a German prosecutor has revealed.

Hans Christian Wolters said police had been looking for information on the main suspect – Christian Brückner – and had “already built up a fact file on him” before they asked the public for their help, Sky News reported.

Last year, the prosecutor and Scotland Yard announced they had a new suspect and appealed to anyone who knew him to come forward.

At the time, the suspect was not named, but it quickly emerged he was a 43-year-old German drifter who under German privacy laws is known as Christian B.

Mr Wolters said: “By that time, Christian B had been under investigation already for three years. We did not take the decision to go public lightly. Since then we have found a lot more pieces of the puzzle, but I cannot reveal what they are. We are making progress and have the same number of investigators working on the case, but we don’t yet have enough to charge the suspect.” He added: “There is no time limit to our investigation, but we won’t keep it going forever.”

Earlier this year, Madeleine’s parents said that although the police investigation has slowed down, they remain determined to find her and uncover the truth about what happened to their daughter who went missing when she was three years old from her family’s holiday apartment in Portugal on May 3 2007. Brückner is currently in jail in his homeland after being convicted of raping a 72-year-old American woman in the same Portuguese resort in 2005 and will remain behind bars until 2026.

He is a convicted paedophile who lived in the area of the resort. On the night the three-year-old disappeared, his mobile phone was in use nearby and the next day he changed the registration of one of his vehicles. He has always denied any involvement in Madeleine’s disappearance.

He is also alleged to have confessed that he abducted Madeleine to a criminal associate during a bar conversation.

The associate, who was later arrested in Greece, contacted Scotland Yard and told them of Brückner’s alleged confession to him.

Scotland Yard detectives flew to Greece to interview the associate and they later changed the focus of the Madeleine investigation.

‘We have found a lot more pieces of the puzzle, but I cannot reveal what they are. We are making progress’