Portuguese prosecutors have formally named a German man as a suspect in the disappearance of British toddler Madeleine McCann, who vanished from a holiday resort in Portugal 15 years ago. Christian Brueckner, 44, a convicted rapist, has been made an “arguido” – a formal suspect under Portuguese law – but has not been arrested or charged. The development could allow for his extradition to Portugal for questioning.
Prosecutors in Faro did not publicly name the man but said he was identified as a suspect at the request of German authorities. The timing may be linked to Portugal’s 15-year statute of limitations for crimes with a maximum prison sentence of 10 years or more. Madeleine disappeared on 3 May 2007, while on holiday with her parents in Praia da Luz. It is the first time Portuguese authorities have named an official suspect since Kate and Gerry McCann, Madeleine’s parents, were named suspects in 2007; they were later cleared.
German police said in June 2020 that Madeleine was presumed dead and that Brueckner was likely responsible. British police continue to treat it as a missing persons case, and her parents “still hope” she is alive. Brueckner is currently serving a sentence in Oldenburg prison, northern Germany, for raping a woman in 2005 in the same area of Portugal’s Algarve region where Madeleine went missing. He was also convicted in 2019 of raping a 72-year-old American woman and sentenced to seven years in jail; an appeal was rejected in 2020.
Brueckner has denied involvement in Madeleine’s disappearance. He lived in the Algarve between 1995 and 2007, burgling hotels and holiday flats, falsifying passports, and stealing diesel, according to court documents. Police are also examining whether he has links to other child disappearances in the area. Portuguese authorities handed over documents with hundreds of names, including Brueckner, to British authorities in 2012, and German police received a tip-off linking him to the case in 2013.
