The prime suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann has refused to be interviewed by the Metropolitan Police prior to his pending release from a German prison, Scotland Yard has confirmed. Christian Brückner, a 49-year-old German national, declined a formal international request to be questioned as part of Operation Grange, the UK investigation into Madeleine's disappearance.
Madeleine McCann was three years old when she vanished from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in May 2007 while her parents dined nearby. Brückner has long been the primary suspect in the German federal investigation and also remains a suspect in the UK probe, though he has not been charged in connection with her disappearance. He is currently serving a seven-year sentence in Germany for the rape of a 72-year-old woman in the same Portuguese resort in 2005 and could be released on Wednesday.
DCI Mark Cranwell, senior investigating officer for Operation Grange, stated: 'We have requested an interview with this German suspect but, for legal reasons, this can only be done via an international letter of request which has been submitted. It was subsequently refused. In the absence of an interview, we will nevertheless continue to pursue any viable lines of inquiry.'
Brückner has consistently denied any involvement in Madeleine's disappearance. German authorities consider him their chief suspect after confirming he was in the Algarve at the time of her disappearance. In October, a German court acquitted him of unrelated sexual offences alleged to have occurred in Portugal between 2000 and 2017.
Operation Grange, launched in 2011, has received over £13.2 million in Home Office funding, with an additional £108,000 secured in April. The case remains one of the most high-profile unsolved disappearances, attracting international attention and repeated appeals for information.
