Madeleine McCann disappearance: 'Formal suspect' identified by Portugal

German authorities officially identify a man in prison as a suspect in the case of the British girl who went missing almost 15 years ago

British girl Madeleine McCann went missing in 2007, aged 3, while on holiday with her parents in Portugal. EPA

Portuguese prosecutors on Thursday said a man had been formally identified as a suspect in the disappearance of British girl Madeleine McCann nearly 15 years ago.

It is the first time Portuguese prosecutors have identified an official suspect in the case since Kate and Gerry McCann, Madeleine's parents, were named suspects in 2007. They were later cleared.

Madeleine, then 3, disappeared from her bedroom on May 3, 2007, during a family holiday in the Algarve while her parents were dining with friends nearby in the resort of Praia da Luz.

A statement was issued on Thursday by the Portimao section of the Faro department of criminal investigation and prosecution which, according to a translation, said a person was made an “arguido” – a named or formal suspect – a day earlier.

Prosecutors in Faro, the Algarve's main city, did not publicly name the man but said he was identified as a suspect by German authorities at their request.

Kate and Gerry McCann on Friday said they “welcomed the news”, adding: “Even thought the possibility may be slim, we have not given up hope that Madeleine is still alive and we will be reunited with her.”

German police said in June 2020 that Madeleine was assumed dead and that convicted child abuser and drug dealer Christian Brueckner was probably responsible.

But, since then, Brueckner, 45, has not been charged with any crime related to the disappearance.

He is behind bars in Germany for raping a 72-year-old American woman in the same area of the Algarve where Madeleine went missing in 2007. He was sentenced to seven years in jail in 2019.

Brueckner has denied any involvement in the disappearance of Madeleine.

Kate and Gerry McCann display a poster of their missing daughter Madeleine at a press conference in June 2007, a month after she disappeared in Praia da Luz, Portugal. All photos: Getty Images

An aerial view of the resort and surrounding area where Madeleine McCann went missing in Praia da Luz.

British tourists look down a well while searching for Madeleine McCann in wasteland in May 2007.

Everton fans hold a banner appealing for the safe return of Madeleine McCann before a Premier League match in May 2007. She was a supporter of the club.

Kate McCann sits on board a private jet owned by Sir Philip Green bound for Rome and an audience with Pope Benedict XVI, at Faro Airport, Portugal in May 2007.

A mother and her children show their support for the missing girl in Rothley, the McCanns' town, in May 2007.

An appeal is displayed on the scoreboard at the FA Cup Final at Wembley Stadium in May 2007.

Kate and Gerry McCann hold an outfit, similar to the one Madeleine was wearing on the day she went missing, at a press conference in June 2007 in Berlin.

Pupils at Bankhead Primary School release yellow balloons for Madeleine McCann in June 2007 in Glasgow, Scotland. About 400 were released, each with a tag attached containing appeal information.

Kate McCann listens to her husband Gerry speak during a press conference in June 2007 in Madrid, Spain.

Gerry and Kate McCann leave a hotel on route to an interview with television crews in August 2007 in Praia da Luz.

Kate and Gerry McCann arrive back in the UK from Faro in September 2007. The McCanns had been made formal suspects in the disappearance of their daughter Madeleine.

Kate and Gerry McCann speak in front of an age-progressed police image of their daughter during a news conference to mark the fifth anniversary of her disappearance, in May 2012 in London.

Luis Mota Carmo (L), head of the Policia Judiciaria in the Algarve, speaks to British Det Chief Insp Andy Redwood as scrubland in in Praia da Luz is searched, in June 2014.

Police search scrubland in June 2014 in Praia da Luz.

British detectives arrive at Faro Police Station in December 2014 in Portugal, to observe questionings by Portuguese police of 11 people as part of the investigation into the disappearance.

Robert Murat and his wife Michaela Walczuch leave Faro's Police Station after being interviewed as witnesses in December 2014 in Faro.

Kate and Gerry McCann are interviewed by the BBC in April 2017.

A police officer erects fencing around an allotment that belonged to Christian Brueckner, who was named as the prime suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, in July 2020 in Hannover, Germany.

Police dig at the allotment in Hannover in July 2020.

Jim Gamble, the former head of the Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre, who worked on the investigation into the child’s disappearance, told BBC Breakfast: “My own gut feeling on it – from the moment the Germans began to release information two years ago – was that this was the best fit.

“You have proximity, you have opportunity and you have a profile with regards to an offender that absolutely fits in a way that no others have.

“This is all positive ... and I wouldn’t be surprised if charges did follow.”

Prosecutors said the investigation was carried out with co-operation from British and German authorities.

Brueckner lived in the Algarve between 1995 and 2007 and burgled hotels and holiday flats, court documents seen by Reuters in 2020 suggest.

He also falsified passports and was caught stealing diesel from a Portuguese harbour.

Portugal's Judiciary Police handed over documents with hundreds of names related to Madeleine's case, including Brueckner's, to British authorities in 2012, the force said.

German police received their first tip-off linking him to Madeleine's case in 2013.

The move by Portuguese authorities could allow Brueckner to be transferred to the Algarve for formal questioning.

The German newspaper Bild reported that his lawyer Friedrich Fuelscher said the Portuguese decision appeared to be a “procedural trick”.

Reports suggested the move could be linked to the country’s statute of limitations, which does not generally allow crimes that carry a maximum prison sentence to go to trial after 15 years have elapsed.

This would mean Brueckner could no longer be charged in Portugal after May 3.

In Portuguese law, arguido status can be a preliminary move before an arrest or charges being brought.

The Metropolitan Police in London continue to treat Madeleine’s disappearance as a missing person's inquiry.