Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner may not be charged despite ‘concrete evidence’ she is dead, German prosecutors say

• Christian Brueckner, 43, recently named as a prime suspect in disappearance  
• Prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters claimed authorities had ‘concrete evidence’
• He has now confessed the investigation ‘may not lead to a charge for murder’

Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner may not be charged in the three-year-old’s disappearance, German prosecutors have said.

Brueckner, 43, was recently identified as a prime suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine, who vanished from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal in 2007.  

German prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters claimed authorities had ‘concrete evidence’ that the three-year-old was killed, and insisted earlier this month he had shared this information with Madeleine’s parents Kate and Gerry McCann in a letter.   

‘We have concrete evidence that our suspect has killed Madeleine and this means she is dead,’ he said. ‘The parents have been told the German police have evidence that she is dead but we have not told them the details.’ 

Despite this, Mr Wolters has now confessed ‘the investigation may not lead to a charge for the murder of Madeleine McCann,’ as it ‘could be stopped if we fail to find the missing evidence.’ 

Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner (pictured) may not face charges for the three-year-old’s disappearance, German prosecutors have said

He told the Braunschweig Zeitung: ‘I am currently unable to predict the outcome of our investigation but we are still convinced of the guilt of the accused and hope for further promising investigative approaches.

‘Of course, it is always good to know where a suspect is to be able to access them if necessary. And, of course, detention always offers a certain guarantee that the detainee will not commit any further crimes.’

Authorities are currently analysing 400 calls they received about the case after an appeal for information three weeks ago, the Sun reported.  

Mr Wolters said he is ‘hopeful of finding other victims who have been sexually assaulted by the suspect,’ regardless of whether they can charge him in the disappearance of Madeleine.  

Brueckner is currently serving a 21-month sentence in Kiel, Germany for drugs offences, and it was reported on Monday he could be out of prison on parole by next week. 

His lawyers have reportedly filed a request for him to be released after serving two-thirds of his sentence, but prosecutors fear he may flee the country after his release.  

Brueckner, 43, was recently identified as a prime suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine (pictured), who vanished from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal in 2007.

German prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters (pictured) claimed authorities had ‘concrete evidence’ that the three-year-old was killed

The case has now been passed to Germany’s Federal Court in Karlsruhe and officials are expected to decide within the next week if he should be released.

In 2011, Brueckner was sentenced to 21 months in jail for his part in a drugs trafficking ring that supplied marijuana to VIP clients. 

The serial sex offender is also facing a separate sentence for the rape of a 72-year-old American woman on a waterfront villa less than a mile from where Madeleine went missing in Portugal in 2007.   

Although he was convicted in December 2019, he appealed against his seven-year sentence and so it cannot be imposed until his appeal avenues are exhausted.     

Brueckner moved from Germany to Praia da Luz in 1995 after serving part of a two-year sentence for molesting a six-year-old girl in Wurzburg. At the time of Madeleine’s vanishing he was living in the area about a 10-minute drive away. 

Following his identification as a suspect in the case, he has further been linked to the disappearances of six-year-old boy René Hasse in the Algarve, 1996, and five-year-old girl Igna Gehnricke in Germany, 2015. 

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