15 years after the disappearance of the British girl Madeleine McCann in the south of Portugal, The Portuguese Justice advances to unblock the case after identifying the alleged perpetrator of the kidnapping, the German Christian Brucknerimprisoned in a German prison for other crimes.
(Read here: Madeleine McCann: man in Germany is charged with her disappearance)
The German authorities have given the green light to the accusation of the Portuguese Prosecutor’s Office against Brueckner44, who is serving a sentence for drug trafficking in Germany and is being investigated for several rapes, including a 72-year-old American citizen and a young woman.
The girl was three years old when she was kidnapped from the room where she slept with her two little brothersin a tourist complex in Praia da Luz, in the Algarve, during the night of May 3, 2007.
Suspicions against Brueckner gained weight after he was extradited from Portugal to Germany in 2017 accused of a case of sexual abuse of minors in Greece.
After serving half of his sentence, he left his country, but was extradited again, this time from Italy, for another drug-related case..
In addition, he was accused of the rape of the 72-year-old woman in Praia da Luz and is being investigated for another alleged rape of an Irish woman in 2004 in Portugal.
The investigation of his movements showed, by the trace of his mobile phone, that he was near the vacation complex where the McCanns were staying. the night Maddie was kidnapped.
Brueckner has an extensive criminal record for sexual abuse, physical assault, robbery and misdemeanors, in some cases occurring during his stay in Portugal. In the Algarve he lived off odd jobs and also robberies in hotels and apartments.
The suspect has been identified after a lengthy investigation involving the Faro Criminal Investigation and Action Department (DIAP) and the Judicial Police, in cooperation with the English and German authorities.
(You may be interested in: Madeleine McCann: authorities, 100% convinced of who murdered her)
A global case
The erratic investigation by the Portuguese Police, the international campaigns promoted by the McCanns and the disproportionate media interest that aroused, turned Madeleine’s disappearance into a case of global scope.
Before suspicions arose about Brueckner, the Portuguese police spent years following clues that led nowhere and fueled the mystery.
One of those responsible for the investigation ended up in court for a controversial book in which he pointed against the little girl’s parents as authors of an accidental homicide.
The case has remained one of the great failures of the Portuguese police, which accumulated more than 2,000 proceedings500 searches in the area and had almost twenty suspects.
(In other news: Conversations on the ‘dark web’ of the alleged girl’s kidnapper are revealed)
Timeline of a cold case 2007
In 2007
May 3: Madeleine McCann disappears from the room where she slept with her twin baby brothers, while her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, have dinner with friends a few meters from the Praia da Luz resort where they spend their vacations.
Witnesses declare having seen a man carrying a minor in his arms shortly before.
– May 14: The Portuguese police point to a suspect who later discards
– August 11: For the first time, the Portuguese police admit that the girl could be dead.
– September 6: Portuguese police question the McCanns as suspects. Days later, the couple leaves the country. – October 2: The coordinator of the investigation is separated from the investigation for statements against the parents and the British police.
(Read here: Debanhi Escobar: they find a body with the clothes of a missing young woman in Mexico)
In 2008
– July: Portuguese police definitively rule out the McCanns and former suspect Robert Murat. The investigation is closed due to lack of evidence.
In 2011
– May 12: Kate McCann publishes a book on behalf of her daughter when she would have been 8 years old. Scotland Yard resumes the investigation.
In 2012
– April: British police say Madeleine could be alive and ask Portugal to reopen the investigation.
In 2013
– July: The British police say they have new clues.
– October: Portugal reopens the case
in 2019
– May: It transpires that a pedophile suspected of Madeleine’s kidnapping is being investigated.
in 2020
– June: Christian Brueckner is identified as a suspect in the disappearance.
EFE
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