The prime suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann in Praia da Luz, Portugal, has admitted he was just 450 feet (137m) from the family’s holiday apartment on the night she vanished in 2007. Convicted paedophile Christian Brueckner, 49, also revealed police stopped him in his van, which was “full of” drugs, three times that evening as he attempted to make a “quick getaway” from the scenic Algarve coastal village.
However, he revealed that police did not search the vehicle and simply waved him through.
“I was on the beach, not far from Maddie’s hotel, selling drugs,” Brueckner, a convicted rapist and paedophile, told the Mail on Sunday.
“I’d been in Spain and smuggled the weed into Portugal. “I was even stopped by police three times on the street [in Praia da Luz] while they were looking for Maddie. “Luckily, they didn’t find the drugs. My van was full of them.”
Brueckner has always denied any involvement in Maddie’s disappearance.
As police officers scoured the area for the missing toddler on May 3, 2007, the German national claimed he made a frantic dash to escape authorities who were rushing to secure the region. Brueckner recalled seeing flashing blue lights and police checkpoints springing up everywhere, admitting his only thought at the time was: “Get me out of here”.
He claimed he had previously kept quiet about his whereabouts on the night the three-year-old disappeared because he believed detectives were trying to “frame” him.
A source close to Kate and Gerry McCann said: “If what he says is true, it obviously begs the question of what might have been if the Portuguese police had not let him slip through their fingers.”
The fresh revelation heaps further pressure on local law enforcement, who faced widespread backlash for their lack of urgency during the critical initial search for the British toddler. German prosecutors officially identified Brueckner as the lead suspect in 2020, revealing a phone registered in his name was tracked near the McCanns’ holiday apartment on the night of the abduction. While investigators previously stated they held “concrete evidence” linking him to the disappearance, they admitted they currently lack sufficient proof to secure a conviction.
Metropolitan Police detectives continue to work toward bringing the twice-convicted rapist to the UK to face trial for Madeleine’s abduction and murder.
Three-year-old Madeleine vanished from her family’s ground-floor holiday apartment in Praia da Luz while her parents were dining with friends at a nearby tapas restaurant. Her disappearance sparked one of the most high-profile and costly missing person investigations in modern history.
