Christian Brueckner, the German man identified by prosecutors as the main suspect in the Madeleine McCann case, has publicly described his claimed whereabouts on the night the three-year-old disappeared in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in 2007.

Brueckner says he was on a beach roughly 150 yards from the holiday resort where the McCann family was staying. According to his account, he was there for an unrelated purpose and was attempting to leave the area after police activity increased following Madeleine’s disappearance. He also claims officers stopped him three times that night.

His comments mark the first time Brueckner has publicly discussed where he says he was on the evening Madeleine vanished. He continues to deny any involvement in her disappearance and says authorities have wrongly focused on him. 

German prosecutors named Brueckner as their main suspect in 2020, saying they had evidence they considered significant, but he has never been formally charged in connection with Madeleine’s disappearance. A phone registered to him was also located in the vicinity of the McCann family’s accommodation around the time she disappeared, an element investigators have previously examined.

Madeleine disappeared from the family’s holiday apartment on May 3, 2007, while her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, were dining with friends nearby. Nearly two decades later, the case remains unresolved, with British, German and Portuguese authorities continuing investigative work.

Brueckner’s latest account is his version of events and has not been established as fact by investigators. He remains a suspect in the case but has not been convicted or charged over Madeleine’s disappearance.

Source: The Independent, ITV News