The German man under investigation for the disappearance of a 3-year-old British girl in Portugal in 2007, one of Europe’s most widely known unsolved crimes, is set to be released from prison on Wednesday after serving a sentence in a separate case.
A German public prosecutor announced in 2020 that the man, Christian Brückner, was formally being investigated in the kidnapping and murder of the girl, Madeleine McCann. Mr. Brückner, who has denied involvement, has not been charged in the case.
The London Metropolitan Police has said that he remains the “primary suspect” in the German federal investigation, as well as a suspect in its own investigation.
Mr. Brückner is expected to leave a prison in central Germany after serving six years for a separate crime, the rape of a 72-year-old American woman in Portugal. He has refused to be interviewed by the British police ahead of his release.
Here’s what to know about the cases involving Mr. Brückner and the McCann investigation:
What happened in the McCann case?
Madeleine McCann disappeared in May 2007 from a holiday resort in Praia da Luz, on Portugal’s southern coast, where she was staying with her family.
Her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, physicians from Leicester, England, had left Madeleine and her two younger siblings in an holiday apartment for several hours while the parents ate dinner with friends. Ms. McCann told the police that she checked in on the sleeping children at around 9 p.m., but that when she returned an hour later, Madeleine was gone.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access. If you are in Reader mode please exit and log into your Times account, or subscribe for all of The Times.
Thank you for your patience while we verify access.
Already a subscriber? Log in.
Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
The post German Suspected in Madeleine McCann Disappearance Is Set for Prison Release appeared first on New York Times.
