Police in Portugal came under fire tonight for their lacklustre response to the biggest potential breakthrough in the abduction of Madeleine McCann since she first disappeared 13 years ago.
Investigators were accused of being ’embarrassed’ by their failure to solve the crime originally and failed to issue any new appeals for information after convicted German paedophile Christian Breuckner was identified as the prime suspect.
Breuckner, who is currently in jail in northern Germany, lived on and off in the Algarve for 18 years, was in Praia da Luz on the night Madeleine vanished and was convicted last year of raping a 72-year-old woman in the holiday resort in 2005.
But while police in the UK and Germany have launched public appeals for help in tracing the movements of Breuckner, their counterparts on the Algarve have remained silent.
This is Christian Brueckner, the new key suspect in the Madeleine McCann case, whose identity is protected in Germany despite being in jail for raping a US tourist in Praia da Luz in the months before Maddie vanished
Brueckner, pictured in a German bar in 2011, is alleged to have confided in a friend that he ‘knew all about’ what had happened to Maddie
A German prisoner has been identified as a suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann in what could be a major breakthrough in the case. He is in jail in Germany for the rape of an American tourist 18 months before Maddie vanished –
The German suspect had lived in a warehouse outside Praia da Luz for several years but moved into a campervan just before Maddie vanished
A Scotland Yard source said: ‘The Portuguese authorities’ stance on this latest development is at odds with the Metropolitan Police and German police but it has been that way from minute one.
‘The fact is that Portuguese authorities were embarrassed on a global stage at the time because the crime scene was completely destroyed, there was no forensic recovery of anything of any value etc.
‘There may be slight embarrassment again that its German Police who have identified a chief suspect that could be the biggest lead yet in the investigation.
‘But it is still has to be a Portuguese investigation as this disappearance – and now possible abduction and murder – happened under their jurisdiction.’
‘The investigation is being directed from Germany,’ said a police source. ‘There are three forces involved in this, but the majority is coming from Germany.’
As police in Britain and Germany appeal for witnesses who could help convict prime suspect Brueckner, it has also emerged:
- Brueckner has been linked to the 2015 disappearance of five-year-old girl called Inga Gehricke in May 2015. The little girl with blonde hair and blue eyes was dubbed ‘Germany’s Maddie McCann’;
- The mystery caller who spoke with the German paedophile minutes before Madeleine was abducted has been named as Diogo Silva by Portuguese media;
- More details of his child abuse has emerged including a sex attack on a nine-year-old girl and exposing himself to a six-year-old;
- A friend who lived above his shop claims he was violent, beating up his underage Kosovan girlfriend and cruelly locking up his dogs in a shop ‘for weeks’ while the couple went on holiday to Spain and Portugal.
Today, there was no police activity in the resort of Praia Da Luz where Madeleine vanished in 2007.
No posters or TV appeals have been made by police who are seeking new information about the 43-year-old suspect who lived in two different houses in the area and dabbled in countless different jobs.
Portuguese detectives based in Faro are awaiting information from German investigators before launching any new inquiry into the three-year-old’s disappearance.
This is Christian Brueckner’s home in Braunschweig near Hanover, where he had lived before he fled to Italy and was arrested over the rape of an American in Praia da Luz
Locals in Luz said they too were surprised that the police were not making any fresh appeals for help.
‘Given the new information and how specific it is, I would have though the police could have been more active,’ said a British bar owner who has lived in the resort over 20 years.
‘The McCann case had a traumatic effect on the community here and tourism was affected and the police did not exactly come out of it with their reputation bolstered.’
Shop assistant Mariana said she thought the Portuguese would do all they could to solve the mystery.
‘Anyone who has grown up in Praia knows all about the girl going missing. I have seen all the new appeals, but there is nothing from our police.
‘I would have expected them to be more active as the girl was last seen here and it all leads back to Praia da Luz.’
A Dutchwoman named Julia, who has lived in the resort for over 30 years, added: ‘They must have been aware of this man and what he was like, but did nothing.
‘Now is their chance to redeem themselves and help find her body. Most people here believe the McCann girl to be dead. It is too long for her to be found alive.
‘Have you seen any police out asking questions ? I haven’t. I just don’t understand why more is not being done.’
However, a woman who works in a pharmacy near the seafront said she was not surprised by the lack of appeals.
‘They will just be going over old ground. There is nothing new for them to do.’
The latest developments in the Madeleine case have been widely reported in the Portuguese media with photos of the little girl prominent on newspaper front pages while
TV news bulletins have also led with the latest developments.
In the UK, detectives from Operation Grange – the Met Police inquiry to find out what happened to Maddie – released photos of a VW camper van and Jaguar car they see as critical to the investigation.
Both cars were used by Breuckner when he was based in Portugal.
Police have the vehicles but want anyone who saw them around the time the youngster went missing to contact them.
In Germany, police appealed for witnesses to come forward during a broadcast on the ZDF channel.
Police in the UK said they have received 270 calls and emails following the release of new information and the appeal for help.
Brueckner is understood to have been dismissed as a suspect back in 2008 by the Portuguese police.
It is not known if he was even interviewed or made a statement about his whereabouts when the youngster disappeared from her family’s villa in the Praia da Luz.
At that time he did not have a criminal record, despite drug dealing and carrying stealing from hotel rooms.
The suspect is said to have lived at this property named Escola Vehla – meaning ‘old school’ – during his time in Portugal
Madeleine McCann would have turned 17 last month. In 2012, five years after her disappearance, her family issued an age progression efit photo to show what Madeleine may have looked like aged nine (right)
In 2005 he raped a 72-year-old American woman after breaking into her apartment and filming the assault.
It was only after he showed the footage to a friend in Germany that he was arrested a hair found at the scene linked him to the attack.
Breuckner is currently serving a jail sentence in northern Germany for the attack.
Meanwhile the Portuguese lawyer of Kate and Gerry McCann said they have ‘new hope’ and ‘want to know the truth’
Rogerio Alves, who has traditionally assisted the McCanns as their criminal lawyer, said this week’s revelation police have a new suspect means the 13-year-old mystery could be closer to being solved.
Mr Alves told respected Portuguese daily Jornal de Noticias: ‘A new lead publicised by the police, which is therefore not an anonymous lead or a frivolous one, is obviously going to give the family hope.
‘The family want this investigation to continue because the case is still active and hasn’t been resolved. Madeleine’s parents want to know the truth.
‘They hope this lead can lead to the discovery of the truth, so we will be able to know what happened, what crime was committed and who committed it and what happened to Madeleine and whether’s she alive.’