Information gathered from property linked to the main suspect in Madeleine McCann’s 2007 disappearance in Portugal indicates the missing young girl may have passed away.
German authorities reportedly investigated an unused factory owned by Christian Brüeckner, a convicted sex offender, where they uncovered masks, chemicals, firearms, and children’s clothing and toys. They allegedly also discovered a hard drive containing images that imply McCann is no longer alive, as reported by the U.K. Sun.
READ: Madeleine McCann’s Suspected Killer Acquitted in Separate Child Sex Case
Brüeckner acquired the property for $26,000 in 2008, a year following McCann’s disappearance in Portugal. In 2016, a dog located evidence reportedly consisting of a wallet, six USB drives, and two memory cards buried beneath Brüeckner’s deceased dog.
According to the U.K. Sun, the devices contained stories by Brüeckner in which he fantasized about snatching children. Police reportedly also seized a case containing pictures of 4- and 5-year-old girls.
The U.K. Sun reported that a nude selfie places Brüeckner 35 miles from where McCann was abducted in 2007. McCann was three when she vanished from her bedroom while vacationing at a Portuguese resort with her parents and family friends.
Last year, a German court acquitted Brüeckner in an unrelated rape and child sexual abuse case. Presiding Judge Uta Engemann concluded there was insufficient evidence to convict him and some of the witnesses were not credible.
During the trial, detective Titus Stampa said police located Christian Brüeckner’s Hotmail account and a hard drive related to the McCann case.
Stampa testified that he was “not allowed” to talk about how Brüeckner’s external hard drive was related to the toddler’s disappearance. However, he did reveal that Brückner used another email account to share child abuse content.
While handing down the acquittal, Engemann stressed that the child sex trial in Germany is unrelated to the McCann case. However, reports indicated that some of the discredited witnesses in that case are possible witnesses in McCann’s disappearance.
Brüeckner is currently serving a seven-year sentence in Germany for raping an elderly American woman in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in 2005. Last year’s acquittal means his release, at latest, is slated for this September.
[Feature Photo: Handout]
