Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner has refused to be interviewed by Met Police, the force has revealed.
Brueckner , 48, is set to be released from prison on Wednesday after serving a sentence for raping a 72-year-old woman in an unrelated conviction.
He is yet to be charged in relation to Madeleine’s case and has denied being involved in the girl’s disappearance from Praia da Luz, Portugal.
The Met Police has disclosed that officers requested to interview the German suspect via an international letter of request.
However, DCI Mark Cranwell, who is the senior investigating officer in Madeleine’s case, said that Brueckner had refused the invitation.
He added that the force would pursue other ‘viable lines of enquiry’ as it continues to search for evidence.
‘For a number of years we have worked closely with our policing colleagues in Germany and Portugal to investigate the disappearance of Madeleine McCann and support Madeleine’s family to understand what happened on the evening of 3 May, 2007 in Praia da Luz’, Mr Cranwell said in a statement.
He continued: ‘We are aware of the pending release from prison of a 49-year-old German man who has been the primary suspect in the German federal investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance.
‘We can confirm that this individual remains a suspect in the Metropolitan Police’s own investigation.
‘We have requested an interview with this German suspect but, for legal reasons, this can only be done via an International Letter of Request which has been submitted.
‘It was subsequently refused by the suspect. In the absence of an interview, we will nevertheless continue to pursue any viable lines of enquiry.
‘We can provide no further information while the investigation is ongoing. Any questions about the conditions around his release should be directed to the German authorities.’
Madeleine’s case has continued to mystify investigators 18 years after she disappeared while on holiday with her family while her parents went out to dinner, leaving her sleeping in a room with her twin siblings.
Brueckner was listed as a suspect after being known to be in the Praia da Luz area in the Algarve between 2000 and 2017.
He was convicted of raping a 72-year-old woman in Portugal in 2005.
The suspect told a journalist earlier this year that he plans to leave Germany for a country with no extradition treaties and ‘lie low’ once he is set free.
In July, German police raced against time to search for fresh evidence tying Brueckner to Madeleine’s disappearance in order to bring charges against him before his current sentence expires.
Hans Christian Wolters, who has led the German effort to solve the Madeleine case, said that Brückner was his sole suspect.
But while the prosecutor said last month that he had found evidence which ‘strengthens’ his case against Brueckner, it was not sufficient to make a guilty verdict likely.
Timeline of events since Madeleine’s disappearance
- May 3, 2007: Kate and Gerry McCann leave their children asleep in their holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, while they dine with friends. They check on their children three times throughout the night, and, at 10 pm, they find her missing
- May 14, 2007: Police take property developer Robert Murat in for questioning and make him a formal suspect – this is later withdrawn.
- August 11, 2007: 100 days after her disappearance, detectives acknowledge that she could be dead.
- September 7, 2007: Maddie’s parents become formal suspects in their daughter’s disappearance.
- September 9, 2007: The McCanns return to England with their two-year-old twins.
- July 21, 2008: Portuguese authorities shelve the investigation and remove the McCanns and Murat as suspects.
- May 12, 2011: Kate McCann publishes a book about her daughter’s disappearance on her eighth birthday
- April 25, 2012: Scotland Yard detectives say they believe Madeleine could still be alive and release a picture of how she may look as a nine-year-old. They ask Portuguese police to reopen the case, but they say they have found no new information.
- July 4, 2013: Scotland Yard confirms it has launched its own investigation and says it has identified 38 people of interest, including 12 Britons.
- October 24, 2013: Portuguese police decide to reopen the case
- January 29, 2014: British detectives fly out to Portugal
- June 3, 2024: Sniffer dogs and specialist teams are used to search an area of scrubland close to where Madeleine went missing.
- December 12, 2024: Detectives begin questioning 11 people who it is thought may have information on the case.
- September 16, 2014: The Government states that the investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance has so far cost £10 million
- October 28, 2014: Scotland Yard cuts the number of officers working on the inquiry from 29 to four.
- April 30, 2017: The McCanns mark 10 years since her disappearance with a BBC interview.
- May 3, 2019: Local media reports say Portuguese detectives are investigating a foreign paedophile as a suspect in the abduction of Madeleine.
- June 3, 2020: Police reveal that a 43-year-old German prisoner, later named as Christian Brueckner, has been identified as a suspect in Madeleine’s disappearance.
- April 21, 2022: Christian Brueckner is made a formal suspect by Portuguese authorities.
- October 11, 2022: Brueckner is charged with three counts of rape and two charges of child sex abuse, unrelated to Madeleine’s disappearance.
- May 3, 2023: Kate and Gerry McCann mark the 16th anniversary of Madeleine’s disappearance by saying she is “still very much missed” and that they ‘await a breakthrough’.
- May 22, 2023: An area near the Barragem do Arade reservoir, about 30 miles from Praia da Luz, is sealed off as police prepare to start searching on May 23.
- May 23, 2023: Searches begin with police divers in the water and officers with sniffer dogs and rakes seen on the banks.
- June 23, 2023: A man named Helge B claimed to the German newspaper Bild that Brueckner almost confessed to killing Maddie, allegedly telling him ‘she didn’t scream’ when the pair talked about the case at a music festival
- July 11, 2023: The German prosecutor involved with the case warns not to ‘expect too much’ from the search.
- February 16, 2024: Brueckner’s trial starts over three counts of alleged rape and sexual abuse of two children not connected to the Madeleine investigation
- October 8, 2024: He is acquitted of all the allegations due to ‘insufficient’ evidence. An appeal over the acquittal is launched, which is still ongoing
- March 27, 2025: A 60-year-old woman is charged with stalking the McCann family
- May 3, 2025: Maddie’s parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, mark the 18th anniversary of her disappearance with a heartbreaking message
- June 3, 2025: a new search near Brueckner’s home and trenches around Praia da Luz begins
- September 17, 2025: This is the date Brueckner could be released from prison if no further charges are brought
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