What Madeleine McCan's parents said after Brueckner was officially declared a suspect

Madeleine McCann's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, greeted this Friday the “progress” in the investigations into the disappearance of their daughter in Portugal in 2007, after the German Christian Brueckner has been formally charged as a suspect by investigators.

“We welcome the news that the Portuguese authorities have declared a German man “argued” (a formal suspect) in relation to the disappearance of our beloved daughter Madeleine,” Kate and Gerry said in a statement.

“It is important to note that the 'arguido' has not yet been charged with any specific crime in relation to Madeleine's disappearance,” they say.

The girl disappeared when she was almost four years old, while she slept with her twin brothers in a tourist apartment in Praia da Luz, in the Portuguese Algarve.

“Although the possibility may be small, we have not given up hope that Madeleine is still alive and we will be able to meet her again,” add the parents, who are kept informed about the development of the investigation through the British police.

The German authorities gave the green light to the Portuguese Public Prosecutor's Office's indictment against Brueckner, 44, who is serving a sentence for drug trafficking in Germany and is being investigated for several violations.

The suspicions against Brueckner gained weight after he was extradited from Portugal to Germany in 2017, accused of a case of sexual abuse of minors in Greece. After serving half of his sentence he left his country, but was again extradited, this time from Italy, for another drug-related case.

Investigators say they have found “shocking evidence” that could ultimately lead to the truth about what happened on the night of May 3, 2007, when little Madeleine McCann was reported missing after being abducted from the hotel room in southern Portugal where she was vacationing with her parents -Gerry and Kate McCann- and their two younger brothers.

The new evidence would confirm that Christian Brueckner was responsible for her disappearance.

According to Telegraph, Brueckner, a convicted pedophile, lived in a mobile home near the Praia da Luz holiday resort in Portugal when Madeleine disappeared in 2007. He drove a Jaguar and stood out for maintaining an ostentatious lifestyle.

In 2005, he broke into the home of a 72-year-old woman living in Praia da Luz and subjected her to sadistic rape. After fleeing, he became a homeless man residing in an RV, a distinctive VW with white and yellow.

The newspaper states that this vehicle - it is believed to have been loaned to him - is now essential for the police to build their case against him for Madeleine's disappearance. He was seen in the area around Praia da Luz at the time the girl disappeared.

The Jaguar has also become key in the case against them. He had German license plates and was registered in his name. But the day after Madeleine's disappearance, on May 3, 2007, Brueckner contacted the vehicle licensing authorities in Germany and re-registered the car under the name of an acquaintance.

(With information from EFE)

Keep reading: