New Arrest Warrant for Prime Suspect in Maddie McCann Disappearance Case

The regional court of Braunschweig, Germany, has issued an arrest warrant for the German prime suspect in the mysterious disappearance and murder of British toddler Madeleine McCann in Portugal.

Christian Brueckner, 45, is suspected of five sex crimes.

The Public Prosecution Service had filed a complaint against the man earlier. It concerns three charges of rape and two cases of child sexual abuse, each in Portugal between December 2000 and June 2017. The McCann case is not part of the new charges.

Brueckner is serving a seven-year sentence for raping an elderly American woman at her home in Praia da Luz in 2005. He is expected to serve that sentence until September 2025.

According to the court, executing the new arrest warrant is currently impossible. This requires the permission of Italy because the suspect was arrested there. He was extradited to Germany.