MADELEINE McCann prime suspect Christian Brueckner has walked free from prison.
The convicted paedophile, 48, was released from a German jail this morning after serving time for raping a 72-year-old American tourist in Portugal.
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Today marks the date his seven-year sentence for rape expires – allowing him to walk out of prison and re-enter society.
His freedom comes despite prosecutors branding him “dangerous” and warning “you have to expect him to commit further crimes”.
Brueckner officially left the high-security prison in Sehnde near Hanover just after 9:15am German time, this morning.
The rapist was given breakfast before being driven away in his lawyer’s black Audi A6.
Read more on Madeleine McCann
A chilling image showed Brueckner wearing a red and white striped shirt as he sat in the rear seat with his hand up in the air.
He covered his face with a blanket as the car sped past reporters.
Brueckner, a drifter with a long history of sex offences against women and children, remains the only suspect in Madeleine’s disappearance.
His release comes as a bitter blow to Madeleine’s devastated parents – Kate and Gerry McCann – who have endured 18 years of anguish searching for answers.
The Brit tot was only three years old when she vanished from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in May 2007.
The parents were dining with friends in a nearby tapas restaurant on the night their daughter vanished, returning at 10pm to find her gone while her twin siblings slept.
Despite spending years investigating Brueckner, German lead prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters has admitted his team still doesn’t have enough evidence to bring charges over her disappearance.
He previously told reporters: “He is not just our number one suspect, he’s our only suspect.
“We have evidence against him but in our view it’s not strong enough to make a guilty verdict likely.”
Fears he could flee
Brueckner has refused to rule out fleeing Germany now that he is free.
He also denied a formal request to be interviewed by Scotland Yard detectives ahead of his release as well as Met officers.
This has sparked fears he could slip into a non-extradition country and dodge justice forever – even if a major Maddie breakthrough is found.
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Officials have tried all they can to keep track on him with an electronic tag being mandated and the seizing of his passport.
But investigators still worry Brueckner could flee Germany despite his conditions due to no passport being required to move freely within mainland Europe.
The McCann case, one of the biggest missing persons investigations in history, has seen multiple suspects let go and dead ends found.
What will happen to Brueckner now?
CHRISTIAN Brueckner is set to arrive at a safe house in Germany later today as he starts life outside of prison.
The convicted rapist will be fitted with an electronic tag geo-fenced to three-miles from his new permanent home.
This means cops will be alerted if he steps outside the zone without permission.
Brueckner will be forced to surrender his passport and given an ID card attempting to limit his movements to Germany.
But flight fears remained after it emerged the ankle tag would stop working the instant the sex offender leaves German borders.
Investigators worry Brueckner could flee Germany despite his conditions with no passport required to move freely within mainland Europe.
As part of their bid to interview Brueckner, Met detectives have applied to German investigators for formal legal assistance.
The status would give them access to all German files and witnesses amid apparent new interest from UK detectives in the case.
It follows claims from Germany that British intervention could be crucial to any hopes of keeping the case going.
The details around police surveillance of his movements remains unclear.
But the monitoring was expected to remain in place until Brueckner’s next scheduled court appearance, in October, over claims he verbally abuse a prisoner governor.
But in 2020 German prosecutors sensationally declared Brueckner their prime suspect, pointing to his phone data and links to the Algarve at the time Madeleine vanished.
They have since carried out digs in Portugal, seized items from properties and pursued new leads.
But no smoking gun has emerged.
Mr Wolters insisted the case is still active and that prosecutors have built up evidence “which indicates that he is responsible for the disappearance and the death of Madeleine McCann.”
This week, a new lead has emerged after a notorious network of paedophiles linked to a serial child-killer were feared to have ordered Maddie’s kidnapping.
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A former top Belgian official, who led the inquiry into the murderer and child-molester Marc Dutroux, says a gang of traffickers could be connected to her disappearance.
Three days before the girl was snatched in 2007, Belgian cops had issued an alert to European police forces over intelligence that a paedophile gang had ordered a small child to be snatched.
It comes as a Sun investigation — aired on Channel 4 earlier this year — revealed the existence of a hard drive and laptop containing images from Portugal, closely linked to the belief held by cops that Madeleine is in fact dead.
Brueckner’s dark past
Christian Brueckner’s criminal record spans decades.
He was jailed in 1994 for sexually abusing children, convicted again of child sex abuse in 2016, and was living in Portugal at the time of Madeleine’s disappearance.
He was later convicted of raping the American tourist in Praia da Luz in 2005 – just yards from the McCann holiday complex – but was cleared last year in a separate rape and sexual abuse case.
A Sun investigation this year — aired on Channel 4 — revealed bombshell new evidence, including his obsession with snatching blonde girls.
Brueckner has always denied any involvement in Madeleine’s disappearance.
But prosecutors are adamant he remains their focus.
Wolters has previously said: “There is no one else. He is the only suspect.”
TIMELINE OF THE MADDY CASE
HERE’S a timeline of the case which has gripped the world.
May 3, 2007
Madeleine McCann disappears from her family’s holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, sparking a massive police search and becoming one of the most famous missing persons cases in history.
January 15, 2016
Neighbour reports a possible ‘grave’ at Brueckner’s abandoned factory in East Germany.
Cops find disturbing images on USB sticks and launch a full-scale search.
February 16, 2016
Christian Brueckner is convicted for abusing a girl of five in a park after images found on his laptop.
He was sentenced to 15-months behind bars but was already on the run by then.
May 3, 2017
Around this time, Helge B calls an information hotline after watching a ten-year anniversary special on the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.
He reports an alleged confession by Christian Brueckner.
September 27, 2018
On-the-run Christian Brueckner is arrested over outstanding drugs claims in Italy.
He is extradited to Germany the following year.
December 16, 2019
Christian Brueckner was convicted, in Germany, for the 2005 rape of an American woman in Praia da Luz, Portugal, after his DNA was matched to a hair found on her bed.
He was sentenced to seven years behind bars.
June 4, 2020
German prosecutors reveal to the world they have a suspect in custody under investigation for the abduction of Madeleine McCann.
For the first time they claim Madeleine is dead.
German media later name him as Christian B (Christian Brueckner).
June 23, 2023
In his first interview, witness Helge B alleges to German newspaper Bild that Christian Brueckner all-but-confessed the Madeleine abduction to him, by allegedly saying “she didn’t scream” as they talked about the case, at a music festival, in Spain.
February 16, 2024
Brueckner goes on trial accused of none-McCann allegations of rape and sex assault, in Braunschweig, Germany.
Prosecutors hope for a conviction to keep him behind bars permanently and lead to McCann charges.
October 8, 2024
Brueckner was acquitted of all claims.
Prosecutors launch an appeal, however. Decision pending.
June 1, 2025
Police order a renewed search for clues in Praia Da Luz on the Algarve in Portugal.
It lasts for just three days.
September 17, 2025
Christian Brueckner released from jail after serving sentence for rape and allowed to walk free
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