18 Years Later: Shocking New Clues in Madeleine McCann Case
It’s been 18 years since 3-year-old Madeleine McCann vanished during a family vacation in Portugal, sparking one of the world’s most haunting missing persons cases. Now, German authorities believe they may be closer to the truth.
A hard drive uncovered by police reportedly contains disturbing images suggesting Madeleine is dead. The prime suspect, 48-year-old Christian Brueckner, was named in 2020. He’s currently in prison for the 2005 rape of an American woman in the same region where Maddie disappeared.
Brueckner denies involvement, but the case against him is mounting. A former cellmate testified that Brueckner bragged about abducting a child in a wealthy Portuguese resort area. Police also found alarming items at his compound: masks, weapons, children’s toys, 75 swimsuits, and graphic stories detailing child abduction and abuse.
Investigators uncovered chat logs with other pedophiles, one stating he wanted to “capture something small and use it for days.” Photos placed Brueckner near Arade Dam, close to where Maddie disappeared, and he reportedly told a friend at a Spanish festival that she “did not scream.”
German authorities are expected to reveal more from the hard drive in a documentary airing May 7. In 2020, prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters declared: “We have strong evidence that Madeleine is dead and that our suspect killed her.”