Christian Brueckner, the German national long identified as the prime suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, has refused to be interviewed by the Metropolitan Police ahead of his imminent release from prison, according to statements from both British and German authorities. This development marks another twist in one of the world’s most notorious missing person cases, leaving investigators and the public alike grappling with unanswered questions nearly two decades after the three-year-old vanished from her family’s holiday apartment in Portugal.
The Metropolitan Police confirmed they had sent an international letter of request to 49-year-old Brueckner, seeking his cooperation in their ongoing investigation. However, Brueckner rejected the request, declining to provide any new information before he is scheduled to walk free from prison on Wednesday, September 17, 2025, at the latest. As reported by BBC and The Mirror, Brueckner is currently serving a seven-year sentence in Germany following his 2019 conviction for the rape of a 72-year-old American woman in Praia da Luz, the same resort town where Madeleine disappeared in 2007.
Brueckner’s criminal history stretches back to his teenage years, beginning with a burglary conviction at age 15. Over the decades, his record has grown to include more than a dozen convictions, notably for sexually abusing a youth as a teenager—a crime for which he served an 18-month sentence. Despite this lengthy rap sheet, Brueckner was acquitted in October 2024 of three counts of aggravated rape and two counts of sexual abuse of children, charges that were alleged to have occurred in Portugal between 2000 and 2017. His defense cited a lack of evidence, and the German court agreed, clearing him of those unrelated sexual offenses.
Yet, Brueckner’s name remains inextricably linked to the McCann case. German prosecutors first named him as the prime suspect in 2020, citing mobile phone records that placed him in Praia da Luz on the night Madeleine vanished. According to AFP and BBC, his mobile phone was "pinged" by a tower in the resort town on May 3, 2007, the night three-year-old Madeleine was reported missing by her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann. The family, from Rothley, Leicestershire, had left Madeleine and her younger twin siblings asleep in their ground-floor apartment while they dined at a nearby restaurant, checking on the children every half hour. At around 9 p.m., Gerry McCann saw Madeleine sleeping. By 10 p.m., Kate McCann discovered her daughter missing, the window open and the shutter raised—a chilling scene that would spark a global search effort and years of heartbreak.
Despite extensive investigations by Portuguese, British, and German authorities, and the case’s transformation into an international media sensation, no trace of Madeleine has ever been found. The Portuguese police initially closed their investigation in 2008, but Scotland Yard launched its own review, dubbed Operation Grange, in 2011 at the request of then Home Secretary Theresa May. Five years after Madeleine’s disappearance, the Met released an age-progression image of how she might look as a nine-year-old, keeping hope alive that she could still be found.
Operation Grange remains very much active. Just last month, the British government approved an additional £108,000 in funding for the investigation, bringing the total spent on the case to more than £13.2 million since 2011. According to The Guardian, the current team includes a detective chief inspector, a detective constable, and a member of police staff, all dedicated to pursuing any remaining leads.
Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cranwell, the senior investigating officer for the Met’s probe, expressed his determination to continue the search for answers. "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," Cranwell said in a statement cited by BBC. "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 inquiry. We can provide no further information while the investigation is ongoing."
Brueckner, for his part, has consistently denied any involvement in Madeleine’s disappearance and has not been charged in connection with the case. German prosecutors, however, remain convinced of his connection. Hans Christian Wolters, the chief prosecutor overseeing the German investigation, told AFP on September 4, 2025, that Brueckner remains "fundamentally dangerous" and is expected to leave Germany after his release. In an interview with The Mirror, Wolters maintained hope that Brueckner might eventually be charged, stating that his team is working on the case "every single day." He refused to rule out further searches, and in an August interview with BBC, he described Brueckner as "not just our number one suspect, he's the only suspect." Wolters added, however, that while there is evidence linking Brueckner to Madeleine’s disappearance, it is "not strong enough to make a guilty verdict likely."
The investigation has not been without controversy. A former friend of Brueckner’s, Helge B, claimed that Brueckner confessed to involvement in Madeleine’s disappearance, telling a German court that Brueckner once said she "didn’t scream." Brueckner has dismissed these allegations as "not even worthy of comment," and the credibility of Helge B’s claims has been widely questioned.
Authorities continue to probe every possible lead. In June 2025, Portuguese and German police conducted a new search of an area between where Madeleine went missing and locations linked to Brueckner, but the operation produced no breakthroughs. Previous searches in 2023 near the Barragem do Arade reservoir—about 30 miles from Praia da Luz—also failed to yield significant results. Brueckner is known to have spent time in the region between 2000 and 2017, and investigators have found photographs and videos of him near the reservoir, further cementing their suspicions.
As Brueckner’s release date approaches, the case remains a painful mystery for the McCann family and a source of public fascination and frustration. The authorities’ continued efforts—and the substantial resources allocated to Operation Grange—underscore the enduring determination to solve the case and bring closure to Madeleine’s family. Yet, with the prime suspect refusing to cooperate and no decisive evidence forthcoming, the question of what happened to Madeleine McCann remains as haunting and unresolved as ever.
