Photo: YouTube
Phone records link him to the area.
By Alice Kelly — Written on Jan 31, 2022
A team of German investigative journalists have revealed information that links convicted sex offender Christian Breuckner to the area from which Madeleine McCann went missing in 2007.
In a new TV documentary, the reporters claim analysis of phone records place Breuckner "no more than five minutes" from the Praia da Luz apartment where Madeleine was last seen.
Christian Breuckner allegedly worked at the resort where Madeleine McCann disappeared.
According to the German documentary “New Leads in the Maddie Case,” Breuckner worked as a handyman at the Ocean Club in Praia da Luz, where Madeleine was staying along with her two younger siblings and parents, Kate and Gerry McCann.
A reconstruction in the documentary claims Breuckner could have taken Madeleine.
Madeleine disappeared from a bedroom in the rental apartment while her parents were eating at a nearby restaurant with friends.
The couples had taken turns checking on the children. The time frame between checks in which Madeleine disappeared is reported to have been less than an hour.
It has long been suspected that whoever took Madeleine was familiar with the property.
A reconstruction in the documentary claims to demonstrate how Breuckner could have made his escape with the child.
Christian Breuckner is currently the only named suspect in Madeleine McCann’s disappearance.
In 2020, German investigators first named Breuckner as a prime suspect in the disappearance of the British child who went missing while on a family holiday in Portugal days before her 4th birthday.
Breuckner was reportedly being investigated since 2017.
Investigators have repeatedly stated their suspicions of Breuckner, who is currently serving time in prison, but have been unable to bring a charge against him in connection to the Madeleine McCann case.
Breuckner denies any involvement in her disappearance.
Christian Breuckner has been charged with numerous sex crimes.
Breuckner has been in prison in Germany since 2018, serving a seven-year prison sentence for raping a 72-year-old American woman in the Algarve in 2005.
Reports say he has 17 convictions for child abuse and child pornography and other offences.
Police officers are also investigating his alleged involvement in three other cases including the rape of Irish woman Hazel Behan in Praia da Rocha, Portugal in 2004.
He is also under investigation for the sexual assault of a 10-year-old girl in Portugal in 2007 and the abuse of four children at a festival in São Bartolomeu de Messines in 2017.
Breuckner continues to protest his innocence.
Breuckner has written several letters to journalists, from his prison cell, taunting investigators and those who have linked him to these crimes.
One of these letters is shared in the German documentary.
“Where possible, [I] only drive during the day so my battered ‘hippy bus’ didn’t attract attention, only driving on roads I needed to and, most importantly, never provoking the police,” Breuckner allegedly wrote.
“So, that means not committing any crimes, certainly not abducting anyone. Having said that, this was just as absurd to me at the time as starting a nuclear war or slaughtering a chicken.”
Alice Kelly is a senior news and entertainment editor for YourTango. Based out of Brooklyn, New York, her work covers all things social justice, pop culture, and human interest. Keep up with her Twitter for more.