A police expert has said that he believes police investigating the Madeleine McCann disappearance have ‘something they haven’t shared’. A massive new search is taking place today at a reservoir in Portugal in an area known to be frequented by convicted sex offender Christian Brueckner, who is a prime suspect.
Speaking on Good Morning Britain, child safety expert Jim Gamble, who played a central role in the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann said Brueckner ‘fits the bill’ and that the German police who are normally ‘cautious and conservative’ are ‘adamant’ they’re on the right track.
A Policia Judiciaria statement said it is co-ordinating searches in the Algarve at the request of German police and in the presence of British officers. An area near the Barragem do Arade reservoir, around 50km from Praia da Luz where Madeleine went missing in 2007, was being sealed off ahead of searches according to Portuguese news website SIC.
Investigators believe the 45-year-old Brueckner killed Madeleine, then aged three, after abducting her from a holiday apartment. Mr Gamble told hosts Richard Madeley and Susanna Reid:”They will follow the evidence and they have something in my opinion, that they haven’t shared. They are too positive in their in their public assertions about death and about this suspect not to have something else. And it’s right that you hold back that information when you’re investigating. So I would like to think if this is a positive line of inquiry linked to Christian Bruckner and that investigation, that if they do find evidence they will be able to help use that to link their suspect to this case.”
Speaking about the investigation he said: “I think it’s different in so far as the German authorities have a live investigation, one whereby they have been absolutely adamant that they have the right person. They have been equally adamant that they believe Madeleine McCann is dead. Those are are two extremely strong positions and knowing the German authorities and the German police having worked with in the past, they are generally conservative and cautious. So for them to be so positive about their lines of inquiry so positive about a suspect and and let’s be honest, he’s a suspect who fits the profile perfectly.
“He is a non preferential sex offender. He will attack people at different ages, you know, and has is in prison at the minute for rape. He’s someone who is reported to have had an interest in in online child sex abuse and images. And there have been, , children’s clothing found in in premises that he occupied before. He’s also someone that’s been involved in burglaries. So when you put that together with the circumstantial evidence that places a phone attributed to him within proximity of the crime scene at the time that Madeleine went, Miss Madeleine went missing. You can see that you’ve got a really, really strong suspect. That’s not that we should close our eyes to others.”
Searches are expected to begin on Tuesday as part of the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, police in Portugal have confirmed. Brueckner, spent time in the area between 2000 and 2017.
Brueckner, who has denied involvement in the youngster’s disappearance, was identified as a suspect by Portuguese officials in June 2020. He is facing charges in Germany over a number of separate sex offences allegedly committed in Portugal during that time.
