The father of Christian Brueckner’s former lover fears Madeleine McCann was inside the paedophile’s van when he was given a tour of it.
Dieter Fehlinger, 67, was shown around the VW by Brueckner when visiting his daughter Nicole, 45, in Portugal in 2007.
Fehlinger has previously stated how the German claimed he could hide drugs or “even a small child” inside an adapted hiding place.
However, now he told Australian TV that he is haunted that Madeleine could have been inside.
“I have been thinking about it the whole time,” he said.
Nicole met Brueckner at a Christmas party in 2006, but since he was named as a suspect into the disappearance of Madeline, she has been questioned by the German equivalent of the FBI due to their previous relationship.
She is not a suspect.
German prosecutors are believed to be days away from charging Brueckner with fresh sex crimes. He is suspected of raping an Irish tour rep and indecently exposing himself to youngsters in Portugal.
Brueckner was living in a camper close to Praia da Luz when Madeleine vanished from a holiday apartment in May 2007.
Currently serving a jail term in Germany for rape, Brueckner denies any involvement in Madeleine’s disappearance.
This comes as The Daily Mirror reported that prosecutors have moved a step closer to charging Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner with new sex crimes.
They have handed their files to Brueckner’s lawyer, the final step under German law before charges are brought.
The paperwork includes evidence allegedly linking him to the rape of an Irish tour rep and indecent exposures.
German prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters told the Mirror the files were handed to Brueckner’s lawyer Friedrich Fulscher earlier this week. They do not include any evidence relating to Madeleine’s disappearance from her parents’ holiday flat in Praia da Luz in 2007.
Mr Wolters previously said investigators are sure Brueckner, 45, who lived in the resort, abducted the three-year-old.
Hazel Behan says she was raped in Praia de Rocha in June 2004, report Mirror Online.
She has waived her right to anonymity and said her masked attacker spoke English with a German accent.
The ordeal she described was similar to the rape Brueckner carried out on a pensioner in Praia da Luz in 2005, for which he is still in prison.
Files handed to Mr Fulscher also include evidence allegedly linking Brueckner to two indecent exposures to children in Portugal.
Mr Wolters said: “The defence attorney must be given a reasonable amount of time to work through the files and to discuss them with his client.
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