Formal suspect identified by police in Madeleine McCann case

Authorities have officially declared a suspect.

Prosecutors in Portugal have officially declared a formal suspect in the ongoing Madeleine McCann case. The suspect, understood to be a German man, has not been named. According to BBC News, Portuguese officials referred to the individual as an "arguido" – which translates as 'named suspect' or 'person of interest' – while acting on the request of German authorities. In 2020, 44-year-old Christian Brueckner was named as the prime suspect in the case looking into McCann's 2007 disappearance, with German prosecutors reportedly "100% convinced" he is the man responsible. Brueckner is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence for raping a 72-year-old American woman at her home on the Algarve. Earlier this year, he released a statement from prison proclaiming his innocence in relation to the McCann case. He has not been charged in connection with McCann's disappearance and has continued to deny any involvement. Next month will mark 15 years since the three-year-old vanished during a family holiday in Praia da Luz. Operation Grange, the inquiry into McCann's status that has been estimated to have cost almost €15 million to date, is set to draw to a close later this year. Speaking to BBC Breakfast, former policeman Jim Gamble, who worked on a 2010 review of the case, said he is praying for a resolution to the matter. "What her family have gone through with the loss of Madeleine - with what they've had to suffer with some of the idiots on social media, which hasn't made things easier for them - has been horrendous," said Gamble. "I hope and I pray, like everybody else that has been touched by this case, that we're coming to the end.

"It would just be fantastic to be able to give the McCann's peace of mind so far as knowing exactly what happened."