NEED TO KNOW
- British toddler Madeleine McCann went missing in 2007.
- Now British police are calling for the extradition, to the UK, of prime suspect Christian Brueckner.
- He denies any involvement in the crime and is resisting calls to stand trial at the Old Bailey.
- Madeleine’s parents remain desperate to know what happened to their daughter.
- Next year marks the 20th anniversary of Madeleine’s disappearance.
Nineteen years have passed since British toddler Madeleine McCann went missing in Portugal.
Now there is a new twist in the case, after Metropolitan Police in Britain recently announced that they want to put convicted rapist and paedophile Christian Brueckner, who has been named as a prime suspect , on trial in the UK.
A senior Scotland Yard officer is leading the push to charge German Brueckner, 48, and have him stand trial at the Old Bailey in London, ahead of the 20th anniversary of Madeleine’s disappearance in 2027.
The Madeleine McCann suspect extradition push is a stunning new development.
Despite the positive push from UK authorities to try Brueckner, due to circumstantial evidence linking him to the crime, he has made clear that he plans to resist any compulsion to head to the UK to face justice.
“I have good lawyers,” the 48-year old said, when approached about a potential extradition, by journalists from UK newspaper The Mirror.
Hans Christian Wolters, a lead prosecutor on the German investigation into Brueckner’s crimes added; “I suspect this is just hot air again. Extradition would require an arrest warrant but there certainly isn’t one.”
However, Hans Christian Wolters also claimed in 2021 that he believed Brueckner had killed Madeleine, and added recently that he remains “the only suspect in the case.”
Brueckner was named, in 2022, by Portuguese authorities as the prime suspect in the abduction of Madeleine, after she went missing from the Praia du Luz holiday resort on May 3, 2007.
He has not been charged in the case and denies any involvement.
At the time, Brueckner lived near to the resort where she was staying and had worked briefly as a pool attendant at the resort.
Despite the Madeleine McCann suspect extradition push, Brueckner’s defiant resistance to a UK trial will no doubt be a painful blow to Madeleine’s parents, Kate and Gerry, who remain desperate to find out what happened to their eldest daughter.
The couple also have twins Sean and Amelie, who were two when Madeleine went missing, and are now 21.
The family marked the 19th anniversary of Madeleine’s disappearance with a vigil, near their Lincolnshire home, and stated afterwards, via social media, “For Madeleine, who we love and miss every day – we will never give up.”
