Warning: This article contains discussion of child abuse which some readers may find distressing.
A major update has been shared in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, who went missing in May, 2007.
Some 18 years ago, the three-year-old was on holiday with her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, and her twin siblings, Sean and Amelie, when she went missing from the Praia da Luz hotel apartment.
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Kate and Gerry had been having dinner at the Ocean Club restaurant - which was around 100 yards from the room - on the evening.
Madeleine's disappearance has been one of the biggest unsolved cases in the last two decades, and has seen the McCanns relentlessly searching for their daughter since the day she went missing.
In the latest update in the case, a hard drive has been uncovered at a disused factory bought by the prime suspect in the McCann investigation - Christian Brueckner - which reportedly 'contains evidence she is dead'.
Here's everything we know about the new evidence.
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Who is Christian Brueckner?
Brueckner - who is a German national and convicted paedophile - is the lead suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.
In 2022, prosecutors declared Brueckner had between charged with several sexual offences allegedly committed in Portugal between 2000 and 2017.
What's the new evidence?
According to The Telegraph, German prosecutors believe Brueckner killed the three-year-old after she vanished during the family holiday.
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The Sun claims that a hard drive was found at a disused factory, owned by Brueckner, which reportedly 'contains evidence she is dead'.
Investigators in the case also discovered an insurance document which they say proves Brueckner was at a music festival where he is said to have confessed to being behind her death.
The Sun additionally reports that masks, unlicensed guns and ammunition, children’s toys, and bikes were found at Brueckner's hideaway, despite him having no children himself, while as many as 75 children's swimming costumes were also discovered.
It is reported that German police also found USB sticks and memory cards.
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The Sun reports that in one, Brueckner 'described drugging a mother and daughter outside a nursery school'.
Child abuse images of four and five-year-old girls were also said to have been found during the searches.
Skype conversations were found, including one in which he allegedly said he wanted to 'capture something small and use it for days'.
What have witnesses said about Brueckner?
Brueckner's ex-cellmate, Laurentiu Codin, has told a court that he admitted to abducting a child around the time Madeleine went missing, as per the Mirror.
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He said: "He told me that in Portugal, he had stolen there. He was in a region where there are hotels and rich people live. He said there was somewhere with an open window, he told me this. He was looking for money.
"He said he didn’t find any money but found a kid and took the child. He said that two hours later, there were police and dogs all over the place, so he then went away, out of the area.
Meanwhile, in 2023, 'Helge B' - an acquaintance of Brueckner whose full name has not been released - claimed that they had been at a festival in Spain when Brueckner asked him if he still travelled to Portugal, to which he said that there were now too many police checks since Madeleine's disappearance.
"I don't understand anyway how the little girl could disappear without a trace," Helge B said he told Brueckner.
Brueckner reportedly replied: "She didn't even scream."
Where is Brueckner now?
Brueckner is currently behind bars for the 2005 rape of an American woman in Praia da Luz but was acquitted of all of these claims last year and could be released as early as September 2025, unless prosecutors are able to prove that he is the man who killed Madeleine all those years ago.
Why hasn't Brueckner been charged?
German prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters has previously said there wasn’t enough 'hard evidence'.
"All indication we have got that I can’t tell you points in the direction that Madeleine is dead," he told Sky News in 2020.
"We’ve got things we cannot communicate that speak for the theory that Madeleine is dead, even if I have to admit that we don’t have the body."
The new claims will air in full in a Channel 4 documentary set to be released on Wednesday night (7 May).
Topics: Madeleine McCann, UK News, World News, Crime, Police
Lucy Devine