New Suspect Identified In Disappearance of Madeleine McCann

13 years after the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, authorities have identified a new prime suspect in the case of the missing British girl. This week, UK police announced that a German man, who is currently in prison on an unrelated sex crime charge, is being investigated as a new suspect in Madeleine McCann’s case. According to the BBC, Scotland Yard believes the 43-year-old German national was traveling around Portugal at the time of McCann’s disappearance in 2007.
The disappearance of Madeleine McCann, a young British girl vacationing in Portugal with her family, made headlines at the time, and has continued to captivate crime-solvers in the years since. In 2019, director Chris Smith released a Disappearance of Madeleine McCann Netflix docuseries that interviewed members of the media and local police tasked with investigating the toddler’s mysterious disappearance.
Does The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann Netflix docuseries introduce the new German suspect? What can viewers learn from Netflix’s Madeleine McCann documentary? Read on to find out.

WHAT IS THE DISAPPEARANCE OF MADELEINE MCCANN NETFLIX DOCUSERIES?

Last year, Netflix released an eight-part docuseries exploring the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, a three-year-old British girl who went missing at a Portuguese resort on May 3, 2007. Madeleine’s parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, were eating dinner at a nearby tapas bar roughly 100 yards away, but when they returned, their daughter had vanished, never to be seen again.
The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann provides context to the young girl’s disappearance and explores the media frenzy and police investigation surrounding the case. Much of the docuseries focuses on Kate and Gerry, who initially arose as suspects before being cleared, but they did not participate directly in the project.

WHO IS CHRISTOPHER BRUECKNER, THE NEW SUSPECT IN MADELEINE MCCANN’S CASE?

This week, investigators identified a 43-year-old German national as a prime suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. Police did not release the man’s name, but according to the New York Post, German newspaper Der Spiegel outed his identity as Christopher Brueckner. Authorities believe that Brueckner was traveling through the Praia de Luz, Portugal area in a camper van at the time that McCann disappeared; the Post reports that he made a phone call an hour before the young girl went missing, and the following day, his other vehicle was transferred to someone else’s name.

Brueckner, a convicted sex offender and drug trafficker, is currently serving a seven-year sentence for raping a 72-year-old American tourist.

DOES THE MADELEINE MCCANN NETFLIX SERIES MENTION THE NEW GERMAN SUSPECT?

Not explicitly, no. Netflix’s docuseries does not identify a German suspect — British and German police said they learned significant information about Brueckner after making an appeal to the public for the 10th anniversary of Madeleine McCann’s disappearance — but it does suggest that the suspect could be someone not initially identified by authorities. In that respect, it was correct.

WHERE ARE MADELEINE MCCANN’S PARENTS NOW? WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT KATE AND GERRY MCCANN

13 years after her disappearance, Kate and Gerry McCann have not stopped looking for their daughter, who would have turned 17 on May 12. Shortly after the German man was identified as a suspect, the McCanns thanked police, telling the BBC, “All we have ever wanted is to find her.”

Where to stream The Disappearance of Madeleine McCann