Maddie McCann cops probing possibility suspect took pictures of her and hid them

03 November 2023 , 22:23

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Maddie McCann vanished in 2007 (Image: PA)

Police investigating the prime suspect of the disappearance of Madeleine McCann believe he may have taken photos of the then three-year-old - before burying them.

, 47, is feared to have taken the images as trophies from his victims. Detectives in Portugal had believed they would find data drives when they organised digs near where the youngster vanished in 2007. However, none were found during the search by the officers, who also could not find any forensic evidence linking the suspect to the crime. Investigating police believe he has other hiding holes littered throughout the country which may hold clues.

Christian Brueckner, 43, is the prime suspect in her disappearance (REX/Shutterstock)

Police looking for clues in the Algarve (Phil Harris)

A source told the Sun : “They now know Christian B buried data carriers like hard drives and USB sticks at any of the places where he’s stayed so that was their real hope at the lake. They really thought they might find pictures there, but they are not giving up hope. They believe he made duplicates because he loved to keep them like trophies. So cops are now trying to find out more about Christian B's movements.”

Christian B is currently serving a seven-year sentence for the 2005 rape of a pensioner in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz but has denied any involvement in Maddie's disappearance. Last month Police in Portugal have finally apologised to the parents of for the way detectives investigated the case and treated the family, according to reports.

Madeleine vanished in May 2007 while on holiday with her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, in Praia da Luz, after they left the then three-year-old and her younger twin siblings asleep in their apartment while they went out to dinner with friends. In September 2007, detectives made them both "arguidos" - or suspects - in their daughter's disappearance. Now, it has emerged a delegation of senior Portuguese police officers travelled from Lisbon to London earlier this year, where they met and apologised to Mr McCann.

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The delegation said the initial investigation was not handled properly, insufficient importance was given at the time to missing children, and officers did not properly appreciate the McCanns' position as foreigners in an environment they did not understand, BBC Panorama reports. Mr and Mrs McCann's status of "arguidos" was eventually lifted in 2008. In 2012, Scotland Yard detectives said they believed Madeleine could still be alive, released an age-progression picture of how she might look as a nine-year-old, and called on the Portuguese authorities to reopen the case, but Portuguese police said they had found no new material.

Antony Clements-Thrower