Panic has broken out after Madeleine suspect Christian Brueckner is allowed to live in small town filled with families

Published on September 19, 2025 at 08:02 PM
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PANIC has broken out in a small German town after it emerged Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner has moved there after his release on Wednesday.

Parents have blasted authorities for allowing the .

Christian Brueckner wearing an ankle monitor and holding a cigarette.Locals say they are afraid after Christian Brueckner moved into their town in Germany Handout photograph of Madeleine McCann.Madeleine McCann went missing in 2007 from a holiday resort in Praia da Luz, Portugal

A local council had confirmed the move while a detail of agents from the German FBI are said to be tailing 24/7 after he demanded celebrity-style protection.

The Sun knows the name of the town but has chosen not to publish it.

One objector posted: “How can you even let this beast out? Our justice has been ringing the bell for too long.”

A fuming local added: “It doesn’t matter that the police can track all his steps.

“They don’t have a live camera, do they? He can hurt the children for life within two minutes. This man belongs in prison.

“We don’t just have to be careful, we have to be afraid for him. He is capable of anything.”

— seen by The Sun — showed his desire to go to ground after his .

He wrote: “I do not want to be recognised on the street at any time.”

He also said he was scared to leave his , writing he expected “to be physically attacked or killed by fellow inmates”.

Christian Brueckner walks free from prison in Germany
Christian Brueckner in court next to his defense team.Christian Brueckner is the prime suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, but is currently a free man

Brueckner's dark past

CHRISTIAN Brueckner's criminal record spans decades.

He was jailed in 1994 for sexually abusing children, convicted again of child sex abuse in 2016, and was living in Portugal at the time of Madeleine’s disappearance.

He was later convicted of raping the American tourist in Praia da Luz in 2005 – just yards from the McCann holiday complex – but was cleared last year in a separate rape and sexual abuse case.

A Sun investigation this year — aired on — revealed , including his obsession with snatching blonde girls.

But prosecutors are adamant he remains their focus.

Wolters has previously said: “There is no one else. He is the only suspect.”

Timeline of Maddie's disappearance

May 3, 2007

Madeleine McCann disappears from her family’s holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, sparking a and becoming one of the most famous missing persons cases in history.

January 15, 2016

Neighbour reports a possible ‘grave’ at Brueckner’s abandoned factory in East Germany.

Cops find disturbing and launch a full-scale search.

February 16, 2016

Christian Brueckner is convicted for abusing a girl of five in a park after images found on his laptop.

He was sentenced to 15-months behind bars but was already on the run by then.

May 3, 2017

Around this time, calls an information hotline after watching a ten-year anniversary special on the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

He reports an alleged confession by Christian Brueckner.

September 27, 2018

On-the-run Christian Brueckner is arrested over outstanding drugs claims in Italy.

He is extradited to Germany the following year.

December 16, 2019

Christian Brueckner was convicted, in Germany, for the 2005 rape of an American woman in Praia da Luz, Portugal, after his DNA was matched to a hair found on her bed.

He was sentenced to seven years behind bars.

June 4, 2020

German prosecutors reveal to the world they have a suspect in custody under investigation for the abduction of Madeleine McCann.

For the first time they claim .

German media later name him as .

June 23, 2023

In his first interview, witness Helge B alleges to German newspaper Bild that Christian Brueckner all-but-confessed the Madeleine abduction to him, by allegedly saying “she didn’t scream” as they talked about the case, at a music festival, in Spain.

February 16, 2024

Brueckner goes on trial accused of none-McCann allegations of rape and sex assault, in Braunschweig, Germany.

Prosecutors hope for a conviction to keep him behind bars permanently and lead to McCann charges.

October 8, 2024

.

Prosecutors launch an appeal, however. Decision pending.

September 17, 2025

Date on which from custody without action being taken.

Prosecutors require an arrest warrant for a retrial over claims from last year – or over the McCann case.

June 1, 2025

Police order a renewed search for clues in Praia Da Luz on the Algarve in Portugal.

It lasts for just three days.

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