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Maddie McCann suspect’s cellmate shares shocking confession

<p>The prime suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann allegedly confessed to a former cellmate that he once took a child from an apartment in Portugal. </p> <p>Christian Brueckner, a convicted German paedophile, has never formally been charged with the abduction of McCann but has long been the main suspect in the case. </p> <p>Brueckner, who was in and around the Praia da Luz resort area on the Algarve coast at the time McCann disappeared on May 3rd 2007, has denied any involvement with her disappearance. </p> <p>The 47-year-old is currently serving a seven-year sentence for a rape he committed in Portugal in 2005, while also being on trial for several unrelated sexual offences he is alleged to have committed between 2000 and 2017.</p> <p>In court on Wednesday, Brueckner's former cellmate Laurentiu Codin claimed he opened up about his past while they were confiding in each other at Braunschweig Prison.</p> <p>“He told me that in Portugal, he had stolen there,” Codin told Braunschweig Regional Court, <em><a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/30657247/madeleine-mccann-brueckner-admitted-snatched-girl/" target="_blank" rel="noopener" data-link-type="article-inline">The Sun</a></em> reported.</p> <p>“He was in an area of hotels where rich people live ... and when he went to the hotel area, there was an open window somewhere, he told me. And he would have entered this window for money and gold."</p> <p>“However, he did not find any money, but came across a child and took it with him.”</p> <p>He claimed Bruckner said he “left the area” and “took the child with him ... and drove away, while the place was full of police and dogs”.</p> <p>“He drove off in the car and he was gone. He asked me if the DNA from a child could be taken from bones under the ground.”</p> <p>After the witness said Brueckner was clever, the defendant’s lawyer asked whether he thought it was clever to tell someone in prison about such crimes, to which Codin said: “Perhaps ... he misjudged me.”</p> <p>McCann disappeared from her bedroom on May 3, 2007, during a family holiday while her parents were dining with friends nearby in the resort of Praia da Luz.</p> <p>German police said in June 2020 that McCann was presumed dead and that Brueckner was likely responsible for it, however, he has not been charged with any crime related to her disappearance. </p> <p><em>Image credits: MGG/Shutterstock Editorial</em></p>

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Women's football star dies at 27

<p>Sheffield United star Maddy Cusack has passed away at the age of 27. </p> <p>The club broke the news about the sudden death of the midfielder, but did not disclose any information about her cause of death. </p> <p>“Sheffield United Football Club is devastated to report the sad news of the passing of Maddy Cusack," the club said in a statement. </p> <p>“Maddy, a women’s team player since 2019 and marketing executive for the football club, passed away on Wednesday."</p> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">Sheffield United Football Club is devastated to report the sad news of the passing of Maddy Cusack.</p> <p>The Club and Maddy’s family would appreciate a period of privacy and will not comment further at this sad time.</p> <p>— Sheffield United (@SheffieldUnited) <a href="https://twitter.com/SheffieldUnited/status/1704889740636336480?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 21, 2023</a></p></blockquote> <p>“This is heartbreaking news for everyone at Bramall Lane," chief executive Stephen Bettis said.</p> <p>“Maddy had a unique position of being part of a number of teams at Sheffield United and was popular with everyone that she came into contact with."</p> <p>“Her personality and professionalism made her a credit to her family — she will be sadly missed."</p> <p>Cusack, a former England youth international player, signed a contract extension with the club in July.</p> <p>She was named as United's vice-captain last month and had just started her sixth season with the team in the second-tier Women’s Championship, making her the longest-serving player in the current squad.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p>

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BBC star passes away at just 35

<p>Maddy Anholt, a well-known figure from the BBC, has passed away at the age of 35, as confirmed by her family. Maddy, who was not only a television star but also an advocate for charitable causes, succumbed to a rare and aggressive form of brain cancer.</p> <p>This heartbreaking news comes on the heels of the birth of her daughter, Opal, just last year. In a heartfelt statement shared on <a href="https://www.gofundme.com/f/maddy-anholt" target="_blank" rel="noopener">GoFundMe</a>, Maddy's family expressed their deep sorrow:</p> <p>"It is with profound sorrow that we announce the death of Maddy Anholt, our beloved daughter, sister, twin, friend, wife and mother, who left this world on Wednesday 13th September, aged 35. </p> <p>"You may know that shortly after the birth of her incredible daughter Opal last year, Maddy was diagnosed with a rare and aggressive form of brain cancer. She handled the ensuing surgery and treatment with astonishing grace and courage, accompanied every step of the way by her family and devoted husband, Ben. She spent her final weeks at her parents’ home, bathed in love and calm, and with the sounds of nature all around.</p> <p>"In her short life, Maddy accomplished so much. She was a marathon-runner, author, speaker, actor and Ambassador for Women’s Aid. Her debut book was published in 2022 and her first fiction will be published soon. As an actor, she appeared in sitcoms for the BBC, ITV and Channel 4, while as a speaker she led numerous masterclasses, including for the <em>Guardian</em>.</p> <p>"We are overwhelmed with gratitude to the many friends who have upheld us with their love and prayers during this difficult time, as well as the countless nurses, doctors and the NHS as a whole, who treated her with unfailing dignity and compassion. In particular we would like to thank the magnificent team at Seaton Hospice at Home, who are the embodiment of empathy, professionalism and love.</p> <p>"We ask you not to send flowers but if you feel moved to make a small donation, this fundraiser has been set up to provide for Maddy’s one-year-old daughter, Opal.</p> <p>"Alternatively, you might consider a contribution to Maddy’s favourite charity, Women’s Aid. Maddy was a powerful advocate for women’s rights and on publication of her debut book, she was invited to become an Ambassador for Women’s Aid, which she carried out with characteristic energy and humour:  <a href="https://www.womensaid.org.uk/get-involved/give/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">www.womensaid.org.uk/give</a>.</p> <p>"Wherever you are, please join us at 6pm BST on Saturday 16th September, to light a candle. Pray, meditate and hold our precious Maddy in your hearts as she returns to the stars."</p> <p>In addition to her television work with BBC Three, BBC One, ITV, and Channel 4, Maddy Anholt was also an ambassador for Women's Aid. Last year, she authored a book titled <em>How to Leave Your Psychopath: The Essential Handbook for Escaping Toxic Relationships</em>, sharing her own experiences in an abusive relationship.</p> <p>The chief executive of Women's Aid, Farah Nazeer, expressed the organisation's deep sadness at the loss of their esteemed ambassador.</p> <p>Maddy Anholt spent her final moments at her family's home in Devon, surrounded by loved ones.</p> <p><em>Images: Instagram</em></p>

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New Maddie McCann theory has "electrified" investigators

<p>An important witness in the Madeleine McCann case has shared a valuable piece of information which has has "electrified" investigators, as the search for the missing child continues. </p> <p>The witness claims that Christian Brueckner, the prime suspect in Maddie's disappearance, had a burglary tool kit that could unlock any security door, and boasted to friends about his lock picking skills. </p> <p>This new theory has raised fresh doubts over the official theory that ­Maddie’s kidnapper clambered in through a window of holiday apartment 5a in Praia da Luz when she was abducted. </p> <p>German police are said to be “electrified” by discovery, and are also probing the possibility that Christian B used car paint solvent to sedate Maddie.</p> <p>In an exclusive interview from a secret location, Helge B – now in German police witness protection – told filmmaker Jutta Rabe for <a href="https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/22893975/madeleine-mccann-suspect-christian-b-lock-pick-kit/"><em>The Sun on Sunday</em>,</a> “He came through the door”.</p> <p>Helge B, 52, who met his fellow German a year before Maddie vanished aged three, said he found the kit at Christian B’s Algarve home.</p> <p>The petty criminal had decided to ransack it with another friend after learning Christian B was serving time for theft.</p> <p>He said, “I knew from Christian that he uses tools to break into holiday resorts, hotels and holiday homes to steal from tourists."</p> <p>“There were passports on the table. There was all sorts of stuff lying around – cameras, suitcases, everything that tourists have with them. I also found a lock pick set.”</p> <p>Helge B, who kept the kit and told German police about it, added, “You can use it to pick any lock, including security locks.”</p> <p>Despite police long believing Maddie's abductor had snuck in through the window, when asked how Christian B might've entered the hotel room, Helge simply said, “Through the door. Easily. He can open any door”.</p> <p>Upon the discovery of the new evidence, a police source said, “The German detectives were electrified by the discovery of the tool kit with the lock picks in it. This evidence is now very important to them."</p> <p>“It confirmed a suspicion that they’d had for a long time – that Christian B entered the apartment through the door.”</p> <p>German prosecutors hope to use the lock picks evidence to nail Christian B, who is in jail for drugs crimes and appealing a seven-year sentence for raping a woman of 72.</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p>

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Fresh location being searched in Maddy McCann case

<p>Portuguese police have revealed they will resume the search for missing toddler Madeleine McCann who disappeared in the country’s Algarve region in 2007.</p> <p>Portugal’s Judicial police released a statement confirming local media reports that they would conduct the search at the request of the German authorities and in the presence of British officials.</p> <p>A spokesperson from the fire brigade said police were preparing to start searches at a dam in the southern region of Algarve about 50km inland from a beach resort where Madeleine disappeared from a rented apartment while on a family holiday.</p> <p>On May 22, Reuters TV footage showed police erecting tents and cordons in the area by the Arade dam, roughly 50km from Praia da Luza, where the three-year-old was last seen alive.</p> <p>Portugal’s investigative Judicial Police overseeing the operation declined to comment.</p> <p>Another source familiar with the investigation was not confident there would be a breakthrough, saying, “It will come to nothing”.</p> <p>In mid-2020, German police jailed German citizen Christian Brueckner, a 45-year-old convicted child abuser and drug dealer who was in the Algarve in 2007, for raping a 72-year-old woman in the same area of the Algarve where Madeleine went missing. He was identified as a suspect in Madeline’s disappearance but has denied any involvement.</p> <p>Brueckner remains under investigation on suspicion of murder in the McCann case but hasn’t been charged.</p> <p>German police said in June 2020 that Madeleine was assumed dead and that Brueckner was likely responsible for it.</p> <p>In April, a German court dismissed additional charges against him related to other Portuguese child rape and sexual assault cases that led to German prosecutors no longer having jurisdiction to investigate the McCann case.</p> <p>Madeleine’s parents Kate and Gerry McCann were questioned by Portuguese police as formal suspects in 2007 but ruled them out the following year due to lack of evidence that cleared them of any involvement.</p> <p>The parents continue to campaign to attract attention to their daughter’s disappearance, and British public figures from business tycoons to authors and soccer stars have made appeals for information.</p> <p>Rewards for finding Madeleine have reached several million dollars.</p> <p><em>Image credit: Getty</em></p>

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Maddy McCann's parents' heart-wrenching post on 16-year anniversary

<p>Madeleine McCann's parents have released an emotional statement on the 16-year anniversary of when their daughter was abducted. </p> <p>Kate and Gerry McCann shared that they are still hoping for a breakthrough in the search for their daughter, who would now be 19 years old. </p> <p>Maddie vanished from her family’s holiday apartment in Portugal in May 2007 at the age of three and has not been seen since.</p> <p>The grieving parents shared that even after 16 difficult years, they struggle to put their heartbreak into words. </p> <p>Writing on the official Find Madeleine Instagram Page, Kate and Gerry posted an emotional poem called <em>The Contradiction</em> by Clare Pollard before thanking people for their support.</p> <blockquote class="instagram-media" style="background: #FFF; border: 0; border-radius: 3px; box-shadow: 0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width: 540px; min-width: 326px; padding: 0; width: calc(100% - 2px);" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/Crwok6gLHau/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" data-instgrm-version="14"> <div style="padding: 16px;"> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; align-items: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 40px; margin-right: 14px; width: 40px;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 100px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 60px;"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="padding: 19% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: block; height: 50px; margin: 0 auto 12px; width: 50px;"> </div> <div style="padding-top: 8px;"> <div style="color: #3897f0; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: 550; line-height: 18px;">View this post on Instagram</div> </div> <div style="padding: 12.5% 0;"> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: row; margin-bottom: 14px; align-items: center;"> <div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(0px) translateY(7px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; height: 12.5px; transform: rotate(-45deg) translateX(3px) translateY(1px); width: 12.5px; flex-grow: 0; margin-right: 14px; margin-left: 2px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; height: 12.5px; width: 12.5px; transform: translateX(9px) translateY(-18px);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: 8px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 50%; flex-grow: 0; height: 20px; width: 20px;"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 2px solid transparent; border-left: 6px solid #f4f4f4; border-bottom: 2px solid transparent; transform: translateX(16px) translateY(-4px) rotate(30deg);"> </div> </div> <div style="margin-left: auto;"> <div style="width: 0px; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-right: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(16px);"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; flex-grow: 0; height: 12px; width: 16px; transform: translateY(-4px);"> </div> <div style="width: 0; height: 0; border-top: 8px solid #F4F4F4; border-left: 8px solid transparent; transform: translateY(-4px) translateX(8px);"> </div> </div> </div> <div style="display: flex; flex-direction: column; flex-grow: 1; justify-content: center; margin-bottom: 24px;"> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; margin-bottom: 6px; width: 224px;"> </div> <div style="background-color: #f4f4f4; border-radius: 4px; flex-grow: 0; height: 14px; width: 144px;"> </div> </div> <p style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; line-height: 17px; margin-bottom: 0; margin-top: 8px; overflow: hidden; padding: 8px 0 7px; text-align: center; text-overflow: ellipsis; white-space: nowrap;"><a style="color: #c9c8cd; font-family: Arial,sans-serif; font-size: 14px; font-style: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: 17px; text-decoration: none;" href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Crwok6gLHau/?utm_source=ig_embed&amp;utm_campaign=loading" target="_blank" rel="noopener">A post shared by Official Find Madeleine Campaign (@officialfindmadeleine)</a></p> </div> </blockquote> <p>“The police investigation continues, and we await a breakthrough.” the post read. “Today marks the 16th anniversary of Madeleine’s abduction."</p> <p>“Still missing …… still very much missed."</p> <p>“It is hard to find the words to convey how we feel.”</p> <p>They added that the poem <em>The Contradiction</em> “resonates strongly with us”.</p> <p>The heart-wrenching poem reads, “You are not here, I’m not myself, but still I talk to you like this."</p> <p>“I cannot hold you, yet I do: please let me hold you in my head and where you are now, hold me too."</p> <p>After posting the poem, the couple wrote, “Thank you to everyone for your support – it really helps.”</p> <p>The post was flooded was comments of support, with one person writing, "We are so many who are with you, and who hope with all our hearts that she will be reunited with you. Please let this year be the year you'll get the answers you need."</p> <p>Another put it simply, "I hope she finds her way home to you."</p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p>

Beauty & Style

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Maddie McCann suspect charged with sex offences

<p dir="ltr">Christian Brueckner, the only suspect in the Madeleine McCann case, has been charged with several sex offences. </p> <p dir="ltr">The 45-year-old, who is already in jail for raping a 72-year-old American woman in the Portuguese resort of Praia de Luz in 2005, is the only suspect in the Maddie McCann case.</p> <p dir="ltr">The Braunschweig prosecutor's office said Brueckner has been charged with several sex offences he committed in Portugal between December 28, 2000, and June 11, 2017.</p> <p dir="ltr">“The accused is the same person against whom charges were brought in connection with the disappearance of the then three-year-old British girl Madeleine Beth McCann,” they said in a statement. </p> <p dir="ltr">"Specifically, the accused is charged with three offences of aggravated rape and two offences of sexual abuse of children.”</p> <p dir="ltr">Police are however continuing their investigation into the disappearance of the then three-year-old who vanished in May 2007 from her bedroom in the Algarve apartment where her family were staying.</p> <p dir="ltr">"The investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann continues."</p> <p dir="ltr">"In view of the ongoing investigation, it is not possible to provide any further information on the results of the investigation so far."</p> <p dir="ltr">Brueckner, who was first named as a suspect in the case in April 2022, has denied any involvement in the disappearance of Maddie.</p> <p dir="ltr"><em>Images: Getty</em></p>

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“Sick beyond belief”: Burger chain slammed for Maddy McCann Mother’s Day ad

<p>The Otley Burger Company in the UK has been met with a furious response after posting an ad to social media that made light of the disappearance of Madeleine McCann ahead of Mother’s Day – although the owner of the company has defended the post, claiming it was “just a meme”.</p> <p>Shared to social media by the Leeds-based chain, the ads depict McCann and her mother, along with a small edited image of a masked man escaping with the child, plus a caption: “With burgers this good, you’ll leave your kids at home. What’s the worst that could happen?”.</p> <p>The ad then concludes with the phrase “Happy Mother’s Day to all the mums out there”. </p> <p>Such was the fury the ads were met with that they were quickly banned by Britain’s Advertising Standards Authority, which deemed the posts likely to cause offence and distress after several complaints were made.</p> <p>The ASA stated that the ads made light of the circumstances surrounding McCann’s disappearance.</p> <p>“Any reference to a missing child was likely to be distressing, and that in the context of an ad promoting a burger company, the distress caused was unjustified,” the statement read.</p> <p>The ASA then asked Twitter, Instagram and Facebook to remove the posts and suspend the account pending investigation.</p> <p>Meta said it had reviewed the Instagram post and removed it for violating policies, while Twitter said the post had also been deleted.</p> <p>The burger company’s takeaway service page was quickly flooded with furious comments over the “disgusting” behaviour.</p> <p>“Sick beyond belief, I hope the company goes broke,” one person wrote.</p> <p>“Hang your heads in shame,” wrote another.</p> <p>Owner Joe Scholey, 29, told Metro UK: “I’m not taking the mick out of a missing toddler. I’m basically putting, ‘Happy Mother’s Day’ to all the mums,” he said.</p> <p>“She [Kate McCann] is a mum. Not the world’s greatest mum and not the world’s worst. She’s a mum, there’s one there.”</p> <p><em>Image: Otley Burger Company</em></p>

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Girlfriend of Maddy McCann suspect reveals key detail

<p>The former girlfriend of a suspect in the Madeleine McCann case has revealed a bombshell admission he once made to her. </p> <p>German sex offender Christian Brueckner has long been thew sole suspect in the abduction of three-year-old Madeleine, and in 2014, he made a chilling remark to his girlfriend Nakscije Miftari. </p> <p>While at a party in their German apartment, Maddy's disappearance was brought up, prompting Christian to fall silent. </p> <p><span>"I remember he made no answer to the question," she told </span><a rel="nofollow noopener" href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10172917/Madeleine-McCann-suspect-Christian-Brueckner-told-girlfriend-near-holiday-villa.html?ito=social-facebook&amp;fbclid=IwAR1w2DEawHqx8pqUjKrQrar2Y1Fwabok91QC1eURmgQfG2INeC5KV5uK4aQ" target="_blank" class="link rapid-noclick-resp" data-ylk="slk:The Mail on Sunday">The Mail on Sunday</a><span> in an exclusive interview.</span></p> <p><span>Ms Miftari said she pressed Brueckner on Madeleine's disappearance after their guests had left, prompting him to open up about what he knew.</span><span></span></p> <p><span>"He said, 'I know about Maddie, I was near the hotel at the time. I was living in the area at the time. I am not going to say anything more. I am not a stupid guy, I am a businessman'," she recalled.</span></p> <p><span>The admission is the first known instance of Christian admitting to being in the area where Madeleine was last seen. </span></p> <p><span>Madeleine vanished from her </span>family's hotel room at the Ocean Club resort <span>in Praia da Luz, in Portugal’s Algarve region, in 2007 while her parents had dinner at a nearby restaurant.</span></p> <p><span>German detectives </span>identified Christian Brueckner, 44, as the main suspect in her disappearance last year, but are yet to file any charges against him in relation to the high-profile case. </p> <p><em>Image credits: Getty Images</em></p>

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"We have that evidence now": Maddy McCann case moving ahead

<p><span style="font-weight: 400;">A German prosecutor has doubled down on his claims that Christian Brueckner took and killed missing Madeleine McCann, saying he is “confident we have the man”.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">After prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters named Mr Brueckner as the alleged prime suspect last year, Mr Wolters has also admitted that detectives have no DNA evidence or a body to support the allegations.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We’re confident we have the man who took and killed her,” Mr Wolters told the </span><em><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/world-news/madeleine-mccann-prosecutor-100-convinced-25173564" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Daily Mirror</span></a></em><span style="font-weight: 400;">.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mr Wolters said the case against the 44-year-old, currently in prison in northern Germany for an unrelated charge, is circumstantial.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“It is now possible that we could charge. We have that evidence now,” he said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“But it’s not just about charging him - we want to charge him with the best body of evidence possible.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“When we still have questions, it would be nonsense to charge rather than wait for the answers that could strengthen our position.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“That’s why we said we’ll investigate as long as there are leads or information for us to pursue.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">The </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10075115/Prosecutors-100-sure-convicted-Christian-Brueckner-murdered-Madeleine-McCann.html" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">new evidence</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;"> includes phone analysis which places him at the resort where Madeleine disappeared, as well as an alleged confession Mr Brueckner made to a friend.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“It is circumstantial evidence - we have no scientific evidence,” Mr Wolters said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“If we had a video of the act or a picture of Madeleine dead with Brueckner on camera, we wouldn’t have to make a public appeal. But we only have circumstantial evidence.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mr Wolters admitted that prosecutors have no proof that Madeleine is dead, nor do they have evidence indicating how she died or linking Brueckner to her alleged murder.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“We have no body and no DNA but we have other evidence. Based on the evidence we have, it leads to no other conclusion,” he said.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">“I can’t tell you on which basis we assume she is dead. But for us, there’s no other possibility. There is no hope she is alive.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Despite </span><a rel="noopener" href="https://www.9news.com.au/world/madeleine-mccann-german-prosecutor-claims-100-per-cent-sure-christian-b-killed-maddie/fe682412-fac8-4f51-ba3a-79526dd276f9" target="_blank"><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mr Wolters’ claims</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400;">, London Metropolitan Police maintain they are still investigating it as a missing person case.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Madeleine disappeared in 2007, while her family was staying at the Praia de Luz resort in Portugal.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">It is understood that Mr Brueckner was living in a camper van near the resort at the time of her family’s stay.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400;">Mr Brueckner is also being investigated for several other incidents, including the murder of a teenage girl in 1996, and several sex-related crimes.</span></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400;">Image: Getty Images</span></em></p>

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Hidden cellar found at Maddie McCann suspect's house

<p>German police has reportedly discovered a hidden cellar at the former home of the suspect in the Madeleine McCann case.</p> <p>After digging for three days, using resources such as an excavator, ground penetrating radar, sniffer dogs and a drone, authorities were desperate for crucial evidence.</p> <p>The cellar was discovered as investigators dug a deep hole 15 meters wide in the garden of a secluded holiday chalet outside Hanover.</p> <p>Suspect Christian B, a German drifter, is thought to have lived in a camper van on the site in 2007, shortly after Madeleine vanished from a holiday apartment in Portugal.</p> <p>One police theory is that the suspect took Madeleine with him as he drove back to Germany, a journey of more than 24 hours.</p> <p>The German prosecutors investigating Christian B’s alleged involvement in Madeleine’s disappearance have confirmed the search is part of the inquiry, but said nothing further.</p> <p>Thomas Dressler, who runs a water sports centre close to the riverside search site, said: "None of us really know the people that stay there.</p> <p>"Yesterday I saw they were doing the investigation and I thought about how young my daughter was at that time, oh God and so close. That gave me the fear and panic of a father.</p> <p>"I believe the police are looking for Maddie. It's gruesome and I find it chilling that it could happen and so close to us. But of course, I have never seen him myself."</p>

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Grim discovery in Maddie McCann suspect's van

<p><span>Since the night Madeleine McCann disappeared, her “anguished but unbroken” parents Kate and Gerry have never let the world forget their daughter.</span></p> <p><span>It’s been 13 years since she went missing, but they never stopped searching for answers, and say they hope she is still alive.</span></p> <p><span>But the evidence presented to </span><em>60 Minutes Australia</em><span> could hold vital clues to Maddie’s 2007 disappearance.</span></p> <p><span>On June 4, German authorities made a shock announcement declaring the three-year-old dead, and leading to that announcement is believed to be a disturbing discovery in the campervan of Christian Brueckner.</span></p> <p><span>According to </span><em>60 Minutes</em><span>, over 8000 disturbing pieces of evidence, including videos and pictures of his alleged crimes – along with the swimsuits of little girls – were discovered in the van inhabited by the 43-year-old German sex offender.</span></p> <p><span>When Maddie was taken, on the night of May 3, 2007, Bruekner lived in a house in Monte Judeu, only 8km away from the Ocean Club apartment in Portugal from where the three-year-old disappeared. He also had a “vile and disgusting” shack only 3km from the hotel.</span></p> <p><span>Currently in prison for the torture and rape of a 72-year-old woman, Brueckner was recently named by German police as the most likely offender in Maddie’s disappearance, which is now being treated as murder.</span></p> <p><span>After raiding a deserted factory owned by Brueckner, police discovered thousands of videos and photos of his alleged crimes, </span><em>60 Minutes</em><span> reported.</span></p> <p><span>Prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters, who is leading the investigation into Brueckner, told the program he was not able to say if there is or isn’t any pictures of Maddie.</span></p> <p><span>“I mean he was into child pornography and torture and he did crimes against children at a very young age and according to the current information, he also filmed his offences,” Mark Hofmann, a Berlin-based Crime &amp; Intelligence Analyst who also works with German police, told reporter Liz Hayes.</span></p> <p><span>Police also revelead that back in 2013, Brueckner wrote in a paedophile chat room about how “bad” he wanted to abuse a little girl.</span></p> <p><span>“He’s very, very clear about his fantasy, about abducting children and torturing them and using them for a couple of days. So these are very clear words,” Mr Hoffman said.</span></p> <p><span>Mr Hoffman said he believes that if Brueckner abducted Maddie, it’s also likely he killed her.</span></p> <p><span>“And killing is likely for different reasons. Number one, it’s likely because it’s part of the fantasy, but number two, it also just could have practical reasons not to be arrested for this crime, because she was old enough to talk,” he told Hayes.</span></p> <p><span>Christian Brückner has not yet been charged with any crime relating to Madeleine McCann’s disappearance or death.</span></p>

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