Christian Brueckner, the prime suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, made a boast about holding information he alleges could solve “the scandal of the century”.
That’s according to RadarOnline.com, who say the German national was in a phone shop not long after his release from prison weeks ago when he claimed he was in a position to help put to bed one of the “greatest mysteries ever”.
Brueckner, readers may remember, was released from prison last month having served a seven-year sentence for rape. The 48-year-old is long suspected of playing a role in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, the British toddler who vanished during a family vacation in Portugal back in 2007.
Madeleine was just three years old when she disappeared from her bed while staying at the Praia da Luz resort. Nearly two decades later, her disappearance remains one of the world’s most heartbreaking unsolved mysteries.
At the time of writing, Brueckner is a free man, and reportedly boasted to shop workers in Germany last week that he had the power to crack one of the “greatest mysteries ever”, even showing off his electric ankle tag as he sought to buy a new phone.
As per RadarOnline, Brueckner also insisted he would “not last long”, claiming to have information on individuals who might seek to kill him.
According to RadarOnline, Farouk Salah-Brahmin, who works at the shop in question, said: “Brueckner told me he had some information. I don’t know if it’s the McCann case, but he said he had evidence that could bring the scandal of the century to an end.
“He said he would end all the accusations against him. He said he can bring his own solution. He said something about USB sticks.”
“The way he said it, he must have been talking about the Madeleine McCann case. What else could he be talking about?” Salah-Brahmin added.
Indeed, given his ties to the McCann case, arguably the most high-profile of its nature in history, it’s difficult not to make assumptions. Nevertheless, there are growing concerns that Brueckner may now seek to flee Germany.
Earlier this year, he told a journalist from German broadcaster RT that if released, he planned to flee Germany for a country without an extradition treaty.
“I’m as well-known as a colorful dog,” he said, implying that he would go into hiding the moment he was released.
As for his conversation in the phone store, worker Salah-Brahmin said Brueckner spent more than 90 minutes there to get assistance in setting up a phone and a new WhatsApp account.
“It sounded to me like he was part of something wider,” Salah-Brahmin said.
“Something he clearly had knowledge of. Some network or something, maybe. I thought maybe he knows other people who were involved, but it’s clear he knows far more than he had been telling the police.”
He added: “That struck me as weird, that he said he had knowledge of this but hadn’t told police. I don’t understand why he would do that.”
German prosecutors have previously claimed to have “concrete evidence” that Madeleine McCann is dead, though searches of an area in Portugal’s Algarve region took place as recently as this summer.