Madeleine McCann: Material evidence that missing girl is dead, say German prosecutors

Public prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters says evidence exists but refuses to elaborate

German prosecutors have claimed that there is material evidence that Madeleine McCann is dead.

Speaking to Portuguese broadcaster RTP on Tuesday, public prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters said investigators had evidence that the British girl who disappeared from a holiday resort in Portugal in 2007 had died.

When asked whether there was any material evidence that Madeleine, who was three years old when she disappeared, is dead, Mr Wolters replied: “Yes.”

However, he refused to elaborate when asked what evidence he had.

Mr Wolters said in June he believed that Madeleine was dead and had identified convicted paedophile and rapist Christian Brueckner as a prime suspect in the case.

Brueckner, who is currently serving a sentence  in north Germany for drug trafficking, insists he was not involved in Madeleine’s disappearance. He is appealing against a conviction for rape that took place in 2005.

His lawyer, Friedrich Fulscher, told The Sun on Monday he had proof that Bruckner was innocent and that German authorities had the wrong man.

According to the newspaper, Mr Wolters admitted in an interview with Portuguese TV show Sexta as 9 last Friday that there was “no smoking gun” evidence against the suspect.

He said: “All I can say is this [is] like a puzzle and there are many pieces that lead us to believe Christian B is responsible.”

In July, police searched an allotment in Germany near where Brueckner used to live. He formerly lived in both Hanover and Braunschweig, under an hour’s drive from the allotment.

It emerged last week that police had been searching at the allotment for computer memory sticks believed to have been used by the suspect, but prosecutors declined to say if any had been found, The Times reported.

In 2016, police uncovered memory sticks during a separate search of a former factory 30 miles from Braunschweig. The devices contained more than 8,000 files, including media files showing the abuse of minors.

The files also included about 100 pictures of Brueckner partly nude.