Police investigating the Madeleine McCann case have made some interesting discoveries in connection to their current prime suspect.
Since the three-year-old went missing back in 2007, the McCanns’ story has captured the attention of people across the UK and the globe, as the British toddler’s parents – Gerry and Kate – have tirelessly campaigned for answers regarding their daughter’s disappearance.
The family had been vacationing with friends in Praia da Luz, Portugal, when Kate and Gerry left their three young children asleep in their holiday rental while they dined at a restaurant nearby. That’s when Madeleine seemingly vanished.
The disturbing case has baffled both police and the public in the 16 years since, as authorities continue their investigation. Maddie’s parents have never given up hope of finding her.
In 2020 it was revealed that the prime suspect in the alleged abduction of little Maddie is Christian Brueckner.
The now-45-year-old was reportedly living in a van near Praia da Luz at the time of Madeleine’s disappearance, and phone records have reportedly shown that he received a call near the British family’s vacation rental roughly one hour before the toddler disappeared.
Reuters detailed that Breuckner is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence in Germany for the rape of a 72-year-old woman in Portugal in 2005.
Now, a man named Helge B who claims to have known Brueckner has recently revealed that the suspect had a toolkit that could essentially pick any lock.
Speaking to The Sun, Helge B said of the toolkit: “I knew from Christian that he uses tools to break into holiday resorts, hotels and holiday homes to steal from tourists. 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.”
“You can use it to pick any lock, including security locks,” Helge B – who is now in witness protection – added.
Helge B told the outlet that he had informed German police about the kit, saying: “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.”
He continued: “It confirmed a suspicion that they’d had for a long time – that Christian B entered the apartment through the door.”
The Independent has reported that police are also looking into the possibility that Breuckner sedated Maddie with car paint – something he was easily able to gain access to given that he’d previously worked as a mechanic.
Previous reports of open shutters and curtains blowing at the crime scene could perhaps have been due to Maddie’s kidnapper not wanting to breathe in toxic fumes.
Helge B has also recently claimed that, after meeting Brueckner at a Spanish music festival in 2008, he’d mentioned Maddie, saying: “I don’t understand how the little one could have disappeared without a trace.”
It was at this point that a drunk Breuckner had replied: “She didn’t scream.”
Brueckner has repeatedly denied any involvement in the McCann case.