The paedophile suspected of kidnapping Madeleine McCann could be freed before the police finish their investigation, the man in charge of the case has admitted.
Hans Christian Wolters spoke three years after he publicly named jailed German drifter Christian Brueckner as the prime suspect in the British child’s disappearance.
Brueckner is serving a seven-year sentence for the 2005 rape of a pensioner in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz.
And Mr Wolters’ team have been trying to get enough evidence to charge him over the disappearance of Madeleine at the same resort 18 months later. But he has admitted the probe could carry on beyond 2026, when Brueckner is due to be released.
The revelations will cause fresh heartache for Madeleine’s parents Kate and Gerry, who have been hoping for answers from the German authorities for the past three years.
Mr Wolters said: "The investigation into the Maddie case will take as long as is necessary. If necessary, beyond a possible release of the accused."
And confirming his team is yet to speak to Kate and Gerry, he added: "There is no contact with the McCann family."
In June 2020, the German prosecutor declared they had "strong" evidence against Brueckner, with the probe being "90 per cent" there. He also controversially suggested Madeleine was dead – before later conceding he had no evidence to prove it.
Mr Wolters spoke as German forensic experts prepare to analyse items found during a three-day search at a reservoir 30 miles from Praia da Luz that Brueckner, 46, once called his "little paradise".
Asked about claims they were trying to find fibres or clothing linked to Madeleine, Mr Wolters said: "We do not comment on speculation."
Madeleine, of Rothley, Leicestershire, vanished from an apartment on May 3, 2007 during a family holiday, just days before her fourth birthday.
Reports claim phone records place Brueckner in the resort on the night she vanished. Mr Wolters’ team is yet to question Brueckner, who has convictions for crimes including child sex abuse and was quizzed as a witness in the case by German police in 2013.
Brueckner, who denies any involvement in Madeleine’s disappearance, could face five further sex charges but no trial date has been set.
In a letter to a friend last month, he said police are "attempting to create a monster" and added: "I got told a long time ago that the prosecutor’s office was closing the Maddie case because there is not even the smallest evidence."
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