Where Is Christian Brueckner Now? Inside the Life of Madeleine McCann's Suspected Abductor

Christian Brueckner was serving time in prison for an unrelated crime when he became a suspect in the disappearance of British toddler Madeleine McCann

NEED TO KNOW

• Madeleine McCann was a British toddler who disappeared in 2007 while on vacation in Portugal with her family
• Christian Brueckner was later named a suspect in her case in 2020 but has not been officially charged
• British detectives are working to extradite Brueckner to the United Kingdom to stand trial for Madeleine’s disappearance and murder

Madeleine McCann was just 3 years old when she disappeared from an apartment in Portugal while her parents were eating at a nearby restaurant.

The British toddler was reported missing on May 3, 2007, and a subsequent international search for her took place for nearly two decades. Although police initially looked into Madeleine's family members — including parents Gerry and Kate McCann — as suspects, they were all cleared the following year.

Around 13 years after Madeleine vanished without a trace, German prosecutors named Christian Brueckner as a suspect in her disappearance. Two years later, Portuguese prosecutors confirmed to the Associated Press that they had identified an official suspect in the case, but did not reveal a name.

At the time, Brueckner was serving a seven-year prison sentence for the unrelated crime of a 2005 rape of a 72-year-old woman in Portugal. However, Brueckner was released from prison in northern Germany in September 2025.

In May 2026, the Metropolitan Police started working on extraditing Brueckner to the United Kingdom, so he can stand trial for Madeleine's disappearance and murder, The Times reported.

So, where is Christian Brueckner now? Here's everything to know about what happened to the suspect in Madeleine McCann's disappearance.

What happened to Madeleine McCann? 

In 2007, Kate, Gerry and their three children — Madeleine and her 2-year-old twin siblings — went on holiday to Portugal. The family was visiting from the United Kingdom, where they resided, and rented a vacation apartment in the resort town of Praia da Luz.

On May 3, the parents put their kids to bed and had dinner with friends at a restaurant less than 200 feet away. They left the apartment unlocked so they could periodically check on the kids.

During one of those check-ins, Kate noticed an open window and found that Madeleine was missing from her bed. The toddler, who was just a few days shy of her 4th birthday, was never seen again. 

Who is Christian Brueckner? 

Brueckner — whose real name is Christian Fischer, according to The Times — was born in 1976 and adopted as a baby, but his adoptive parents allegedly sent him away. He was later taken in by Brigitte Brückner and Fritz Brückner in Würzburg, Germany, where he grew up.

In 1993, he started committing sexual offenses against children and was caught molesting a 6-year-old girl on a playground. Brueckner was extradited from Portugal to Germany in 2017, where he spent 15 months in jail for sexually abusing a child and was sentenced to seven years in prison in 2019 for raping a 72-year-old woman in 2005.

In February 2024, he went to trial in Germany for three counts of rape and two counts of sexual abuse of a child that he allegedly committed in Portugal between 2000 and 2017. His alleged victims include an elderly woman, a 14-year-old girl and a 20-year-old Irish woman, all of whom he tied up, whipped and sexually assaulted, per AP.

He was also accused of exposing himself to a 10-year-old and an 11-year-old girl in separate cases that occurred during that time period.

Brueckner was named a suspect in Madeleine's case while he was appealing his sentence for the 2005 rape, though authorities haven't confirmed how they linked him to the toddler's disappearance. He was also serving a 21-month sentence for dealing drugs.

A German investigator testified in June 2024 that they had allegedly discovered two email accounts of Brueckner's that he used to share evidence of child abuse. One of those accounts allegedly contained information that “related to the killing” of Madeleine, per The Times.

Has Christian Brueckner been charged in Madeleine McCann's disappearance? 

As of May 2026, Brueckner has not been charged in relation to Madeleine's disappearance. In 2020, Wolters told Sky News that there wasn't enough “hard evidence” to take him to trial and that finding the toddler's body was crucial to the case.

“All indication we have got that I can't tell you points in the direction that Madeleine is dead,” he told Sky News. “We've got things we cannot communicate that speak for the theory that Madeleine is dead, even if I have to admit that we don't have the body.”

However, his investigation did allegedly find “some evidence” that points to Brueckner, including that he lived just a mile away from where Madeleine went missing from 1995 to 2007.

Has Madeleine McCann been found?

No, Madeleine has never been found. Despite thousands of alleged sightings over the years, Wolters told Sky News in 2020 that the toddler is presumed dead. Her parents, however, haven't given up hope.

“We welcome the news that the Portuguese authorities have declared a German man an ‘arguido' [suspect] in relation to the disappearance of our beloved daughter Madeleine,” they wrote on the website Find Madeleine in 2023, BBC reported.

Kate and Gerry continued, “Even though the possibility may be slim, we have not given up hope that Madeleine is still alive and we will be reunited with her.”

Where is Christian Brueckner now?

In October 2024, a German court acquitted Brueckner of two counts of rape and two counts of sexual abuse that he had been accused of committing in Portugal between 2000 and 2017. His lawyers cited a lack of evidence and claimed that their client might not have been charged if he hadn't been named as a suspect in Madeleine's disappearance, per AP.

Prosecutors said they would appeal the ruling, and the German native remained in prison to finish out his seven-year sentence for raping a woman in 2005. He was released from prison on Sept. 16, 2025, per CBS News.

As of May 2026, British detectives began working on how to bring Brueckner to Britain, so he can officially be charged with Madeleine's abduction and murder. The Times reported that a Scotland Yard senior officer is heading the endeavor, which they hope will result in Brueckner standing trial in London.

If you or someone you know has been a victim of sexual abuse, text "STRENGTH" to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.

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