MADELEINE McCann suspect Christian Brueckner has moved into a flat yards from a primary school in his home town.

There are also two more primary schools and three nurseries nearby.

A man with a backpack on his shoulder looking back, standing in a doorway behind a chain-link fence.
Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner has moved into a flat in his home town yards from a primary school
 

Christian Brückner taking a photo with his phone in Braunschweig.
Brueckner has sparked fury after moving back to his home town of Braunschweig — with locals saying ‘we’re all afraid’Credit: Axel Springer Syndication
 

Madeleine McCann, a blonde-haired girl in a red dress, looks at the camera.
Three-year-old Madeleine vanished in Praia da Luz, Portugal, while on holiday with her family in May 2007Credit: AFP
The 49-year-old convicted paedophile and rapist has sparked fury after moving back to his home town of Braunschweig — with locals saying: “We’re all afraid.”

One neighbour said: “We were surprised to see two plain- clothes police officers always waiting in front of the house.

“Then someone saw him leave the house and recognised him straight away.

“Everyone here in Braunschweig knows him. I know neighbours who no longer send their children to the supermarket. We’re all afraid.

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“There are three daycare centres and three elementary schools right nearby.

“Why is someone like that allowed to settle here?”

His two-room flat on the second floor of an ageing building is reportedly owned by an old friend.

Police presence around the property is constant.

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Two officers sit in a car behind the house around the clock.

Before his most recent prison sentence, Brueckner ran a kiosk in the same neighbourhood.

He has become a £1million headache for police in Germany, requiring 24-hour surveillance since he was released from prison last September, when his term for the 2005 rape of a 72-year-old woman expired.

He has struggled to settle in a string of different neighbourhoods across northern Germany, with families regularly demanding he be moved on.

Within days of his release last year The Sun revealed he bragged to phone shop staff he had proof to “solve the scandal of the century” — in a clear nod to the McCann case.

Three-year-old Madeleine, of Rothley, Leics, vanished in Praia da Luz, Portugal, while on holiday with her family in May 2007.

In 2020 Brueckner was named by German cops as the prime suspect in the disappearance and murder of the tot.

Officers said his mobile phone had pinged in the area on the night Madeleine disappeared.

Investigators say they have physical ­evidence Madeleine is dead but no forensic proof tying Brueckner to the case.

An exclusive Sun investigation, aired as a Channel 4 documentary, revealed police are in possession of image files that help contribute to their understanding that Madeleine is dead.

They also seized child abduction stories by Brueckner where he daydreams about snatching and abusing young girls — including one outside a kindergarten.

He even brags about his desperation to “take something small and use it for days” in online chats with another paedophile.

Despite the overwhelming evidence, investigators have been reluctant to charge over the case, fearing the lack of forensic evidence would harm their chances.

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Brueckner has refused to answer police questions over the case but has insisted he is innocent in letters.

His lawyers continue to protest his innocence on all matters.

TIMELINE OF EVENTS

Here’s a timeline of the case which has gripped the world.

May 3, 2007

Madeleine McCann disappears from her family’s holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, sparking a massive police search and becoming one of the most famous missing persons cases in history.

January 15, 2016

Neighbour reports a possible ‘grave’ at Brueckner’s abandoned factory in East Germany.

Cops find disturbing images on USB sticks and launch a full-scale search.

February 16, 2016

Christian Brueckner is convicted for abusing a girl of five in a park after images found on his laptop.

He was sentenced to 15-months behind bars but was already on the run by then.

May 3, 2017

Around this time, Helge B calls an information hotline after watching a ten-year anniversary special on the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

He reports an alleged confession by Christian Brueckner.

September 27, 2018

On-the-run Christian Brueckner is arrested over outstanding drugs claims in Italy.

He is extradited to Germany the following year.

December 16, 2019

Christian Brueckner was convicted, in Germany, for the 2005 rape of an American woman in Praia da Luz, Portugal, after his DNA was matched to a hair found on her bed.

He was sentenced to seven years behind bars.

June 4, 2020

German prosecutors reveal to the world they have a suspect in custody under investigation for the abduction of Madeleine McCann.

For the first time they claim Madeleine is dead.

German media later name him as Christian B (Christian Brueckner).

June 23, 2023

In his first interview, witness Helge B alleges to German newspaper Bild that Christian Brueckner all-but-confessed the Madeleine abduction to him, by allegedly saying “she didn’t scream” as they talked about the case, at a music festival, in Spain.

February 16, 2024

Brueckner goes on trial accused of none-McCann allegations of rape and sex assault, in Braunschweig, Germany.

Prosecutors hope for a conviction to keep him behind bars permanently and lead to McCann charges.

October 8, 2024

Brueckner was acquitted of all claims.

Prosecutors launch an appeal, however. Decision pending.

September 17, 2025

Christian Brueckner is released from jail after serving sentence for rape and allowed to walk free.

Illustration of a map highlighting three search areas related to a missing person investigation.