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Crime Alert. I'm Nancy Grace. Breaking crime news now. The primary suspect in three year old Matty McCann's disappearance has been released. Yes. Christian Bruckner, serving a seven year sentence for an unrelated rape, now walks free. Reportedly, a former German Federal Police employee paid an outstanding fine for Bruckner, but tried to get the money back after realizing it would lead to his release. Straight out to Drew Nelson for more Nancy.
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49 year old Christian Bruckner has spent the last week a free man after his release from a seven year sentence for the rape of a 72 year old woman in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in 2005. German police confirmed he left the high security facility in Zehnder around 9:15am local time last Wednesday. He must wear an electronic tag, give up his passport and report to probation staff. His lawyers are expected to appeal the restriction. Prosecutors say he is still dangerous and could reoffend. A psychiatric report found he refused treatment in custody and remains a risk. He also faces an October court date in Oldenburg where he's accused in a verbal altercation with a prison employee. Police in Britain, Germany and Portugal all confirmed Bruckner remains a suspect in Madeline McCann's case. He has denied involvement. Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cranwell of the Metropolitan Police say they will, quote, continue to pursue any viable lines of inquiry in June. In June, German and Portuguese police carried out a major search in the Algarve. Investigators dug near derelict farm buildings and pumped out wells, hoping to find traces of metal in or her clothing. CNN Portugal reported. The search focused on a route between Bruckner's former house and the cliffs at Praia de Luz. The theory was that he may have used the path to dispose of her body. Nothing conclusive was found. Madeline McCann vanished on May 3rd of 2007 during a family holiday in Prideloos. She was three years old. Her parents, Kate and J. McCann, had left her and her twin siblings asleep in their apartment while they dined at a nearby restaurant. When Kate returned at 10pm she found her daughter gone. Witnesses recalled her screaming, quote, madeline's gone. Someone's taken her. Hundreds joined the search that night. Police initially believed Madeline was alive and abducted. Later, suspicion briefly turned on her parents, who were both named as formal suspects, but were cleared in 2008. Scotland Yard launched its own inquiry in 2011, known as Operation Grange. Over the years, detectives reviewed tens of thousands, thousands of documents, collected over a thousand exhibits and chased more than 8,000 possible sightings, but no breakthroughs. The case reignited in June of 2020 when German prosecutors identified Bruckner as their prime suspect. Phone records placed him in Praia to lose the night Madeline vanished. A former acquaintance told police Bruckner once remarked she, quote, didn't scream. Prosecutor Hans Christian Volters later told the BBC, quote, if you knew the evidence we had, you would come to the same conclusion as I do. He says investigators believe Madele is dead, though no body has been found. In a June prison interview with rtl, Bruckner refused to comment on Meline's case. He told the reporter he was looking forward to, quote, a decent steak and a beer after his release. Meline will be 22 years old today. Her parents mark each anniversary with a message of hope, writing on their website, quote, we love her dearly and miss her beyond words. The investigation into what happened into their daughter remains open.