Police in Germany believe they may have made a major breakthrough in the case of the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.
Madeleine was just three years old when she disappeared from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in 2007.
Her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, had left Madeleine and her siblings sleeping in their room while they dined with friends nearby, but found out she was gone when they went back to check on the children.
Her disappearance remains a mystery, however, in recent years the prime suspect has become convicted pedophile Christian Brueckner - and police believe they have now found evidence directly connecting him to the toddler's abduction.
According to reports from the Daily Mail, German police say they have found an email account that links Brueckner to Madeleine's disappearance.
Titus Stampa, a senior detective, told a court in Germany that emails found on a Hotmail account used by Brueckner linked him directly to the case.
The outlet reports that this is the first time an investigating official has alluded to evidence directly connecting Brueckner to Maddie's disappearance.
Stampa was unable to share more details of the evidence police had uncovered as it was "related to the killing" of the three-year-old, according to the outlet.
He added: "An external hard drive is also belonging to the killing case — and I am not allowed to talk about it,” at the Braunschweig regional court in Germany.
.jpg_ZbyHbj?tr=w-849,cr-0.0.849.968&config=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)
Stampa added that police had found a second email account Brueckner allegedly used to share photos and videos of children as young as three or four being abused, according to the Daily Mail.
It is alleged that Brueckner deleted the emails from the account in early 2007, shortly before Madeleine's disappearance on May 3 of the same year, with Stampa adding: "I can remember that things were ‘massively’ deleted in the inbox. There was nothing in there from January 2007."
Stampa also described an email allegedly written by Brueckner detailing a sick fantasy of kidnapping and raping a mother and her five-year-old daughter, adding: "It was about violence and brutality and them being abused sexually."
A copy of the fantasy story was also allegedly found on a laptop used by Brueckner in Portugal in 2017, the court was told.
.jpg_T4YHD9?tr=w-1024,cr-0.0.1024.645&config=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)
Brueckner is currently the prime suspect in the case, which has been ongoing for 17 years. He is currently on trial in Germany for unrelated sex crimes and has denied involvement in Madeleine's disappearance and has not been charged.
He is also currently serving a seven-year sentence in Germany for raping a 72-year-old American pensioner in Portugal.
Brueckner was named as the official suspect in Madeleine's disappearance in 2022 after a VW campervan he is believed to have been living in at the time was reportedly spotted near the Praia da Luz resort in Portugal where Madeleine was last seen.
He denied being in the area at the time, however, German prosecutors say phone logs show he received a call on May 3, 2007, near the Ocean Club, but Brueckner claims he was miles away from there with a woman at the time.
.jpg_nQ1Pqt?tr=h-40)
.jpg_mxyV8M?tr=h-40)
.jpg_nQ1Pqt?tr=h-184)
.jpg_mxyV8M?tr=h-184)
