British police quizzed McCann witness about Brueckner's 'special place' near Arade Dam

London — A grandmother who was questioned by British police in connection with the Madeleine McCann case disclosed that in 2023 she told investigators about a 'special place' Christian Brueckner used to visit alone for weeks at a time: Arade Dam, about 30 miles from Praia da Luz. The revelation prompted a search at the site by Portuguese authorities, but no trace of Madeleine McCann or other evidence was found. Brueckner, who was released earlier this week after serving six years of a seven-year sentence for the rape of a 72-year-old pensioner, would often stay in his Volkswagen camper van at the Piros' rural Algarve home.

Elke Piro, 69, told The Sun on Sunday that Brueckner described a precise area with rocks leading down to the water and that she was able to pinpoint it to police — the place they searched. She said she hoped the search might yield traces of Madeleine, but it did not. She also said she believes Brueckner may have taken Madeleine to the site. 'When I found out he was a suspect in the Maddie case I told the police how much he loved it there and they were very interested,' she said. 'I was able to direct them to the exact spot he described and hoped that it might have helped them find some trace of Maddie — but it wasn't to be.'

This development comes as the Metropolitan Police's Operation Grange continues to lead the roughly two-decade-long inquiry, while German authorities' involvement has cooled in recent years. The Piros, who housed Brueckner at times after a fuel-theft incident in 2006 and again in 2016 while he was on the run, have previously been interviewed by Portuguese and German detectives and had kept in touch with him until 2018. They were questioned again by British investigators in recent weeks.

Brueckner's status remains that of a suspect in the McCann case, with no charges related to Madeleine McCann brought against him. In 2020 he was named the McCann case's prime suspect, and his VW camper van was seized by Portuguese officials from the Piros’ breaker's yard the year before. He says he is homeless and living in emergency accommodation in Neumünster, near Hamburg. His lawyer Friedrich Fulscher acknowledged concerns over his client's convictions for child sex offenses and rape, saying Brueckner had refused participation in rehabilitation programs because he believes he was wrongly convicted. 'Fear is often a very irrational feeling,' Fulscher said, 'but given Christian Brueckner's past one can certainly find rational reasons for such concern.'

British policing officials have left open the possibility that Brueckner could be extradited to face charges in the United Kingdom if new evidence were to surface. Sir Mark Rowley, the head of the Metropolitan Police, said extradition would depend on the specifics of the case and cooperation with German and Portuguese authorities. 'One of the reasons we are involved is that murder is, in many situations, extra-territorial and potentially a murder of a British subject can in certain circumstances be charged in the UK,' Rowley said. 'There's lots of maybes, so at the moment we are taking stock with the Germans and Portuguese.' He added that the German inquiry had reached a point where the prosecutor did not feel they could prosecute under their laws, but Brueckner remains a suspect for British authorities.

Police officers continued to search countryside near Praia da Luz on June 5, 2025, as investigators assess any new information in a case that has stunned the Algarve and drawn international attention for nearly two decades. The McCann inquiry has involved German, Portuguese and British authorities, with ongoing debates about cross-border legal avenues. The latest disclosures—tied to Brueckner's past behavior and the Piros' relationship with him—underscore how historical connections to the case continue to influence current investigations, even as officials emphasize no charges have yet tied him to Madeleine McCann's disappearance.