Met detectives interview Brueckner’s former hosts in Portugal as McCann case persists

LONDON — Metropolitan Police detectives secretly traveled to Portugal to interview people who once housed Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner, according to multiple briefings. Investigators spent several hours questioning a couple who welcomed Brueckner to their Praia da Luz home just three months before Madeleine vanished from her family’s holiday apartment in May 2007. Brueckner, now 48, is widely considered the prime suspect in the child’s disappearance and presumed death, though no charges have been filed in connection with Madeleine’s case. He was released from jail earlier this year after serving six of a seven-year sentence for rape.

Grandmother Elke Piro, 69, who knew Brueckner for years, told The Sun that she believes the toddler was harmed by the German suspect. Her husband, Bernhard, 72, and the couple’s family have previously cooperated with both Portuguese and German investigators, Regina Piro has said, noting that Brueckner stayed with them after his fuel theft in 2006 and again for a month in 2016 while he was on the run from German authorities. Speaking to The Sun, Elke Piro described Brueckner as a “classic sociopath” and a “terrible alcoholic,” capable of shifting between periods of seeming kindness and volatile, sex-driven rage. “The British police interviewed us a few days ago but I’m sad because I wasn’t able to tell them anything I haven’t said before,” she told the tabloid. “It’s frustrating because I got to know Christian over many years and believe he did something bad to Maddie.”

The Piros’ sons, Flavio and Pablo, were also questioned by authorities in the past, though they were not present in this latest encounter. A person familiar with the investigation said detectives traveled to convene with the Portuguese Judicial Police about three weeks ago and later spoke to the Piros at a Faro police station as witnesses rather than suspects. The inquiry’s focus on Brueckner’s earlier activity in the area underscores how investigators continue to pursue any potential links to Madeleine’s disappearance, even as the evidence publicly cited by prosecutors remains uncertain.

Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley has warned that extradition remains a possibility if new evidence surfaces. He noted that murder investigations can cross borders and 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.” He cautioned that there are “lots of maybes” and said authorities were “taking stock with the Germans and Portuguese.” Although Rowley said the German side had reached a point where the prosecutor did not feel able to prosecute Brueckner, he stressed that Brueckner “remains a suspect” in the McCann case and that UK authorities would review any new material.

Brueckner’s release has been a setback for German and British authorities who have long sought sufficient evidence to charge him. He is currently reported to be homeless and living in emergency accommodation in Neumünster, about 40 miles north of Hamburg. Local coverage described him as being housed in a facility as part of the city’s emergency response, with the exact location undisclosed. Kiel Nachrichten, a regional newspaper, noted concerns that Brueckner’s presence could provoke protests or unrest if his whereabouts were widely known. A city council spokesman confirmed the accommodation but declined to name the precise site.

Brueckner has repeatedly denied involvement in Madeleine McCann’s disappearance. His attorney, Friedrich Fulscher, acknowledged that Brueckner refused to participate in a rehabilitation program, saying his client believed he was unjustly convicted of another assault — the 2005 attack on an American pensioner in Praia da Luz. Fulscher has argued that Brueckner’s past should not automatically lead to culpability in the 2007 case. He told German media that Brueckner was “not the sort of man you would like to look after your children” and argued that the “evidence prosecutors have” suggesting his involvement is too weak to charges. He added that Brueckner had discussed the Madeleine case with his lawyers but had seen no evidence linking him to it.

Hans Christian Wolters, the German federal prosecutor who has publicly described Brueckner as the “only suspect” in the McCann case, has long said that while there is evidence, it is not strong enough to bring a prosecution at this time. Wolters has suggested prosecutors are awaiting new developments that could yield a viable case. Brueckner has maintained that he had nothing to do with Madeleine’s disappearance and has dismissed himself as a scapegoat in correspondence with media outlets.

The Met Police said they had no comment on the specifics of the interview of Brueckner’s former hosts, noting that investigations into Madeleine McCann’s disappearance remain ongoing in coordination with German and Portuguese authorities. The department’s public statement reflected the broader reality of a long-running, cross-border inquiry in which investigators continue to reassess and integrate newly surfaced information, even as the search for a prosecutable case continues.