Kate and Gerry McCann say they hope 2026 will ‘bring us the breakthrough we long for’
Madeleine McCann’s parents say the ‘search and quest’ for ‘knowledge and justice’ is ‘far from over’ – despite the release of the prime suspect in her disappearance from jail.
German prosecutors are convinced Christian Brüeckner killed the Brit who vanished from her family’s rented holiday apartment in Portugal in 2007 aged three. But the German drifter was freed from a seven-year prison sentence for an unconnected rape in September without being charged in connection with Madeleine’s disappearance.
He has since been living rough in northern Germany monitored round-the-clock by undercover cops. Brüeckner is due back in court next summer accused of insulting prison staff while he was behind bars.
He has denied any involvement in Madeleine’s disappearance.
But in a new year message posted on the Official Find Madeleine Campaign’s Facebook page the youngster’s parents Kate and Gerry assured supporters the police hunt for their daughter was ‘ongoing’.
They wrote: “The investigation continues and we are very grateful to the police forces for this. The ongoing search and quest for knowledge and justice has not stopped and is far from over.”
The couple added: “As 2025 draws to a close we wanted to take the opportunity to thank everyone who has supported us in whatever way over the past year and for continuing to hope for positive news of Madeleine. Thank you too for all the lovely Christmas cards and good wishes.”
They backed charity Missing People’s Safecall initiative which ‘provides confidential, free support and guidance for young people who have left or are thinking of leaving home or their place of care and those at risk from criminal or sexual exploitation’.
“With our best wishes for a peaceful and positive new year and may 2026 bring us the breakthrough we long for,” they added, signing off: “Kate, Gerry & family.”
Brüeckner, 48, was released after fresh police searches of wasteland near the Algarve resort Praia da Luz – where Madeleine disappeared – failed to produce any breakthrough evidence. German police identified him as prime suspect in a Europe-wide appeal for information in 2020.
The following year German prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters said he was `100% sure’ Brüeckner had murdered Madeleine and claimed his investigators almost had enough evidence to charge him. In 2024 Brüeckner was cleared of a series of separate rape and indecent assault charges after a non-jury trial in Germany in which judges criticised the prosecution’s decision to publicly link him to Madeleine’s case.
He was released after serving his sentence for raping a 72-year-old American woman in Praia da Luz in 2005.
Since then Brüeckner has been staying in homeless shelters and hotels but was regularly evicted after guests complained or he was recognised by staff. He was recently spotted living in a tent in woods near the north German port city of Kiel.
The Metropolitan Police continues to treat Madeleine as a missing person saying it has no evidence she is dead. She would now be 22.
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