The new suspect in the Madeleine McCann disappearance case is a convicted sex offender who lived in a "vile" farmhouse.
On Wednesday evening, the Metropolitan Police said a 43-year-old German prisoner is now the prime suspect.
While officers have not named the man, he is described as white with short blond hair, possibly fair, and about 6ft tall with a slim build.
German state prosecutor Christian Hoppe confirmed the suspect is a paedophile who has been convicted of sexual abuse against children as well as other sex crimes.
He told the country's ZDF television channel that he is currently serving a prison sentence for a sex crime and has two previous convictions for "sexual contact with girls".
It also emerged this evening that the suspect had rented a ramshackle farm building from a British man two miles from the resort and had made money selling cars.
Former neighbours told Sky News he “disappeared without a word” from the Algarve farmhouse in 2006.
One said: “He arrived in the mid-90s and rented the place from the English owner. He went back to Germany at one stage and moved another German guy in to look after it, then came back and threw him out on the street.
“He was always a bit angry, driving fast up and down the lane. And then one day, around 2006, he just disappeared without a word. I think he left some rent unpaid.
"About six months later I was asked to help clean up the place and it was disgusting, absolutely vile.
“We found a bin bag and inside were wigs and exotic clothing.”
According to authorities, the suspect worked in several casual hospitality jobs in the neighbouring Lagos area.
It is believed he moved into a campervan months before Maddie's disappearance.
He is described as having a "transient lifestyle", living in his camper van for days at a time.
Back in 2013 Scotland Yard said that a blond man had been seen lurking by the apartment where Maddie was taken from.
This evening detectives said the e-fit of the man that was released at the time had 'not been ruled out'.
This suggests that the new suspect may resemble the 2013 one.
It has been suggested that he was also dealing drugs and burgled hotels and apartment complexes.
German police have speculated that he could have crept into the McCann's apartment and kidnapped Maddie.
Police are unclear if the suspected motive was a burglary and he stumbled across Maddie, or if he went with the intention to abduct her.
Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cranwell, who leads Operation Grange, told the press briefing: "He is a German national, he's currently in a German prison for an unrelated matter. He's white, he's about six foot in height.
"He's 43 now. At the time he was 30, but he could have looked aged somewhere between 25 and 32.
"There may be people in the past who have been quite fearful of coming forward to the police, and my message is to anybody that has information... the message really is associated with the fact he is currently in prison."
A half-hour phone call was made to the suspect's Portuguese mobile phone around an hour before Maddie is believed to have gone missing.
He has been linked to an early 1980s camper van - with a white upper body and yellow skirting, registered in Portugal - which was pictured in the Algarve in 2007.
Scotland Yard said he was driving the vehicle in the Praia da Luz area in the days before Maddie's disappearance and is believed to have been living in it for days or weeks before and after May 3.
He has also been linked to a 1993 Jaguar XJR6 with a German number plate seen in Praia da Luz and surrounding areas in 2006 and 2007.
The day after Maddie went missing, the suspect got the car re-registered in Germany under someone else's name, although it is believed the vehicle was still in Portugal.
Both vehicles have been seized by German police.
Scotland Yard is launching a joint appeal with the Federal Criminal Police Office of Germany (BKA) and the Portuguese Policia Judiciaria (PJ).
