The new suspect in the Madeleine McCann case is being investigated over the disappearance of second missing child - a five-year-old girl from northern Germany - prosecutors have revealed.
The suspect has been named in reports as 43-year-old German national and child sex offender Christian Brueckner.
German authorities this week revealed they are investigating the predator, who is currently in prison in his home country, for Madeleine’s murder.
The German prosecutors announced they believe Madeleine is dead after she vanished from an apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on May 3 2007, while on holiday with her family.
Today authorities in the northern German town of Stendal told the DPA news agency that a preliminary investigation has also been opened into whether the suspect is linked to the 2015 disappearance of a five-year-old girl in Germany.
Inga Gehricke vanished from a forest in Saxony-Anhalt on May 2, 2015.
Bruecker reportedly had a property in the town of Neuwegersleben, around 60 miles south-west of Stendal, when the young girl went missing.
It comes amid claims that Brueckner confessed to his part in Madeleine's disappearance to a friend as they watched a TV news report on the case in a German bar on the 10th anniversary of her disappearance.
The convict is reportedly serving a seven-year prison sentence in the German port city of Kiel for the rape of a 72-year-old American woman in Portugal in 2005 after he was convicted of rape at Braunschweig District Court in December last year.
It has also been reported that the suspect first struck as a teenager when he sexually abused a girl, six, in a playground. Scotland Yard said his name was already known to its investigation, but he did not become a suspect until after information was received as a "direct consequence" of a 2017 appeal.
The force's Operation Grange still considers the case a missing person inquiry because there is no "definitive evidence whether Madeleine is alive or dead".
Gerry McCann, 51, and Kate McCann, 52, said in a statement released after police revealed they had a new suspect that the couple will never give up hope of finding their daughter alive.
They said: "All we have ever wanted is to find her, uncover the truth and bring those responsible to justice.
"We will never give up hope of finding Madeleine alive, but whatever the outcome may be, we need to know as we need to find peace."
With additional reporting from the Press Association
