The main suspect in the disappearance of toddler Madeleine McCann has refused to be interviewed by the Met Police, Scotland Yard has revealed.
The force has confirmed that German national Christian Brueckner, 49, is a suspect in its ongoing investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance.
The then-three-year-old vanished from the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz while on holiday with her family in 2007, in one of the highest-profile missing person cases in history.
She was left sleeping by her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, and disappeared as they went for dinner in a nearby restaurant. The couple had periodically checked on Madeleine and her younger twin siblings who had also been left sleeping.
Brueckner is due to be released from prison in the coming days after raping a 72-year-old woman in Praia da Luz in 2005.
He could potentially be released on Wednesday following his seven-year sentence.
The lead prosecutor investigating Madeleine’s disappearance Hans Christian Wolters previously told the BBC Brueckner "is not just our number one suspect, he's the only suspect".
In an update, DCI Mark Cranwell, a senior investigating officer for the Met’s investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance, said the force had requested an interview with Brueckner but he had refused.
DCI Cranwell said: “For a number of years we have worked closely with our policing colleagues in Germany and Portugal to investigate the disappearance of Madeleine McCann and support Madeleine’s family to understand what happened on the evening of 3 May, 2007 in Praia da Luz.
“We are aware of the pending release from prison of a 49-year-old German man who has been the primary suspect in the German federal investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance.
“We can confirm that this individual remains a suspect in the Metropolitan Police’s own investigation.
“We have requested an interview with this German suspect but, for legal reasons, this can only be done via an International Letter of Request which has been submitted.
“It was subsequently refused by the suspect. In the absence of an interview, we will nevertheless continue to pursue any viable lines of enquiry.”
The investigating officer said the Met Police could not provide any further information while the investigation was ongoing and any questions about Brueckner’s release should be directed to the German authorities.
Mr Wolters had previously described how German prosecutors “have evidence which speaks against [Brueckner], which indicates that he is responsible for the disappearance and the death of Madeleine McCann".
He told the BBC last month: "We haven't found anything in the last five years that exonerates [him].
“We found evidence that strengthens our case. But in our view it's not strong enough to make a guilty verdict likely, and that's why so far we couldn't charge him or apply for an arrest warrant."
Brueckner has never been charged with any crime related to Madeleine’s disappearance and has denied being involved in the case.
He is understood to have spent time in the Praia de Luz area between 2000 and 2017.
German and Portuguese investigators finished three days of searching a 120-acre stretch of land near Lagos, Portugal, in June as part of attempts to source evidence to implicate Brueckner.
In the searches requested by German authorities, crews spent three days scouring scrubland and abandoned structures.
According to reports, Brueckner sent a letter to police saying “decisive questions can never be answered”.
Another letter shows the suspect telling Mr Wolters that “the investigation will be dropped”, The Sun reported.
In October last year, Brueckner was cleared by a German court of unrelated sexual offences, alleged to have taken place in Portugal between 2000 and 2017.
In 2023, investigators carried out searches near the Barragem do Arade reservoir, about 30 miles from Praia da Luz.
Brueckner had photographs and videos of himself near the reservoir.
The total funding given to the Met’s investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance, titled Operation Grange, has been more than £13.2 million since 2011 after a further £108,000 was secured from the Government in April.
