Evidence found inside the lair of the man suspected of killing Madeleine McCann has been revealed for the first time.
Children’s clothes, toys, masks, chemicals and guns were all uncovered inside a factory bought by Christian Brueckner in 2008 in Neuwegersleben, central Germany.
The 47-year-old is nearing the end of a seven-year prison term in Germany for raping an American woman in the same Algarve region where three-year-old Maddie vanished two years later.
The findings came about after a dog ran on to the property in 2016 and alerted to a shallow grave.
Investigators then found Brueckner’s own dead dog buried, but underneath was a wallet with six USB sticks and two memory cards.
A full scale search of the premises was then launched, with 100 officers combing through the site to find any evidence to link him to Maddie’s disappearance in 2007, according to an investigation by The Sun and Channel 4.
Detectives uncovered a number of shocking pieces of evidence, including files containing Brueckner describing drugging a mum and daughter outside of a pre-school and abusing a four-year-old girl.
Weird finds
Unlicensed guns, ammunition, children’s toys and bikes were all uncovered inside the factory.
Police also found a case of pictures with girls aged four and five-years-old.
More than 75 swimming costumes belonging to children were also discovered.
Incriminating images
Photos show Brueckner at a key location of interest for detectives searching for Maddie.
He is seen posing naked in a mask at the Arade Dam, 35 miles from Praia da Luz, which was searched in 2023.
A sat nav also showed his pattern of movements around the site in the years after Maddie vanished.
Hard drive evidence
A hard drive of images were found hidden on a laptop inside the lair.
The photos are believed to be crucial in persuading investigators Maddie died shortly after her disappearance.
There were also records of Skype chats with other paedophiles, saying eh wanted to ‘capture something small and use it for days’.
Chemicals inside his car
A car matching the description of Brueckner’s vehicle in Germany was found inside the lair.
Pictures show bottles of substances inside the car – but officers destroyed them without testing what they were.
But investigators believe they could have been chloroform or ether.
In his stories found on the hard drive, Brueckner fantasised about using ether to kidnap victims.
Suitcase full of images
A metal suitcase containing images of young girls was discovered during the police search.
There was also a list of phone numbers and an address book found inside.
Brueckner was later convicted of an unconnected child abuse allegations.
Insurance document
This document proves for the first time Brueckner was at a festival in April 2008, where he allegedly all but confessed to killing Maddie.
Witness Helge B said Brueckner told him the young girl ‘didn’t scream’.
But the credibility of this has since been questioned.
The insurance document shows that he crashed his motorhome at the festival in Orgiva, Spain.
Timeline of events since Madeleine McCann disappeared
2007
– May 3: Kate and Gerry McCann, from Rothley, Leicestershire, leave their children asleep in their holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in southern Portugal while they dine with friends at a nearby tapas restaurant.
Nothing is amiss when Mr McCann checks on the youngsters just after 9pm, but when his wife goes back at about 10pm she finds Madeleine missing.
Jane Tanner, one of the friends dining with the McCanns, reports having seen a man carrying a child earlier that night.
– May 14: Detectives take Anglo-Portuguese property developer Robert Murat in for questioning and make him an ‘arguido’, or formal suspect, but this is later withdrawn.
– August 11: Exactly 100 days after Madeleine disappeared, investigating officers publicly acknowledge for the first time that she could be dead.
– September 7: During questioning of Mr and Mrs McCann, detectives make them both ‘arguidos’ in their daughter’s disappearance.
– September 9: The McCanns fly back to England with their two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie.
2008
– July 21: The Portuguese authorities shelve their investigation and lift the ‘arguido’ status of the McCanns and Mr Murat.
2011
– May 12: Mrs McCann publishes a book about her daughter’s disappearance, on Madeleine’s eighth birthday.
Scotland Yard launches a review of the case after a request from home secretary Theresa May, supported by prime minister David Cameron.
2012
– April 25: Scotland Yard detectives say they believe Madeleine could still be alive, release an age-progression picture of how she might look as a nine-year-old, and call on the Portuguese authorities to reopen the case, but Portuguese police say they have found no new material.
2013
– July 4: Scotland Yard confirms it has launched its own investigation, Operation Grange, into Madeleine’s disappearance two years into a review of the case. It has ‘genuinely new’ lines of inquiry and has identified 38 people of interest, including 12 Britons.
– October 24: Portuguese police confirm that a review of their original investigation has uncovered new lines of inquiry, and they reopen the case.
2014
– January 29: British detectives fly to Portugal amid claims they are planning to make arrests.
– June 3: Sniffer dogs and specialist teams are used to search an area of scrubland close to where Madeleine went missing.
– December 12: Detectives begin questioning 11 people who it is thought may have information on the case.
2015
– September 16: The Government discloses that the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine has cost more than £10 million.
– October 28: Scotland Yard cuts the number of officers working on the inquiry from 29 to four.
2017
– April 30: The McCanns prepare to mark 10 years since their daughter’s disappearance with a BBC interview in which they vow to do ‘whatever it takes for as long as it takes’ to find her.
2019
– May 3: Local media reports say Portuguese detectives are investigating a foreign paedophile as a suspect in the abduction of Madeleine.
2020
– June 3: Police reveal a 43-year-old German prisoner, later named as Christian Brueckner, has been identified as a suspect in Madeleine’s disappearance.
– June 4: Scotland Yard’s Operation Grange, which had received £12.3 million in funding up to April 2020, is still a missing person inquiry as detectives have no ‘definitive evidence whether Madeleine is alive or dead’.
2021
– May 4: Kate and Gerry McCann post a statement on the official Find Madeleine campaign website saying they still cling to the hope of seeing their daughter again as they prepare to mark her 18th birthday on May 12.
2022
– April 21: Brueckner is made an ‘arguido’, a formal suspect, by Portuguese authorities.
– May 3: The McCann family say it is ‘essential’ they learn the truth of what happened to their daughter on the 15th anniversary of her disappearance.
– October 11: Brueckner, now 45, is charged with three counts of rape and two charges of child sex abuse, unrelated to Madeleine’s disappearance.
2023
– May 3: Kate and Gerry McCann mark the 16th anniversary of Madeleine’s disappearance by saying she is ‘still very much missed’ and that they ‘await a breakthrough’.
– May 22: An area near the Barragem do Arade reservoir, about 30 miles from Praia da Luz, is sealed off as police prepare to start searching.
– May 23: Searches begin with police divers in the water, and teams including officers with sniffer dogs and rakes and metal poles are seen working on the banks. Media and onlookers are kept a mile away from the main search area and a no-fly zone is imposed over the water.
2024
– February 16: Brueckner goes on trial for three counts of rape and two charges of child sex abuse at a court in Brunswick, Germany.
– October 8: Brueckner is acquitted of all charges.
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