A mystery donor has ensured that the key suspect in Madeleine McCann‘s disappearance will walk free from prison, it has been revealed.

Christian Brueckner is the main suspect in the unsolved disappearance of three-year-old Madeleine McCann, who vanished from her family’s holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in May 2007.

The 48-year-old, who is currently serving a seven-year jail sentence in Germany for the 2005 rape of an American woman, then 72, in the same Algarve resort, is set to be released on September 17.

Investigators, who suspect that Brueckner played a part in young Madeleine’s disappearance, had initially hoped to keep the German national behind bars due to an outstanding €1,446 fine from a previous conviction in 2015.

If Brueckner were unable to pay it, he would have been forced to serve another 56 days of ‘alternative imprisonment’, with it hoped that the extension of his jail sentence would help buy investigators more time to bring fresh charges in the McCann case.

But now, an anonymous donor has paid the fine, granting Brueckner his long-awaited freedom from prison in just three months time, Bild has reported.

Brueckner’s lawyer, Dr. Friedrich Fülscher, told Bild that they believed upon his release the convicted paedophile plans to live on the island of Sylt in northern Germany, where he previously received a 21 month sentence for drug dealing.

However, prosecutors fear that he will flee Germany, meaning that it will be incredibly challenging to bring him to court should they find enough evidence to charge him in connection with Madeleine’s disappearance.

Convicted rapist and paedophile Christian Brueckner, 48, has been suspected by German prosecutors as being the man behind Madeleine’s 'abduction and murder’

A mystery donor has ensured that German paedophile Christian Brueckner (pictured in October 2024), the main suspect in Madeleine McCann’s disappearance, is set to walk free from jail in just three months time

Madeleine McCann, who disappeared from her family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in May 2007

Madeleine McCann, who disappeared from her family’s holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in May 2007


Investigators had initially hoped to keep the German national behind bars as a result of an outstanding fine of €1,446 from a previous conviction in 2015. Now, time is running out to charge him in connection with Madeleine’s disappearance before his release in September

Madeleine McCann: Search teams scour scrubland and abandoned buildings

Brueckner, who has been under investigation by German police in connection with Madeleine’s disappearance since 2020, has vehemently denied the allegations.

Last October, he was also cleared of a series of unrelated sex attacks that took place in the Algarve between 2000 and 2017.

Brueckner’s lawyer Philipp Marquort previously told MailOnline that he believed the sexual offender ‘will leave Germany’ when released, but that he would likely remain in jail until early 2026.

He added: ‘I haven’t had a chance to speak with him yet about the searches and I am not going to comment on what has been happening in Portugal.

‘What I will say is that I don’t think he will be coming out in September as he doesn’t have any money to pay the fines because it went on his legal fees, so I can’t see him leaving prison until early next year.

‘He will probably see the news on the TV in his cell and he will talk about it when he calls me next time but I still do think when he is freed he will leave Germany.’

News of his the alleged anonymous donor comes just weeks after two buried guns were discovered during an intensive three-day search operation near Brueckner’s former ramshackle cottage home close to where Madeleine vanished.

Earlier this month, German authorities launched fresh searches through Atalaia – a stretch of scrubland littered with rubbish and graffiti-covered buildings linked by a network of dusty tracks known in Portuguese as the Fisherman’s Trail.

It was hoped by investigators that an extension of Brueckner's jail sentence would help buy investigators more time to bring fresh charges in the McCann case more than 18 years after the young British girl disappeared
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It was hoped by investigators that an extension of Brueckner’s jail sentence would help buy investigators more time to bring fresh charges in the McCann case more than 18 years after the young British girl disappeared

Prosecutors fear that if released Brueckner will flee Germany, meaning that it will be incredibly challenging to bring him to court should they find enough evidence to charge him in connection with Madeleine's disappearance
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Prosecutors fear that if released Brueckner will flee Germany, meaning that it will be incredibly challenging to bring him to court should they find enough evidence to charge him in connection with Madeleine’s disappearance

Earlier this month, German authorities launched fresh searches through Atalaia (pictured) - a stretch of scrubland littered with rubbish and graffiti-covered buildings linked by a network of dusty tracks known in Portuguese as the Fisherman's Trail
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Earlier this month, German authorities launched fresh searches through Atalaia (pictured) – a stretch of scrubland littered with rubbish and graffiti-covered buildings linked by a network of dusty tracks known in Portuguese as the Fisherman’s Trail

The searches in May 2023 at Arade Dam, an 'area of interest' that Brueckner reportedly called his 'little paradise', came to nothing
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The searches in May 2023 at Arade Dam, an ‘area of interest’ that Brueckner reportedly called his ‘little paradise’, came to nothing

Connecting Praia da Luz with the nearby town of Lagos, the track is a popular hiking route for tourists, but for four days last week it was cordoned off for members of the BKA – Germany ‘s equivalent of the FBI – to conduct searches.

The search marked the first in Portugal for more than two years, following a near-week-long operation involving Portugese, German and police officers at a remote dam a 40-minute drive from Praia da Luz.

However, not everyone was happy with the results of the estimated £300,000 operation, with one officer telling MailOnline that they believed merely ‘animal bones and bits of adult clothing’ had been discovered.

They added: ‘We always knew it was going to be a waste of time but we have to show cooperation.

‘What did they expect to find after 18 years? We were happy to work with them but we knew it would be a waste of time.’

But Portuguese media claimed the search turned up enough material that investigators deemed worthy of further analysis at a laboratory.

‘During the search, several items were seized that will be examined further by the German police,’ reported CNN Portugal.

The searches in May 2023 at Arade Dam, an ‘area of interest’ that Brueckner reportedly called his ‘little paradise’, came to nothing.

Principle suspect Christian Brueckner pictured in court in October 2024
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Brueckner’s lawyer Philipp Marquort previously told MailOnline that he believed Brueckner ‘will leave Germany’ when released

In a newly unearthed letter seen earlier this month, Brueckner boasted that police don't have evidence to pin allegations against him in relation to the McCann case, gloating how the dropping of the probe 'will hit the world like a bomb'
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In a newly unearthed letter seen earlier this month, Brueckner boasted that police don’t have evidence to pin allegations against him in relation to the McCann case, gloating how the dropping of the probe ‘will hit the world like a bomb’

Brueckner, who has been under investigation by German police in connection with Madeleine's disappearance since 2020, has vehemently denied the allegations

Brueckner, who has been under investigation by German police in connection with Madeleine’s disappearance since 2020, has vehemently denied the allegations

Meanwhile, in a newly unearthed letter seen earlier this month, the German paedophile boasted that police don’t have evidence to pin allegations against him in relation to the toddler’s case, gloating how the dropping of the probe ‘will hit the world like a bomb’.

In the spine-chilling correspondence from prison in his native Germany, where he is currently behind bars for rape, he wrote: ‘Is there a body? No, no no.’

In a letter seen by The Sun, he claimed the ‘important’ and ‘decisive’ questions about his involvement in Madeleine’s disappearance have been left unanswered.

He questioned if his vehicle was ‘clearly’ spotted on the night of the crime near where toddler vanished, and if his DNA or ‘an injured person’ had been found.

He added: ‘Are there other traces/DNA carriers of the injured party in my possession? Photos?’

Disturbing clues were also discovered at the sex offender’s abandoned lair in Germany  as the probe into Madeleine’s disappearance intensified in May, with prosecutors sure the youngster is dead.

Officers pack up a tent at the end of the day of searching at one of the base camps close to Praia De Luz, Portugal

The search earlier this month marked the first in Portugal for more than two years, following a near-week-long operation involving Portugese, German and police officers at a remote dam a 40-minute drive from Praia da Luz

During a previous search, a bombshell cache of horrifying documents, pictures, children's swimming costumes (pictured) and toys was reportedly uncovered at a former box-making factory Brueckner bought in 2008, a year after Madeleine was last seen
During a previous search, a bombshell cache of horrifying documents, pictures, children’s swimming costumes (pictured) and toys was reportedly uncovered at a former box-making factory Brueckner bought in 2008, a year after Madeleine was last seen

A bombshell cache of horrifying documents, pictures, children’s swimming costumes and toys was reportedly uncovered at a former box-making factory he bought in 2008, a year after the British girl was last seen.

Among the disturbing finds was a hard drive of images that police are said to have kept secret – but are reportedly thought to uphold investigators’ long-held belief that Madeleine was killed.

Police reportedly later found an insurance document that is said to corroborate an informant’s account that he allegedly confessed to her murder in Spain in 2008.

The materials found by police, revealed in a Sun investigation broadcast on Channel 4, shed new light on Brueckner’s disturbing obsession with children and his potential involvement in the case.