Missing Maddie McCann: Court issues new arrest warrant against German suspect

Created: 2022-11-28Updated: 2022-11-28 4:16 p.m

By: Martina Lippl

Maddie McCann has been missing since 2007.

The British girl has disappeared from a holiday resort in Portugal (Algarve).

© afp

Maddie McCann has been missing since 2007.

An arrest warrant has now been issued against a suspect for other serious crimes in Portugal.

Braunschweig – Maddie McCann disappeared from a holiday resort more than 15 years ago while on vacation in Portugal.

To this day there is no trace of Madeleine.

The fate of the British girl has moved the world for years.

Her parents Kate and Gerald McCann do not give up the search for their daughter.

More than 15 years have now passed.

Maddie McCann case – prime suspect is in jail

Speculations and hints about the girl's whereabouts surfaced again and again.

In mid-2020 there was a spectacular turnaround in the Maddie missing person case: a German was targeted by the investigators.

The sex offender, who has multiple convictions, lived regularly in the Algarve between 1995 and 2007 – including a few years in a house between Lagos and Praia da Luz.

Christian B. (45) is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence for the rape of a 72-year-old American woman in 2005 in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in Germany.

For years, the crime could not be proven against the German.

Only a DNA comparison and a found video ensured an arrest and extradition to Germany.

The trail also led to Bavaria.

Suspect in Maddie McCann case: Warrant issued for child sex abuse and rape

The public prosecutor's office in Braunschweig has been investigating Christian B for two years. An arrest warrant for five sexual offenses has now been issued, the Braunschweig regional court announced on Monday.

The public prosecutor had brought charges against the 45-year-old in October.

He is accused of three counts of aggravated rape and two counts of child sexual abuse.

Maddie McCann: Suspect allegedly committed crimes between December 2000 and 2017 in Portugal

The German is said to have committed the crimes between the end of December 2000 and June 2017 in Portugal.

That's where little Maddie disappeared in May 2007.

As part of the investigation, the suspect was examined for physical characteristics in the summer of 2022.

Apparently they did not bring any new information in the Maddie McCann case.

According to the court, it is currently not possible to execute the new arrest warrant because it requires Italy's consent.

The accused was apprehended there.

He was extradited to Germany.

Approval is to be obtained from the public prosecutor's office in Braunschweig.

The public prosecutor's office in Braunschweig is responsible because the suspect had his last German place of residence in Braunschweig before he went abroad.