As of: April 2, 2024, 8:55 p.m
By: Robin Dittrich
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The trial against Christian B. began in Braunschweig. Now a former car belonging to the suspect in the Maddie McCann case is to be searched.
Munich – In 2007, the then three-year-old Madeleine McCann disappeared from a holiday resort in Portugal. The suspect Christian B. is said to have been nearby at the time.
Suspect in Maddie McCann case in court - vehicle is searched
The Maddie McCann case has been making waves for 17 years. The girl's disappearance is still being reported in the media, and police in many countries are pursuing new leads. Christian B. is now considered the main suspect in the case: he is said to have kidnapped and killed the three-year-old. Investigators assume the girl is dead, although no body has ever been found.
For some time now, Christian B. has been suspected of kidnapping and killing Maddie McCann, who was then three years old. Now one of his vehicles is to be examined. © imago
As
thesun.co.uk
reported, the car formerly driven by Christian B. is now to be examined in order to obtain DNA evidence of Maddie McCann. As the British newspaper writes, the investigators
became aware of a white Mercedes Sprinter
based on photos from
thesun.co.uk
. This was parked in a forest that Christian B. later bought. The German is said to have driven the white van in Portugal in 2007 - when Maddie disappeared.
Christian B. is on trial – investigators are hoping for a breakthrough
Christian B. is not in court because of the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. The German has to answer for three counts of rape and two counts of child abuse. He has not yet been charged in the Maddie case, but is under strong suspicion of murder. Overall, the presumption of innocence applies. It is questionable whether the investigators would still be able to find DNA traces after the time that has passed. “We have cleaned and repaired it, but this should not have completely removed the DNA,”
thesun.co.uk
quoted the workshop that rented out the car as saying.
“There could still be hair and other traces of people present,” it continues. The vehicle could also have been used in another case. In 2015, five-year-old Inga Gehricke disappeared in Saxony-Anhalt and has been missing ever since. A white sprinter was also spotted there and was said to have been driving through the forest at the time of its disappearance. The trial against Christian B. in Braunschweig is scheduled to continue until at least June. His defense attorneys expect an acquittal. (
rd/dpa
)