Investigators fear that Christian Brueckner could be freed soon unless they can arrest him urgently over Maddie’s disappearance in 2007

Police face a race against time to charge the prime suspect in the Madeleine McCann case as he could walk free from prison in under two weeks.

Madeleine, 3, went missing during a family holiday in Praia da Luz in May 2007. More than nine years on, Madeleine’s parents and the British public are still searching for answers on how the little girl went missing. British police have carried out a huge multi-million pound investigation but the search continues.

Christian Brueckner, 48, has been accused by prosecutors of her murder but he denies any involvement in Madeleine’s case. The German sex offender, who resided in Praia de Luz when Madeleine disappeared, is serving a seven-year prison sentence for raping an American pensioner in the Portuguese resort in 2005.

Brueckner is now seeking early release from prison which could see him walk free in a matter of days, reports the Mirror.

It comes after a German court cleared Brueckner of unrelated rape and sex abuse offences in Portugal between 2000 and 2017. Brueckner could face a retrial after a court is considering whether to appeal against the acquittal. However, his lawyers are trying to get him released before the appeal decision is confirmed.

Prosecutors are reportedly “nervous” at the court’s potential decision. If the court frees Brueckner, Madeleine lawyers will appeal against the decision and that could delay a release by months. If that appeal is rejected by the court, they will have to charge Brueckner over missing Madeleine, who vanished on May 3, 2007 in Pria da Luz. This would see a new arrest warrant being used, which would keep him behind bars.

Key witnesses in the Madeleine case are reportedly being called in to secret meetings to prepare for the possibility of charges being brought against Breuckner.

A source told The Sun : “Normally a move like his bid for an early release would be laughed out of court. But everyone is very nervous after what happened with his rape trial last year. The court was surprisingly favourable to him. Brueckner’s lawyers know they need to go for this now, in case an appeal against his acquittal is allowed. That will create a new arrest warrant and he’ll be stuck behind bars.”

The source went added the Madeleine prosecutors are “nervous” once the suspect is freed he will “disappear and likely never be seen again”, which would be a “disaster” for parents Kate and Gerry.

Parents Kate and Gerry have never lost hope of finding their daughter, who was just three years old when she vanished from their Ocean Club apartment.

When Christian Brueckner was identified as the prime suspect in 2020, Kate and Gerry McCann released a poignant statement saying: “All we have ever wanted is to find her, uncover the truth and bring those responsible to justice. We will never give up hope of finding Madeleine alive, but whatever the outcome may be, we need to know as we need to find peace.”

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