Portuguese prosecutors have reportedly named an official suspect in the case of Madeleine McCann’s disappearance.
Agence France-Presse had previously reported a suspect had been charged over the disappearance, but has since issued a correction.
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A statement by the Faro Department of Criminal Investigation and Prosecution (DIAP) said: “As part of the investigation into the circumstances surrounding the disappearance of Madeleine McCann in 2007, a person was made an arguido (formal suspect) on Wednesday.”
Prosecutors did not publicly name the man, but said he was identified as a suspect by German authorities.
German man Christian Brueckner was first named by German police in June 2020 in connection to the case.
Police alleged the convicted child abuser was likely responsible for Madeleine’s disappearance.
“We assume that the girl is dead,” Braunschweig state prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters said at the time.
“The public prosecutor’s office in Braunschweig is investigating a 43-year-old German national on suspicion of murder.”
Brueckner is currently in prison in Germany for raping a woman in the same area of the Algarve region where Madeleine went missing.
Brueckner has denied being involved in Madeleine’s disappearance of McCann.
McCann was three years old when she went missing in 2007 from a hotel room during a family holiday in Portugal.
Her parents were dining with friends nearby and had left her unattended in the room.
