Christian Brueckner, the primary suspect in the 2007 disappearance of British girl Madeleine McCann, has been released from a German prison. He completed a seven-year sentence for an unrelated sex crime.

Brueckner was identified as a suspect in the case in 2020 while he was already incarcerated for raping a 72-year-old woman in Portugal's Algarve region, where McCann went missing. The three-year-old disappeared on May 3, 2007, while on vacation with her family in Praia da Luz. Her case garnered extensive media coverage and has remained unsolved since then.

Despite being a key figure in the investigation, Brueckner declined to participate in an interview requested by police in the United Kingdom. DCI Mark Cranwell, a senior officer with Britain's Metropolitan Police, stated, "We have requested an interview with this German suspect but … it was subsequently refused by the suspect."

Brueckner's release has raised questions about the ongoing investigation into McCann's disappearance. Authorities continue to seek information related to the case, which has captivated public interest for over a decade. As of now, Madeleine McCann has not been found.