Madeleine McCann's parents had heartbreaking wish after Christian Brueckner was named prime suspect in daughters case

What happened to in May 2007 still remains a mystery - but her parents uttered one wish when the prime suspect was named.

Paedophile Christian Brueckner was named as the prime suspect in 2020 in the case of the disappearing tot, who was three-years-old when she went missing while on holiday with her family in Portugal 18 years ago.

Kate and Gerry have never stopped looking for their daughter, and detectives have worked tirelessly to find evidence to be able to convict Brueckner for the disappearance, yet there has never been enough. He is currently serving a seven-year prison term for raping an American pensioner in Praia da Luz.

The sex offender denied the charges he faced and previously denied any involvement in the disappearance of Madeleine, and when he was named, her parents uttered a heartbreaking wish for their daughter.

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After first learning that Brueckner was suspected of abducting their daughter, Kate and Gerry issued a public statement expressing their wish for 'peace'. They shared: "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."

For Kate and Gerry, it's been a long wait for answers, with the question of what happened to their daughter that night remaining an agonising mystery. Madeleine was just three years old when she vanished during a family holiday in Praia da Luz back in May 2007.

To this day, the case remains unsolved, however, Brueckner is currently regarded as the prime suspect by German police, who previously recovered evidence related to Madeleine inside his campervan. The convict had been living in the Portuguese resort at the time of the little girl's disappearance.

Previously appearing in court, Det Con Mark Draycott - who has worked on Operation Grange since it was first launched in 2011 - answered questions about the youngster's disappearance. He advised that Brueckner's former friend, Helge Busching, who knew him during his time in the Algarve in the mid-2000s, had given officers a tip-off in May 2017. Busching alleged that the German told him 'she did not scream' during a conversation about Maddie.

DC Draycott said: "Back then we still had a public phone number which was publicised around the ," "Members of the public could ring in information in relation to Operation Grange, the Madeleine McCann investigation. One of my jobs was to check the answer phone messages. On May 18, I checked the answer phone and there was a message.

"It was from a male by the sound of his voice, he spoke good English and he asked to speak to David Edgar (private investigator). He said he had information and he left a Greek mobile number. I then rang this Greek mobile number and spoke to a male I now know to be Helge Lars Busching. He referred to himself as Lars and he gave information in relation to the Madeleine McCann investigation."

Meanwhile, in June last year, German senior detective Titus Stampa, told the court how emails found on Brueckner's Hotmail account connected him to Madeleine's case. Referring to it as the 'murder' account, Stampa advised that he didn't have clearance to discuss these emails as they were 'related to the killing'.

The court also heard from Brueckner's former cellmate Laurentiu Codin, who claimed the convict had ' during his time in Portugal. Codin, 50, said: "He told me that in Portugal, he had stolen there. He was in a region where there are hotels and rich people live. He said there was somewhere with an open window, he told me this.

"He was looking for money. He said he didn't find any money but found a kid and took the child. He said that two hours later, there were police and all over the place, so he then went away, out of the area. He said he took the child in Portugal in his car, and in the time when the police and dogs were at the house, he drove away and he was gone. He asked me if the DNA from a child can be taken from bones under the ground."

If you've been the victim of sexual assault, you can access help and resources via or by calling the national telephone helpline on 0808 802 9999

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