British detectives have secretly interrogated former friends of Brueckner in the McCann case.

Investigation into the Madeleine McCann case

According to The Sun: Detectives investigating the Madeleine McCann case secretly traveled to Portugal to interrogate two former acquaintances of the main suspect Christian Brueckner.

They spent several hours talking to the couple who hosted Brueckner before three-year-old Madeleine was abducted from the apartment in Algarve in 2007.

Criminal Brueckner was released from prison in Germany last week BILD Fotoservice Alamy

Brueckner was released from prison last week after serving seven years for rape.

69-year-old Elke Piro, who was interrogated as part of the new investigation, is convinced that harm was caused by Brueckner.

Elke and her husband Bernard had known Brueckner for many years and shared their observations during the interrogation in Portugal.

After his release, Brueckner hid in a secret location in Germany.

Last night Elke said:

“British police interrogated us a few days ago, but I regret that I couldn't tell them anything new.”

Elke believes that Brueckner targeted the McCann apartment for money and stumbled upon sleeping Madeleine.

“I believe he found her, took her, and did something terrible when he got scared,” she said.

Her words came after a hint from police chief Sir Mark Rowley about the possibility of extraditing Brueckner if new evidence emerges.

Operation Grange has taken on the main burden in the long-running investigation, as German colleagues have failed to find a way out.

“When I knew Christian, he was two people — good and gentle or crazy and furious when he drank,”

Elke Piro

The couple were questioned by police in Faro as witnesses, not suspects.

The interrogation lasted about three hours for Elke and slightly less for Bernard.

They first met Brueckner in Algarve in 1995 and kept in touch until 2018. They had previously been interrogated by German and Portuguese detectives.

Bernard expressed regret for having taken the Evil One into their home, calling him 'a classic sociopath'.

“Looking back, I realized that most of the time he seemed quite nice and normal. But that was probably the most dangerous thing about him,”

Elke Piro

The couple took Brueckner in after his release from prison in 2006 for theft of fuel.

Elke even introduced him to her girlfriend, Nicole Fechlinger, who later participated in a care program in Portugal.

In 2019, his yellow campervan was confiscated by Portuguese police at the Piro's property and became the subject of an investigation after Brueckner was named as the main suspect in Madeleine's case in 2020.

“He raped that (American woman), and that is terrible, but I never felt physical threat from him, even though I did not trust him,”

Elke Piro

Elke, who works in a shop in Silves, said that her last residency request in 2018 was decisively rejected.

She added: “There were times when I was home alone when Christian lived with us, sometimes for weeks, while my husband was in Germany.”

“We were his anchor in the storm. But we never knew what he was hiding.”

Recently, during the interrogation, Portuguese detectives posed questions developed as part of Operation Grange.

“We are currently assessing the situation together with the Germans and Portuguese,”

Sir Mark Rowley

They emphasized that Brueckner remains a suspect, but there are no charges against him in connection with the Madeleine case, and he claims to have no connection to her disappearance.

AFP Events surrounding the Madeleine McCann case, which has been ongoing for 18 years, are gaining momentum again. With new testimonies and interrogations, detectives hope to find the keys to unlocking this mysterious disappearance. The story itself continues to remain in the media spotlight, as many people still hope for Madeleine's return.