Police ‘find new evidence’ in Madeleine McCann suspect Christian B’s van

As Madeleine McCann’s parents marked 15 years since the Brit tot’s disappearance, police revealed a breakthrough in their investigation.

Police say they have found ‘new evidence’ in the camper van of the key suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

Hans-Christian Wolters, the German prosecutor leading the case against Christian B., dropped the bombshell admission during a TV interview to mark 15 years since the Brit tot’s disappearance.

“We have found new facts and new evidence,” Mr Wolters told Portuguese show Sabado.

“It’s not forensic evidence but evidence and because of our evidence, we are sure he is the murderer of Madeleine McCann. We are sure he killed Madeleine.”

Madeleine McCann disappeared in Praia da Luz, Portugal on May 3, 2007. Picture: Handout / Metropolitan Police/AFP

Prime suspect Christian B. Picture: Italian Carabinieri Press Office/AFP

When asked whether it was “true that you have found something of Madeleine McCann in Christian Brueckner’s van”, Mr Wolters replied: “I’m not going to comment on the details of the investigation.”

When asked: “But you can’t deny it?”, Mr Wolters responded, “I don’t want to deny it.”

There has been speculation that the evidence was fibres from pink Winnie the Pooh Eeyore pyjamas Maddie was wearing when she was taken.

A Volkswagen (VW) T3 Westfalia camper van which police mention in connection with the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. Picture: EPA/Metropolitan Police

Last month, Portuguese authorities joined German prosecutors in declaring Christian B., a convicted rapist, the prime suspect in Maddie’s disappearance.

No charges have been brought yet against Christian B. in either country, and no body has been found.

Christian B. is currently serving a seven-year sentence in Oldenburg, northern Germany, for raping a 72-year-old American tourist in Praia da Luz in 2005.

The house in Lagos, Portugal, where the three-year-old disappeared in 2007. Picture: AFP

Madeleine went missing from Portugal’s Praia da Luz seaside resort on May 3, 2007 when she was three years old.

Her disappearance sparked a huge manhunt and an international media frenzy, with photographs of Maddie plastered across billboards and news bulletins.

Her parents Kate and Gerry McCann said that finding the truth about her disappearance while on holiday in Portugal was “essential”, 15 years after the “truly horrific crime”.

“This year we mark 15 years since we last saw Madeleine. It feels no harder than any other but no easier either. It’s a very long time,” the McCanns said in a statement on their website.

“Regardless of outcome, Madeleine will always be our daughter and a truly horrific crime has been committed,” her parents said.

“It is true though that uncertainty creates weakness; knowledge and certainty give strength, and for this reason our need for answers, for the truth, is essential.

“We are grateful for the ongoing work and commitment of the UK, Portuguese and German authorities, as it is this combined police effort which will yield results and bring us those answers,” the McCanns said.

Originally published as Police ‘find new evidence’ in Madeleine McCann suspect Christian B’s van