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McCann suspect Christian B linked to three other child disappearances

German paedophile suspected in the Madeleine McCann case may have been involved in snatching three other children.

German and Portuguese police are looking at links that the main suspect in the case of missing British three year-old Madeleine McCann may also be involved in the mystery disappearances of at least two other young children and a teenager in what could be a crime spree spanning two decades.

German boy Rene Hasee, six, went missing after skipping along a Portuguese beach ahead of his parents in 1996, 11 years before Madeleine was snatched sleeping in a Portuguese apartment in Praia da Luz, in May 2007.

Rene, was holidaying with his mother and her partner in Aljezur – around 40km from Praia da Luz when he vanished on June 21,1996.

Police are investigating a 43-year-old German man over Madeleine McCann’s disappearance.
Police are investigating a 43-year-old German man over Madeleine McCann’s disappearance.

The main suspect in the Madeleine case has been unmasked as German prisoner, Christian B, 43, a convicted paedophile and drug dealer who was also involved in burglaries and sexual assault in both his native Germany and then in Portugal where he relocated in an attempt for a new life when aged 18 in 1995.

Portuguese police are now looking afresh at Christian B who was living in the area in regards to the Rene case.

In 1993, Christian B then aged 17 and already convicted of theft, was found guilty of abusing a child and performing sex acts in front of a child near his German home. He had molested a young girl in a playground and then when she was screaming, Christian B dropped his pants in front of a young boy before fleeing the scene.

René’s dad Andreas Hasee said police contacted him for the first time in 20 years on Friday, sparked by the Madeleine revelations.

Mr Hasee said: “There could be a connection.”

The JVA Kiel prison in Germany, where Christian B is an inmate serving time on other charges.
The JVA Kiel prison in Germany, where Christian B is an inmate serving time on other charges.

Christian B has long been linked to the disappearance of a young German girl, Inga Gehricke who vanished in May 2015 — eight years after Madeleine’s disappearance.

Inga, with long blonde hair in plaits, had been collecting firewood for a BBQ in the woodlands at a family friends house at Diakoniewerk Wilhelmshof when she disappeared into thin air.

Mr Gehricke saw his daughter carrying bottles of water for the table at the edge of a clearing in the wood and she then headed back to the house, about 100m away. She never made it back.

Christian B lived around 50 kilometres away in a caravan at the time and when police raided his property eight months later on a tip off, they discovered a USB stick containing child pornography. However there has never been any evidence linking him to Inga.

German media reported that Christian B had told a colleague he wanted to “capture something small and use it for days”, and that it would be safer if “the evidence is exterminated afterwards”.

Police have now formally reopened the Inga case.

Inga Gehricke, 5, has been missing since May 2, 2015.
Inga Gehricke, 5, has been missing since May 2, 2015.

In Belgium, police are investigating if Christian B could be the German man seen partying with 16 year old Carola Titze who was holidaying with her parents when she went missing in 1996. Her mutilated body was found in sand dunes a week later.

Meanwhile German media is reporting Christian B could be freed from a German jail within weeks if he is successful in appealing against a seven-year sentence, handed down last December, for torturing and raping a 72-year-old American widow during a 2005 burglary near Praia da Luz.

Christian B gagged and blindfolded the woman before filming himself raping her. This was two years before Madeleine’s disappearance.

Madeleine McCann disappeared in Praia da Luz, Portugal on May 3, 2007.
Madeleine McCann disappeared in Praia da Luz, Portugal on May 3, 2007.

Christian B showed this video to a colleague while the two watched a television broadcast marking 10 years since Madeleine’s disappearance. The friend reported the video to police, as well as comments Christian B had made about knowing all about Madeleine’s disappearance, which sparked the British and German focus upon Christian B for the past three years.

But Christian B is claiming there are jurisdiction problems with the rape case sentencing and is demanding a retrial be heard in Portugal.

Jacquelin Magnay
Jacquelin MagnayEurope Correspondent

Jacquelin Magnay is the Europe Correspondent for The Australian, based in London and covering all manner of big stories across political, business, Royals and security issues. She is a George Munster and Walkley Award winning journalist with senior media roles in Australian and British newspapers. Before joining The Australian in 2013 she was the UK Telegraph’s Olympics Editor.

Original URL: https://www.theaustralian.com.au/world/mccann-suspect-christian-b-linked-to-three-other-child-disappearances/news-story/936583448fee4947aa65e6996793846b