Madeleine McCann disappearance: German FBI to examine white van

The white van was located at a woodland site once owned by the key suspect in the disappearance of Brit tot Madeleine McCann.

A white van will be examined by the German FBI in a bid to find new clues into the disappearance of British toddler Madeleine McCann.

The white Mercedes Sprinter van — like the one police said key suspect Christian Brueckner is believed to have had when McCann vanished in Portugal in 2007 — was uncovered by The Sun parked at a woodland site he later bought. It is not clear if the vehicles are one and the same.

BKA – the Bundeskriminalamt, Germany’s equivalent to the FBI – say they want to examine the Mercedes amid hopes it could still contain DNA or crucial clues.

An employee at the garage which took Brueckner’s van when he was finished with it told The Sun: “We cleaned it and repaired it but it wouldn’t have been wiped of all DNA.

“There could still be hairs and other traces of anyone who was kept inside. Due to data protection issues we cannot give you exact dates or further details of the client.”

The Sun alleged the Brueckner took a Mercedes van, VW estate and Opel Ascona back to his home country, but it was not known exactly when.

A white van belonging to pedophile Christian Brueckner will be examined by the German FBI. Picture: Getty Images

According to the outlet, an official request has been made to the Rosier dealership in Braunschweig, which leased the van to Brueckner between 2014 and 2015.

“We are onto this now and appreciate the tip,” said a BKA source. “We are getting in touch with the Rosier garage.”

Prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters said: “I know that the white Sprinter information has been passed on to the BKA.“

In addition to any links that will help police in the McCann case, it’s now thought Brueckner owned the vehicle at the time German Inga Gehricke vanished in forest in Saxony-Anhalt in 2015.

Little Inga vanished from a family picnic in a wooded area of Wilhelmshof on May 2, 2015.

Like McCann, the little girl disappeared leaving almost no clues sparking the largest missing persons search in German history.

The only clue was the sighting of a ‘white Sprinter van’ driving down a track through woods at the exact time.

Brueckner was initially looked at in connection with the disappearance in 2016 and 2020 after he had an accident an hour away before the case was dropped.

Kate and Gerry McCann, parents of missing Madeleine McCann. Picture: AFP

KEY SUSPECT ALLEGEDLY CARRIED OUT NIGHT-TIME RAIDS

Last week a court was told that Brueckner would carry out night-time break-ins in the same town where McCann disappeared.

The witness, musician and IT worker Christian Post, was an ex-friend of Brueckner and said the rapist bragged to him about “being active at night” in the town of Praia da Luz, Portugal.

Mr Post also said that Brueckner lived in a house “very close” to where McCann disappeared, which contained several bags of child pornography.

Brueckner is being treated as the prime suspect in McCann’s case after her disappearance in May 2007, from the Ocean Club in Praia da Luz.

“I knew Praia da Luz from doing music there,” Mr Post said.

Defendant Christian B, the prime suspect in the long-unsolved case of missing British toddler Madeleine McCann, in court on five unrelated sex crimes in Braunschweig, northern Germany. Picture: AFP

“Christian said that he climbed up trees or scaled buildings, and he could name specific buildings he went after.

“I remember in the village and in the resort where Madeleine was taken, where there were trees there and he did say that he was operating in that area but he didn’t go into detail.”

Mr Post said Brueckner first came to him for help with forging foreign passports, after discovering Mr Post worked in IT.

He said that when he visited Brueckner in prison, “he asked me to look in [his] house and to bring two or three bags for him to an acquaintance”.

A former friend of Brueckner told a court the suspect bragged to him about “being active at night” in the town of Praia da Luz, Portugal, where Madeleine McCann disappeared. Picture: Getty Images

Mr Post said inside those bags were discs with labels of “pornographic practises, types of sex – some involved dogs.”

“I then threw them away,” he said. “I can’t remember the full details but there were some things like this, and I didn’t want to risk transporting something like this.”

Brueckner is currently behind bars after being convicted of raping a 72-year-old American woman in the Algarve in 2005, just a few kilometres from where McCann, then aged three, would disappear two years later.

He is now on trial in Braunschweig, Germany, for three rapes and two sexual assaults alleged to have been carried out in Portugal between 2000 to 2017.

POLICE RAID HOME OVER MADDIE’S DISAPPEARANCE

Meanwhile,police are hunting a man connected to Brueckner who they believe holds vital information on Madeleine McCann.

Armed police in Germany raided a small house on the Kennelblick allotment in Braunschweig, Lower Saxony last week, spending an hour outside the property owned by a man named as Ralph H.

The 56-year-old is alleged to have worked closely with Brueckner, with the pair renting allotment homes back-to-back in the Kennelblick site.

Armed police in Germany raided a small house on the Kennelblick allotment in Braunschweig looking for Ralph H.

Ralph, a long-time pal of the sex offender, vanished before police arrived, sparking a manhunt for him.

Before he disappeared, the man reportedly spoke about robbing homes with Brueckner – who is currently on trial over five sex crimes in Portugal – and drove a number of his vehicles.

“I acted as a lookout for him during burglaries and as a getaway driver as well,” Ralph was recently reported as saying.

“I know exactly the sort of crimes he (Brueckner) got up to and what he did on the dark web.”

Christian Brueckner, Madeleine McCann prime suspect.

Madeleine McCann disappeared when she was 3 and would now be 20 years old.

Informants within the BKA – the Bundeskriminalamt, Germany’s equivalent to the FBI – say they urgently needed to speak to him about his relationship with Brueckner.

It is understood Ralph is not a suspect in her disappearance, but may have information which could help investigators.

“He’s not at home, he doesn’t answer the phone, he’s apparently disappeared,” a detective with BKA said.

Prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters said: “He’s a neighbour who could be interesting to talk to, but we can’t give out any details on operative matters.”

Neighbours described the “quite frightening” scenes of officers in helmets and bulletproof vests jumping over the fence of the home before calling out Ralph’s name.

The house in Praia da Luz, Portugal, where British girl Madeleine McCann disappeared in 2007 while on holidays with her family. Picture: AFP

“I saw the officers turn up really quietly, there were probably eight to 10 of them,” neighbour Anja told The Sun.

“It was quite frightening suddenly seeing them creep in with their helmets and bulletproof vests and jump over his fence.”

“The officers later asked me if I had any idea where Ralph could be. It was about midday and I thought he was out working.

“But it turns out he hasn’t been seen for nearly a week now.”

German police are convinced he kidnapped and killed Madeleine. Investigations have continued years after her disappearance, with the most recent high-profile searches taking place at the Arcade Lake in Portugal.

Originally published as Madeleine McCann disappearance: German FBI to examine white van