The prime suspect in the Madeleine McCann case may not be charged despite police saying they have concrete evidence he's behind her disappearance and death.
Christian Brueckner, the prime suspect, was convicted for raping a 72-year-old American woman in Praia da Puz in Portugal, the resort McCann disappeared from in 2007.
German prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters claimed authorities had "concrete evidence" that the 3-year-old was killed and are "convinced of his [Brueckner's] guilt".
"We have concrete evidence that our suspect has killed Madeleine and this means she is dead," he said.
Police said they had phone data that put him close to the McCann apartment when Madeleine went missing.
But it has been revealed Brueckner could be freed from prison within weeks as he seeks parole following a drug-trafficking conviction.
Wolters has now told a local newspaper: "You have to be realistic enough that the investigation may not lead to a charge for the murder of Madeleine McCann.
"It could be stopped if we fail to find the missing evidence."
He told the Braunschweig Zeitung: ''I am currently unable to predict the outcome of our investigation but we are still convinced of the guilt of the accused and hope for further promising investigative approaches."
There are now fears he could go into hiding once he is released.
"Of course, it is always good to know where a suspect is to be able to access them if necessary. And, of course, detention always offers a certain guarantee that the detainee will not commit any further crimes," Wolters said.
Currently, German police are trawling through 400 calls they received after an appeal aired on the country's equivalent of Crimewatch.
The case has now been passed to Germany's Federal Court in Karlsruhe and officials are expected to decide within the next week if he should be released.
Videos found buried in Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner's 'secret lair' could hold vital clues about the three-year-old's disappearance, reports claim.
German police have allegedly discovered more than 8,000 images and videos on USB sticks and hard drives which were buried in a deserted factory belonging to Brueckner.
It has now been claimed this new evidence could hold vital clues to the disappearance of Madeleine, who vanished from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal in 2007.
But lead prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters told 60 Minutes Australia he could not say whether or not Madeleine was featured in the images.
'At the moment I'm not allowed to comment on that, so I'm not able to say if there are pictures or if there are no pictures of Madeleine,' he said.
New footage captured the inside of Brueckner's 'lair', where police also discovered a camper van containing a series of swimming costumes they believe belonged to young girls.
Images capture the run-down factory, which is in an unclear location, with plastic boxes and parts of computers strewn across the exterior.
Brueckner, 43, was recently identified as a prime suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine, who vanished from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz 13 years ago.
Mr Wolters has repeatedly claimed authorities have 'concrete evidence' that the three-year-old was killed, and insisted earlier this month he had shared this information with Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry McCann in a letter.
Brueckner is currently serving a 21-month sentence in Kiel, Germany for drugs offences, and it was reported last Monday he could be out of prison on parole this week.
His lawyers have reportedly filed a request for him to be released after serving two-thirds of his sentence, but prosecutors fear he may flee the country after his release.
The case has now been passed to Germany's Federal Court in Karlsruhe and officials are expected to decide this week if he should be released.
German police believe a key piece of evidence proves prime suspect Christian Brueckner was outside the Ocean Club minutes before Madeleine McCann was snatched.
Brueckner had made a 30-minute call to a phone registered to a man named Diogo Silva just an hour before McCann disappeared.
The phone call has been a central part of the renewed police probe since the twice-convicted paedophile was named as a key suspect earlier this month.
Police are currently probing the call, but admit the content of the call is yet unclear.
Police have since uncovered disturbing videos of some of Brueckner's worst offending, found inside one of his squalid "secret lairs".
More than 8000 files and videos were found, exposing the paedophile's horrible crimes.
Cops have however declined to reveal what evidence they have that McCann is dead, with British police still treating her vanishing as a missing persons probe.
When Hayes asked Wolters whether the files uncovered any evidence of McCann, he remained tight-lipped.
"I'm not able to say if there are pictures or if there are no pictures of Madeleine."
No charges have yet been filed against Brueckner, who has a record of sex offences and is now being linked to other missing children.
The man on the other end of Brueckner's call is now considered a "key witness".
Brueckner is currently serving time in jail after raping a 72-year-old woman in the resort town, and has already been linked to at least two other sex attacks on the Algarve.
The prime suspect in Madeleine McCann's disappearance made a phone call from the 'same place' she vanished from an hour before she went missing, reports claim.
Christian Brueckner, 43, was recently identified as a suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine, who vanished from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal in 2007.
German prosecutors have repeatedly claimed they have 'concrete evidence' that the three-year-old was killed, and insisted last month they had shared this information with Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry McCann in a letter.
Details of a call involving a mobile number allegedly used by Brueckner are set to be revealed on the German crime show Aktenzeichen XY… Ungelöst tonight.
Host Rudi Cerne told Focus: 'All I can say at the moment is that one thing we're dealing with here is the number of the Portuguese prepaid card that received a call from the German suspect's mobile.
'Not even an hour before Maddie disappeared. The call also came from the same place where the little girl was last seen alive, in Praia da Luz on the Algarve.'
Mr Cerne said he is 'excited' about what Christian Hoppe, an investigator with Germany's Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), will reveal when he appears on the show, adding: 'I get the impression something important is happening now.'
He added the telephone number allegedly called by Brueckner shortly before Madeleine's disappearance may have a 'very large role' in the ongoing investigation.
'Apparently this telephone number, which was called from the suspect's mobile phone shortly before Maddie's disappearance, has a very large role in the investigation,' Mr Cerne said.
The German suspect in the case of missing toddler Madeleine McCann was extradited twice from Portugal for child sex crimes, but Portuguese authorities never linked him to her disappearance, according to a report.
Christian Brueckner, 43, who had been living in southern Portugal, was sent back to Germany in 1999 after spending four years on the lam for sexually abusing a child.
Brueckner was extradited to his home country again in 2017 to serve a 15-month prison sentence for the sexual abuse of another child and for possessing child pornography.
That same year, he was taken into custody for exposing himself at a children’s playground close to Praia da Luz, the Portuguese resort where the British toddler disappeared in 2007, the Daily Mail reported.
“It may be hard to believe, but it is true,” said a broadcaster on the Portuguese RTP network last week. “The suspect in the murder of Madeleine McCann was twice extradited from Portugal to Germany for sex crimes against children but was never investigated into her disappearance from Praia da Luz.”