Madeleine McCann suspect may be released before German investigation ends but under '24/7 surveillance'
19 June 2023, 11:29
Police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann are planning to place suspect Christian B under strict 24/7 surveillance in a bid to snare him.
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Chief suspect Christian B could be freed from prison before the end of the investigation into him - which police have previously said could stretch to 2026.
Sources close to the German Madeleine McCann investigation claim that the release of the convicted rapist might actually provide a boost in the probe.
Despite the bombshell move in which officals named him as a suspect in 2020, progress in the probe has appeared slow.
Chief prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters spoke out last week as he provided a new statement on Christian B.
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The sex offender is serving a seven-year sentence for the 2005 rape of a pensioner in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz.
The German investigative team have been trying to get enough evidence to charge him over the disappearance of Madeleine at the same resort 18 months later.
Wolters admitted the probe could carry on for another three years - right up to when Christian B is due to be released from prison.
Yet, one particular worry is that the investigation and forensic analysis could stretch into 2026, which is still three years away.
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But, sources close to the case have revealed to The Sun Newspaper that investigators think the convicted rapist being free might actually provide a boost to the probe.
German police are confident that Christian B - who was living as a vagrant around Praia da Luz at the time - took Maddie when she was three-years-old in 2007.
"[Christian B] is known to be a weirdo and a drifter, but he’s also a creature of habit so detectives fully expect him to migrate back towards the places and people he was seeing at the time Maddie vanished," the police source said.
“This could well throw up new clues.
"A lot of those involved in the search think [Christian B] being out could actually help shine a new light on areas that have been overlooked or even missed.”
Maddie was just three-years-old when she vanished from her holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in 2007.
