Madeleine McCann probe into paedo suspect Christian B could be dropped without more public info
THE investigation into Christian B may be dropped without more information from the public on the Madeleine McCann suspect. Prosecutors believe they have evidence Madeleine is dead, but not enough to charge the 43-year-old German. Madeleine vanished from her parents’ apartment in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz, in May, 2007. Christian B is […]
THE investigation into Christian B may be dropped without more information from the public on the Madeleine McCann suspect.
Prosecutors believe they have evidence Madeleine is dead, but not enough to charge the 43-year-old German.
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Madeleine vanished from her parents’ apartment in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz, in May, 2007.
Christian B is suspected of killing the toddler, but prosecutors in Germany fear he may not be charged without more proof.
Hans Christian Wolters, a prosecutor in Braunschweig who is leading the case, told the BBC: “We have evidence against the accused which leads us to believe that he really killed Madeleine but this evidence is not strong enough at the moment to take him to court.
“One has to be honest and remain open to the possibility that our investigation could end without a charge, that it ends like the others have.”
‘WE NEED INFORMATION’
He added: “We are optimistic it will be different for us but for that we need more information.”
The evidence German authorities has is “strong enough to say that the girl is dead and strong enough to accuse a specific individual of murder – that strong”, Mr Wolters believes.
Meanwhile, another two-hour documentary is due to air on TV tonight in Germany to help the police appeal.
It follows last week’s revelation that Christian B had been identified as the prime suspect in the Madeleine McCann hunt.
He was revealed as a suspect on last Wednesday’s edition of the German equivalent of Crimewatch.
Police have seized a camper van he was living in at the Algarve resort when she vanished in 2007.
Christian B also received a mystery call on his mobile one hour before the three-year-old disappeared, cops say.
Meanwhile, Christian B may be linked to the 1995 disappearance of a seven-year-old boy who vanished on a beach in the Netherlands, police have said.
Dutch police are working with German authorities to determine whether Christian B was behind the disappearance of Jaïr Soares, who went missing in August 1995.
Police in The Hague said they were going to “exchange information” about the suspect with German cops.
And police in Bayreuth, near Nuremberg, announced yesterday that Christian B is “under investigation” in the case of another girl who disappeared on May 7 2001 on her way home from school.
Partial remains of Peggy Knobloch were discovered in the Thuringian Forest on July 2 2016.
It means Christian B, 43, is now being investigated in connection with the disappearance of six children – including Madeleine, three, who went missing in the Algarve in 2007.
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Detectives are also re-examining the cases of Rene Hasee, six, who went missing while on holiday in Aljezur – 25 miles away from Praia da Luz, where Christian B was living at the time.
The German is also a suspect in the disappearances of Carola Titze, 16, who went missing in Belgium in 1996 and Inga Gehricke, five, who vanished in Germany in 2015.
He has also been linked to the 2010 killing of Monika Pawlak, a 24-year-old prostitute, in Hanover.
