Suspect in disappearance of Madeleine McCann could be freed from prison early after donor pays fine

BERLIN (AP) – An outstanding fine against the main suspect in the 2007 disappearance of British toddler Madeleine McCann in Portugal has been paid off, German prosecutors said Monday. It means he could be released from prison in a separate case in mid-September instead of January 2026.

Prosecutors in Braunschweig confirmed that an unpaid fine of about 1,450 euros ($1,663) against the suspect – a German national identified by media as Christian Brueckner – has been paid, German news agency dpa reported, without giving further details. The payment moves forward his potential release date to Sept. 17.

Brueckner has not been charged in the McCann case, in which he is under investigation on suspicion of murder. He spent many years in Portugal, including in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz around the time of Madeleine’s disappearance. He has denied any involvement in her disappearance.

Investigators in the U.K., Portugal and Germany are still piecing together what happened on the night 3-year-old Madeleine disappeared. She was in the same room as her brother and sister – 2-year-old twins – while their parents, Kate and Gerry, had dinner with friends at a nearby restaurant.

The outstanding fine was in connection with earlier cases against the suspect related to forgery and bodily harm, the weekly Der Spiegel reported. He faced spending an extra 111 days in prison because he couldn’t pay the money himself. Der Spiegel reported that a former employee of Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office paid the fine, but she had told the magazine she had tried to rescind the payment when she found out what it was really for.