Disturbing hard drive ‘found buried in Madeleine McCann suspect’s abandoned lair contains clues that the three-year-old is dead’

Disturbing new clues uncovered at Christian Brueckner’s abandoned lair in Germany have intensified the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann – with investigators sure the youngster is dead.

Madeleine was three when she vanished from the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz on May 3 2007. Christian Brueckner, a German paedophile, has been a prime suspect in her disappearance for years.

A bombshell cache of horrifying documentation, pictures, children’s swimming costumes and toys was allegedly uncovered at a former box-making factory he bought in 2008, a year after the British girl was last seen.

Among the disturbing finds was a hard drive of images that police have kept secret but are believed to uphold investigators’ long-held belief that Madeleine was killed. 

Police also later found an insurance document that appears to corroborate an informant’s account that he allegedly confessed to her murder in Spain in 2008.

The findings, revealed in a Sun investigation to be broadcast on Channel 4 on Wednesday night, shed new light on Brueckner’s disturbing obsession with children and his potential involvement in the case.

Brueckner was cleared of unrelated sex attacks in the same area Madeleine vanished from last year.

But in 2016, police searching a factory owned under his name in Neuwegersleben, central Germany, uncovered some 8,000 pieces of disturbing material alleged to include videos and pictures of suspected crimes.

Among the materials found was a hard drive containing photographs believed to be taken in Portugal, thought to be crucial in persuading investigators that Madeleine died shortly after her disappearance in May 2007.

A laptop was also handed to police thought to contain vital information linking Brueckner to the case.

Police also discovered a stash of USB sticks and memory cards buried beneath the body of Brueckner’s dead dog, which was buried at the disused factory.

The storage devices contained thousands of files, including images of child abuse, stories detailing fantasies of abducting young girls, and records of Skype chats with other paedophiles. 

One story described drugging a mother and daughter outside a pre-school and abusing a four-year-old blonde girl. 

These materials have led investigators to believe that Brueckner may have been involved in Madeleine’s disappearance and death.

Further searches of the compound revealed over 75 children’s swimming costumes, toys, small bikes, and masks. 

Three unlicensed firearms and ammunition were also found, along with bottles of substances suspected to be chloroform or ether – chemicals that can cause unconsciousness.

A satellite navigation device traced Brueckner’s movements in the Algarve, including the Arade Dam, approximately 35 miles from where Madeleine vanished in Praia da Luz.

Pictures of Brueckner posing at the dam were also found – including a bizarre nude selfie in which he had crudely drawn a balaclava-esque mask over his face. 

Police later searched areas around the Arade Dam in 2023, removing materials later sent to German authorities. Two members of the Metropolitan Police also attended the search, according to a Freedom of Information response. 

However, it is unclear whether any of the material has ultimately yielded fresh evidence of Brueckner’s alleged involvement in her disappearance.

However, an insurance claim signed by Brueckner and uncovered by police indicates he was at a festival in Orgiva, Spain, in early 2008, where he allegedly told a friend that Madeleine ‘did not scream’.

The insurance document suggests he crashed his Winnebago at a petrol station in the town on March 20 that year. The festival ran from March 21 to 23, according to archive listings.

That claim originated in a letter written by Brueckner wrote from prison after being convicted of rape, revealed by the Mail in 2023, in which he attacked the account of a key informant, Helge Busching.

Busching had told German newspaper Bild that Brueckner had ‘made a comment about the missing girl’ at a ‘hippy festival’ in Spain in 2008.

He had said: ‘Christian asked me if I was still going to Portugal.

‘I replied: “I’m no longer going to Portugal because there are too many problems there, Portugal has too many police for me on account of the missing child.

‘”It is indeed strange that she disappeared without a trace.” 

‘Christian replied:”Yes, she did not scream.”‘

Brueckner has described the account as ‘not even worthy of comment’ and has denied any involvement in Madeline McCann’s disappearance. 

German prosecutors have stated for years that they believe Brueckner is responsible for the youngster’s death.

In 2020, German prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters told Australian news programme 60 Minutes: ‘We have strong evidence that Madeleine McCann is dead and that our suspect killed her.

‘We don’t have the body and no parts of the body, but we have enough evidence to say our suspect killed Madeleine McCann.’

He added at the time that he had written to Madeleine’s parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, stating as much.

‘The parents have been told the German police have evidence that she is dead but we have not told them the details,’ he said.

Despite these findings, German prosecutors have yet to charge Brueckner in connection with Madeleine’s disappearance. 

Brueckner is currently serving seven years for raping an elderly American woman in the Algarve the year before Madeleine disappeared and he is due to be released later this year.

Prosecutors are awaiting a final judgement on his acquittal last October before deciding on an appeal, but Brueckner’s lawyers have told MailOnline it ‘only has a ten per cent chance of succeeding’.

Just last month MailOnline revealed that the budget for detectives investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann had been slashed.

They have been granted a further £108,000 to carry on the search for her – a drop of £84,000 on the amount awarded last year.

The money was approved in April following a request from the Metropolitan Police’s Operation Grange team who were specifically tasked with finding the toddler.

With the latest £108,000 Operation Grange has spent almost £13.5million investigating the case – prompting some to question whether it is viable considering no arrests or charges have been made.

The money comes from a special Home Office fund and is reviewed annually with Operation Grange making a request which is submitted and then considered.

Last week marked the 18th anniversary of her disappearance on May 3, and also her 22nd birthday but there has been no real breakthrough in the hunt.