Christian Brueckner: To be or not to be

at least the court of room 141 has a sign, that could make it very unlikely to get real time reporting. it can be done by phones of course. i cannot find anything about what other rules they have to public access and media. 

the pictures are already made;

https://www.alamy.com/brunswick-germany-21st-feb-2023-a-cameraman-films-a-luminous-sign-reading-public-excluded-at-the-entrance-to-room-141-in-the-braunschweig-regional-court-in-the-trial-of-the-violent-death-of-15-year-old-anastasia-from-salzgitter-the-defendant-has-been-sentenced-to-eight-years-in-juvenile-prison-for-murder-credit-moritz-frankenbergdpaalamy-live-news-image526920201.html

it is from a different case, of course. 

and not unimportant, they have a clock above the entree, so if all the poor people of the media circus have to stand outside, they know at least when it was.

there looks to be not so much room for a public, some hard seats and use your own feet room. 
there are some pictures on the website of the courts;

https://landgericht-braunschweig.niedersachsen.de/startseite/wir_ueber_uns/bildergalerie/bildergalerie-des-landgerichts-68812.html

most would be in german too. so most of the uk exclusives will be very likely at least hear say.

Verdi @ #374
 
‘A man under investigation for the disappearance of British toddler Madeleine McCann will stand trial in Germany on five separate sexual assault charges.

Convicted child abuser Christian Brueckner, who is behind bars in Germany for raping a woman in the same area of the Algarve region of Portugal from where Madeleine went missing in 2007, was formally identified as an official suspect in the McCann case in April 2022.

Under German privacy rules, a spokesperson would not give the name of the suspect, who is charged with three counts of aggravated rape and two counts of sexual abuse of children in Portugal between 12 December 2000 and 11 June 2017.'
 
So if the Independent can be trusted, no charges relating to the ‘concrete’ MM abduction evidence are even being brought at this time, so the papers can just keep regurgitating the same old crap ad-infinitum.

Doug D wrote:
So if the Independent can be trusted, no charges relating to the ‘concrete’ MM abduction evidence are even being brought at this time, so the papers can just keep regurgitating the same old crap ad-infinitum.

Quote of the millennium!

Mum claims Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner 'exposed himself' to her daughter

Brueckner was caught with his trousers down under a slide in San Bartolomeu de Messines, 40 miles from Praia da Luz, Portugal, where ­Madeleine McCann, three, went missing

ByMartin FrickerSenior Reporter
Gerard CouzensNews Correspondent

   21:13, 5 Jul 2020Updated22:17, 5 Jul 2020

A mother has told how Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner chillingly spoke to her daughter while exposing himself in a playground.

Brueckner was caught with his trousers down under a slide in San Bartolomeu de Messines, 40 miles from Praia da Luz, Portugal, where ­Madeleine, three, went missing.

He was arrested in 2017 for carrying out a sex act in front of four youngsters.

The paedophile, 43, was extradited to Germany and is in jail on drug offences.

The new revelations about the German paedophile and his criminal past emerged in a half-hour investigation aired by Portuguese TV broadcaster RTP.

The mum of the then eight-year-old said: “If he had snatched one of the children and put them in his van, we might never have seen them again.

“He could have gone anywhere. It’s still something that haunts me. I was left feeling very frightened. I think we were very lucky.”

Nelia Bras, mum of one of the youngsters Brueckner allegedly pleasured himself in front of, added: “My daughter was eight at the time. He spoke to her in English and asked her, ‘What’s your name?’

“It’s very traumatic knowing that someone who’s been linked to so many cases and is perhaps a very dangerous man was so close to my little girl".

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/mum-claims-maddie-suspect-christian-22306405


O The Olive Press
Maddie suspect Christian Brueckner

well, the van was long sold at that time, but to be honest if you look how gents toilets look and that little playground and you are a quite bit drunk, it could be a misunderstanding.

this is a famous german one in berlin, you can ewven buy a little model of it;

https://www.modellbahnunion.com/MU-exclusief/MU-TT-spoor/TT-Toiletgebouw-Berlin-Cafe-Octeck.htm?shop=modellbahn-union-nl&a=article&ProdNr=MU-TT-L00243&p=150232

or this one;

https://www.gettyimages.ca/detail/news-photo/man-uses-the-public-street-urinal-next-to-the-recreational-news-photo/653648650?adppopup=true

and indeed this are just 5 other older cases, nothing about the madeleine case. the full list that was out end of 2022, then became temporary stricken and after wohnsitz clash became reinstated, that are the 5 that will go to court in februari if the court have nothing better to do, or another case against a witness in some of these 5 cases does not put some of the table. 

because of all the witnesses they have to get in from abroad, it will at least does start off in februari. but court dates are always just penciled in. it is not even sure if they reach into conclusion before they have their summer holidays. 

but it must be a wild party tonight at the tabloids, they can keep on writing all this crap for at least another 7 months. 

the official used dates will most likely just come up in the weekly listings and you can see how many witnesses they have that day and if it is open or restricted access court. minor cases are in germany usually without public and media. and yes they restrict names even in the court. 

but i am afraid the media will still want to tell us all about that in the next months. the uk media has no law to report restricted during a trial fase at all, as long as the trial is not in the uk. but the germans have usually quite a lot to tell too. and who is not trained in his school days to write a story from one single word given. 
in germany it is mostly fodder of bild and der spiegel, they would probably have their paywalls put up a bit more, but there are better more regional titles, who do not. ndr will most likely have the most on tv, and they have less restricted access from abroad usually than the bigger nationals, but rtl germany will be more active. most will probably end up on you tube too. 

the germans do not livestream from courts. there is usually just a short media moment for taking pictures or film some shots, it will just be a court case. and madeleine mccann would not be part of it in any meaning at all. and there is not to be expected such a case would taken up in the court , when these 5 are not done. 

i think, or beter hope hcw would not take a chance to influence this rounds of courts, by putting any charges and a arrest warrant in the madeleine case before this ended. 
and it is always hard to bet on the outcome of any court, not only about guilty or not, but also because you never know what the defense team has in their hands. even big cases sometimes can end on day one. 

the hb false witness case needs probably also a verdict already, if it is correct in how ff is followed by citation, hb have given a very different story through his lawyer in januari this year, about where he left these tapes, but in the interview with bild he was back with the story of left behind in the camper van he, hb used. 
and in that same german article, ff had supposedly told, the owner of the land where the camper van was to be left, never have found a camper van left. 

there was also written that the germans have looked everywhere to get to these video's. 

so all together can make it a strong case to undermine the honest tales of hb. 

but in other pieces hb had left the video's hidden in a house of finca he once lived in, but was not able to tell or say where the house was. 

so even there is still not a very clear story line about to find. 

but do not get the idea the adventures of cb are top of the news in germany, they hardly make it high up on frontpages and often i have to use the search window to find it. google does not help much, they take already hours to load all the uk crap, but the german stuff is even less quick indexed.

EXCLUSIVE: Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner will spend at least four months in the dock for multiple rape and sexual assault charges

By Laurence Dollimore

December 1, 2023

MADELEINE McCann suspect Christian Brueckner will spend at least four months in the dock for a series of alleged rapes and sexual assaults, the Olive Press can reveal.

The convicted paedophile, 46, will have his first day in court on February 16 at the Braunschweig High Court in Germany.

He will be tried over five sex crimes, three involving minors.

In a court press release seen by the Olive Press, Brueckner has at least 29 court appearances between February and June.

If all goes to plan his last day in court will be June 27. All hearings are taking place in Court Number ‘141’.

A spokesman Lisa Rust, pointed out, ‘more details’ would be given out in December. The press release adds that the accused ‘is presumed innocent until proven guilty by law.’

His charges include three rapes, one of Irish woman, Hazel Behan, who was just 20 when she was allegedly attacked during a four-hour ordeal in Portugal.

Two other rapes are understood to have been filmed at the small farmhouse he rented just outside Praia da Luz, the same resort where Madeleine McCann was snatched in May 2007.

The alleged victims were a young teenage girl and an elderly woman in her late 50s or 60s, both of whom were allegedly tied to a post in the living room.

He is also accused of sexually assaulting a young German girl, 10, on a beach near Praia da Luz, a month before Madeleine went missing.

During the broad-daylight attack on Zalema beach, a naked Brueckner allegedly firstly spoke in English, then German, before clambering away up a steep slope in full sight of the girl’s parents.

A further sexual assault on four children also allegedly took place in Portugal in 2017.

During on midsummer incident in Sao Bartolomeo de Messines, Brueckner allegedly flashed and masturbated in front of children as they played in a park around midnight.

An off-duty female officer was fortunately nearby and was able to detain him before discovering there was a European arrest warrant out for him.

The following year he was tried and found guilty of the horrific, sadistic rape of an American pensioner, also in Praia da Luz, in 2005.

He is currently serving seven years for the offence, after one of his hairs was found in the 72-year-old’s bedroom.

In the case of Hazel Behan, in Portimao, in 2004, the evidence was illegally destroyed, for no explained reason, within two years.

“We expect Hazel to be giving her evidence for a couple of days and then it will be the turn of the other victims and witnesses,” prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters said this week.

“The court will have translators in various languages and will be fully prepared.

“An official press release with all the details will be issued shortly.”

Meanwhile, he brushed off the official complaint issued to the court last week by Brueckner’s lawyer over key witness, Helge Busching, a former acquaintance of the German sex offender, to whom he allegedly confessed the Maddie abduction to in 2008.

“It will not be a problem at all, don’t worry. I spoke to Helge yesterday and it’s only an attempt to paint him in a bad picture,” said Wolters.

“We understand the issue and he will be fine.”

He also confirmed that the investigation ‘very much continues’ into the Maddie case and he expects a trial date for the abduction to be ‘set soon’.

“It’s certainly ongoing and I’m heavily involved, but the focus right now is on the trial in February,” he added.

One of Brueckner’s alleged victims, Hazel Behan, now 40, revealed she had been given the trial date last week when two German detectives visited her to go through the ‘fine details’.
FIGHTING BACK: Rape victim Hazel Behan happy to see Brueckner in court. copyright Olive Press Spain

She confirmed she was given the start date as February 16 and that the trial could last ‘for three months’.

“They came over to Dublin and we spent a day going through all the logistics,” she said.

“They are well advanced and extremely organized and are taking no chances with my safety.

“I will be taken over to Germany a day or two before I give evidence and kept, carefully guarded until I get to court. Nobody will be allowed to get near me. Not even my husband can come with me.”

She added: “I can’t wait to finally look my attacker in the eyes and see him face justice.”

Brueckner’s lawyer, Friedrich Fulscher, has continually denied all the attacks and wants to see the Diana Menkes rape conviction re-opened.

Behind paywall: https://www.theolivepress.es/spain-news/2023/12/01/exclusive-madeleine-mccann-suspect-christian-brueckner-will-spend-at-least-four-months-in-the-dock-for-multiple-rape-and-sexual-assault-charges/

well, if they know he is already guilty, why the heck would they need 5 months to get him away for just 4.
that does not sound very cost effective, but who knows, modern times and germany is suddenly on tour. 

but come on, we all can look at the press release of this court, it is already published yesterday, these olives must be very bad for your imagination. and since when have olive presses eyes. do they have not to be busy pressing some oil from olives, braunschweig is not even known for grapes.

still he has a wrong case up, seventies as in numbers 70 in a holiday home. come on the case lists are on the same website. you cannot all defend with just a bad google translation forever.

shame verdi is not in for the odd german sentence, i remember a very good scrabble word in german about what they call the hunt for the next talking female. but of course i restrict myself. not even as long as the 84 letters of my function many years ago, when i was working for a large german company, but it is still long enough.

not very exclusive and not worth the paywall. 

well it will be in the hands of the courts, the prosecution is on equal stands in the german courts, so he may not mind, but ff could show the letter to a more regional working paper about the hb case. and it sounds enough to give der hansell a fresh appointment at the barber shops i think. 

not even a declaration how that at least 4 months prison time gets it together. also it would probably not mind that much, usually they are in a habit to let them served together in one. so they must get it well over 2 years for keeping him a bit longer in. 

and remarkable how patient all these fresh witnesses are, all have waited so many years to only tell it to the one and only der hansell. 

next...

Next?

I will stand on my head (is this even possible) stark bollock naked singing the hallelujah chorus!

as long as you do not film it, and you know you do not need the video to even become believed in a court of law, just any dodgy witness will be enough, two dodgy witnesses is better, it gives the chance to call ast least one of them too dodgy. so seek a very dark place.

i heard on the grapevine, each of the 5 cases has at least 100 pages they have to handle, and if olive presses are a source, well i mean i can offer the grapevines as a source to trust too. and they have to say everything at least twice, because of the translations, there could be a mix of german, english, and portuguese. 

the german branch of the grapevine, thinks that the words used by some olive presses are hard to be believed of coming from the horses mouth, forget that, from der hans his tongue, it does not sound 'german as by der hans' enough. too brazen. 

that same branch of the german grapevines have also a little offence found in the dear jon articles about his use of grammar. also from another smaller branch, they are get a fait bit of confusion, with to much christian's, to much b's and too much he's. 

i was quite surprised, that even bild has tried to end a lot of confusion, the last message from that front started with a bold this is not about the madeleine mccann case, only in more german words of course. nothing new at all. they are much more busy with trains and cars that cannot get over the alps. 2 wars they play no part in, and a trial about someone i have no clue who it is, but is must be a big fish. and other bits and pieces on their hometurf. 

so we have probably to wait for the weekend specials. at least ff has found the time for a make over and has new pictures in the german articles. they are on his facebook page too. nice shoot.

Can't search well enough to find it and too many posts to traipse back through, but from memory didn't the Irish girl positively identify a birth mark on his arse or something, which he hasn't got?

they indeed did a body inspection on cb, but the result is never really been communicated from the prosecution side, the defense team still kept it he did not have such a marking. 
so what it means or does not mean will most likely get out during that part of the trial. 

it just escaped any nomination in the media coverage when the irish holiday rep case was written about. 

so that can only still be a question mark.

this one of many, but just the first given by google, 3 years old.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/jun/09/victim-asks-madeleine-mccann-detectives-review-her-case

Doug D wrote:Can't search well enough to find it and too many posts to traipse back through, but from memory didn't the Irish girl positively identify a birth mark on his arse or something, which he hasn't got?

Just one example..

In 2004, she was working as a holiday representative at a resort in the coastal town of Praia da Rocha and was two weeks away from her 21st birthday when she was attacked in her apartment.

“I had gone to bed around 1am, and was awoken by someone calling my name. I turned on to my back and standing there was a masked man dressed in tights and what resembled a leotard, a machete around 12in long in his hand,” she said.

The man, who she later told police spoke English with a German accent, was about 6ft 1in. He wore a mask that covered his whole head, she said, “but I could see he had blond eyebrows, and piercing blue eyes, even in the dark”.

She also recalled a distinctive mark on the top of his right thigh, “either a pull in the tights, a birthmark or a tattoo”. In descriptions of Brückner in the German media, he is said to have birthmarks on his upper right thigh.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/jun/09/victim-asks-madeleine-mccann-detectives-review-her-case

He was about 6ft 1in - and a half to be precise. 'I could see he had blond eyebrows and piecing blue eyes in the dark'.

Pull the other one - I wonder who is lining this woman's palm with silver.

Another remarkable 'fact' I keep reading.

The main witness the German police are so heavily reliant upon - allegedly, said Christian Brueckner confessed!

Correct me if I'm wrong but this so called confession all hinges on Christian Brueckner having said .... 'she didn't scream' or perhaps 'she didn't scream?'

Humbug.

It conjures all sorts of mental images - doesn't it?

the story how she got in it, was there was at least a registered case in portugal, but that never made it in its own right to the collection of possible dramatic and usable cases in the algarve that could be putto cb his name, it is said it was her brother who saw something in the media and reacted back, because the mo in the 2005 rape case had some things in common.  

at first even when there have been very soon been full face portrets out of cb, there was no where something as direct recognition. that part has only grown in much stronger language after the olive press dripped in that story of her. 

and because the german prosecution did take it very long before they got into bringing charges, and with the easy access to the witnesses in the 3 cases with named possible victims, the media got their chance, so the court has the problem to look even into influencing possible witnesses. how much of their story is still original from their own experiences and how much is coloured by media productions. 

our judges are usually very wary of outside influencers, or with hunts in any form. it often results also in more lenient sentences, i have no idea how that result in german courts, and most likely they also have the original statements, so too much extra would show up in their testimony. 
usually there is a lot of care not to influence a jury in the common law systems, but witnesses can be trained or imprinted with information too. and even in judges it would a hard case to keep it only to the law and points of law in this case. 

you never can be sure the media reports true citation of anyone. but there are differences to hear in her first media approach in the irish interview and the much later ones, when a olive press gets in it.  

courts have normally a big problem when the police or a lawyer gets too far in priming a witness, and it does not even need much talent. the best known trick to f.ck up a stockholm line up, is just show the perp in a position he must be a bad apple to the witness, it was often simply done by guiding the perp of the day with handcuffs and two uniformed coppers through the hallway where you left your witness to wait until it was time to talk to them. 9 out of 10 they would put the finger at that one. 

the same approach can work with making these photo fits, just keep telling the witness you work from their words, but you can steer it easily into a portret that likes much more to the perp of the day.

lawyers are also famous for training witnesses, from the use of specific language, to tone of voice, looking fearful to the suspect. or even just put a little extra in the testimony to favour the outcome. 

but in this case it was all nicely pick up by the media. and who does it or tries it, it is hardly to the benefit of that victim. courts never like it. it is not a game, or a book deal, courts need the truth. stories do not need shaving or polishing bits of it. there is also little room to leave the nasty parts out, all will be part of a trial. 

i expect even a early appeal from the defense team, to redress that media influence in the case on all that are part of it. including the role of the prosecution. all they have to get is reasonable doubt and it will in the end favour the suspect under court. 

and most countries does not have the same rules like portugal about keeping your mouth shut about your testimony, so you normally can not restrict a witness from talking in the media, but we already have seen what result is gave in portugal. i know we can only ask to keep things known to a witness silent until a trial has heard it. 

in these 5 cases there can hardly much still be unknown, and i am also always looking for details, but i have no role in a process in a court. but it does usually not make it al easier. 

i also hope there are still old fashion good court reporters, we have one , who is even working for our largest always been a tabloid paper, but in court cases, she is great. no opinions, no refitting words, but just flat out what is said, how and by who. there is at least one from a more regional or local paper, that became also linked to der spiegel. he has done older cases about cb too in germany. 

but again going by the age of at least the victims in 3 of the 5 cases, the chance is great that access can be fully restricted. in the play ground case he was caught in the act, only the declaration of what fact is under dispute still. so in at least one out of the 5, it is good it gets time in a court. 

if cb is indeed the perp in any of the 5 cases, he deserves his time in court for it, if he is innocent in one or more too. he always have the right to a fair trial. reputation does not prove guilt. 
but if it is a kind of guy, that makes it needed to reform the german law, and mostly in the part before it reaches a court, is still over the top.

i am more interested in the technicalities, how they are used from both sides and if the formulation gives room for further use if the madeleine mccann case ever goes to trial. most i can see that could be of use are motivation, getting access, and keeping records, like the 'das buch' and das buch 1'will be used. 

i do not think, the lines in mostly german media, that cb will choose to keep silence is something that is a hard core line, his defense shall most likely just take that from the ongoing run of the courts. 

cb can keep 3 different lawyers at the defense table under court, but it has not be the same 3 all the time. ff and pm are most likely part of the 3, but there are more. 

it is time to get some more factual talking out of this episode. 

i do not think it is very accidental that our dear jon is showing some feathers in the daily mail, if there is little room for the media, larger or better known news outlets usually get preferences in the cue, the olive press who, from where would not make it very far. at least there is supposes a brand new coffee outlet a bit down the street, i would not fancy that much for standing under the stairs in wintery februari in germany at all. 

it would help dear jon massively if he just broke a leg or two, there is a much easier side entrance with easy parking for the handicapped. i am used to such handy solutions myself, and it gives always a nicer place at the front in public. and in most countries you can get a helping aid in for free too. so how low would our dear jon be willing to go. it is very risky traveling the alps this weekend. i mean a little accidental wrong step in that snowed in train in bayern, it can give some extra opportunities. i mean writing for the daily mail, he can not have studied for that all those years.

crusader wrote:And what about the witness who saw a man climbing onto Behan's balcony, did he say the man was wearing tights and a leotard or should we assume he had them on under his outer clothes.

It's full of jolly Christmas cracker jokes ain't it?

If I witnessed anything like that, I'd put the bottle back in the cupboard and go to bed until next year at least.

until this story broke, i had no idea there was really a market for male leotards, but google is a good friend to solve that.

https://www.google.com/search?q=leotards+for+males&tbm=isch&ved=2ahUKEwilxLu27_CCAxXaxwIHHS-4AGkQ2-cCegQIABAA&oq=leotards+for+males&gs_lcp=CgNpbWcQDDoECCMQJzoFCAAQgAQ6BggAEAcQHjoECAAQHjoHCAAQgAQQEzoICAAQBRAeEBNQ-AtYwyVg2DZoAHAAeACAATqIAbMEkgECMTGYAQCgAQGqAQtnd3Mtd2l6LWltZ8ABAQ&sclient=img&ei=ujJrZaX_INqPi-gPr_CCyAY&bih=836&biw=1280&rlz=1C1GGRV_enNL751NL751


but it would not be my first choice if i had that kind of acrobatics in mind. with or without tights on the go. 

and if this was his usual working uniform, he is certainly never seen around 5a or the ocean club. at least i know gents did forget the ladies only could were a towel at times, and not even could keep that in their memory. but males in leotard and tights are of course a complete different league of their own. 
the jensen sisters would certainly have kept that in their stories.

and all his sporting equipement, there never have been much of a pocket in such clothing at all.

The leotard suggests that amongst his accomplishments - 'he's a very good burglar' - he was also a circus high wire artiste.

I think he kept all his equipment in a swag bag, most likely the same bag used to move a body from apartment 5a Ocean Club on Thursday 3rd May 2007, or thereabouts - blue in colour perhaps?

Or was it a trunk or a white delivery van or a container lorry .

Meanwhile you'd think the Irish would be a bit more up to speed, maybe they just don't have the right connections for an EXCLUSIVE.

Sorry, where was I..

Madeleine McCann suspect Christian Brueckner to go on trial for alleged rape of Dublin woman

He is accused of raping Dubliner Hazel Behan when she was just 20 during a four hour horrific ordeal

ByJohn Kierans

12:33, 2 DEC 2023

The monster suspected of abducting Maddie McCann is to stand trial in the new year for the alleged rape of an Irish woman in Portugal.



Convicted paedophile Christian Brueckner, 46, will be tried at Braunschweig High Court in Germany. He is accused of raping Dubliner Hazel Behan when she was just 20 during a four hour horrific ordeal.

But he will also be tried for two other alleged rapes which he is accused of having carried out and filmed at a small farmhouse he rented outside the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz where little Maddie went missing in May 2007. Three of the five cases against him involve minors including a teenage girl and a 10 year old German girl.

The other alleged adult victim apart from Hazel is a woman in her late fifties. The trial is due to begin in Germany on February 16 next and is expected to last up to four months.

He has not been charged in relation to Maddie’s abduction but sources say the German police are hoping they will be in a position to do so soon. Bruckner is currently serving a jail sentence in Germany for the rape of an American pensioner.

He allegedly broke into Irish woman Hazel Behan’s apartment and raped her over a couple of hours in a horrific violent attack in 2004. She had been working in Portugal as a travel rep at the time.

https://www.dublinlive.ie/news/madeleine-mccann-suspect-christian-brueckner-28216373

The same bloke, John Kierans, has reported much the same in the Irish Independent but you need to register to view - I ain't about to do that

well that was a message of a lazy man. 

the case of the reporter who did read another paper.

and it still had been pretty early this week, when dear jon still told all about a woman in het fifties, he only took it into the sixties later on, still wrong no such case will made it to court this round. 

but it is at least short. 

not very typical irish, they are well known storytellers and most have quite a talent in that.

ANATOMY OF A KIDNAP Madeleine McCann cops scour cold cases including ANOTHER Brit girl who vanished on hols aged 3 as they hunt for new lead

Cops are locked in a 'race against time' to establish fresh leads

   Imogen Baldrick Braddick



   Published: 10:04, 2 Dec 2023Updated: 10:04, 2 Dec 2023



GERMAN cops leading the probe into Madeleine McCann are scouring the files of missing kids cases - including another Brit girl who vanished on holiday.

Detectives remain convinced Christian B is responsible for Maddie’s disappearance - but they are said to be desperate for new leads.


Cops are scouring files of other missing kids for clues on Maddie - including Brit Cheryl Grimmer who vanished in Australia


The military joined police in the search for three-year-old CherylCredit: Caters News Agency

But officers are now locked in a “race against time” to establish fresh leads in the probe.

To try and force a breakthrough, a source close to the case revealed how cops have been conducting a cold-case review of other investigations about missing children.

Revealing details of the intelligence drive, the insider said: “History has shown again and again that children who have gone missing can either be found after many years - sometimes decades.

“Often there are similar trends within each of the cases that officers involved in the Maddie investigation think they lean on to try and drum up new leads.

“They desperately need something fresh to go on if they are to have any hope of pinning this on Christian B.

“Detectives are in a race against time and need new leads as soon as possible.

"By looking at old cases they are looking out for methods or ideas that were used by the police in finding information that led to the child being found or the case being solved.

“Many of the Portuguese detectives think it is another case of the German officers clutching at straws.

"But the view among the investigating cops is what have they got to lose?”

The Sun understands officers in the German team have been tasked to review old cases in recent months, and their work has stepped up since October.

Cases they’ve looked at are believed to include the disappearance of three-year-old Cheryl Grimmer.

The British toddler went missing more than 50 years ago in Australia - but last month it emerged a new witness had come forward.

The mystery of Cheryl’s disappearance has been compared with that of Madeleine, who was also three when she went missing in Portugal in 2007.

Both girls vanished while they were on holiday with their families - and they have never been found.

Other cases which German officers have been looking at as part of the intelligence gathering drive include Aranza Maria Ochoa Lopez, who went missing in 2018 in the US and was later found in Mexico.

Detectives have also been reviewing the case of Kayla Unbehaun who was abducted at the age of nine but found alive and well after a local shopkeeper recognised her from a Netflix documentary.

Kayla disappeared in 2017 and the case was featured on the streaming platform's Unsolved Mysteries series.

Kayla's father, Ryan Iskerka, had full custody of her at the time of her disappearance and informed the police she was missing after finding Kayla wasn't at her mother's house in South Elgin, Illinois on July 5, 2017.

It comes after German cops were said to be trying to track down the ex-lovers of Christian B.

Detectives believe his former partners hold vital clues in piecing together the “confused timeline” of the years the 54-year-old spent “drifting” around Praia De Luz.

Officers face a race against time in linking the convicted paedophile to Maddie’s disappearance.

The Sun told how detectives fear the investigation could collapse by the New Year unless a fresh lead is found.

A source close to the case said: "German detectives remain convinced Christian B was involved in Maddie’s disappearance.

"But they still have a very confused timeline of Christian B’s life spent on Praia De Luz.

"For years he is thought to have been drifting around the island living in a van and they want to understand more about what he was doing during this time and who he was seeing.

“The big problem they have is that relations with Portuguese cops are at an all-time low."

They added: "Hardly any intelligence is now being shared.

"This has therefore left German cops with little choice but to work backwards and to try and trace as many friends, colleagues, former girlfriends and lovers of Christian B as possible.

"They might hold vital clues.

"Cops remain sure someone, somewhere, knows information which could be of vital importance."

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/24888967/madeleine-mccann-cops-old-cases-missing-kids-new-clues/