Madeline McCann prime suspect ‘had lock picking kit’ that could be used on security door, witness says

The main suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann had a lock-picking kit that could open any security door, a witness said.

Madeleine disappeared from her family’s holiday apartment in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz in May 2007, just days before her fourth birthday. Convicted child sex offender Christian Brueckner has become the prime suspect in her case.

Brueckner bragged about the set of robbery tools he would use to “break into resorts, hotels and vacation homes to rob tourists,” a former friend said. sun on sunday.

Helge Busching, who is in German police witness protection, suggested that Brueckner “went through the door” of the McCanns’ vacation apartment, casting doubt on the official theory that Madeleine’s kidnapper snuck in through a window.

German police are reportedly “electrified” by the discovery of the lock picking kit and are also investigating the possibility that Brueckner used automotive paint thinner to sedate the young woman.

Brueckner, a convicted pedophile serving a prison sentence for rape, was publicly named as a suspect in 2020 in Madeleine’s disappearance and was declared an official suspect last year. He has denied any involvement in her kidnapping.

Christian Brueckner (pictured) bragged about the robbery toolkit he would use to “break into resorts, hotels and vacation homes to rob tourists,” a former friend said.

Busching, who claims to have known Brueckner a year before Madeleine disappeared, said he found the toolkit at the suspect’s home in Algarve after he and a friend, Manfred Seyfreth, decided to ransack the place.

He told The Sun: “I knew from Christian that he uses tools to break into resorts, hotels and holiday homes to rob tourists.”

The petty criminal recalled seeing passports, cameras, suitcases and various items carried by tourists on the property, adding that he “also found a set of lock picks.”

Busching claims he kept the kit, which he says can be used to “pick any lock, including security locks”, and later handed it over to police in Germany.

The kit is understood to have been made by Dino, which touts that its products “ensure easier access to the most restrictive European keyways quickly.” It reportedly includes 14 black stainless steel picks, each designed for a specific type of door.

Police in Portugal have always claimed that Madeleine’s kidnapper broke into the apartment through a window. They allege that he probably left with the child through a door or out a window.

But when asked how Brueckner got into the house, Busching claimed: ‘Through the door. Easily. You can open any door.

According to the newspaper, sources close to the investigation say German police believe the window theory is misleading.

The whistleblower stated that investigators were “electrified” by the discovery of the lock pick kit and argued that “the evidence is now very important to them.”

The source added: “It confirmed a long-standing suspicion that Christian Brueckner entered the apartment through the door.”

Madeleine McCann disappeared from her family’s holiday apartment (pictured) in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz in May 2007, just days before her fourth birthday.

Helge Busching, (pictured) who is in German police witness protection, has suggested that Brueckner ‘came through the door’ of the McCanns’ holiday apartment, raising questions about the official theory that the kidnapper de Madeleine crept in through a window.

Police were also told that Brueckner, a mechanic, had access to the car paint thinner. They are now investigating a theory that he used the substance to sedate Madeleine.

Busching last week also claimed that Brueckner had once confessed to kidnapping Madeline, image informed.

He alleged that Brueckner told him, “She didn’t scream.”

Busching claims that Brueckner issued the confession at the illegal Dragon Festival held in the southern Spanish mountain town of Orgiva, a year after Madeleine’s disappearance.

He also alleged that Brueckner showed up to the festival in an American trailer he lived in from early 2007 to 2008. Busching says the van is not the Tiffin Allegro van that police seized a few years ago.

He insists that the vehicle Brueckner drove to the festival, known for its techno music, booze and drugs, was a Winnebago and believes that if police could trace the van, they would find traces of Madeleine’s DNA.

Busching says he knows Brueckner kidnapped Madeleine, adding that “another witness knows that too.”

He claims he advised the suspect to come clean, but says Brueckner “will never do that” because he is “too stubborn” and “assumes the police can’t prove anything.”

The witness added that Brueckner’s lawyers pressured him to recant his accusations and he had been forced to protect witnesses for the past four years.

Last month, German forensic experts searched a reservoir 30 miles from Praia da Luz as part of their ongoing investigation. It is understood that they have taken soil samples for analysis.

Investigators are pictured at the Barragem do Arade reservoir, in the Algave, Portugal, as searches continue into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

Madeleine disappeared from a rented vacation apartment in Praia da Luz in Portugal on May 3, 2007, during a family vacation.

Her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, from Rothley, Leicestershire, spearheaded a high-profile campaign for information about her disappearance.

Reports claim that phone records place Brueckner in town the night he went missing and that his yellow and white Volkswagen Westfalia motorhome was seen near the Algarve resort.

Last month, German forensic experts searched a reservoir 30 miles from Praia da Luz as part of their ongoing investigation. It is understood that they have taken soil samples for analysis.

Brueckner and Busching, who is also German, previously lived in Portugal and are said to have been involved in petty theft.

Brueckner has claimed the pair have not spoken since 2007, when they discussed a drug deal, and has denied Busching’s claims about their 2008 conversation, saying they were “not even worthy of comment.”

Madeleine’s parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, (pictured in 2012) from Rothley, Leicestershire, spearheaded a high-profile campaign for information about her disappearance after their young daughter went missing in 2007.

Busching also claims to have seen videotapes that allegedly showed Brueckner sexually abusing an elderly woman and a teenage girl in Portugal.

In 2019, Brueckner was convicted in a German court of the 2005 rape of a 72-year-old American woman at her home in Portugal near Praia da Luz, and is serving a seven-year sentence. Busching reportedly contacted British police about his former friend after he was arrested in Greece in 2017 for an alleged smuggling ring.

Madeleine’s disappearance was initially investigated by police in Portugal, with the support of UK officers. The Metropolitan Police took over the investigation in 2011 after the file of the Portuguese operation.

But more than three years after linking Brueckner to Madeleine’s disappearance, he has yet to be charged with her abduction because prosecutors don’t have enough evidence.