The 15-year investigation into Madeleine McCann’s disappearance is set to be closed because police fear the suspect won’t be charged.
German convicted paedophile and rapist Christian Bruekner was arrested as the prime suspect in the case back in 2020.
However, police believe there is insufficient evidence to charge Bruekner, who was living in a campervan near the resort at the time of her family’s stay.
Madeleine McCann was only three years old when she vanished from her family’s hotel room at the Ocean Club resort in Praia da Luz, in Portugal’s Algarve region in 2007, while her parents had dinner at a nearby restaurant.
Scotland Yard, the headquarters of London Metropolitan Police, are set to close Operation Grange later in the year after launching it in 2010, three years after Madeleine disappeared.
“The end of the road for Operation Grange is now in sight,” a UK source told The Sun.
“The team’s work is expected to be completed by autumn. There are currently no plans to take the inquiry any further.”
The case was due to be closed at the end of March, but investigators applied for an extension until September in the event new evidence comes to light.
Madeleine’s parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, both 54, have been notified of the case winding down.
Images: Getty Images
This article first appeared on OverSixty.