A former acquaintance of Christian Brueckner has confessed to alerting authorities to the specific location that police investigated two years ago. The search, initiated in 2023 following a tip-off from Elke Piro, centered around the Arade Dam in Portugal, in pursuit of Madeleine McCann’s remains. Despite an extensive search operation employing dogs, drones, and a large number of officers, no evidence of the missing girl, who vanished in 2007 from her family’s vacation apartment in Praia da Luz, was found.
The 48-year-old convicted sex offender was known to frequent the remote area, spending extended periods alone in his VW camper van. Elke, 69, and her husband Bernhard, 72, had been acquainted with Brueckner for some time, but severed ties upon learning about his disturbing history. Their last interaction with him was reportedly in 2018, with the couple allowing him to park his van at their residence in Algarve.
In an interview with The Sun on Sunday, Elke revealed that Brueckner cherished the lakeside surroundings near the dam, referring to it as his special retreat. She disclosed that he would vanish for days, claiming to have been at the Arade Dam. Upon discovering his connection to the McCann case, Elke informed the police of his affinity for the location, leading them to search the precise spot he had described.
British authorities recently traveled to Portugal to question Elke and her husband, who had sheltered Brueckner shortly before Madeleine’s disappearance. Meanwhile, Brueckner, now relocated in Germany after serving a prison term for assaulting an elderly woman in the same town where Madeleine vanished, has been the subject of scrutiny. Elke, convinced of Brueckner’s involvement in Madeleine’s case, expressed hope that justice would prevail and that he would face trial in the UK, vowing to cooperate and testify if necessary.