https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8392475/Maddie-McCann-suspect-sold-VW-campervan-2015-car-scrapyard.html?ns_mchannel=rss&ns_campaign=1490&ito=1490Revealed: German Maddie McCann suspect Christian Brueckner sold his VW campervan in 2015 to a car scrap yard on the Algarve for £5,000
Christian Breuckner, 43, sold Volkswagen T3 Westfalia van for £5,000 in 2015
His German compatriot ran an unofficial yard in the Silves area of the Algarve
Breuckner was reported to have been living in Silves when he disposed of van
It is the first time Breuckner has been linked with a town other than Praia da Luz
By PAUL THOMPSON and MARK DUELL FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 16:22, 5 June 2020 | UPDATED: 16:23, 5 June 2020
A campervan used by the new prime suspect in the Madeleine McCann case was seized from a scrapyard run by another German, it was revealed today.
Christian Breuckner sold the Volkswagen van for £5,000 in 2015 to a German compatriot who ran an unofficial yard in the Silves area of the Algarve.
The 43-year-old German paedophile was also reported to have been living in Silves when he disposed of the T3 Westfalia campervan.
It is the first time Breuckner has been linked with another town other than Praia da Luz where Madeleine disappeared from 13 years ago on May 3, 2007.
The van is being kept in a secret location and the name of the German has not been released. It is also not known how police discovered the location of the vehicle.
Despite the discovery of the van, a forensic examination is not thought to have produced any link to Madeleine's disappearance.
It is not yet known how the van got from the scrapyard and into the possession of the police.
The discovery in Silves was reported by Portuguese TV station SIC. The Silves area is around an hour from Praia da Luz inland from the popular tourist resort of Albufeira.
There is no suggestion the German who bought Breuckner's camper van is in any way involved in disapperance of Madeleine.
The van, with a white upper body and a yellow skirting and a Portuguese registration plate, is one of two vehicles police have flagged up in an appeal this week.
The other is a Jaguar model XJR 6, with a German number plate and registered in Germany.
Detectives say it is significant that the day after Madeleine's disappearance, Breuckner re-registered the car in someone else's name back in Augsburg, Germany, even though the vehicle had never left Portugal.
Former neighbours of Breuckner said he often slept in the van rather than return to one of two rented properties.
German prosecutors believe Madeleine is dead after she vanished from a resort while on holiday with her family, and are investigating Brueckner for her murder.
Scotland Yard's Operation Grange still considers the case a missing person inquiry because there is no 'definitive evidence whether Madeleine is alive or dead'.
Breuckner allegedly confessed to his part in Madeleine's disappearance to a friend as they watched a TV news report on the 10th anniversary of her disappearance.
The suspect is reportedly serving a seven-year prison sentence in the German port city of Kiel for the rape of a 72-year-old American woman in Portugal in 2005 after he was convicted of rape at Braunschweig District Court in December last year.
Der Spiegel reported his criminal record contains a total of 17 entries, including a conviction for the sexual abuse of a child in 1994 when he was aged 17, and a 2016 conviction for abusing another child and possession of child pornography.
The details emerged after authorities revealed a new suspect had been identified in Madeleine's disappearance as a fresh appeal was launched on Wednesday night.
