Madeleine McCann Update: Prime Suspect Previously 'Freaked Out' When Co-Workers Mentioned Her Name

For more than a decade, police have been seeking answers regarding Madeleine McCann's May 3, 2007, disappearance from her parents' hotel room in Praia da Luz, Portugal. After her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, realized that Madeleine, then 3 years old, was missing, an investigation began in order to find answers regarding her whereabouts. Years later, new details have now started to emerge about Christian Brückner, the reported prime suspect that police have been zeroing in on in recent weeks.

According to the Sun, in 2014, the 43-year-old reportedly "freaked out" when McCann's name was brought up by the staff that worked at the kiosk-bar that he ran. Lenta Johlitz, who was present at the time, stated that when he heard her name he indicated that he wanted them to end the discussion.

"He wanted us to stop. He cried out, 'The child is dead now and that’s a good thing,' then he said: ‘You can make a body disappear quickly. Pigs also eat human flesh,'" they recounted.

READ: Madeleine McCann Case Update: Prime Suspect Named, Police Believe Others Have 'Concrete Knowledge'

Over the years, Brückner has also allegedly been linked to other missing children aside from McCann, including 6-year-old René Hasse, who was last seen in Portugal in 1996, and a 16-year-old girl named Carola Titze who went missing in 1996. Additionally, some believe that he also played a role in the disappearance of 5-year-old Inga Gehricke that some have referred to as "the German Maddie."

The prime suspect in the McCann case, commonly know as "Christian B," is currently in jail due to unrelated charges, but he could still be questioned about his potential connection to the McCann case down the road. When speaking about what the future could hold for Brückner, Julian Reichelt, editor-in-chief of German newspaper BILD, told "Good Morning Britain" that law enforcement is "trying to put together more and more of the pieces so they can put pressure on him and maybe get a confession from him."

While his involvement remains "circumstantial suspicion," he could reportedly be extradited to Portugal under a European Arrest Warrant. However, German news site Op-Onloine reports that he could not be extradited to Britain due to German laws.

As for why he has not officially been named a suspect by German police, their law allows a person of interest the opportunity to access their case file "as soon as they are identified," states Daily Mail. As a result, prosecutors are waiting to make the move as a way "to prevent Brueckner's legal team from seeing the file until they are ready to charge him."

These new developments come after some stated that they believed McCann's case was "unsolvable." Previously, others considered that a 48-year-old German man named Martin Ney, who abducted and murdered three children, could have been responsible for her 2007 disappearance.