Brueckner moved to secret location after address leak in McCann case

Christian Brueckner, the German man long identified by investigators as the prime suspect in the 2007 disappearance of three‑year‑old Madeleine McCann, was moved by police from a council flat in northern Germany this week after residents discovered and circulated his address, authorities and local witnesses said. Brueckner, who was released from prison on September 17 after serving a seven‑year sentence for a 2005 assault in Praia da Luz, Portugal, was escorted from the ground‑floor apartment amid local alarm and transferred to an undisclosed secure location, police officials said.

The relocation followed the posting of photographs and the flat’s address in local messaging groups, which prompted parents in the town to report children’s play areas had been cleared and residents to demand action. Officers removed Brueckner’s belongings and accompanied him into a police vehicle, witnesses said. Local officials cited concerns for his safety after the leak; German privacy rules restrict public disclosure of his new whereabouts, they added.

Since his release Brueckner has been the subject of renewed scrutiny. Shop staff and other local witnesses said he bought a mobile phone and spoke...