Madeleine McCann, three, disappeared from bed on vacation in 2007. Investigators now believe they have a reliable suspect who may know what happened to McCann. Peter Van Sant joins “CBS This Morning” with this suspect’s investigation in this week’s “48 Hours”.
Video transcription
– This week’s “48 Hours” program investigates a new suspect in the disappearance of a child who has made international headlines. Madeleine McCann was just three years old in 2007 when she disappeared from bed at a resort in Portugal during a family vacation. “48-hour” correspondent Peter Van Sant looks at the German suspect, Christian Brueckner, and because the authorities believe he may know what happened.
PETER VAN SANT: In May 2007, British doctors Gerry and Kate McCann were on vacation with their children at a beach resort in Praia da Luz, Portugal. As they did every night, the McCanns left their children sleeping in their apartment and went to dinner with friends about 50 meters away. Jane Hills is an BBC News anchorwoman who covered Madeleine’s story.
JANE HILL: And the friends took turns and checked their children asleep.
PETER VAN SANT: At 10 pm, when it was Kate’s turn, she found this bed, Madeleine’s bed, empty.
KATE MCCANN: Please, please, don’t hurt her. Please don’t scare her. Please tell us where to find it.
– Madeleine, Madeleine, Madeleine, Madeleine.
PETER VAN SANT: Despite a global media storm, a multinational search and investigation, years went unanswered until last June.
– A German prisoner has been identified as a new suspect in Madeleine McCann’s disappearance.
PETER VAN SANT: German authorities in Braunschweig, Germany, made this announcement.
– [SPEAKING GERMAN]
INTERPRETER: The accused is a sex offender with several previous convictions.
PETER VAN SANT: The suspect’s name is Christian Brueckner.
MARK HOFFMAN: It perfectly matches the profile of a person who could kidnap and / or kill a girl like Madeleine McCann.
PETER VAN SANT: Mark Hoffman is a crime and intelligence analyst based in Germany.
MARK HOFFMAN: His cell phone was tracked next to the crime scene the night Maddie disappeared.
PETER VAN SANT: Jim Gamble, former head of the UK’s Online Child Protection and Exploitation Center, is hopeful that this tragic case will finally be resolved.
JIM GAMBLE: For the first time in 13 years, I must say that I really felt that here is a reliable suspect.
PETER VAN SANT: And the big chance in this case came in 2017, when Brueckner told in a drunken confession, he told a friend that he knew what had happened to Madeleine McCann.
– Wow, Peter, thanks. Powerful story, I hope there is news there. And you can see Peter’s report, “The Puzzle Solving, the Madeleine McCann Case” in “48 Hours” tomorrow night at 10 am / 9 am Central right here on CBS.