Dan Sales Mike Sullivan
The Sun, UK
The Sun, UK
THE prime suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann may have staked out the family apartment for four days before she vanished.
New photos and details about German paedophile ''Christian B'' match the description of a mystery man spotted nearby at least four times.
Madeleine vanished in Portugal when she was three years old Credit: Handout
Suspicious members of the public had told police about a blond male with a pockmarked face, but he was never found.
''Christian B'' is known to have been carrying out burglaries on holiday villas and apartments at the time and had been living at a run-down shack nearby.
A source said: “These sightings have been a mystery for years and have been the subject of numerous police appeals.
“With a suspect now in custody it seems like they may have finally been solved.”
The first sighting was on April 30, 2007 — two days after the family arrived in Praia da Luz at the Ocean Club.
A man matching the suspect's description was seen in sunglasses at 8am staring at the apartment.
The German, who lived in Portugal for many years, is currently in jail for an unrelated crime
On May 2 a blond male was seen acting strangely at the complex’s reception at midday, without any clear reason to be there.
With a suspect now in custody it seems like they may have finally been solved.
About an hour later a British witness then clocked a blond man with a pal visiting the Habana seafront internet cafe, a five-minute walk from the apartment.
A Netflix documentary last year revealed more about the pair in an interview with another holidaymaker, Jayne Jensen.
She described the moment her sister pointed out two blond men lingering near the Ocean Club on May 3.
This was the final sighting before Madeleine vanished.
Jayne said: “She was walking just slightly in front of me and then she stopped and looked back at me and motioned with her head.
“I caught up with my sister and said, ‘What was that about?’ She said, ‘Well, two single blond men on their own’, which made me chuckle. But they were wrongly placed.
“And that was that, until later that day when we had heard that Madeleine was taken, it was only then, piecing back — who were these guys?”
Suspicious members of the public had told police about a blond male with a pockmarked face, but he was never found
There had also been a big increase in burglaries in the resort, peaking the month before Madeleine disappeared. Two break-ins were in the same block as her family’s apartment.
And an intruder carried out one on April 16 after knocking on the door and asking for the “German family”.
In 2009 police put out a new artist’s impression of a “very ugly” man seen by a British tourist as he apparently watched the apartment the day before she vanished.
In 2013 Scotland Yard Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood appealed for information about the two men on Dutch TV’s Opsporing Verzocht, similar to Britain’s Crimewatch. He said: “A man or two men were seen lurking around the apartments. We are really keen to understand firstly if they are linked. The first e-fit we are showing is of a man wearing sunglasses.
“He was seen on April 30 at about 8am in the morning in the rear passageway behind Madeleine’s apartment looking in the direction of the apartment. Again on May 2 at about lunchtime by the main reception area.
“The second e-fit is of a man who was seen on the afternoon that Madeleine disappeared at around 4pm.
He was seen on April 30 at about 8am in the morning in the rear passageway behind Madeleine’s apartment looking in the direction of the apartment.
“He was coming from an empty apartment two down, 5C, and he walked off towards the main road. We’re really keen to understand who that was.
“That links back to a sighting at 2.30pm where two men who were bare-chested wearing swimming trunks and with blonde hair were seen by two witnesses.”
German investigators confirmed this week their new suspect is white, around 6ft with short blond hair, and has scars and pockmarks on his face.
On Wednesday they revealed he was in contact with someone else just half an hour before the abduction.
The caller was not in the Praia da Luz area when they rang the suspect at 7.32pm. The call ended at 8.02pm.
Police gave the suspect’s number as +351 912 730680 and the mystery caller’s as +351 916 510683.
Meanwhile, pictures of the paedophile's 1980s VW camper van and a 1993 left hand-drive Jaguar XJR6 with German number plates helped pull in 400 responses after they were shown in Germany’s Crimewatch.
The Jag was suspiciously re-registered in another name the morning after Madeleine disappeared.
The suspect may have staked out the family apartment for four days before she vanished Credit: Doug Seeburg
Before ''Christian B'' moved into the van, he lived for six years with a partner in a ramshackle hillside retreat close to the Black Rock peak above Praia da Luz beach.
Detectives fear a heavily scratched wooden post in the building may be where he chained victims.
Surrounding grounds are dotted with deep freshwater wells.
A British woman whose mother owns property next door told The Sun: “There was something weird about him. You get a feeling about people that it’s hard to explain.
“I was only 14 at the time that Madeleine disappeared and I never really felt threatened by him, but something wasn’t right. I never saw his VW camper van but can clearly remember seeing him in the big Jaguar.”
Former neighbours said he made money selling cars and “disappeared without a word” in 2006.
The British owner of the building has told how it was left in a “disgusting” and “absolutely vile” state.
The German paedo lived in this house just five miles from where Madeleine vanished Credit: Solarpix
Wigs and exotic clothing were found strewn around the property with smashed computer hardware when the paedophile abruptly moved out.
The owner, who asked not to be named, said in a statement: “The house was occupied for a period of time by what seemed like an ordinary young couple trying to get by in Portugal.
“Living in England, we had relatively little interaction besides talk of the house, the land and any maintenance issues. We met in person when passing through on family holidays to the Algarve.
“At a later date we discovered that the man’s girlfriend had parted company and returned to Germany. In 2006, my neighbour contacted me in the UK to say that the house had been left ramshackled and abandoned.”
In June 2014, Scotland Yard detectives backed by a team of specially trained dogs excavated scrubland around 300 yards from the building but unearthed no clues.
Have they investigated the wells? Mind you, it sounds like a job done on demand for a perverted client. Most likely she was whisked out of the country that night. If she was passed on to another, there is no reason to conclude that she is dead. Although, the alternative might be worse.
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