Prime suspect identified in 2007 disappearance of Madeleine McCann

quote:

---

German police say they know how Madeleine McCann was killed as the prime suspect is revealed to be a drug-dealing paedophile.

The sex predator, 43, named only as "Christian B", is behind "multiple" attacks on little girls and raped an American pensioner - while living as a druggie drifter in Portugal.

The 43-year-old - currently behind bars for an unrelated sex attack - was living in a campervan in Praia da Luz in Portugal around the time the three-year-old vanished on May 3, 2007.

He was jailed in Germany last year for seven years for the rape of an American woman in Portugal two years before Madeleine went missing, it's reported.

German cops believe the prolific burglar, who has previous convictions for sex crimes against young girls, may have initially gone to raid the McCanns' apartment before he "moved on to a sexual motive".

Scotland Yard said last night that the suspect has been linked to a 1980s VW T3 Westfalia white campervan with yellow skirting that was registered in Portugal and pictured in the Algarve in 2007 in another bombshell development.

Cops say he was driving the vehicle in the same town just days before Madeleine vanished and is believed to have been living in it for days or weeks before and after the date of her disappearance.

The German lag has also been linked to a 1993 Jaguar XJR6 with a German number plate seen in Praia da Luz and the surrounding areas in 2006 and 2007.

German police believe one of the two vehicles was used in the disappearance of Madeleine.

---