A man linked to Christian Brueckner, the prime suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, could hold vital information about her.
Armed police in riot gear were spotted outside the home of a man called Ralph H in Braunschweig, Lower Saxony, Germany, last week.
The 56-year-old is alleged to have worked closely with neighbour Brueckner but is not a suspect in Maddie’s disappearance.
The BKA – the Bundeskriminalamt, the equivalent of the FBI in Germany, want to speak to him about his time robbing homes with Brueckner.
They also want to speak to him and ask questions about Maddie who would be 20 years old now.
Brueckner is currently on trial over five sex crimes in Portugal.
A source told The Sun: ‘We must find him to ask him about missing Madeleine McCann. He’s not at home, he doesn’t answer the phone, he’s apparently disappeared.’
Prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters said: ‘He’s a neighbour who could be interesting to talk to, but we can’t give out any details on operative matters.
Neighbours said the unfolding scenes were ‘quite frightening’ as armed police dressed in helmets and bulletproof vests jumped over fences and shouted his name.
A neighbour said Ralph H had not been seen in almost a week, when asked by police.
Another said Ralph and Brueckner grew and sold marijuana together and were involved in ‘various schemes’.
It was also reported that Ralph knew exactly the kind of crimes Brueckner was involved with on the dark web.
Police could not break into Ralph’s home because they did not have a search warrant.
CCTV cameras and motion detectors form a protection around Ralph’s home which is described as ‘a fortress’.
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