We Just Want The Answers

A German prosecutor who suggested Madeleine McCann is dead has backtracked in an astonishing interview with the Sunday Mirror.

- Patrick Hill in Braunschweig, Germany And Martin Fricker in Praia da Luz, Portugal

Hans Wolters conceded the girl, who vanished in 2007, may be alive.

He said there was no forensic evidence to prove her death and suggested there was “a little bit of hope” she might yet be found.

Mr Wolters said the case against prime suspect Christian Brueckner is “90 per cent” there – and he considers him as “the only suspect”.

He says they have “strong” evidence but not enough to charge him. And they have not yet spoken to Brueckner, who is in jail for drug offences.

The Germans’ handling of the case was slammed as cruel by the McCann family’s lawyer in Portugal.

And both he and the McCanns’ spokesman Clarence Mitchell said the family now just want answers.

Mr Wolters previously said he believed Madeleine was killed quickly and Brueckner “had done the deed”.

FACTS But he told the Sunday Mirror: “It was only a personal opinion and speculation. I have no facts for this”.

Madeleine vanished from Praia da Luz in May 2007, days before her fourth birthday. She was on holiday with parents Kate and Gerry and twins Sean and Amelie, then two.

Clarence Mitchell said last night: “The McCanns have only ever wanted to know what has happened to their daughter and they need to establish the facts as known by the police.

“Without that knowledge they will never find peace and they are still relying on the police utterly to establish the facts accurately around this particular lead. Whatever the outcome they need to know.”