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20th May 2024
04:47pm BST
The Madeleine McCann case has haunted the minds of the nation since the 3-year-old disappeared 17 years ago from Praia da Luz.
However, a new testimony from Detective Constable Mark Draycott marks a significant turn in the search for answers.
Earlier this month, Draycott appeared in a German court to give evidence in the trial of Christian Brueckner.
Brueckner is a convicted paedophile who is currently on trial for five offences, including three of rape, that are alleged to have taken place in Portugal from 2000 to 2017.
DC Draycott, who worked on Operation Grange, the investigation into finding out what happened to Maddy, was called to give evidence in Brueckner's trial.
The 49-year-old officer explained that he received a voicemail back in 2017 from Helge Busching - a former friend of Brueckner's, who lived in the Algarve region in the mid-2000s.
"It was from a male by the sound of his voice, he spoke good English, and he asked to speak to Dave Edgar, he said he had information and he left a Greek mobile number," DC Draycott recalled, via Metro.
"I then rang this Greek mobile number and spoke to a male I now know to be Helge Lars Busching, within that conversation he referred to himself as Lars, and he gave information in relation to the McCann investigation.
"As a result of that information, we conducted other inquiries and searches and this became a line of enquiry."
Draycott explained how Busching came to London to give a statement in 2018, where he claimed that he saw Brueckner at a festival in 2008.
Busching said that Brueckner had told him: "It was strange she didn’t scream when she was taken."
"He complained of not feeling well. He said he had eaten something dodgy," Draycott continued, recalling Busching's statement.
"But he was happy for the statement to be taken. He was only with us for a matter of a couple of hours. He had travelled a long way and still wanted to help police."
Brueckner was named as a key suspect in the Madeleine case two years later by German police. He has denied any wrongdoing.
DC Draycott addressed the fact Busching had been arrested for people smuggling in the days prior to the phonecall.
"We don’t make promises to witnesses. We never pay witnesses for information," Draycott said, adding that Busching's criminal record had ‘nothing to do’ with his statement.
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