Criminal investigators in Germany notified Christian Brückner as early as 2013 that he was on their radar in connection with the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, raising questions over whether they inadvertently allowed the suspect to dispose of evidence. According to a report in the news weekly Der Spiegel, Brückner received a letter from police in Braunschweig on 4 November 2013 inviting him to be interviewed as a witness in the “missing person case Madeleine McCann”. Braunschweig police had sent the letter after noticing Brückner’s history of sexual offences following a routine request by the German Federal Office for Criminal Investigation. Officers cited by Der Spiegel describe the letter as a mistake, saying such a high-profile case would have required investigators to gather more evidence before approaching a suspect. “This should not have happened and in no way complies with common procedure in such a delicate case,” said one. Federal investigators in Germany had received a tipoff linking Brückner to Madeleine’s disappearance in 2007 following a TV appearance by her parents on 16 October 2013, Der Spiegel reported. A former colleague had recognised Brückner on the basis of a photofit of a man spotted near the site where Madeleine went missing. The informant said the suspect had run a swimming pool service close to the Cala d’Or holiday resort. Madeleine went missing from her family’s holiday apartment on 3 May 2007, a few days before her fourth birthday, as her parents dined with friends at a nearby tapas bar. Her disappearance sparked one of the biggest searches of its kind in recent years.