A German woman who became the focus of a police investigation into Madeleine McCann's disappearance has revealed she had no knowledge that detectives suspected her involvement in a theoretical hit-and-run incident.
The woman, whose identity remains protected, discovered she had been under scrutiny only when approached by journalists recently.
This is despite Portuguese and British authorities examining her potential connection to the case seven years ago.
"I was shocked by the police interest in her," she told Sky News after being tracked down following a Portuguese media report about the investigation.
The theory suggested the three-year-old British girl might have left her family's holiday flat through an unlocked patio door and suffered a fatal traffic accident in May 2007.
Detectives pursued this theory before Christian Brueckner emerged as the primary suspect in the investigation.
The woman had been employed at a restaurant near the beach in Praia da Luz on the night Madeleine vanished.
She returned home at 10.30pm, after the toddler had already been reported missing from her bed.
Madeleine McCann went missing in 2007
|GETTY
Her British partner worked as a chef at the Ocean Club resort where the McCann family stayed.
Portuguese newspaper Correio da Manha reported in June that the investigation stalled when German authorities declined to send an undercover officer to befriend the woman.
The woman's residence underwent multiple searches by Portuguese police following Madeleine's disappearance, similar to many other local homes.
During a second search, officers requested she empty her freezer, prompting an angry response.
"Do you think I've cut her up in little pieces and I'm going to have her for dinner?" she asked the officer.
Christian B is the prime suspect in abducting the missing British toddler
| GettyOver a decade later, German authorities contacted her again. A police commissar, equivalent to an inspector, telephoned her repeatedly for more than twelve months.
The officer inquired whether she recognised Christian Brueckner or had observed him near the McCann family's accommodation. He also requested the Sim card from her Portuguese mobile phone.
"Do you think I ran her over? I didn't even have a car at the time," she stated.
The family of the woman's late British partner confirmed they were interviewed by detectives from Scotland Yard's Operation Grange, which supports German and Portuguese investigations.
Gerry and Kate McCann have rejected suggestions their daughter would have left the apartment
| PAKate McCann has consistently rejected suggestions her daughter could have exited the apartment independently.
In her book "Madeleine", she detailed the complex series of actions required: drawing curtains, opening the patio door, navigating two safety gates, and closing everything behind.
"What three-year-old do you know who would do that?" she wrote.
The hit-and-run theory appears to have been abandoned when investigators focused on Christian Brueckner, who remains in German custody for an unrelated crime. He is expected to be released next week.
A Metropolitan Police spokesman confirmed ongoing support for the McCann family while declining further comment on active enquiries.
A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "We continue to support Madeleine's family to understand what happened on the evening of May 3, 2007, in Praia da Luz. This includes working with our colleagues in Germany and Portugal.
"Our thoughts remain with the family and it would be inappropriate to comment further while enquiries continue."
Speaking about the most recent theories, journalist Nick Pisa told GB News: "Portuguese sources told me that they haven't really found anything at all of any significance, apart from a few animal bones and some scraps of adult clothing.
"So it looks again that it was a bit of a fruitless task."
Former detective Peter Bleksley described the theory as "implausible" and "utterly beyond believability".
He told GB News: "It is incomprehensible to think that amount of people would conspire together to cover up a hit and run accident regarding a tiny child beyond belief, therefore, with no credibility whatsoever.
"It's yet again, another regurgitation of a theory, a nonsense that takes the inquiry nowhere and potentially just heaps further pain and anguish on all those who loved Maddie and everyone who wants to see a resolution to this story, which of course, includes me."