A plan to steal a child to sell was being devised in a Portuguese holiday resort just a week before Madeleine McCann disappeared, an expat has alleged.
Ken Ralphs said prime suspect Christian Brueckner attempted to enlist a mutual friend to help find a youth to sell to a childless couple.
According to Ralphs - a former UK political campaigner - Brueckner offered the job to a man living in a tent in a remote part of the Algarve coast.
The mutual friend - who cannot be named for legal reasons- and Ralphs and convicted rapist Brueckner were all part of a nomadic, bohemian community living off-grid in isolated spots in southwest Portugal.
A plan to steal a child to sell was being devised in a Portuguese holiday resort just a week before Madeleine McCann disappeared, an expat has allegedPA"We were sitting around the fire one night after a meal, we had a few beers and during the early hours of the morning my friend began to cry," Ralphs told Sky News.
"I asked him what the matter was and, eventually, he confessed to me he was getting involved with Christian to steal a child from Praia da Luz from a rich family."
The 59-year-old explained that 17-years-ago his friend and his family were living in a teepee when he and his wife used to bring them food.
He added that Brueckner knew their mutual friend was "vulnerable and wanted to travel abroad" but couldn't afford to.
"I said you can't get involved in kidnapping a person for ransom, that's ridiculous, then he explained - 'no, it's not like that'. Christian had a customer, a buyer lined up, a German couple who couldn't have children," Ralphs said.
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But after returning to the UK, Ralphs drove to a police station to report what he knew after the news broke that three-year-old McCann had vanished.
He explained: "I said to the police, here's the secret map of how you get to this point in the woods here. I said that must be sent immediately to the Portuguese police."
After returning to the Algarve, he also informed local police about the story, but Portuguese detectives knew nothing about it.
His friend had also vanished, his teepee tent burned and he has not seen him or Brueckner since.
In 2020, when Brueckner was publicly identified as the McCann suspect, Ralphs contacted the police again.
Ken Ralphs said prime suspect Christian Brueckner attempted to enlist a mutual friend to help find a youth to sell to a childless couple
ReutersRalphs was interviewed by Portuguese detectives, he added: "They told me someone had made contact with my friend abroad and he had denied knowing me, but I have a dozen witnesses who will say that he's lying. I guess he just didn't want to be interviewed by police."
He also sent a detailed report to a German prosecutor now leading the McCann investigation.
After being shown a variety of photos, Ralphs said: "Of course, it's definitely him. I remember him clearly, he was good-looking, spoke very good English and was polite, though not particularly friendly. A bit of a loner."
Brueckner is already in German prison for raping a woman in part of Portugal's Algarve region where three-year-old Madeleine went missing.
The 47-year-old is currently on trial for a series of sex offences - unrelated to McCann - in the Algarve between 2000 and 2017.