The 49-year-old convicted sex offender identified as the main suspect in the Madeleine McCann case has been forced to abandon his residence in Braunschweig, Germany following protests by neighbourhood residents.
German national Christian Brueckner had taken up residence in a flat situated just metres from a primary school approximately one month ago, prompting significant local concern.
After sustained community pressure, he has now vacated the northern German property.
A source told The Sun: "Following several days of peaceful protests by local residents at the parking lot behind the building, he has moved out".
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The source added: "His new location remains unknown, though he is likely still under police surveillance".
Reports indicate Brueckner engaged directly with protesters and agreed to leave the area.
The second-floor accommodation, comprising just two rooms, is understood to belong to a longstanding acquaintance of Brueckner.
Throughout his brief tenancy, authorities maintained a visible presence at the location, with a pair of police officers positioned in a vehicle at the rear of the building on a round-the-clock basis.
Christian Brueckner has been forced to abandon his residence in Braunschweig following demonstrations by neighbourhood residents | REUTERSThe convicted offender had also been prohibited from entering a nearby supermarket.
His time at the Braunschweig address was further marked by a troubling sighting near a disused box factory - a location he had previously utilised to conceal disturbing images and recordings of sexual abuse.
This discovery raised concerns that additional evidence might remain hidden at the site.
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His current whereabouts remains undisclosed, though surveillance by German authorities is believed to be ongoing.
Brueckner was publicly identified as the principal suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann in June 2020, when German prosecutors announced they were investigating him in connection with the case.
The three-year-old vanished from her family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on May 3 2007, in what became one of the most high-profile missing persons investigation in history.
At the time of their announcement, German authorities stated for the first time their belief that the child was dead.
Madeleine McCann went missing from a holiday apartment in Portugal in 2007 | PAInvestigators have subsequently worked to construct a case against Brueckner, though he has never faced charges relating to the Leicestershire girl's disappearance.
He maintains he had no involvement in the case.
Brueckner was released from custody in September 2025 after completing a seven-year sentence for the rape of an American woman in Praia da Luz in 2005, a conviction secured through DNA evidence matching a hair discovered at the scene.
His criminal record also includes a 2016 conviction for the abuse of a five-year-old girl in a park, for which he received a 15-month sentence, though he had already absconded by the time of sentencing.
In October 2024, he was cleared of separate allegations of rape and sexual assault at a trial in Braunschweig, charges unrelated to the McCann investigation.
Prosecutors have lodged an appeal against that acquittal, with a decision still pending.