The prime suspect in the Madeleine McCann case scrapped a van and two cars following her disappearance, it has been claimed.
Christian Brueckner took the vehicles back to Germany from Portugal and disposed of them.
A white Mercedes Sprinter van, which was similar to one officers say he owned in the Algarve, was photographed in a woodland in East Germany.
It is not yet known when the 47-year-old moved the vehicles, which were snapped in photos obtained by The Sun, back to his native country.
Defendant Christian Brueckner is the prime suspect in the long-unsolved case of missing British toddler Madeleine McCann
GETTY
Sources have suggested he would often visit a scrapyard close to his secret hideout.
The scrapyard has since closed but its owners alleged police had not approached them about Brueckner.
A source said that the 47-year-old's white van was “well-known locally” and used the large rear section to have “hook-ups” with women he met online.
They added: “He told me he regularly took old vehicles to the scrapyard in Helmstedt but of course no one thought anything of it at the time.”
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Madeleine McCann was last seen in 2007PABrueckner was found to have disturbing videos and images on a memory stick when it was searched by police in 2016.
The owner of the scrapyard told The Sun: “German law requires that you keep all records for at least ten years.
“But the thing is, none of the police divisions came round to ask us anything, which you could say is surprising.”
Brueckner is on trial for a string of offences supposedly committed on the Portuguese coast, including raping an Irish holiday rep and an teenage girl.
Christian Brueckner has been a prime suspect in the Madeleine McCann case since 2022GETTY
He is currently serving a prison sentence in Germany after being convicted of raping a 72-year-old woman.
However, Brueckner has not been charged over McCann’s disappearance and has denied any involvement in the case.
McCann disappeared during a family holiday to Portugal in 2007 at the age of three.
Portuguese authorities last year ramped up efforts to search for the missing toddler.