GERMAN prosecutors say they have “material evidence” Madeleine McCann is dead as they continue building a murder case against suspect Christian B.
It came as cops confirmed they are investigating the German paedo for flashing in a kids’ playground and the rape of an Irish babysitter in the same region where Madeleine vanished.
Christian B, who is already in jail for raping an OAP, has been named as the prime suspect in the 2007 disappearance of three-year-old Madeleine in the Algarve.
Last night Hans Christian Wolters, the public prosecutor in north-west Germany, told Portuguese broadcaster RTP that investigators have evidence that she is no longer alive.
He was asked: “Do you have any material evidence that Madeleine is dead?”
Mr Wolters answered: “Yes”, but refused to give further details.
German prosecutors believe they can place the suspect close to the McCanns’ holiday flat in the Ocean Club in Praia da Luz on the night Madeleine was snatched.
Last week Mr Wolters said all the clues point to Christian B as the killer.
He told Portuguese TV: “All I can say is this is like a puzzle and there are many pieces that lead us to believe Christian B is responsible.
“One of the pieces is the signal from the mobile phone he was using at the time Madeleine McCann disappeared and has been shown to have been in the area of the Ocean Club resort where she was staying.”
He added: “The result of our investigation does not point in any way to the possibility the suspect might have kept Madeleine alive.
“Everything we have points to her being dead.”
CELLAR SEARCH
Mr Wolters’ latest comments came as it emerged police had searched allotments on the outskirts of Hanover, not far from where Christian B lived for a time in 2007.
They discovered a cellar which was search with sniffer dogs. Reports said officers were looking for memory sticks, but prosecutors would not confirm if any were found.
A previous search in Portugal is said to have uncovered memory sticks containing child abuse images and photos of Christian B part-naked.
Meanwhile Portuguese police have reopened an investigation into Christian B for other alleged sex crimes.
He was arrested June 2017 on suspicion of exposing himself to four young children at a playground in Sao Bartomoleu de Messines a 40-minute drive from Praia da Luz.
The case was dropped when police found he was wanted in Germany for child sex abuse and possessing child abuse images.
Portuguese officials have confirmed it has now been reopened following criticism of the original decision to shelve it.
Last week HOAR revealed German prosecutors are now formally investigating Christian B for a violent rape in the Algarve in 2004.
Hazel Behan, then 20, was tied up at knifepoint by a masked intruder who spoke with a German or Dutch accent.
The fiend beat her and filmed the attack in Praia da Rocha.
Christian B is also suspected of a series of break-ins in the Algarve before and after Madeleine vanished.
Police say the murder case against him is “90 per cent” and have appeal for witnesses.
But investigators fear key witnesses are yet to come forward because they are “terrified” of the suspect.
In June, Mr Wolters wrote to Kate and Gerry McCann saying they have reason to believe their daughter is dead but they cannot say how in case it jeopardises the inquiry.
But the couple say they refuse to give up hope she is alive until her body is found.
