German investigators' prime suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann will be released from prison in a matter of weeks, local authorities have confirmed.
Christian Brückner, who is serving a sentence in northern Germany for a rape conviction, will be released by 17 September at the latest, the lead prosecutor investigating the toddler's disappearance told the BBC.
Hans Christian Wolters also said that he believed the 48-year-old German national was dangerous but that the current legal situation meant he must be released from prison without delay.
Brückner has never been charged with any crime in relation to Madeleine's disappearance and denies any involvement.
The then-three-year-old vanished from an apartment complex in Praia da Luz in the Algarve on 3 May 2007, sparking a Europe-wide investigation that has become one of the highest-profile missing persons cases.
Madeleine's parents had been dining with friends at a restaurant a short walk away while their daughter and her younger twin siblings were asleep in the ground-floor apartment. They had checked in on the children periodically until her mother, Kate, discovered she was missing at around 22:00 local time.
The case remains unsolved, but German prosecutors have pointed to evidence suggesting Brückner may have been in the area when Madeleine disappeared.
Mr Wolters said that while he and other prosecutors did not believe they had enough evidence to formally charge Brückner in relation to the McCann case, their efforts would continue.
Brückner is not just our number one suspect, he's the only suspect, he said. There is no-one else.
German authorities suspect Brückner of murder in relation to Madeleine McCann, while British police continue to treat her disappearance as a missing persons case.
The prosecutor noted that an expert had recently assessed Brückner as a danger to society, stating, You have to expect [Brückner] to commit further crimes. As a result, prosecutors are applying for restrictions to be placed on him upon release, including fitting him with an ankle tag.
Due to differences in legal systems, the ongoing investigation remains complex, with Portuguese authorities also naming Brückner as a formal suspect.
Brückner, convicted for previous sex offenses, has spent years in the Algarve and linked mobile phone data to his involvement in the case against him. He is currently incarcerated for a separate rape charge involving a 72-year-old American tourist in Portugal in 2005.
Recently, fresh searches were conducted with no significant breakthroughs, leaving the investigation's future uncertain.
