A man long identified by authorities as the prime suspect in the unsolved disappearance of a British child is now out of prison, describing an existence marked by fear, public hostility, and an inability to find peace.
Christian Brückner, recently released after serving a sentence for a separate, serious crime in Portugal, is reportedly struggling to reintegrate into society. According to an account from a writer who spent two days with him, Brückner claims to live in “constant fear” of attack, is plagued by paranoia, and finds sleep nearly impossible due to a conviction that someone intends to kill him.
His release has not meant a return to normalcy. Attempts to perform basic tasks, such as purchasing a mobile phone SIM card, have reportedly triggered media alerts and public scrutiny. Communities have been leafleted with his photograph, warning residents to be vigilant. This intense attention has, on multiple occasions, forced officials to relocate him for his own safety, he claims.
Brückner currently subsists on state welfare and shuffles between temporary accommodations. During a recent visit to a prosecutor’s office, he was quoted as demanding, “I want my life back!” and seeking compensation for his ordeal.
In conversations, he is described as meticulously dissecting the allegations against him in the child’s disappearance, arguing fiercely against witness accounts. Simultaneously, he exhibits what the writer termed a “raw paranoia,” allegedly fueled by over two years in pre-trial solitary confinement, the visible physical effects of which he still carries. He reportedly expressed a belief that law enforcement agencies are engaged in a cover-up and are intent on destroying him.
Brückner was freed after completing a prison term for the 2005 rape of an elderly American tourist. Investigators have long believed he is connected to the 2007 disappearance of the young girl from a holiday apartment in Portugal’s Algarve region, where he lived and worked for years. Evidence cited includes photographs placing him near a local reservoir around the time of the incident.
To date, prosecutors have stated they lack the forensic evidence required to formally charge him in the child’s abduction case. He remains under state monitoring, requiring permission to travel, and is technically a free man—a status he describes as a living nightmare, shadowed by the unresolved investigation and public condemnation.
