German police are said to be investigating the new Madeleine McCann suspect for possible involvement in the disappearance of a boy in Portugal in 1996.
They are re-examining the disappearance of Rene Hasee, according to German media.
The then six-year-old from Elsdorf, Germany, went missing from a beach while on holiday with his family in the Portuguese Algarve.
It follows the launch of an investigation into whether the suspect was involved in the disappearance of another child – Inga Gehricke.
The five-year-old vanished during a family barbecue in the Saxony-Anhalt region on 2 May 2015.
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She is thought to have wandered into a forest in search of firewood, and is known by German media as "the German Maddie".
Officers have named the suspect – a convicted child sex offender – only as Christian B and have not revealed his surname for legal reasons.
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A Sky News investigation discovered last year that he was already being considered as a potential suspect for Inga's disappearance.
It is understood his home was searched by police in 2016, but no action was taken.
He reportedly had a property around 60 miles (100km) southwest of Stendal in the town of Neuwegersleben when Inga disappeared.
A year later, he became a suspect in the Madeleine case after police were tipped off by a man who claimed Christian B had indicated he was responsible for her abduction.
Christian B is currently in a German prison serving a seven-year sentence for the rape of a 72-year-old American woman in Portugal 15 years ago. He was convicted of the offence at Braunschweig District Court in December last year.
The suspect had lived in the Germany city of Braunschweig before going abroad.
Madeleine was nearly four when she vanished from her bedroom on 3 May 2007 during a family holiday in the Algarve, Portugal, while her parents were dining with friends nearby in the resort of Praia da Luz.
German police said he lived in the Algarve between 1995 and 2007.
Sky News' crime correspondent Martin Brunt said: "This man came back into the frame in 2017 as a result of an alleged confession.
"I understand he was in a bar in Germany with another man, around the tenth anniversary of Madeleine's disappearance. A report came on the TV about the anniversary of Madeleine's disappearance and he said something to suggest that he knew what happened.
"He also allegedly showed a video of himself raping a woman. Video of the rape led to an investigation that last year meant he was convicted of the rape of a tourist on the Algarve in around 2005.
"That is what brought him back into the frame."
A spokesman for Madeleine's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, said they believe the identification of the German suspect is "the most significant development in 13 years".
Clarence Mitchell, a spokesman for Madeleine's family, said her parents are "trying to maintain as normal a life as possible" andRead More – Source
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