Madeleine McCann suspect may be linked to FOURTH child disappearance as cops probe death of girl, 16, in 1996
MADELEINE McCann's paedo suspect could be linked to the murder of a missing 16-year-old girl whose body was discovered on a beach in 1996.
Carola Titze had reportedly been in contact with a German man days before she disappeared while on holiday in De Haan in 1996.
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Tragically, her body was found badly mutilated in sand dunes just six days later.
Belgian authorities are investigating whether Christian B was involved in the teenager's killing.
This is the fourth unsolved child disappearance he could now been linked to, prosecutors say.
Christian, who is now 43, would have been about 19 at the time of Carola's disappearance.
In the days before her disappearance, she was reportedly seen at a disco with a German man
And despite police constructing a potential image of the suspect, no one was ever arrested.
Christian has this week been named as a suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.
And Christian, who is currently in jail for the rape of an American tourist, has also been linked to two other disappearances of children.
And at least one other child murder case — that of eight-year-old Portuguese girl Joana Cipriano in September 2004 — is likely to be reexamined despite two convictions.
German detectives investigating Christian B have contacted the family of missing René Hasee to say they were looking into his 1996 abduction again.
Youngster René, from Elsdorf, Germany, vanished on June 21, 1996 while on holiday with his family in Aljezur - just 25 miles from Praia da Luz, in the Algarve.
He ran ahead during a family walk on the beach to go in the sea. After losing sight of him they never saw him again and were left with just his clothes lying on the beach.
Detectives believe the suspect was regularly living in the Algarve from 1995. He was already convicted of sex offences against children and would have been 19 at the time René disappeared.
Christian B was reported to be in the same area as five-year-old German girl Inga Gehricke when she vanished in May 2015.
The little girl had been enjoying a family BBQ in woodland in the state of Saxony-Anhalt, around 50 miles from Berlin, when she vanished without a trace in chilling echoes of Madeleine's disappearance.
Portuguese police have since insisted they didn't discount Christian as a suspect in the case of missing Madeleine.
The British toddler was just three-years-old when she vanished in Portugal while on holidays with her family in 2007.
Christian B is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence for raping an American woman, 72, in Portugal.
We are now able to show his picture in full in the UK after it was published in a major German newspaper - as cops in both countries appeal for anyone who knows him to come forward.
The suspect, who we cannot legally name in full, was first thrust into the frame in 2017 after allegedly confessing to abducting Madeleine in a bar.
He was reportedly chatting to the friend in Germany when a TV report came on about the tenth anniversary of the girl's disappearance and he suggested he knew what had happened to her.
German sources claim he boasted he had "snatched her" but didn’t say he had killed her.
Christian B was first thrust into the frame in connection with Madeleine's disappearance in 2017 after allegedly confessing to abducting the girl while in a bar with a pal in Germany.
He was reportedly chatting to the friend when a TV report came on about the tenth anniversary of the girl's disappearance and he suggested he knew what had happened to her.
German sources claim he boasted he had "snatched her" but didn’t say he had killed her.
Prosecutors in Germany are investigating Christian B "on suspicion of murder" and believe Madeleine is dead and know how she was killed - despite no body being found.
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Clarence Mitchell, a spokesman for Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry McCann, told BBC: "They are grateful and they welcome this appeal.
"They have not given up hope of finding Madeleine alive, despite the length of time - they've never given up that hope.
"But they are realistic and they say that whatever the outcome of this appeal and the police work, they do need to know because they need to find peace."
You can help by calling Operation Grange with information on 0207 321 9251 or email Operation.grange@met.police.uk