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Madeleine McCann: German police investigating suspect in similar missing girl case

Inga Gehricke went missing in 2015. Pic: Polizeidirektion Sachsen-Anhalt Nord/dpa

Police are investigating the new Madeleine McCann suspect for possible involvement in a similar case in Germany.

They are re-examining the disappearance of five-year-old Inga Gehrike who vanished during a family barbecue in 2015.

Inga, who is thought to have wandered into a forest in search of firewood, is known by German media as "the German Maddie".

The public prosecutor in Stendal said police would search for "new clues in connection with a suspect in Braunschweig".

The suspect referred to is widely believed to be Christian B, who is being investigated by German and Scotland Yard detectives in the Madeleine case.

A Sky News investigation discovered last year that Christian B, 43, was already being considered as a potential suspect for Inga's disappearance.

It is understood his home was searched by police a year after Inga disappeared, 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.

It was a year after that 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.

He is currently in a German prison serving a seven-year sentence for the rape in Portugal of an elderly American woman.

He spent many years in Portugal, including in Praia da Luz around the time of Madeleine's disappearance in 2007.

The suspect is described as white with short blond hair and about 6ft tall with a slim build at the time Madeleine vanished shortly before her fourth birthday.

Christian B has had two previous convictions for "sexual contact with girls", police said.

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".

German public prosecutors said on Thursday they believe Madeleine is dead and police are treating her disappearance as a murder investigation.

Braunschweig state prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters said: "The public prosecutor's office in Braunschweig is investigating a 43-year-old German national on suspicion of murder.

"From this you can see that we assume that the girl is dead."

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He added that Christian B was a "sexual predator" who has already been convicted of "crimes against little girls".

Police said he worked odd jobs, including in the catering business, in the nearby town of Lagos.

Christian B's other convictions include drug trafficking, burglary and weapons violations, police said.