The top suspect in the disappearance of toddler Madeleine McCann in 2007 is set to be charged with the rape of an Irish woman in the same Portuguese resort area where the little girl was kidnapped.

Hazel Behan was working in Praia da Rocha in June 2004 when she was attacked just two weeks short of her 21st birthday, the Independent.ie reported. Praia da Rocha is about 20 miles from Praia da Luiz, where McCann was abducted.

German prosecutors have been investigating drifter Christian Brueckner for years as a suspect in both McCann’s disappearance and Behan’s rape.

“The case against the suspect Christian B for the rape of Hazel Behan is in a good way, and it may be that we can charge him in the next three months,” said Hans Christian Wolters, who leads both investigations.

Brueckner is currently serving a seven-year sentence for the rape of an eldery American woman in 2005, a case which is under appeal. German privacy laws prevent investigators from fully identifying him.

“I am very hopeful to bring a charge on this case,” Wolters said. “We are building a picture of Christian B and the methods he used to commit his crimes.”

Behan, now 37, told the Independent she had no comment about the news.

Last fall, Wolters told reporters that investigators had material evidence that McCann had been killed, but he declined to offer details, as CrimeOnline reported.

“All I can say is this is like a puzzle and there are many pieces that lead us to believe Christian B is responsible,” Wolters said. “One of the pieces is the signal from the mobile phone he was using at the time Madeleine McCann disappeared and has been shown to have been in the area of the Ocean Club resort where she was staying.”

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