Missing toddler Madeleine McCann will be 16 this year. Photo / Getty Images
Missing toddler Madeleine McCann will be 16 this year. Photo / Getty Images
A serial child killer dubbed the "masked man" has emerged as a key suspect in the search for missing Madeleine McCann.
German paedophile Martin Ney, 48, was jailed for life in 2012 for abducting and murdering three children, and sexually abusing dozens more, The Sun reports.
The Portuguese police officer who first led the hunt for Madeleine, Goncalo Amaral, has claimed that police are probing a "German paedophile who is in prison".
Ney looks like a photofit of a man seen acting suspiciously before Madeleine vanished from her Portuguese holiday apartment 12 years ago, The Sun reports.
The youth worker dressed in black and donned masks and balaclavas while carrying out his attacks.
Ney was said to have been familiar with the Algarve after travelling widely in Portugal in the 1990s.
He was jailed for killing three German children — Stefan Jahr, 13, in 1992, Dennis Rostel, 8, in 1995, and Dennis Klein, 9, in 2001.
The reports come on the 12th anniversary of Madeleine's disappearance as her mother Kate attended an emotional prayer vigil at her home village in Rothley, Leicestershire, marking the occasion.
Madeleine McCann was three when she vanished while on holiday with her parents in Praia da Luz on the Algarve coast on May 3 2007. Photo / Getty Images
Madeleine's father Gerry, a heart doctor, was reportedly in Italy on work business as Kate and her twins Sean and Amelie attended the service at a local Baptist church.
The girl was three when she vanished while on holiday with her parents in Praia da Luz on the Algarve coast on May 3 2007.
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick said on Thursday the force was pursuing "active lines of inquiry" and has asked for more funding from the Home Office.
British police launched their own investigation, Operation Grange, in 2013 after a Portuguese inquiry failed to make progress.
Kate and Gerry McCann have vowed to do whatever it takes for as long as it takes to find their daughter. Photo / Getty Images
Madeleine's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, both doctors and devout Catholics, have always pledged never to give up the search for their daughter.
In a statement on Friday, the 12th anniversary of her disappearance, they said: "The months and years roll by too quickly, Madeleine will be 16 this month. "It's impossible to put into words just how that makes us feel. There is comfort and reassurance though in knowing that the investigation continues and many people around the world remain vigilant.
"Thank you to everyone who continues to support us and for your ongoing hope and belief."
