Madeleine McCann went missing 17 years ago from an apartment in Praia da Luz, in Portugal, while her parents were out having dinner. Her case is still considered to be “the most heavily reported missing-person case in modern history.”

Last year, Madeleine’s devastated parents, who are still looking for answer, shared a heartbreaking message.

“It’s 17 years since Madeleine was taken from us,” it read. “It’s hard to even say that number without shaking our heads in disbelief. Whilst we are fortunate in many ways and able to live a relatively normal and enjoyable life now, the ‘living in limbo’ is still very unsettling. And the absence still aches.”

“Your support continues to encourage us and bolsters our strength to keep going. We know the love and hope for Madeleine and the will to find her, even after so many years, remains, and we are truly thankful for that.

“Thank you again for remembering Madeleine and all missing children. Kate and Gerry.”

The prime suspect in the case, German pedophile Christian Brückner, 48, is currently serving a seven-year sentence for raping a 72-year-old American in Praia da Luz in 2005. At the same time, he’s awaiting a trial for a separate case in which he’s charged for raping an Irish tour rep in 2004.

A former cellmate of Brückner, Laurentiu Codin, 50, claimed he once bragged about stealing a child in Portugal.

”He told me that in Portugal, that he had stolen there… he was in a region of hotels where people are there, not sure how you say, rich people, where rich people live,” Codin recalled.

“And when he was in the area of the hotels where the rich people live, there was somewhere an open window, he told me this, and this was the reason he asked me whether fingerprints could be left when he went out of the window.

”He said he went into the flat because of money and said that he didn’t find any money, but found a kid, and took the child, and that two hours later, the place he was, it was then surrounded by police and dogs.”

”And he then went away, out of the area, I am just saying what he told me… And he took the child in Portugal in his car, and in the time when the police and dogs were there at the house, he drove away, and he was gone, he asked me if the DNA from a child can be found as evidence and I answered yes.”

The defendant’s lawyer, Philipp Marquart, dismissed the testimony, stating: ”All of these claims are completely new. All of them. He has never said anything like this before, and they all contradict each other.”

Braunschweig Chief Public Prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters confirmed to The Independent that Brückner is seeking early release from his jail term.

A person close to the case told a German outlet: “Normally a move like his bid for an early release would be laughed out of court.

“But everyone is very nervous after what happened with his r*** trial last year.

“The court was surprisingly favorable to him.”