Kate and Gerry chose not to attend Friday night s church prayers but instead escaped on a secret much needed break to stop being photographed by supporters and invited media.
According to British expat Ken Ralphs - who knew Christian Brueckner during his time in the Algarve - the German criminal was working cash-in-hand at the Ocean Club restaurant.
Paulo Pereira Cristovao, a long-time critic of Kate and Gerry McCann who angered them with a controversial book about the mystery, is behind bars at a jail 140 miles north of the Algarve.
As prosecutors try to connect Madeleine s disappearance to the reservoir Bruckner once frequented 30 miles away, MailOnline recaps the events around her disappearance.