The 40-year-old died in a tractor accident in 2009 but according to a Portuguese newspaper, police have identified him as a key suspect after mobile phone records indicated he was around the McCann’s apartment in Praia da Luz.
The unnamed man was living in the town of Lagos, a 15-minute drive from the Ocean Club resort where the McCanns were staying and Portuguese detectives fear he may have killed Madeleine – who disappeared on May 3 2007.
Portuguese police have questioned his widow and are said to be searching for Madeleine’s body.
The new evidence came to light after Portugal’s Attorney General gave the go-ahead for the investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance to be reopened, more than five years after the original inquiry was shelved.
The Portuguese daily paper, the Correio da Manha claimed: “Police suspicions about the former Ocean Club employee arose during the review of the case carried out by a Policia Judiciaria (local police). This was the strongest new lead presented to state prosecutors which led to the investigation being reopened.
“The man who died aged 40 in a tractor accident in 2009, was not on the list of employees handed over to police during the initial investigation by the Ocean Club because at the time of Madeleine’s disappearance he was not working there.”
The newspaper described his departure from the Ocean Club as “frictious” and said: “The motives that could have caused the ex-employee to kidnap the youngster are still being investigated. The suspect could have committed the kidnap as a form of retaliation against the Ocean club. His aim could have been to call into question the security of the holiday club, but something went wrong and the youngster disappeared.”
Portuguese police and a spokesman for the McCanns declined to comment.