GERMAN cops are frantically trying to track down ex-lovers of the prime suspect in the Madeleine McCann investigation.

Detectives believe former partners of Christian B hold vital clues in piecing together the “confused timeline” of the years the 54-year-old spent “drifting” around Praia De Luz. 

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It comes as officers face a race against time in linking the convicted paedophile to Maddie’s disappearance.

A source close to the case said: “German detectives remain convinced Christian B was involved in Maddie’s disappearance.

“But they still have a very confused timeline of Christian B’s life spent on Praia De Luz.

“For years he is thought to have been drifting around the island living in a van and they want to understand more about what he was doing during this time and who he was seeing.

“The big problem they have is that relations with Portuguese cops are at an all-time low.”

They added: “Hardly any intelligence is now being shared.

“This has therefore left German cops with little choice but to work backwards and to try and trace as many friends, colleagues, former girlfriends and lovers of Christian B as possible.

“They might hold vital clues. 

“Cops remain sure someone, somewhere, knows information which could be of vital importance.”

Former partners of Christian B have come forward before.

Two years ago Nuray Oezgen told how she met Christian B while working in a bar in Hanover in 2012 and they eventually rented a place together. 

But just months into their relationship, she says he became aggressive and would drink beer and Jagermeister with pals while she worked alone.

Nuray later said the relationship soured when Christian B began showing an unhealthy obsession with schoolgirls.

The final straw came when Nuray discovered Christian B was in a sexual relationship with a local teen he brought back to their flat.

Police later raided his home in Braunschweig where they discovered a secret stash of hundreds of sickening child abuse images.

He was found to have sexually abused a friend’s five-year-old daughter but, by then, he had already fled to Portugal.

An arrest warrant was issued and he eventually confessed to the sickening crimes. 

He was extradited back to Germany in 2016 and jailed.

A source close to the current probe into Christian B says his “wayward” and “hedonistic” lifestyle remain of huge interest to officers. 

The source said: “Christian B lived a very strange life in Germany and later in Praia De Luz.

“He used a lot of drugs and travelled around meeting women, many of whom went off with him consensually.

“So there’s a web of former partners and lovers who could hold really critical information about what he was getting up to.

“Officers desperately need new leads.”

Two weeks ago, we exclusively revealed how cops leading the probe into Christian B may have “just weeks” to save their investigation.

The Sun told how detectives fear the investigation could collapse by the New Year unless a fresh lead is found.

A source close to the investigation told us: “The next few weeks are make or break for the detectives investigating Christian B. 

“Publicly they are saying they remain convinced he is linked to Maddie’s disappearance, and that they will present evidence in due course. 

“But, privately, the case is close to collapsing.

“There’s no new leads, and the primary witness they were relying on has totally gone offside.”

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