Her mother died of cancer when Madeleine was a little girl and she was subsequently raised by her aunt and uncle.
Ms Miftari, who admitted to visiting the Algarve with Brueckner but refused to say whether it was before or after he fled Braunschweig in 2014, is now trying to rebuild her life.
She grew up primarily overseas, having lived in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.
Brueckner, who was reported in August to be in solitary confinement at Oldenburg prison near Bremen, north-west Germany, denies involvement in her disappearance.
But about a year into their relationship, she found child pornography on his mobile phone and laptop, much of it featuring blonde girls.
He has since been given a further seven-and-a-half-year prison term for the rape of an American pensioner in Praia da Luz in 2005.