Portugese and German police have launched a new search in Portugal this week as part of ongoing investigations into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.
Portugese police confirmed on Monday that they were carrying out the search between 2-6 June on warrants issued by German prosecutors.
German authorities suspect him of murder but have not found enough evidence to bring charges.
They said they would hand over any evidence seized in the latest search to German authorities.
The previous search in 2023 focused on a remote dam, a 40-minute-drive from where Madeleine was last seen.
Police in Portugal and Germany have begun a new search this week as part of their ongoing inquiries into Madeleine McCann’s disappearance.
The Lagos municipality, which is adjacent to Praia da Luz, the Algarve town where she vanished almost twenty years ago, will be the focus of the search.
On May 3, 2007, while on vacation with her family, Madeleine, then three years old, disappeared from an apartment complex.
It has become one of the most prominent unresolved missing person cases in the world after her disappearance prompted a police investigation throughout Europe.
Portuguese police confirmed Monday that they were using warrants from German prosecutors to conduct the search from June 2–6.
German detectives have been at the forefront of the case since they named Christian Brückner, 48, as their main suspect in 2020. Brückner is incarcerated in Germany for a different offense.
Although they don’t have enough proof to file charges, German authorities suspect him of murder. Brückner has denied any involvement time and time again.
He is incarcerated in Germany at the moment for the 2005 rape of a 72-year-old American traveler in Portugal.
On Monday, German authorities told the BBC that “criminal proceedings are currently underway in Portugal” and that Portuguese police were assisting them in this endeavor.
Brückner has also been designated as a formal suspect, or “arguido,” by Portuguese authorities. They promised to give any evidence found during the most recent search to the German authorities.
The BKA (German federal police) is conducting searches in Portugal as part of their investigation into Madeleine McCann’s disappearance, and we are aware of this,” the Met Police stated. “.
It will be the first search in two years. A 40-minute drive from Madeleine’s last known location, a remote dam was the focus of the previous search in 2023.
It was discovered that Brückner, who visited the region from 2000 to 2017, had taken pictures and videos of himself close to the reservoir.
According to a Monday report by Portuguese media, the new search will concentrate on the area between the house where Brückner used to reside and the Ocean Club vacation resort where the McCann family was staying.
On the evening of Madeleine’s disappearance, Madeleine and her younger twin siblings were sleeping in the ground-floor apartment while her parents were out to dinner with friends at a nearby restaurant.
Her mother, Kate, found out Madeleine was missing at about 22:00 after her parents kept checking in on the kids all evening.
Brückner remains a top suspect in the eyes of German authorities. German prosecutors, however, stated earlier this year that there was “no prospect” of him being charged with anything connected to Madeleine’s disappearance.
In 2022, a German documentary discovered proof that Brückner was occasionally employed as a handyman at the Ocean Club. Additionally, German prosecutors connected his cell phone data and a car sale to their case against him.
In honor of the 18th anniversary of Madeleine’s disappearance, her parents said last month that their “determination to leave no stone unturned is unwavering.”.
Operation Grange, the Metropolitan Police’s ongoing investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance, began in 2011.
