Police begin new search near Portugal’s Praia da Luz

Portuguese and German authorities began a new search for Madeleine McCann in Portugal, almost two decades after her disappearance.

Madeleine was three years old when she disappeared from an apartments complex in Praia Da Luz in Algarve during family vacation on May 3, 2007.

The disappearance of the British Toddler has sparked a police investigation on the scale of Europe and is one of the cases of the most unresolved person in Europe.

Portuguese police confirmed the search on Monday on Monday, making mandates of German prosecutors between the complex where Madeleine disappeared and the first suspect of German investigators stayed at the time. The site covers 21 plots of land.

The research – which covers the municipality of Lagos, near Praia Da Luz in a lively tourist area – should continue until Friday.

Tuesday morning, a Portuguese firefighter and Four vehicles carrying the German police arrived on the research site – located approximately 3.5 miles from the Ocean Club Resort, where Madeleine and his family had remained.

The roads leading to the site – which is considerable and especially the escrumment – have been closed since Monday, while the objective of the day seems to be on disused buildings near the coast.

The team cleaned the grass and vegetation around the research site, while examining well-semblable structures. A large blue tent was also erected in the same area.

Thirty German officers should participate in research.

Charlie Hedges, the former chief of the national children of the National Crime Agency who worked on some of the highest views in the United Kingdom, said that he seemed that the investigators “threw a slightly wider net” with the last research.

“It seems a little widespread to be [that] They are looking for something special, “he told BBC.” If it was a firm track, you would have thought it would be defined and to a single place. “”

However, he said they must have sufficient justification to acquire the search mandates.

“They should obtain the approval of Germany’s financing, and this should be a fairly considerable cost with the number of resources and work abroad and the rest.”

The case of Madeleine was initially processed by the Portuguese authorities with the help of the metropolitan police.

German investigators have taken the lead since 2020, when they identified the German National Christian Brückner as their first suspect.

The 48 -year -old man is currently serving a sentence in Germany for the rape of a 72 -year -old American tourist in Portugal in 2005. He was to be released in September, but this could be postponed at the beginning of 2026 if he does not pay a fine, he must.

The German authorities fear that if Brückner is accused of nothing, he will disappear after his release.

German police suspect him of murder. British police continue to deal with the case as an investigation into missing people.

Brückner has repeatedly denied any involvement and no accusation was made against him concerning his disappearance.

Portuguese authorities have also appointed Brückner as an official suspect, or “Arguido”. They said they would give all the evidence in the last research to the German authorities.

The MET police, who said this week that they were aware of the searches made by German police in Portugal, continues his investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine.

The case, known as the Grange operation, has been underway since 2011 and has cost around 13.3 million pounds to date.

The officials did not disclose if they carry out this last research in Portugal on the basis of new information, which gives the impression that they were throwing a last glance at elements of evidence or a body could have been hidden.

German police have a European mandate, which has been approved by Portuguese prosecutors, to allow them to searches on private land.

The latest search took place two years ago and focused on a tank where Madeleine was seen for the last time.

Brückner, who spent time in the region between 2000 and 2017, was found to have photographs and videos of himself near the reservoir.

Hedges said the last research area could be “a gap they are trying to fill”. He suggested that the imminent liberation of Brückner “probably led things” and that the police had to “nail” other evidence.

At night, Madeleine disappeared, her parents had been dinner with friends in a restaurant a few steps while their three-year-old daughter and her young twin brothers and twins were sleeping in the apartment on the ground floor.

Her mother, Kate, discovered that she was missing around 10:00 p.m.

A German documentary in 2022 found evidence that Brückner was working occasionally at the Ocean Club as a handyman, while German prosecutors also linked his mobile phone data and a sale of cars in their case against him.

Last month, Madeleine’s parents marked the 18th anniversary of her disappearance, saying that their “determination not to leave a stone is unshakable”.