Madeleine McCann – latest news: Search of remote Algarve reservoir finds ‘relevant clue’

A three-day search of a remote Portugal reservoir has resulted in the reported discovery of a “relevant clue” linked to the disappearace of Madeleine McCann.

Officers concluded their search of the Algarve reservoir on Thursday, where key suspect Christian Brueckner reportedly visited “some days” after the three-year-old vanished on May 3, 2007.

Using sniffer dogs and a tractor-based tree-cutter, authorities scoured Barragem do Arade reservoir in the Algarve – around 31 miles inland from where the McCanns were staying in the Praia de Luz resort.

During the search, a “relevant clue” was found which led to police officers concentrating on a specific paper, according to the Correio de Manhã newspaper.

Police in Portugal said: “[The search] resulted in the collection of some material that will be subject to the competent expertise. The material collected will be handed over to the German authorities.”

Madeleine McCann’s disappearance has puzzled detectives for more than 15 years – but in 2020 a new potential suspect emerged. Now, police are searching a remote reservoir in Portugal’s the Algarve that he used to visit in a renewed effort to shed further light on the case.

German prisoner Christian Brueckner was first named in connection with the unsolved mystery that summer, and officially named as a suspect last year. His yellow and white VW T3 Westfalia campervan was reportedly identified as having been near to the Praia da Luz resort in Portugal where the young girl went missing on May 3, 2007.

Three-year-old Madeleine disappeared from the bed of her holiday apartment while her parents and family friends dined 180 feet away. Her two-year-old twin siblings were also in the apartment she went missing from. Madeleine’s parents Kate and Gerry McCann have been searching for answers ever since.

The Metropolitan Police took over the investigation, Operation Grange, in 2011 but they hit dead ends. There has not been another significant suspect in the case since 2007 until Brueckner.

Police hunting a remote reservoir in Portugal for evidence linked to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann have left holes around two feet deep.

As part of this investigation, police dug holes of around 60cm and these have been left, along with piles of soil, now that authorities have left the digging area.

The surrounding woodland showed pathways had been cut by heavy machinery, leading to the main flattened 160 square foot excavation area.

Broken rocks were also scattered around the site in Portugal, after pickaxes were seen used by personnel over the course of three days.

Maryam Zakir-Hussain reports:

Police have said materials unearthed during a three-day hunt for evidence over the disappearance of Madeleine McCann at a remote reservoir in Portugal are being sent off for analysis.

Authorities have been scouring Barragem do Arade reservoir in the Algarve this week, using sniffer dogs and cutting down trees as part of the search inland from the coastal resort where the then-three-year-old went missing in 2007.

As police concluded their three-day search on Thursday, they confirmed “materials collected” had been sent to Germany for analysis.

A source close to the investigation told Reuters there was nothing tangible to report, while German prosecutor Christian Wolters played down hopes of a breakthrough, saying: “Of course, there is a certain expectation, but it is not high.”

The fresh search at the reservoir – one of six in the Algarve – is the first in Portugal since 2014, and comes as the Metropolitan Police were granted a further £110,000 by the Home Office to fund their search for Madeleine, who would turn 20 this month.

It brings the total amount spent on the search for the Leicestershire-born girl, codenamed Operation Grange, to just shy of £13.1m since 2011, and is significantly less than the more than £300,000 approved by the Home Office the year prior.

Here is a reminder of the events of the case:

The story began when the McCanns – affluent doctors Kate and Gerry, their three-year-old daughter Madeleine and her two-year-old twin siblings – joined a group of seven family friends and their five children on holiday at the Ocean Club in the village of Praia da Luz on the southwestern tip of Portugal on 28 April 2007.

After a pleasant spring break by the sea, the adults in the party went out for dinner at the resort’s open-air tapas bar on 3 May, gathering at 8.30pm. The children were left behind sleeping in their respective apartments with the doors unlocked and a rota system in place among the parents to ensure that someone returned every half-hour to check on them.

When Kate McCann took her turn and returned to her apartment at 10pm, she raced back to the restaurant screaming “Madeleine’s gone! Someone’s taken her!” The police were quickly called and 60 staff and fellow guests searched the complex, calling out the girl’s name in vain until daybreak the following morning.

Police searching for clues regarding the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, the British child who went missing in 2007 in Portugal, were concentrating operations Wednesday in several areas around a dam, including one where media reports say a lead suspect in the case often stayed.

The latest search for clues regarding the disappearance started Tuesday following a request by German authorities. Some 30 Portuguese, German and British police are taking part in the operation at the Arade dam, which is located about 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the resort of Praia da Luz, where the 3-year-old girl was last seen 16 years ago.