Search operations for Madeleine McCann resumed on Thursday, marking the third consecutive day of efforts near Praia da Luz, Portugal, where the three-year-old disappeared 18 years ago. This renewed search is being conducted by both German and Portuguese investigators.
Ongoing investigation and search efforts
The investigation team has until Friday to find any evidence related to her disappearance, although so far, there have been no significant findings. Officers are meticulously combing through a designated area of 21 square kilometers (8.1 square miles) that lies between the location of Madeleine’s disappearance and the place where Christian Brückner, the prime suspect identified by German authorities, was staying at that time.
Brückner, 48, is currently serving a prison sentence in Germany for a separate rape case, but he may be eligible for release as soon as September. He has consistently denied any involvement in Madeleine’s disappearance, and as of now, no charges have been filed against him concerning the case.
Background of the case
Madeleine McCann vanished from an apartment in the Algarve while on holiday with her family in May 2007, sparking one of the world’s most high-profile missing persons investigations. Initially, the case was overseen by Portuguese authorities with assistance from the Metropolitan Police. However, in 2020, German police took the lead after identifying Brückner as a suspect, due to his history of residing in the same region of Portugal between 2000 and 2017.
A European warrant has been authorized by Portuguese prosecutors, allowing German teams to carry out searches on private land. Specialized equipment and diggers were deployed on Wednesday to search through scrubland and abandoned structures. The last searches in this area took place near the Barragem do Arade reservoir earlier this year, as Brückner had previously taken photographs and videos of himself there.
On the night of her disappearance, Madeleine’s parents were dining with friends at a nearby restaurant, leaving their three-year-old daughter and her younger twin siblings asleep in their ground-floor apartment. Last month, Kate and Gerry McCann commemorated the 18th anniversary of their daughter’s disappearance, emphasizing that their “determination to leave no stone unturned is unwavering.” However, they refrained from commenting during the ongoing police investigation, as reported by staff from the Find Madeleine Campaign.