Police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann say they have recovered items during a recent search of a water reservoir in Portugal.
German authorities last week helped Portuguese staff search a remote area in the interior of the Algarve seaside resort where Madeleine disappeared from her bedroom in 2007 during a family holiday.
Follow The Independent’s live coverage for all the latest updates
Madeleine McCann disappeared while on a family vacation in Portugal in 2007
(PA Media)
Brunswick City Attorney Christian Wolters said individual items seized as part of the search will be assessed in the coming days and weeks.
“It has not been possible to confirm whether certain items were actually related to the Madeleine McCann case,” prosecutors wrote in a statement.
Last week, Portuguese police conducted a three-day search at a remote reservoir about 31 miles from the resort of Praia de Luz – the hotel where Madeleine disappeared while her parents were meeting friends at a tapas bar 100 yards away Dinner from their vacation apartment.
As part of this investigation, police dug an approximately 60cm hole and the surrounding woodland revealed that the path had been cut by heavy machinery leading to the main flat excavation area of 160 square feet.
The new search comes at the request of German investigators who believe their prime suspect, convicted sex offender Christian Brueckner, 45, abducted and murdered the young man.
Kate and Gerry McCann recently marked the latest anniversary of their daughter’s disappearance
(Copyright 2020 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.)
German authorities have not revealed what triggered the latest search, but Mr Walters has said they acted on “certain prompts”.
In a brief statement today, Mr Wolters said the investigation into the suspect, Christian Brueckner, 46, was expected to be lengthy.
He said the cooperation between German, British and Portuguese authorities was “very good, very constructive”.
The team searched the water for three days
(Pennsylvania)
Holes apparently dug for soil samples in the area around the Barragem do Arade reservoir in the Algarve
(Pennsylvania)
Brueckner was jailed in Germany for raping a woman in Praia da Luz in 2005 and is suspected of more rapes and child sexual abuse in the region between 2000 and 2017.
He has denied any involvement and is currently being held in Germany for the rape of a 72-year-old woman in the same area of Portugal.
Convicted rapist Christian Bruckner is prime suspect in disappearance
(Associated Press)
Portuguese lawyer Marcos Aragao Correia previously claimed he was told by criminal contacts that Madeleine’s body was in the reservoir and that he raised money for a private water search in 2008, unsuccessfully.
The new search was carried out by the Home Office, down from more than £300,000 last year, as the Home Office allocated an extra £110,000 this financial year to assist in the search for Madeleine.
Funding for Operation Grange since 2011 totals just under £13.1m.
