Madeleine McCann updates: Items found in reservoir search, police confirm in major update – Stars Obituary

Authorities in a 16-year search for missing British girl Madeleine McCann have seized items in a Portuguese reservoir that will be released in the coming days and weeks, German prosecutors said on Thursday. Evaluation within a week.

“It has not been possible to confirm whether certain items were actually related to the Madeleine McCann case,” prosecutors wrote in a statement.

German authorities have named a suspect in the case, which last week helped Portuguese agents search remote areas in the interior from the Algarve seaside resort where McCann, then three, was killed during a family vacation in 2007. Her bedroom is missing.

In April 2022, Portuguese police announced Christian Brueckner as the prime suspect in Madeleine’s disappearance.

He has already been jailed in Germany for the rape and murder of a 72-year-old woman and is now charged with a number of sex crimes that allegedly took place between 2000 and 2007.

German police claim there is “conclusive evidence” that the British girl has died, but this has not been confirmed.

A spokesman for the Brunswick prosecutor’s office previously said: “The defendant is the same person charged in connection with the disappearance of Madeleine Beth McCann, a then three-year-old British girl from England.

“Specifically, the accused was charged with three counts of aggravated rape and two counts of sexual abuse of a child.

“The investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann continues.”

The allegations mentioned have nothing to do with the McCann case. But in May, German police claimed to have found new evidence linking Madeleine to one of Brueckner’s vans.

Christian Brueckner’s name was first mentioned in the summer of 2007 when Madeleine McCann, then three years old, disappeared.

His yellow and white VW T3 Westfalia camper van was reportedly identified near the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz, where the young girl disappeared on May 3, 2007.

In April 2022, Bruckner was jailed in Germany for the rape and murder of a 72-year-old woman in Praia da Luz, the same resort where Madeleine disappeared.

German police are treating the case as a murder investigation, arguing that Bruckner planned to rob a holiday apartment but “turned to a sexual motive”.

He is believed to have 17 total offences, including burglary from hotels and holiday rentals.

Bruckner was a prolific burglar with previous convictions for sex crimes against young girls.

Born in Germany in 1976, he moved to Portugal as a teenager.

He is believed to have lived there between 1995 and 2007, working in the food industry.

Brueckner is described as about 6 feet tall, with a slim build, fair skin and short blond hair.

The new search of the reservoir – one of six in the Algarve – is the first in Portugal since 2014 and comes as the Home Office allocates a further £110,000 to the Metropolitan Police to fund their search for people who will turn 20 this year. Madeleine Month.

The total cost of finding Leicestershire-born girls, code-named Operation Grange, will be close to £13.1million since 2011, well below the more than £300,000 approved by the Home Office the year before.

While the cost to German and Portuguese authorities is unclear, Lisbon’s then attorney general, Fernando José Pinto Monteiro, said in 2012 that the search for Madeleine was the most expensive in the country’s history.

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.

Mariam Zakir-Hussain Report:

A British couple claim to have found the “shrine” of missing Madeleine McCann in an area near a desolate reservoir in Portugal that police raided earlier this week.

In April 2022, Bruckner was jailed in Germany for the rape and murder of a 72-year-old woman in Praia da Luz, the same resort where Madeleine disappeared.

German police are treating the case as a murder investigation, arguing that Bruckner planned to rob a holiday apartment but “turned to a sexual motive”.

He is believed to have 17 total offences, including burglary from hotels and holiday rentals.

Out of respect for privacy, especially given their age, Madeleine’s siblings have largely been kept out of the spotlight.

However, on May 7, 2023, the 16th anniversary of her disappearance, Amelie McCann, now 18, did join her parents in remembering her missing sister.

Ms McCann reportedly added slogans including “never give up”, “do whatever it takes”, “don’t forget me” and “still miss, still miss”.

Her parents were among the 70-odd attendees, but her older brother, Sean, was absent, preferring not to be on stage.

Rob Gladstone, who led prayers at the event, told his audience: “We are here tonight to express our deepest condolences for Madeleine and all the young children who have been taken against the will of their families.

“We are also here to encourage each other to keep hope and to pray for strength to come back even after all this time.”

Speaking to the BBC’s Fiona Bruce in 2017 about the importance of twins in keeping families together, Gerry McCann said the ordeal forced them to Facing the “new normal” life without a daughter.

Kate McCann added: “It’s often said that you don’t realize how powerful you are until you have no choice.

“I think that’s very true. Obviously there’s a lot of reaction, a lot of trauma and a lot of upset about a massive event like this. But ultimately you have to move on – especially when you have other kids involved.

“I think some of it is subconscious – your mind and body just take over to a certain extent. But if you can’t change something immediately, you just have to go with the flow and do the best you can .”

The couple also spoke about the online abuse they received, commenting: “I’m sure only a handful of people take the time to do it, but it totally inhibits what we do.

“Personally, we don’t use social media, although we did in Madeleine’s campaign.

“But for twins who grew up in a time when mobile technology was used all the time, we don’t want them not being able to use it like their peers.”

Madeleine’s mother was born Kate Marie Healy in Hughton, near Liverpool, in 1968.

After attending All Saints’ School in Anfield and Our Lady’s High School in Everton Valley, she gained a medical degree from the University of Dundee, graduating in 1992. She started her career in obstetrics, gynecology and anesthesiology before becoming a general practitioner.

In 1993, she met her future husband, Gerald Patrick McCann, and they married in 1998. Their eldest son, Madeleine, was born in 2003 and the couple had twins, Amelia and Sean, in 2005.

Born in Glasgow in 1968, Mr McCann attended Holyrood RC Secondary School before graduating from Glasgow University in 1989 with a BA in Physiology and Exercise Science.

He obtained his MD from the same institution in 2002 and has been a Consultant Cardiologist at Glenfield Hospital, Leicester since 2005, with the family based in Rothley, Leicestershire.