German police are to carry out new searches in Lagos, in the Algarve, as part of the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann in 2007, according to information provided this Monday by the British authorities.
According to CNN Portugal, the operation, which will also include the intervention of the Judiciary Police, could begin as early as Tuesday and should be centred on an area between Praia da Luz and one of the houses where Christian Brueckner – the main and so far only suspect – lived at the time of the disappearance.
The same television station also points out that, with these endeavours, the authorities intend to try to find any traces of Maddie’s body or any other evidence that could help support a case against Brueckner.
The three-year-old British child was reported missing in May 2007 while on holiday with her family in Praia da Luz, Lagos.
On the night of her disappearance, while her parents were having dinner with friends in a nearby restaurant, the little girl was in the tourist accommodation where she was holidaying with her family, in the same room as her brother and sister, who were only two years old. To date, the Portuguese, German and British authorities are still trying to figure out what happened on the night of 3 May 2007.
In 2020, the German authorities revealed that they were investigating Christian Brueckner, a 48-year-old German citizen, on suspicion of murder. He lived a kilometre from Praia da Luz at the time of the incident and already had a history of suspected child sexual abuse and rape.
However, he has not been charged with any offence in the case now under investigation and denies any involvement in Madeleine McCann’s disappearance.
In addition, Christian Brueckner is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence in Germany for the rape of a 72-year-old woman in 2005 on Portuguese territory.
Searches at the Arade Dam in 2008 and 2023
In mid-May 2023, 16 years after Maddie’s disappearance, the Portuguese police resumed their search in the case, specifically at the Arade Dam in Silves.
This time, too, the work was carried out at the request of the German authorities, and British officials were also present.
This was after a tip-off in 2008 that the body of the British child had been left in those same waters.
Since the night of her disappearance, Madeleine McCann has never been seen in public.
