A new research effort was launched for Madeleine McCann, a British toddler who disappeared from the holiday rental of his family in Portugal over 18 years ago.
Police did not reveal any evidence to explain why they decided to carry out a new search nearly two decades later, but they focused on Tuesday on a field around a chalet previously used by the only suspect in the disappearance of the girl, a German man currently imprisoned in his country of origin for unrelated rape and accusations of sexual assault.
Dozens of German agents from the main agency for the application of the internal law of Germany were traveling on the ground on Tuesday in the Algarve, a region of southern Portugal extremely popular with tourists, where Madeleine was seen for the last time.
The research teams on Tuesday traveled the undergrowth and an abandoned building, the police hoping to find evidence that could involve the German sex offender condemned in his disappearance.
Metropolitan police
Madeleine was only 3 years old when she disappeared from an apartment on the Algarve coast where she was on vacation with her family, arousing unprecedented media coverage and a global campaign to find it.
A Previous search for a lake Near the Ocean Club Resort in Praia Da Luz in 2023 gave no results, but on Tuesday, investigators were back in part of Lagos nearby to chase the clues.
Several police vehicles with Portuguese and German license plates as well as fire trucks were seen on a closet closet towards the research site, AFP journalists on the scene have seen. Portuguese police said that around 25 German investigators were present, the investigation examining an abandoned building in an invaded wooded area.
Patricia de Melo Moreira / AFP / Getty
The new searches – made at the request of the German authorities investigating Christian BruecknerA convicted rapist who is suspected of having killed Madeleine – should last until Friday.
According to the British tabloid, the sun, the investigators are equipped with a radar technology on the ground which can scan the soil to a depth of 15 feet. The area includes a chalet where Brueckner lived and is dotted with wells and ditches, the sun reported.
Christian Brueckner, the German suspect
A mobile phone recorded on behalf of Brueckner was traced near the family accommodation at night when Madeleine has disappeared. He has always denied any role in his disappearance.
The 48 -year -old man is currently serving a sentence of 7 years in prison in Germany for the rape in 2005 of a 72 -year -old American woman in Praia da Luz. He should finish his sentence in September.
He was acquitted in October 2024 In Germany in a separate trial for two sexual assaults and three rapes committed in Portugal between 2000 and 2017.
German authorities in 2020 said they were convinced of Brueckner involved In the disappearance of Madeleine, who saw several false tracks.
It was not charged in connection with the case of Madeleine.
Michael Matthey / Pool / Reuters
Brueckner, who, according to German media, had a series of previous convictions, including for sexual offenses, assault and a flight before being found guilty of rape, worked as a strange man during his 10 years at the Algarve. He would also have robbed hotel rooms and holiday apartments.
At the time of Madeleine’s disappearance, he lived in a motorhome.
On Tuesday, a German television journalist RTL told his correspondence with Brueckner and how he had met him in prison.
Brueckner, said the journalist, complained that “half of the world” considered him a “cruel rapist”. He said he wanted to eat steak and drink beer when he was released from prison.
A former neighbor of Portugal told Britain’s Sky News in 2020 that Brueckner was “always a little angry, quickly leading from top to bottom, then one day, around 2006, he just disappeared without a word.”
He returned to Germany in 2007 – the year Madeleine disappeared – settling in Hanover, but has always spent time in Portugal.
On May 3, 18 years old since the disappearance of their daughter, Madeleine’s parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, said they were still determined to discover what had happened.
“The years seem to pass even faster and although we have no significant news to share, our determination to” leave no stone not returned “is unshakable”, they wrote on the findmadeleine.com website. “We will do our best to get there.”
contributed to this report.