The case received worldwide interest for several years, with reports of sightings of McCann occurring as far away as Australia.
Authorities in Portugal looked into the disappearance of British child, Madeleine McCann, by exploring the vicinity of a deserted rural structure in southern Portugal. This investigation marks a new effort near the vacation spot where she was last seen nearly two decades ago.
Madeleine’s case garnered global attention for many years, sparking reports of her being spotted in places as distant as Australia. Additionally, various books and TV shows were created to shed light on her mysterious vanishing.
A joint operation involving German investigators, Portuguese police, and firefighters took place in the rural area a few miles away from the Praia da Luz resort. It was at this seaside destination that the 3-year-old disappeared from her bed while vacationing with her family on May 3, 2007.
The teams were seen using pickaxes, shovels and chainsaws to clear dense vegetation and dig near a derelict building. Firefighters pumped water out of a well.
Almost two decades on, investigators in the U.K., Portugal and Germany are still piecing together what happened on the night the toddler disappeared. She was in the same room as her brother and sister — 2-year-old twins — while their parents, Kate and Gerry, had dinner with friends outside.
Portuguese police said Monday that detectives were acting on a request from a German public prosecutor as they carry out “a broad range” of searches this week in the area of Lagos, in southern Portugal.
The main suspect is a German national identified by media as Christian Brueckner, who is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence in Germany for raping a 72-year-old woman in Portugal in 2005.
He is under investigation on suspicion of murder in the McCann case but hasn’t been charged. He spent many years in Portugal, including in Praia da Luz, around the time of the child’s disappearance. Brueckner has denied any involvement.
The last time police resumed searches in the case was in 2023, when detectives from the three countries took part in an operation searching near a dam and a reservoir about 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the resort.
McCann’s family marked the 18th anniversary of her disappearance last month, and expressed their determination to keep searching.
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