Portuguese police break silence on search for Madeleine McCann | British News
Portuguese officials have issued a statement ahead of a new manhunt Madeleine McCann’s body.
Police have arrived at a remote reservoir in the Algarve and have set up makeshift camps to prepare for the search that begins tomorrow.
German officers who will lead the operation were seen arriving around 6.30pm local time today.
They traveled in three Volkswagen vans, two black and one dark blue, and a Ford Ranger with a Portuguese police escort in front.
It is the first time that day that German officials are seen at the reservoir.
The Portuguese police and civil protection forces arrived around noon today.
The Judiciaria Police said in a statement: “In the light of the published news, the Criminal Investigation Department confirms that full steps are still being taken regarding the investigation into the disappearance of an English child that occurred in the Algarve in 2007.”
“As part of international cooperation, new searches will be carried out in the Algarve region in the next few days, coordinated by the criminal police, at the request of the German authorities (BKA) and with the presence of the British authorities.”
“The outcome of the proceedings will be informed in due course.”
The prime suspect in the case is Christian Brückner, 45, and investigators believe he killed Madeleine after kidnapping her from a vacation rental.
Brueckner is a convicted sex offender who was in the area between 2000 and 2017 – he denies any involvement in the youth’s disappearance.
He was identified as a murder suspect in June 2020 and is also charged in Germany with several different sex offenses allegedly previously committed in Portugal.
The search should last at least two days and more if something relevant is found.
The area searched is the Barragem do Arade reservoir near Silves in the district of Faro.
A truck driver says he saw a woman hand over a child like Madeleine McCann to a man two days after she disappeared at the scene.
Madeleine disappeared from an apartment in Praia da Luz on May 3, 2007 while on holiday with her parents Kate and Gerry McCann.
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