Portuguese police on Thursday put an end to searches conducted for two days near a lake in southern Portugal, at the request of judicial authorities in Brunswick, Germany, as part of the investigation into the disappearance of little Madeleine McCann in 2007.
The judicial police said in a statement that "the material collected will be handed over to the German authorities", who have claimed since 2020 to be convinced that the British girl is dead and follow the indictment of Christian Brueckner, a multi-recidivist pedophile who lived for several years in southern Portugal.
The area already excavated by divers in 2008
Christian Brueckner is currently serving a prison sentence for the rape of a 72-year-old American woman in 2005 in Portugal. He had already been identified by German investigators in 2020 as the main suspect in the murder of the British girl. Last year the Portuguese public prosecutor's office also announced his indictment while avoiding the 15-year statute of limitations.
Portuguese judicial police near the Arade dam on Thursday, May 25 in Silves. AFP or licensors
According to several local media, divers had already combed this area in 2008. But they had only found animal remains.
Nearly four years old, Madeleine McCann disappeared nearly 50 km away in a room at the resort in Praia da Luz, a small resort in the Algarve region, on May 3, 2007, while her parents were having dinner with friends at a nearby restaurant. Portuguese police closed the investigation in 2008 after 14 months of controversial investigations, including the indictment of the girl's parents, who were later cleared.
After spending two years studying the case, the UK formally opened its own investigation in July 2013. The Portuguese authorities reopened the case shortly thereafter.
