Informant reportedly behind renewed Maddie McCann search: authorities
The search for evidence relating to Madeleine McCann at a remote reservoir in Portugal was reportedly prompted by information from a “very credible” informant.
German and Portuguese authorities investigating suspect Christian Brueckner continue to examine the area around Arade Dam, which is about 45 minutes away from the Portuguese town Praia da Luz, from which three-year-old Maddie went missing in 2007.
Overnight, the Portuguese publication Expresso reported the search originated from “a tip from a BKA informant, who that police force considers very credible.”
“This informant told investigators details that the German police took very seriously.”
The BKA is Germany’s federal investigation agency, the equivalent of America’s FBI.
3-year-old Madeleine McCann went missing in 2007. AP
Expresso said its information came from a source “close to the investigation.”
Any evidence found at the site could provide a crucial link to photographic proof which placed Breuckner close to the dam in 2007.
Work at the start of day two focused on cutting back vegetation near the shoreline using strimmers to clear an area for search teams.
Police are searching for evidence that could provide a crucial link to photographic proof which placed Christian Brueckner close to the dam in 2007. Supplied
Officers later appeared carrying rakes as strimming work continued near a Ford Ranger pick-up parked just above the pre-drought water line.
Two more officers – one with a Nikon camera and another with a clipboard – logged photographic evidence in bright sunshine near the azure water.
A police dog also joined the search and was directed to a spot close to the shoreline.
Kate and Gerry McCann pose with a missing poster depicting an age progression computer generated image of their still missing daughter. AP
Frogmen face the grim task of feeling their way through near-pitch black water in the search for evidence or human remains if they are deployed.
A drought has lowered the water levels at the reservoir, with the worst dry spell in years seen as key to the cops securing a breakthrough.
Breuckner, 45, is known to have regularly parked his yellow and white VW camper van in a car park close to the water’s edge.
A Portuguese source told The Sun, “The search is being taken very seriously and is being controlled totally by the Germans.”
“They are so sensitive about this information they did not even disclose the exact location of the search area until shortly before work started.
“They asked Portuguese officers assisting them to look for any evidence — but specifically rags.”
Jim Gamble was the UK’s top child protection officer and oversaw a review of the Madeleine case that led to the creation of the Metropolitan Police’s current probe, Operation Grange.
He told The Sun, “I think we are looking at the best chance we’ve had in 16 years to find out what happened to Madeleine.”
“They must have something definitive.”
Police and search teams arrive on site at the Barregem do Arade. News Licensing/MEGA
Search teams focused on cutting back vegetation near the shoreline using strimmers to clear an area. Mirrorpix/MEGA
Teams search the shore and in the water for evidence. News Licensing/MEGA
A police dog searches a spot close to the shoreline. ZUMAPRESS.com
But lawyer Marcos Aragao Correia, who organized the original dive search of the reservoir, says he thinks it will be a “miracle” if they find Maddie.
Correia, 47, claims he received a tip off from a contact in the “underworld” who told him that Maddie had been dumped in a “deserted lake with murky waters.”
He organized a team of British divers to wade into the desolate reservoir in a private search, but the operation quickly ran out of cash back in 2008.
Breuckner is currently in jail for the 2005 rape of a US pensioner in Praia da Luz.
Source: New York Post
