Renewed Madeleine McCann search to end after three days
The latest search in the 16-year-old mystery of missing British toddler Madeleine McCann is reportedly ending Thursday.
Portugal’s National Republican Guard — which ran a three-day effort alongside the Policia Judiciaria — was told to stand down at 4 p.m. local time, a source close to the force told the Mirror.
The conclusion came 72 hours after police arrived with heavy machinery, sniffer dogs and divers at the Barragem do Arade reservoir in the remote Algarve region.
Investigators were reportedly alerted to the site — about 31 miles from the Praia da Luz resort where Madeleine was last seen in May 2007 — after receiving a “very credible” tip that suspect Christian Brueckner visited there shortly after the child was last seen.
“I think we are looking at the best chance we’ve had in 16 years to find out what happened to Madeleine,” Jim Gamble, the UK’s former top child protection officer who oversaw a review of the McCann case, told the Sun of the search.
“They must have something definitive.”
Madeleine McCann vanished in May 2007 in Portugal. Getty Images
Madeleine, of Leicester, was just 3 years old when she vanished from her family’s vacation apartment in Praia da Luz the night of May 3, 2007.
Her parents, Gerry and Kate McCann, left the toddler and her infant twin siblings sleeping alone in the flat while they dined out nearby. When Kate checked on the children around 10 p.m., she found a window open and Madeleine gone.
After more than a decade of dead ends, investigators identified German sex offender Brueckner as a prime suspect last spring.
The search at the Arade dam began on Tuesday. AFP via Getty Images
Brueckner — referred to in court documents as “Christian B.” in keeping with German privacy laws — is in prison for the 2005 rape of an elderly woman in Algarve.
In April, a regional court declined to try him on several other counts of aggravated rape and child sex abuse on the grounds that Brueckner previously lived outside the area’s jurisdiction.
Breuckner, 45, was reportedly known to have parked his VW camper van near the Arade reservoir, and was allegedly spotted in the area in the days after Madeleine disappeared.
Sniffer dogs were brought in this week after police received a “very credible” tip. ZUMAPRESS.com
“The search is being taken very seriously and is being controlled totally by the Germans,” a Portuguese source told the Sun of the operation.
“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.”
There were also divers on hand to investigate the reservoir’s water and shoreline. AFP via Getty Images
Breuckner has repeatedly denied any knowledge of Madeleine’s whereabouts. He claims he was having sex in his van at the time of the alleged kidnapping.
Scenes from the reservoir search Thursday showed uniformed and plainclothes police from Portugal, Germany and the UK scouring the banks. A no-fly zone was also declared over the area.
Earlier this month, Gerry and Kate McCann issued a gut-wrenching statement in honor of Madeleine’s 20th birthday.
The police were reportedly asked to stand down Thursday. Mirrorpix / MEGA
Kate and Gerry McCann issued a statement earlier this month honoring Madeleine’s 20th birthday. AP
“Happy birthday Madeleine! We love you and we’re waiting for you. We’re never going to give up,” the couple wrote on Facebook. “She’s still missing, still missed and we are never going to give up trying to find her.”
Days earlier, on the 16th anniversary of Madeleine’s disappearance, the McCanns admitted it was “hard to find the words to convey how we feel” after so many years.
“The police investigation continues, and we await a breakthrough,” they said.
Source: New York Post
