New searches have begun around a reservoir in Portugal close to where Madeleine McCann went missing in 2007. Experts say police must know something they have yet to reveal, after beginning the search at a location that was already investigated.
Portuguese police divers entered the water early on Tuesday at the Barragem do Arade reservoir, about 30 miles from Praia da Luz, where Madeleine went missing while her parents were eating with friends nearby.
Tents have been erected on the banks of the reservoir and officers from Portugal, Germany and the UK were seen holding morning briefings on Tuesday.
Portuguese police confirmed on Monday that they are co-ordinating searches in the Algarve at the request of German police and in the presence of British officers.
The Metropolitan Police said officers will be there in order to inform Madeleine’s family if there are any developments.
Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cranwell said: “The Met continues to work with and support colleagues in Portugal and Germany, with their investigations into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.
“Met officers will be in Portugal and I am grateful to the Polícia Judiciária and Bundeskriminalamt for allowing us to be present whilst their work is ongoing, so that we can inform Madeleine’s family of any developments.”
A brief statement from the prosecutor’s office in the German city of Braunschweig confirmed the search but did not reveal why it was taking place.
Braunschweig prosecutor Christian Wolters told reporters that investigators were acting on the basis of “certain tips” but would not give further details.
Four teams of officers from the Portuguese Policia Judiciaria are involved in the operation, along with at least 20 of their German counterparts, Portuguese news outlet SIC said.
A no-fly zone has been put in place over the water and media and other onlookers are being kept a mile back from the site of the search, a newspaper said (Yui Mok/PA)
Around a dozen officers with sniffer dogs were moving along the bank of the reservoir as part of the search on Tuesday.
Others were seen with rakes and metal rods preparing to search the ground.
It has been reported that the prime suspect in Madeleine’s disappearance, convicted sex offender Christian Brueckner, 45, spent time in the area between 2000 and 2017.
Madeleine McCann went missing in 2007 (PA)
Investigators believe he killed Madeleine, then aged three, after abducting her from a holiday apartment.
Brueckner, who has denied involvement in Madeleine’s disappearance, was first identified as a suspect by German investigators.
The Sun reported that the search was sparked after they discovered video and photos of Brueckner near the reservoir.
(PA Graphics)
A no-fly zone has been put in place over the water and media and other onlookers are being kept a mile back from the site of the search, the newspaper said.
Brueckner is facing charges in Germany over a number of separate sex offences allegedly committed in Portugal during that time.
It is not the first time the reservoir has been searched.
The area is around 50km from Praia da Luz, where Madeleine vanished (Yui Mok/PA)
In 2008, Portuguese lawyer Marcos Aragao Correia paid for specialist divers to search it after he claimed to have been tipped off by criminal contacts that Madeleine’s body was there.
The most recent search in Portugal in relation to her disappearance was in 2014, when British police were given permission to examine scrubland near where she vanished.
Earlier this month, Madeleine’s parents Kate and Gerry McCann posted a short statement on their Find Madeleine Campaign website to mark the anniversary of her disappearance.
Personnel at the reservoir on Tuesday (Yui Mok/PA)
They said: “Today marks the 16th anniversary of Madeleine’s abduction.
“Still missing… still very much missed.
Madeleine went missing 16 years ago (Yui Mok/PA)
“It is hard to find the words to convey how we feel.
“The police investigation continues, and we await a breakthrough.”
Timeline of events since Madeleine McCann disappeared
2007
– May 3: Kate and Gerry McCann, from Rothley, Leicestershire, leave their children asleep in their holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in southern Portugal while they dine with friends at a nearby tapas restaurant.
Nothing is amiss when Mr McCann checks on the youngsters just after 9pm, but when his wife goes back at about 10pm she finds Madeleine missing.
A pink balloon outside apartment 5A on Rua Dr Agostinho da Silva in Praia Da Luz, Portugal, where Madeline McCann went missing in 2007 (Steve Parsons/PA)
Jane Tanner, one of the friends dining with the McCanns, reports having seen a man carrying a child earlier that night.
– May 14: Detectives take Anglo-Portuguese property developer Robert Murat in for questioning and make him an “arguido”, or formal suspect, but this is later withdrawn.
– August 11: Exactly 100 days after Madeleine disappeared, investigating officers publicly acknowledge for the first time that she could be dead.
– September 7: During questioning of Mr and Mrs McCann, detectives make them both “arguidos” in their daughter’s disappearance.
– September 9: The McCanns fly back to England with their two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie.
2008
– July 21: The Portuguese authorities shelve their investigation and lift the “arguido” status of the McCanns and Robert Murat.
Madeleine’s parents Kate and Gerry McCann (Joe Giddens/PA)
2011
– May 12: Mrs McCann publishes a book about her daughter’s disappearance, on Madeleine’s eighth birthday.
Scotland Yard launches a review of the case after a request from Home Secretary Theresa May, supported by then-prime minister David Cameron.
2012
– April 25: Scotland Yard detectives say they believe Madeleine could still be alive, release an age-progression picture of how she might look as a nine-year-old, and call on the Portuguese authorities to reopen the case, but Portuguese police say they have found no new material.
2013
– July 4: Scotland Yard confirms it has launched its own investigation, Operation Grange, into Madeleine’s disappearance two years into a review of the case. It has “genuinely new” lines of inquiry and has identified 38 people of interest, including 12 Britons.
– October 24: Portuguese police confirm that a review of their original investigation has uncovered new lines of inquiry, and they reopen the case.
Madeleine was three when she vanished while on holiday with her parents and younger siblings. (PA)
2014
– January 29: British detectives fly to Portugal amid claims they are planning to make arrests.
– June 3: Sniffer dogs and specialist teams are used to search an area of scrubland close to where Madeleine went missing.
– December 12: Detectives begin questioning 11 people who it is thought may have information on the case.
2015
– September 16: The Government discloses that the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine has cost more than £10 million.
– October 28: Scotland Yard cuts the number of officers working on the inquiry from 29 to four.
2017
– April 30: The McCanns prepare to mark 10 years since their daughter’s disappearance with a BBC interview in which they vow to do “whatever it takes for as long as it takes” to find her.
Kate and Gerry McCann in 2012 holding an image of what Madeline might look like as an older girl (John Stillwell/PA)
2019
– May 3: Local media reports say Portuguese detectives are investigating a foreign paedophile as a suspect in the abduction of Madeleine.
2020
– June 3: Police reveal that a 43-year-old German prisoner, later named as Christian Brueckner, has been identified as a suspect in Madeleine’s disappearance.
– June 4: Scotland Yard’s Operation Grange, which had received £12.3 million in funding up to April 2020, is still a missing person inquiry as detectives have no “definitive evidence whether Madeleine is alive or dead”.
2021
– May 4: Kate and Gerry McCann post a statement on the official Find Madeleine campaign website saying they still cling to the hope of seeing their daughter again as they prepare to mark her 18th birthday on May 12.
Kate and Gerry McCann say that they still cling to the hope of seeing Madeleine again (Joe Giddens/PA)
2022
– April 21: Christian Brueckner is made an “arguido”, a formal suspect, by Portuguese authorities.
– May 3: The McCann family say it is “essential” they learn the truth of what happened to their daughter on the 15th anniversary of her disappearance.
– October 11: Brueckner, now 45, is charged with three counts of rape and two charges of child sex abuse, unrelated to Madeleine’s disappearance.
2023
– May 3: Kate and Gerry McCann mark the 16th anniversary of Madeleine’s disappearance by saying she is “still very much missed” and that they “await a breakthrough”.
– May 22: An area near the Barragem do Arade reservoir, about 30 miles from Praia da Luz, is sealed off as police prepare to start searching on May 23.
– May 23: Searches begin with police divers in the water, and teams including officers with sniffer dogs and rakes and metal poles seen working on the banks. Media and onlookers are kept a mile away from the main search area and a no fly zone is imposed over the water.
