Cops involved in the search for Madeleine McCann could reportedly probe two more spots linked to the main suspect in the British tot's disappearance.
It comes after a fresh tip-off led German authorities to request a search of a remote picnic area on the edge of a reservoir near Silves in Portugal, which the prime suspect Christian Brueckner sinisterly used to call his "little paradise".
Material found during the three-day search will now be analysed by investigators, police say - with a source reporting on Thursday they were looking for a gun and camcorder belonging to the German suspect.
They were told to stand down in the search on Thursday, but cops have now said they may have additional sites to search.
There are reportedly other areas of Praia De Luz, where Maddie vanished from her parents holiday apartment in 2007, where Christian B frequented that could be checked.
A source told The Sun: “German officers have gone through more than 8,000 pictures belonging to Christian B.
“That forensic work led them to Barragem - but there are other places that have come up in the pictures too.
They added that investigators are still piecing the puzzle together to pinpoint their exact locations and determine why Christian B was photographing those areas.
The first hunt concluded at around 4pm UK time on Thursday and machinery and tents were seen being removed from the site on a peninsula at the Barragem do Arade.
It's not yet known if anything significant was found in the three-day operation.
Police confirmed the operation yielded "the collection of some material" and these items will be subject to "competent expertise" in Germany.
The fresh searches were at the request of German investigators who believe their prime suspect, convicted sex offender Christian Brueckner, 45, kidnapped and murdered the youngster.
He is currently in prison in Germany for the rape of a woman in Praia da Luz in 2005, and is suspected of further rapes and child sexual abuse committed in the area between 2000 and 2017.
German authorities have not revealed what triggered the latest search operation, but prosecutor for the city of Braunschweig Christian Wolters said they were acting on the basis of "certain tips".
Brueckner's former friend reportedly gave a tip-off to police, alleging that the suspect had visited the beauty spot - possibly with others - "some days" after Madeleine went missing.
Back in 2020, authorities announced that they had found a collection of USB sticks linked to Brueckner, that were filled with child pornography and buried next to a dead dog in a rubbish dump.
The disturbing stash was found when police searched the site of an abandoned box factory where it is believed Brueckner once lived.
It has been reported that he had a caravan on the site near the village of Neuwegersleben, 65 miles southeast of Hanover.
Police were searching for clues relating to the disappearance of five-year-old Inga Gehricke, who was last seen while on an outing with her family in 2015.
More than 100 officers took part in the search in 2016, and they used dogs, diggers, and underground radar equipment to scour the land.
No body was found in the search, but they made another grim discovery.
Police claimed they found 8,000 pieces of potential evidence, including a cache of child abuse images on USB sticks that were found under a pile of animal bones.
Brueckner was prosecuted in relation to the images.
Police then started their latest search of the reservoir after finding a clue in Brueckner's lair that they hoped could crack open the case.
Barragem do Arade reservoir is around 31 miles from the Praia da Luz in Portugal, where the McCann family were on holiday when Maddie was last seen in May 2007.
