LAST UPDATE | 25 May 2023
POLICE HAVE FLATTENED a concentrated area of woodland and dug a number of holes near a remote reservoir in Portugal as part of their three-day hunt for evidence in the Madeleine McCann case.
Huge piles of soil and broken rock were left next to the 160 sq ft area close to the banks of the Barragem do Arade, where officers were seen with shovels for a number of hours on Wednesday afternoon.
Portuguese police confirmed the search concluded today and materials had been sent to Germany for testing.
The surrounding woodland showed pathways had been cut by heavy machinery, with large branches lining the routes towards the area of focus.
The small section of woodland was clearly marked out by officers over the course of their three-day search in Portugal.
The cordon around the site, which had been in place since Tuesday morning to allow officers to scour the area with rakes, pickaxes and sniffer dogs, has since been lifted.
Police were given the go-ahead to search the area after German prosecutors received “certain tips” about the case.
A few kilometres away from the search, blue tents had been erected for briefings to take place.
Police began photographing an excavation site near the banks of the remote reservoir earlier today as the fresh searches entered a third day today.
Officers maintained their focus on an area of woodland on a peninsula at the Barragem do Arade today after a digging operation was commenced yesterday afternoon.
The operation is being carried out 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”.
He told German public broadcaster NDR the new information had not come from the suspect and they did not have a confession or “any indication from the suspect of where it would make sense to search”.
The Sun reported that investigators previously found photos and video of Brueckner at the reservoir. He has reportedly denied any involvement in Madeleine’s disappearance.
Madeleine was three years old when she vanished while on holiday with her parents in Praia da Luz, after they left her and her younger twin siblings asleep in their apartment while they went out to dinner with friends.
Portuguese lawyer Marcos Aragao Correia previously claimed that criminal contacts had told him that Madeleine’s body was in the reservoir, and in 2008 he raised funds for unsuccessful private searches of the water.
British officers from the Metropolitan Police are also present while the work is carried out so they can inform Madeleine’s parents of any developments.
On Tuesday, search teams were seen scouring the banks – hammering away at the ground with pickaxes and combing through small rocks with rakes and spades.
Around a dozen officers with sniffer dogs were also at the site, while the fire service boat took officers onto the water.
The Sun said divers were expected to enter the water today.
Portuguese daily Expresso said that the first day ended with no significant results, and that police had collected some objects including fabrics and garments.
Madeleine’s disappearance has attracted enormous media attention since she vanished, and reporters are being kept at arm’s length around a mile away from where search activity is taking place.
A no-fly zone has also been imposed over the reservoir.
The new searches come as the Home Office granted an extra £110,000 (€126,379) in funding this financial year for the Metropolitan Police to assist with finding Madeleine, down from just over £300,000 (€344,671) last year.
The total funding given to Operation Grange has been just under £13.1 million (€15 million) since 2011.
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