Madeleine McCann: police searching town where little girl disappeared
Almost two decades after toddler Madeleine McCann vanished, police are swarming the Portuguese resort town where she was last seen sparking hope her parents might finally get answers.
Europe
Don't miss out on the headlines from Europe. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Search teams have scoured undergrowth and an abandoned building in Portugal in the hunt for British toddler Madeleine McCann, with police hoping to find evidence that could implicate a convicted German sex offender in her disappearance 18 years ago.
Madeleine was just three years old when she vanished from an apartment on the Algarve coast where she was on holiday with her family, sparking a global campaign to find her and unprecedented media coverage.
A previous search of a lake near the Ocean Club resort in Praia da Luz in 2023 yielded no results, but on Tuesday local time, investigators were back in a part of nearby Lagos to hunt for clues.
AFP journalists saw several police vehicles with Portuguese and German number plates as well as fire trucks down a cordoned-off dirt road towards the search site.
Portuguese police said about 25 German investigators were taking part, with the investigation looking at an abandoned building in an overgrown wooded area.
The new searches are being carried out at the request of German authorities investigating Christian Brueckner, a convicted rapist who is suspected of having killed Madeleine.
Brueckner denies all involvement in the case and has never been charged.
A spokesman for the Braunschweig prosecutor’s office that issued the new search warrant told AFP that the operations would go on for a total of “two or three days”, meaning up to Thursday.
“As to whether or not something will be found, personally I’d remain rather prudent towards the results we can expect,” the spokesman, Christian Wolters, said.
According to the British tabloid The Sun, investigators are equipped with ground radar technology that can scan the ground down to 4.5 metres in depth.
The area includes a cottage where Brueckner was living and is dotted with wells and ditches, it added.
A mobile phone registered in Brueckner’s name was traced close to the family’s accommodation on the night Madeleine went missing.
The UK’s Metropolitan Police confirmed the search for the British toddler had resumed.
“We are aware of the searches being carried out by the BKA (German federal police) in Portugal as part of their investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann,” the statement reads.
“The Metropolitan Police Service is not present at the search, we will support our international colleagues where necessary.”
“All the evidence seized by the police will, with the prior authorisation of the national public prosecutor’s office, be handed over to the agents of the German federal criminal police service,” a police source said.
Brueckner is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence in Germany for the rape in 2005 of a 72-year-old American woman in Praia da Luz. His sentence is due to end in September.
He was acquitted in October 2024 in Germany at trial for two sexual assaults and three rapes committed in Portugal between 2000 and 2017.
Last month Madeleine’s parents Kate and Gerry released a statement to mark what would have been her 22nd birthday.
“The years appear to be passing even more quickly and whilst we have no significant news to share, our determination to ‘leave no stone unturned’ is unwavering,” they said.
“We will do our utmost to achieve this.
“No matter how near or far she is, she continues to be right here with us, every day, but especially on her special day.
“We continue to ‘celebrate’ her as the very beautiful and unique person she is. We miss her.”
Originally published as Madeleine McCann: police searching town where little girl disappeared
‘Watched’ by a rapist: Harrods billionaire ‘spied’ on customers
A former bodyguard for the late Harrods billionaire Mohamed Al Fayed, whose son had an affair with the late Princess Diana, has claimed he spied on customers using changing rooms.
Ex-DJ, erotic writer wife tied to ‘Russia’s Pearl Harbour’
Russia is on the hunt for a former DJ and his erotic-novel writing wife over a Ukraine drone attack that is said to have wiped out $11bn in Vladimir Putin’s war planes.
Ukraine blows up vital Russian bridge in fresh triumph
Kyiv’s forces exploded a key Russian bridge as Moscow said it was wrong to expect a quick breakthrough in Ukraine talks.
Howzat: the cheeky way England beat West Indies to the oval
England’s cricket team was on a roll before they even set foot on the pitch, resorting to innovative means to beat London’s traffic gridlock for the third one-day match against the West Indies.
Five ways Britain would get blitzed if it had to fight war
Britain would be hit with drones, ballistic and cruise missiles if it went to war in 2025, according to a startling new report that urges NATO and AUKUS to ramp up.
‘Extreme caution’: Mt Etna erupts in Italy as tourists run for cover
Italy’s Mount Etna, the highest active volcano in Europe, has started to erupt, sending scores of panicked tourists running for safety. See the video.