launch new search 16 years after his disappearance

First modification: 05/23/2023 – 19:17

Madeleine McCann, a disappearance case full of unexpected twists, dead ends and multiple questions.

But in an attempt to respond to 16 years without a trace of who was then a child under the age of three, the German authorities, the country of origin of the main suspect, launched an intense search together with British agents, led by the Portuguese Police.

The operation covers the area of ​​the Arade dam, some 50 kilometers from Praia da Luz, the charming tourist complex in the Algarve, in the south of the Portuguese country, which more than a decade ago was the scene of the disappearance that has impacted the planet.

Along with a canine unit, investigators search the area. Officers with pick shovels, chainsaws and rakes scour the arid area and the surrounding forests next to the reservoir, spreading out on a plot of approximately 500 square meters.

In addition, a fire brigade boat and a Portuguese police launch were seen in the water with officers on board as they toured the vast reservoir, which has an average depth of 14 meters. In its vicinity, the authorities have set up two tents for their forensic teams.

The area was designated as an exclusion zone, as officers They prevent access both by land and air.

Efforts are focused on obtain new evidence, either human traces or possible incriminating evidence that may have been left buried in the area the possible perpetrator of the disappearance.

This is the first major operation in the case since June 2014, when the Metropolitan Police searched the Praia da Luz vacation complex with search dogs and ground-penetrating radars.

The circumstances surrounding the disappearance

On May 3, 2007, Madeleine McCann disappeared from her bedroom in the apartment her parents had rented for a holiday season at the Praia da Luz resort.

McCann, of British origin, was last seen when her parents left her in the room she shared with her twin brothers, then 18 months old, just before going out to dinner at a nearby restaurant overlooking the place where they were staying.

The parents affirm that at various times they returned to the room to verify that the children were asleep, but later when they returned they only found their minor children and Madeleine had disappeared.

Initially, the case was treated as a kidnapping, and the family raised concerns about what they saw as a slow police response and a lack of security at the crime scene.

Why are the authorities resuming their search in the reservoir area?

The operation, which is expected to last a total of two days, was requested by the German Police after it reported the discovery of photos of Christian Brückner, a German man convicted and detained for rape, in his self-described “little paradise”. “, a place near the Arade dam.

Although the detainee on German soil has denied his involvement, several clues led the authorities, in June 2020, to affirm that the girl was presumed dead and to point to Brückner as likely responsible for McCann’s disappearance.

The man, currently 45, became the main suspect in the case after authorities found that he lived for a time in the Algarve area and is known to have been near Praia da Luz at various points between 2000 and 2017. .

On those same dates, the man committed crimes of aggravated rape against three women and two children, in Portugal, according to German prosecutors established last year.

However, the suspect has denied any involvement in the disappearance of McCann, who today would be 19 years old.

With Reuters, AP and local media