Madeleine McCann case: Cops begin second day in search at reservoir

Investigators hunting for signs of Madeleine McCann have resumed their search at a remote reservoir in Portugal for possible evidence linking her 2007 disappearance to chief suspect, German national Christian Brueckner. Reports have said officers, who are acting on ‘credible information,’ are seeking any fragments of clothing and old rags that could be related to her disappearance – particularly the pink pajamas she was wearing the night she vanished. Emergency services with brush cutters to clear the search area arrived at the temporary camp set up on the shores of the Arade reservoir early on Wednesday. 

Portuguese police, assisted by German and British counterparts, had focused their search on Tuesday on the reservoir’s shoreline and it was unclear if they would continue to do so on Wednesday or use divers to search the water. Madeleine was aged three in May 2007 when she vanished from her bedroom in the apartment her family were staying at in the Praia da Luz resort on the Algarve coast. The reservoir is about 31 miles inland from the resort.

The first major search for the toddler in nine years comes after German police discovered photos of Brueckner (pictured) at his self-described ‘little paradise’ in the Portuguese region, it is understood. German prosecutors last year named convicted child abuser and drug dealer Brueckner as the prime suspect in McCann’s disappearance. He is currently behind bars in Germany for [sexually assaulting] a 72-year-old woman in the same area of the Algarve region from where McCann went missing.

The case, unsolved for the past 16 years, remains a mystery as no body has ever been found. It sparked a media frenzy in Britain, with developments also followed by outlets around the world and celebrities joining appeals to help find Madeleine. On Wednesday, the German prosecutor leading the country’s investigation into Brueckner’s suspected link to Madeleine’s disappearance said they do not have a confession from the convict. 

Braunschweig prosecutor Christian Wolters said that while investigators have ‘indications’ that evidence could be found at the reservoir, this has not come from Brueckner himself. ‘We have indications that we could find evidence there. I don’t want to say what that is exactly, and I also don’t want to say where these indications come from,’ Wolters told German public broadcaster NDR today. ‘The only thing that I would clarify is that it doesn’t come from the suspect – so we don’t have a confession or anything similar now, or an indication from the suspect of where it would make sense to search, ‘ Wolters said, adding that ‘it was other indications that prompted us to conduct this search.’ However, Wolters appeared to calm expectations of what might be found, saying, ‘We never said that the girl disappeared where we are now searching.’

Tuesday saw about 20 officers with rakes and hoe-like tools spread out in a line, poking and raking the soil close to the Arade dam. Police also used a drone to scan the area from above and searched with sniffer dogs on both sides of the water. Footage from the site showed officers taking bags away from the reservoir yesterday afternoon but it was not clear what was inside them. One video showed an officer being handed a bag by a colleague as they drove by in a black Ford SUV. Last night a Portuguese source close to the investigation told The Sun: ‘The search is being taken very seriously and is being controlled totally by the Germans. They asked Portuguese officers assisting them to look for any evidence – but especially rags.’

The Times reported that Madeleine’s pajamas, which were pink and decorated with images of Eeyore from Winnie The Pooh, were a focus of the hunt. A similar pair of pajamas was held up by Kate and Gerry McCann during a press conference in June 2007, the month after their daughter vanished, in the hope of prompting witnesses who may have seen her that night to come forward. Also last night the McCann’s former spokesman Clarence Mitchell told the Mirror the couple were being kept updated. ‘Until a body is found and proved to be Madeleine’s, Kate and Gerry are not giving up hope. They will be kept informed every step of the way of any development. It leaves Kate and Gerry on tenterhooks. It is another incredibly difficult time for them.’ 

According to Portuguese outlet Correio da Manha, excavations were carried out at two different spots around the water’s edge on Tuesday. Reports said the water level in the reservoir is currently lower than is typical for this time of year. This could be one reason why the operation is being carried out now. In the afternoon police appeared to be concentrating their efforts on a peninsula of land jutting into the reservoir. Officers using sticks were beating back undergrowth as they inched their way through the woods before fanning down onto the beach to carry on the search. However, just before 5.30pm, a violent thunderstorm and driving rain struck the search area and the operation was abandoned after it became clear the weather would not improve. The search was meant to continue until 9pm. A no fly zone has been set up around the area extending for six miles. This is due to expire at 10pm on Wednesday night fuelling suggestions the search will only be short. The Portuguese police are expected to give an update on the operation once it has been completed later this week. 

Two sides of the area have gently sloping banks towards the water, while the third is a sheer cliff, where three white police tents could be seen set back from the edge. The reservoir is popular with tourists, particularly campervan users, and has BBQ stands and sun loungers scattered around. Brueckner is known to have driven there frequently in his VW campervan, and is understood to have described it as his ‘little paradise.’ Sources close to the investigation have said they had evidence the clearing in the trees – where the white tents have been set up – was the spot Brueckner used to spend time at after parking up his campervan nearby. A local who asked not to be named, but knows the area well, said: ‘It’s pretty well-hidden by the trees and you don’t realize it’s there until you’re almost upon it. People wild camp there overnight from time to time which is why you’ll find the remains of fires inside small walls of stone. It’s got old sun loungers in it and makeshift benches that visitors use to rest on. It’s very out-of-the-way and very peaceful but at the same time it’s got a slightly eerie feel about it,’ they said. 

Local Portuguese reports, partly confirmed by police sources, claimed the searches were requested and authorized after German police obtained videos and photos of Brueckner by the planned dig site. They are thought to have been found buried in his ‘secret lair’ in a dilapidated factory site in the German village of Neuwegersleben 65 miles south-east of Hanover. Police raided the site in February 2016 in search of the body of missing five-year-old Inga Gehricke, who vanished while on a family outing in Saxony-Anhalt in May 2015 and has been dubbed the ‘German Maddie.’ Reports at the time said German detectives had discovered more than 8,000 images and videos on USB sticks and hard drives filled with child abuse images. They were said to have been buried under the body of Brueckner’s dead dog. 

Officials have been tight-lipped about the search. In a statement on Tuesday, German prosecutor Wolters said: ‘Criminal proceedings are currently taking place in Portugal as part of the investigation into the Madeleine McCann case.’ Wolters said German officers are investigating in Portugal ‘on the basis of certain tips.’ He said he was unable at this stage to give more detail on what prompted the search, and what officials were hoping to find, but said that such details would be released ‘if we… think the results are publishable.’ ‘Yes, the measures in Portugal are connected with the Madeleine McCann proceedings, which means that we are investigating there in Portugal on the basis of certain tips (tip-offs),’ Wolters said on Tuesday. ‘There is a major search operation taking place that is being implemented by the Portuguese authorities. But there are also German officers from the Federal Criminal Police Office on site who are supporting the whole thing.’ 

He added: ‘I can’t disclose the background at the moment, i.e. why we are searching there and what we hope to find there. That shall remain our secret for the moment. If we find something and we think the results are publishable, then we will certainly inform you about it. But give us a little bit of time. The action itself will also take a bit of time. It will not be completed within two hours or so. And whether we then find something and what we find, of course, we have to see that first.’ The Metropolitan Police has said officers are present in Portugal so they can 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 Policia Judiciaria and Bundeskriminalamt for allowing us to be present whilst their work is ongoing, so that we can inform Madeleine’s family of any developments.’ 

The reservoir was searched by divers hired by a Portuguese lawyer in February and March 2008. Back then, the diving team leader described the ‘long process’ his team faced navigating the ‘black’ waters. Marcos Aragao Correia organized the privately-funded operation after claiming he had been tipped off by underworld contacts that Madeleine had been murdered and her body thrown into the reservoir within 48 hours of her disappearance. Two bags containing small bones were found during the second search after divers had earlier recovered several lengths of cord, some plastic tape and a single white cotton sock. Portuguese police were alerted following the discovery but subsequently ruled out the possibility the bones were human because of their size. Madeleine’s parents Gerry and Kate McCann had previously dismissed Mr Correia as a self-publicist and said there was no evidence suggesting any link between their daughter and the reservoir. 

The dam, near the town of Silves where a lorry driver says he saw a woman handing a child like Madeleine over to a man two days after she went missing from her Praia da Luz holiday apartment on May 3 2007, is not thought to have been searched since March 2008 as part of the ongoing investigation into her disappearance. The search is the first major operation of its kind since June 2014 when British police were given permission to do digs in Praia da Luz that involved sniffer dogs trained in detecting bodies and ground-penetrating radar. The Scotland Yard digs nearly nine years ago in Praia da Luz were linked to the leading UK police theory at the time Madeleine died during a break-in and burglars dumped her body nearby. The searches failed to find any trace of the missing youngster. In a smaller operation in July 2020 Portuguese police and firefighters searched three wells for Madeleine’s body but failed to find any trace of her. 

The abandoned wells are a 15 minute drive from a cottage Brueckner rented on the outskirts of Praia de Luz, on a narrow road leading down to a beach where he used to park his VW camper van. German prosecutor Wolters has consistently said he is convinced Madeleine is dead and caged Brueckner has been named as the sole suspect. The deviant, currently serving time for the September 2005 [sexual assault] of an American OPA in the resort where Madeleine vanished, has yet to face any formal accusation over the youngster’s disappearance. Last April he was made an official suspect or arguido in Portugal over Madeleine’s disappearance, although his defense lawyer Friedrich Fulscher labelled it a ‘procedural trick’ linked to statute of limitations legislation at the time. 

Last autumn Bruecker was charged in Germany with several [sexual] crimes on the Algarve against women and children including the [sexual assault] of an Irish holiday rep in 2004 and the sexual abuse of a 10-year-old girl on a beach near Praia da Luz in 2007. Brueckner’s lawyer revealed in April those charges had been dropped against him in a bombshell development after successfully arguing prosecutors had no jurisdiction over him in Braunschweig where the Madeleine case was being brought. The case could end up with prosecutors in Saxony-Anhalt instead but an appeal lodged by the Braunschweig public prosecutor’s office has yet to be decided.

Want more stories like this from the Daily Mail? Visit our profile page here and hit the follow button above for more of the news you need.