New searches are underway in Portugal, nearby toddler Madeleine McCann disappeared in 2007
LAGOS, Portugal (AP) – Police investigated police searching British child Madeleine McCann near an abandoned rural building in southern Portugal, who launched a new investigation near the resort she last saw 18 years ago.
The case has gained years of interest worldwide, reporting McCann's sightings as far as Australia, while books and television documentaries have produced documentaries about her disappearance.
German investigators, Portuguese police and firefighters searched the countryside a few miles from the resort of Playa da Luz, and the 3-year-old disappeared from the bed while on a vacation with his family on May 3, 2007.
These teams were seen using pickups, shovels and chainsaws to remove dense vegetation and dig near abandoned buildings. Firefighters pump water from the well.
Investigators in the UK, Portugal and Germany have been piecing together the night when young children disappeared for nearly two decades. She was in the same room with her siblings (twins of 2 years old) while their parents, Kate and Gerry, had dinner with friends outside.
Portuguese police said on Monday that detectives conducted an “extensive search” in the southern Portugal region of Lagos this week, and that detectives are acting at the request of German prosecutors.
The main suspect is a German national identified by the media as Christian Brueckner, who is currently sentenced to seven years in Germany for raping a 72-year-old woman in Portugal in 2005.
In the McCann case, he is investigating alleged murders but has not been charged. During his child's disappearance, he spent many years in Portugal, including Praia da Luz. Bruckner denied any involvement.
The last time the police resumed the search for the case was in 2023, when detectives from three countries participated in an operation near the dam, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) from the resort.
McCann's family commemorated the 18th anniversary of her disappearance last month and said they were determined to continue the search.
