Police say they have "seized a number of items" after last week's search in connection with missing Madeleine McCann. which they will now analyse. Investigators spent three days last week searching the surrounding area of the Arade dam and reservoir, about 30 miles from Praia da Luz in Portugal — where Madeleine was last seen alive just before her fourth birthday in 2007.
German police have said today they cannot confirm whether the items taken from their dig in Portugal are connected to the disappearance of Madeleine but they have appealed for more time to assess them. Detectives from the Federal Criminal Police (BKA), Germany’s equivalent of the FBI, spent days searching land next to the Arade Dam last week.
They used sniffer dogs, radar and search teams to scour the location just 31 miles from where three-year-old Maddie vanished in 2007. Named suspect Christian Brueckner, 45, currently in prison in Germany, once referred to the location as his "little paradise".
After the dig police left behind two-foot-deep boreholes and it is believed the soil they recovered from them is being forensically analysed in Germany.
Today a spokesperson for the Braunschweig public prosecutor, who is coordinating the investigation, said: “The search operation ended as planned on Thursday after three days. A previously exactly specified area along the reservoir has been fully searched for possible pieces of evidence searched.
“A number of items were seized as part of the investigation. These will be evaluated in the coming days and weeks.
“Whether individual items actually have a connection to the Madeleine McCann case cannot yet be said. Thank you to all the police officers involved in the search.
“The cooperation between the Portuguese police, police officers from Great Britain and the Federal Criminal Police Office went excellently and very constructively.
“The investigations conducted here in Braunschweig against the 46-year-old suspect are expected to continue for a long time.”
Police 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 said 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.
Personnel at Barragem do Arade reservoir in Portugal (Yui Mok/PA)
A large section of the Barragem do Arade was cordoned off around 30 miles from where three-year-old Madeleine went missing in 2007.
The operation was 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 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 the 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 area around Barragem do Arade reservoir (Yui Mok/PA)
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 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 were also present while the work was carried out in order to inform Madeleine’s parents of any developments.
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 McCann (PA)
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 was also imposed over the reservoir for the first two days.
The new searches come as the Home Office granted an extra £110,000 in funding this financial year for the Metropolitan Police to assist with finding Madeleine, down from just over £300,000 last year.
The total funding given to Operation Grange has been just under £13.1 million since 2011.
