Madeleine McCann search at Portuguese reservoir resumes with sniffer dogs

[May 24, 2023]  SILVES, Portugal (Reuters) - Police with sniffer dogs on Wednesday resumed a search at a remote reservoir in Portugal for possible evidence linking a German suspect to the disappearance of British toddler Madeleine McCann 16 years ago.

Police prepare to search a reservoir for the body of Madeleine McCann, who went missing in the Portuguese Algarve in May 2007, in Silves, Portugal, May 23, 2023. REUTERS/Luis Ferreira

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.

McCann 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 50 km (31 miles) inland from the resort.

The renewed search is being carried out at the request of German authorities and is likely linked to photographs of the Arade reservoir found at the hideout of a German man, Christian Brueckner, a source familiar with the investigation has told Reuters.

German prosecutors last year named Brueckner an official suspect in McCann's disappearance. The convicted child abuser and drug dealer is behind bars in Germany for raping a 72-year-old woman in the same area of the Algarve region from where McCann went missing.

The McCann 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.

(Reporting by Mariano Valladolid; writing by Charlie Devereux; Editing by Bernadette Baum)

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