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26th May 2023
09:57am BST
Police searching a remote Portugal reservoir as part of the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann have reportedly found a 'relevant clue.'
At the request of German investigators, Portuguese police began searching around Arade dam, about 30 miles from Praia da Luz, where Madeleine was last seen alive just before her fourth birthday on 3 May 2007.
She went missing from her room, where she was sleeping along with her two siblings, while her parents were at dinner 130 feet away.
The search was brought to an end at 4pm on Thursday (May 25), with police being told they are no longer needed at the scene.
Police in Portugal said: “[The search] resulted in the collection of some material that will be subject to the competent expertise. The material collected will be handed over to the German authorities.”
Now, Portuguese newspaper Correio de Manhã reports that a "relevant clue" was found which led to police officers concentrating on a specific paper, per the Independent.
The reservoir is said to be a favourite spot of convicted German rapist Christian Brückner, who is the key suspect.
The 45-year-old is currently in prison for raping a 72-year-old woman in the same area of the Algarve region where Madeleine went missing but has not been charged with any crime related to the disappearance.
He has always maintained that he was not involved.
According to reports on Thursday, Brueckner is said to have visited “his little paradise” – possibly with others – “some days” after Madeleine went missing.
A former friend of his is said to have informed police, and the tip-off tallied up with photos and videos of Brueckner near the reservoir and influenced investigators to carry out thorough searches of the area.
The area police are searching was examined twice in 2008 by divers hired by a private Portuguese lawyer.
German police have confirmed what prompted the new search, but the prosecutor for the city of Braunschweig, Christian Wolters, said they were acting on the basis of “certain tips”.
"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,” he told German public broadcaster NDR.
“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.”
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