Madeleine McCann cops to launch fresh searches between prime suspect's house and spot she was last seen
2 June 2025, 13:52 | Updated: 2 June 2025, 15:32
A fresh police search is set to begin for missing toddler Madeleine McCan in the area she was last seen.
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German police have reportedly requested the searches, which are expected to take place in Praia da Luz, Portugal from tomorrow.
The three-year-old vanished from the holiday spot on May 3 2007.
Police will also reportedly search a house near the holiday resort where prime suspect Christian Brueckner previously lived.
"They will be land searches only. The main objective is to look for any signs of Madeleine's body," a Portuguese source was quoted in Mailonline as saying.
Portuguese police agreed to cooperate with the search after judicial authorities approved it following a formal request from German police and prosecutors, according to reports.
Read more: Who is Madeleine McCann and who is Christian Brueckner?
The search is expected to last around three days unless any bombshell clues are discovered.
It marks the first search in Portugal in over two years following a major joint operation between local and German police, which lasted almost a week.
These took place in 2023 at a remote dam around 40-minute-drive from Praia da Luz. This spot - Arade Dam - had been described as "little paradise".
Brueckner, 48, is due for release from prison in September. The convicted rapist has always denied being involved in Madeleine's disappearance.
He has never been charged with any crimes in connection with Madeleine's disappearance from a Portuguese hotel, where she was on holiday with her parents.
Upon his release from prison, Brueckner is said to be planning to move to another country where he will not be extradited to Britain or Germany.
Philipp Marquort, one of Brueckner's lawyers, said he had considered leaving Europe altogether."Sometimes he wants to stay here in Germany, sometimes he wants to leave Europe," he told the Mirror.
"If I were him I would leave Europe and look for a state which doesn't extradite to Europe or Great Britain, maybe like Suriname."
He was previously accused of three rapes and two child sex abuse cases between 2000 and 2017 in Portugal.
A court found him not guilty of all charges.
