Police deploy digger at barn in ‘now or never’ radar search for Madeleine McCann
4 June 2025, 12:42 | Updated: 4 June 2025, 13:12
Police have deployed a digger at a derelict barn as search for Madeleine McCann intensifies.
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Images show the large yellow digger being deployed to excavate a site in the area known as prime suspect Christian Brueckner's "rat run".
The excavator could be seen pulling back earth while the number of police on site has reportedly doubled on day two of the hunt.
It's unconfirmed as to whether it was part of a targeted dig or preparation for ground-scanning radar.
At least five different abandoned buildings were allegedly being searched today.
It comes after search teams were earlier seen draining a well and clearing areas of dense vegetation near abandoned buildings as the latest search for Madeleine McCann continues in Portugal.
German investigators along with Portuguese police officers and firefighters are searching a little-developed area of countryside a few miles from Praia da Luz where Madeleine was last seen in 2007.
Madeleine, then aged three, disappeared while on holiday with her family in the Algarve resort after her parents went out to dinner and left her sleeping in a room with her toddler twin siblings.
Journalists were kept a distance away from the search sites on Tuesday and a no-fly zone was imposed that stopped the used of drones, although some activity could be seen as teams used strimmers, pick-axes, shovels and chainsaws to clear the undergrowth and debris surrounding an abandoned building.
Firefighters drained a well to search inside, while it's been reported that investigators search the ground for toys or objects with DNA on them.
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Personnel wore safety gear such as gloves and hard hats as they worked in the dense vegetation.
Around a dozen officers focused on one abandoned building where digging was taking place, while another member of the search team cleared large rocks.
The Sun reported that investigators are also planning to use radar equipment that can scan beneath the ground.
Around 30 German police officers, including forensic experts, are expected to take part in the search along with Portuguese officers, with the activity due to last until Friday.
Madeleine McCann - German police to start fresh searches in Portugal
The Metropolitan Police said it is aware of the operation but that British officers will not be present.
TV footage showed two Portuguese police officers guarding the end to a narrow lane that leads through an area of fields and scrubland with a few houses and a vineyard.
It has been variously reported that investigators will look where trenches were dug near the resort at the time of Madeleine’s disappearance, at wells, ruins and water tanks, and that there are plans to examine 21 pieces of land.
It is not yet clear what sparked the search.
However, the search is being carried out at the request of the German federal police as they look for evidence that could implicate prime suspect Christian Brueckner, who is in prison for raping a 72-year-old woman in Praia da Luz in 2005.
He is due to be released from jail in September if no further charges are brought.
Ulrich Oppold, a journalist from German broadcaster RTL, visited Brueckner in prison in Germany, who said if he gets out of jail the thing he is most looking forward to is a steak with a beer.
Brueckner refused to answer any questions relating to Madeleine after discussions with his lawyers.
He told the journalist that if he does get out of jail he will have to lie low as he is so well known.
Brueckner described himself as “bekannt wie ein bunter Hund” – which literally translated is “as well-known as a colourful dog”.
German investigators and Portuguese officers last carried out searches in the country in 2023 near the Barragem do Arade reservoir, about 30 miles from Praia da Luz.
Brueckner, who spent time in the area between 2000 and 2017, had photographs and videos of himself near the reservoir.
It was previously searched in 2008, when Portuguese lawyer Marcos Aragao Correia paid for specialist divers to search it after he claimed to have been tipped off by criminal contacts that Madeleine’s body was there.
British police were later given permission to examine scrubland near where she vanished in 2014.
Last month, Madeleine’s family, who are from Rothley in Leicestershire, marked the 18th anniversary of her disappearance, describing her as “beautiful and unique” before her 22nd birthday, and expressing their determination to keep searching.
A statement from her parents Kate and Gerry McCann and the family said: “The years appear to be passing even more quickly and whilst we have no significant news to share, our determination to ‘leave no stone unturned’ is unwavering. We will do our utmost to achieve this.”
In April, ministers approved more than £100,000 in additional funding for Scotland Yard detectives investigating Madeleine’s disappearance.
