Philmackey
BBC correspondent
Report on Algarve, Portugal
“The clock is ticking every moment”: Madeleine McCann Search continues
Eighteen years after she disappeared from her Portuguese apartment, the team searched for Madeleine McCann, so miners and specialized equipment were brought in.
On Wednesday, authorities are expected to use hedge trimmers to clean up the vegetation and continue searching around unused buildings and wells.
Madeleine was 3 years old when she disappeared on May 3, 2007 while on vacation with her parents.
The search continues until Friday at a 21-square-kilometer (8-square-mile) site between where Madeleine disappeared and where the main suspects of a German investigator were at the time.
Wednesday’s search was concluded after four vehicles inspected four German registered vehicles. The two vans were driven by detectives wearing masks to hide their identity.
Police are scheduled to continue their third day of search on Thursday.
Madeleine’s case was initially handled by Portuguese authorities with the help of Metropolitan Police, but German investigators took the lead in 2020 when they identified German citizen Christian Bruckner as the main suspect.
The 48-year-old is currently sentenced to Germany in 2005 for raping a 72-year-old American tourist in Portugal. He is scheduled to be released in September, but could be pushed back to early 2026 if he doesn’t pay the fine.
The search site covering the city of Lagos near Praia da Luz is located about 3.5 miles from the Ocean Club Resort, where Madeleine and her family were staying.
PA Media
Investigators are searching for schooling and abandoned buildings in the latest search for Madeleine McCann
A car, dressed in uniform and ordinary clothes, arrived at the scene Wednesday morning, with dozens of people in uniforms. This focuses on the edge of the town of Atalia. Many of them had their faces covered.
Teams wearing protective gear can use digging to remove tiled rubs from one of the unused buildings.
The roads leading to this area — large and mostly scrubrands — have been closed since Monday.
Four vehicles carrying Portuguese fire engines and German police were seen arriving at the scene on Tuesday. Firefighters also ran out of wells, as part of the search.
Focusing on the first day of the search was what appeared to be a discarded farm with many abandoned graffiti buildings, empty bottles and trash.
Reuters
Authorities have seen various abandoned buildings as part of their search
The white van and large blue tent can be seen a little further away from what appears to be an old farmhouse, the base of the search operation.
This area is located in the middle of a tourist spot.
A few hundred metres north are golf clubs and resorts, but in the opposite direction there are steep cliffs leading to the sea. Along the cliffs are hiking trails along the cliffs known as the Trilho Dos Pescadores or Fishermen’s Trail.
The final search took place two years ago, focusing on a reservoir in the northeast where the British infants were staying. Brückner, who spent time in the area between 2000 and 2017, was found to have photos and videos of himself near the reservoir.
German authorities suspect Bruckner is a murder and fear that he will disappear after his release if he is not charged with a new one. British police continue to treat the incident as an investigation into missing people.
Brückner repeatedly denied involvement.
PA Media
German police have European warrants approved by Portuguese prosecutors, allowing searches on private property. This week’s search is expected to span 21 different lands.
Civil servants have not revealed this latest search in Portugal based on new information.
Portuguese authorities have appointed Bruckner as the official suspect or “arguido.” They said they would hand over the evidence seized in the latest search to German authorities.
Met police, who said they knew the search was being carried out by Portuguese German police this week, continues to investigate Madeleine’s loss of failure.
PA Media
On Wednesday, a search team was seen using ground-penetrating radar equipment.
The case, known as Operation Grange, has been ongoing since 2011 and has cost around £13.3 million to date.
The night when Madeleine disappeared, her parents were having dinner with friends in a restaurant, a little further away from the first floor apartment where she and her young twin brothers slept.
Her mother, Kate, was found missing around 10pm.
A 2022 German documentary found evidence that Bruckner occasionally worked as a handyman at the Ocean Club, but German prosecutors link his cell phone data and car sales to the case against him.
Last month, Madeleine’s parents celebrated her 18th anniversary of her loss, saying, “My resolve to not leave behind any stones that have been turned over is unshakable.”
