Madeleine McCann: Search operation at Portuguese reservoir may be linked to murder suspect

On May 3, 2007, three-year-old Madeleine McCannwent missing from her parents' vacation home in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz. Since then, a long search has been conducted for the British girl - also internationally - but without success so far.

Since Tuesday 23 May, another large-scale search operation has been underway at the Arade reservoir in the Algarve region of southern Portugal. As reported by ZDF, as well as NDR and Ruhrnachrichten, this renewed impetus apparently comes from German authorities.

New search operation at Portuguese reservoir

In 2020, there was said to be a breakthrough in the investigation: According to the report, the public prosecutor's office in Braunschweig, Germany has found a murder suspect in Christian B - who already has a criminal record for sex and drug offences and is said to have lived in the Algarve for a long time.

The public prosecutor's office is now investigating the 46-year-old German man in Madeleine's case. Christian B has also been an official suspect in the case for the Portuguese police since 2022.

The international team of investigators is now hoping for new clues in the renewed search at the reservoir, which is a good 50 kilometres from the vacation resort from which the then three-year-old disappeared. The group is made up of Portuguese, British, and German officers.

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Motives for new search unclear

TV pictures taken from a distance so far show the officers searching the shore and woodland with strimmers, heavy machinery, spades, rakes, and pickaxes. A fire service vehicle was on the shore and officers were out on the dam in a rigid-hull inflatable boat. Sniffer dogs are also being used in the search.

Police took away several bags from the search site and divers entered the water. It is uknown what was in the bags. The search is expected to take a total of two to three days.

The Portuguese, British, and German authorities are keeping quiet about the exact reasons for the new search, declining to comment for the time being. In Portuguese media, however, it is assumed that the German investigators have found new clues.

Meanwhile, a source told Reuters that the operation is probably connected to photographs of the reservoir found at the hideout of Christian B. The convicted child abuser and drug dealer allegedly used to visit the reservoir, reportedly describing it as 'his paradise'.

Christian B is currently in prison in Germany for raping a 72-year-old woman in the same area of the Algarve region where Madeleine disappeared.

This article has been adapted from Gentside DE.

Sources used:

NDR: 'Fall 'Maddie': Polizei sucht an Stausee in Portugal'

Ruhrnachrichten: 'Fall Maddie McCann: Polizei sucht in Portugal wieder nach Maddie'

ZDF: 'Wunsch deutscher Behörden: Fall Maddie: Neue Suchaktion an Stausee'

Sky News: 'Madeleine McCann police use sniffer dogs to comb wooded area during reservoir search'