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Madeleine McCann: Police in Portugal begin new search

May 23, 2023

In the first formal development in the case in years, Portuguese police are carrying out a search at remote dam as they probe the 2007 disappearance of UK toddler Madeleine McCann.

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Vehicles and tents of Portugal's investigative Judicial Police are seen at the site of a remote reservoir
The search is taking place at a remote reservoirImage: Luis Ferreira/REUTERS

Police in Portugal on Tuesday resumed the search for Madeleine McCann, the British toddler who disappeared in 2007.

The search operation began at the remote Arade reservoir, in the southern region of Algarve, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) inland from a beach resort where the then 3-year-old girl went missing from a rented apartment while on a holiday with her family.

Local television footage showed a blue police tent, with the area around the dam cordoned off to the media and public.

Reports said that authorities had also combed the area in 2008 but divers had found only animal remains.

Why is the new search being conducted?

According to news agency Reuters, the new search was being carried out at the behest of German authorities, who last year formally identified a German man, Christian B., as an official suspect in McCann's disappearance.

He is under investigation on suspicion of murder but hasn't been charged.

In June 2020, German prosecutors said they had "concrete evidence" he killed the British girl.

The 45-year-old was in the Algarve in 2007 but has denied any involvement.

In October, the suspect was charged by prosecutors in the German city of Braunschweig in several separate cases involving sexual offenses allegedly committed in Portugal between 2000 and 2017.

Kate and Gerry McCann hold a picture of their daughter
Madeleine McCann's parents, Gerry and Kate, hold a picture of their daughter as they address the mediaImage: Soeren Stache/dpa-Zentralbild/dpa/picture-alliance

What were the circumstances of Madeleine McCann's disappearance?

On May 3, 2007, McCann disappeared from her bed in the tourist resort of Praia da Luz.

The toddler was in the same room as her 2-year-old twin brother and sister while her parents were dining with friends at a nearby tapas bar.

British, Portuguese and German police have since tried to piece together what happened.

McCann's disappearance had gripped attention worldwide amid public claims of having spotted her stretching as far away as Australia.

There have also been several books and television documentaries about the case.

dvv/rt (AFP, AP, Reuters)