Police to begin new search for Madeleine McCann in area where she went missing

Belfast Telegraph

4 days ago

The searches will be the first in Portugal for more than two years, with the operation led by ­German police.
The search comes after evidence that Madeleine is dead was said to be on a hard drive discovered in a former ­factory that belongs to the prime suspect in her disappearance, Christian Brueckner, who lived in the area at the time
Madeleine went missing in 2007, while on holiday with her family in Praia De Luz, Portugal.
German police suspect the three-year-old was killed by Brueckner, who has recently been acquitted of unrelated sexual offences in Germany.
According to the Sun newspaper, the drive was found in 2016 at a shuttered factory that Brueckner had bought for £20,000 in 2008.
The suspect allegedly admitted to killing Madeleine at a music event, according to an insurance document that investigators discovered.
There have always been doubts about his credibility. Masks, chemicals and firearms were reportedly found at the abandoned property, along with children's clothing and toys.
Two memory cards and six USB sticks were also found in a wallet by German police. A dog discovered the evidence in 2016.
In one case, the suspect described drugging a mother and daughter outside of a nursery school, while in another, spoke of abusing a four-year-old girl.
It was also found that he had Skype talks with other paedophiles, in which he expressed his desire to 'capture something small and use it for days'.
Police reportedly discovered over 75 bathing costumes, toys and miniature bikes during the searches, along with pictures of four- and five-year-old girls being abused.
Brueckner had also visited the Algarve in the years following Madeleine's disappearance, according to a satellite navigation system. A Channel 4 documentary, to be broadcast tomorrow, will present the claims in their entirety.
Last October, Brueckner was cleared at the court in Brunswick of three charges of aggravated rape and two of sexual abuse of children.
Prosecutors had argued for the German national to be handed a 15-year sentence and are expected to appeal against the decision.
Brueckner (48) is already serving a seven-year prison term in Germany for raping a woman in 2005 in the Algarve region of Portugal where Madeleine went missing.
He had been on trial since February over the offences he was alleged to have committed in Portugal between 2000 and 2017.
A former prison cellmate of Brueckner's had told a German court that he heard him bragging about abducting a girl in Portugal.
Prosecutors in Portugal officially declared Christian Brueckner an arguido (suspect) in 2022. It is thought he visited the area around the time Madeleine went missing.
Despite the British government dedicating millions of pounds to police investigations, Madeleine has never been found.