Searches for Madeleine McCann to continue in Portugal
On Tuesday, fresh searches for Madeleine began, as teams drained a well and cleared areas of dense vegetation near abandoned buildings in countryside a few miles from Praia da Luz.
Madeleine, then aged three, vanished 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.
German investigators and Portuguese police officers and firefighters took part in the searches on Tuesday, as teams used strimmers, shovels and chainsaws to clear the undergrowth and debris around an abandoned building, and drained a well using a yellow hose.
About 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.
It has been variously reported that teams 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.
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.
In October last year, Brueckner was cleared by a German court of unrelated sexual offences, alleged to have taken place in Portugal between 2000 and 2017.
About 30 German police, including forensic experts, are expected to take part in the search, with Portuguese officers, which is expected to last until Friday.
The Metropolitan Police said they were aware of the operation but that British officers will not be present.
German investigators and Portuguese officers last carried out searches 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 vowed to continue the search.
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.
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scottish Sun
38 minutes ago
- Scottish Sun
What is Ukraine's ‘mystery missile'? Russia quaking after Kyiv uses ‘new weapon' to blitz Putin on night of hell
Click to share on X/Twitter (Opens in new window) Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window) VLADIMIR Putin has been left shell-shocked by a brand new mystery missile he claims Ukraine attacked him with overnight. A massive strike ripped through an airport in Bryansk and reportedly destroyed a placement of Putin's Iskander missile system. 9 Vladimir Putin has been left shell-shocked by a brand new mystery missile he claims Ukraine attacked him with overnight in Bryansk Credit: East2West 9 The huge blasts targeted a Russian airfield with a giant mushroom cloud eruption seen by onlookers Credit: East2West 9 The severity of the attack has led to Russians accusing Kyiv of using German-supplied Taurus missiles Credit: Getty 9 Thursday saw one of the most explosive evenings of fighting for some time during the gruelling war. The night of hell saw Putin exact revenge for Ukraine's stunning Operation Spiderweb drone blitz last weekend. The Russia tyrant hammered Ukraine with 407 drones and 44 missiles - unleashing a deadly wave of strikes that killed three and injured dozens. But a valiant Ukraine hit back with their own set of attacks. Dramatic footage shows one explosion, believed to be from the mystery weapon, followed by a powerful secondary blast. A follow up attack also took out a launcher for the Iskander a day earlier, Ukraine claimed. But the blasts were something never been seen before by the quaking Russians during their illegal invasion. This led to speculation on pro-Kremlin media channels that Ukraine may have fired a powerful German-supplied Taurus missile. Putin-loyalists Tsargrad said on Telegram: 'Did the first Taurus strike Russia? "Unprecedented escalation in Bryansk and destruction of Iskander missiles.' Putin plotting 'final killer offensive' to WIN Ukraine war despite Russian losses nearing 1 MILLION As channel MIG Russia claimed the pinpoint Bryansk strike was carried out with Western-made long-range missiles. If it was a Taurus, it would mark the first ever time it has been used by Kyiv. The Russians would also view it as an 'unprecedented escalation' in the conflict due to the damage the weapon can cause. Discourse around German weapons has ramped up in the parts 24 hours ever since Chancellor Friedrich Merz met in the Oval Office with Donald Trump. German sources have had to deny that any agreement had been reached during the talks to send supplies of long-range Taurus' to Ukraine. Merz had announced at the end of May that Ukraine's key backers - including Germany, France, the UK and the US - had all lifted restrictions on where donated weapons can be used. And the announcement could even mean that Britain's state-of-the-art Storm Shadow missiles could soon be used by Ukraine. Britain's bunker-busting Storm Shadow rockets are a nightmare for enemies as they are capable of dodging air defences. 9 The mystery blast from Ukraine saw two explosion ring out across the airfield Credit: East2West 9 Firefighters work at the site of a Russian drone attack in Kyiv Credit: Reuters 9 A Russian bomb lands in Ukraine overnight Credit: AP The £800,000 missiles - already being fired within Ukraine - use GPS to precisely hit targets, and can travel at 600mph. The Taurus missile system is widely regarded as Germany's equivalent to the Storm Shadow. The tit-for-tat attacks came hours after US President Donald Trump said it might be better to let Ukraine and Russia fight for a while. The president has been so far unsuccessful on getting the two countries to agree to peace - with Moscow not moving on its demands. The American was full of praise for Ukraine though as he labelled the daring Operation Spiderweb attack as "strong and badass". The daring operation saw a fired up Ukraine wreck 41 Russian planes across the strategic airfields. Putin's doomsday bomber fleet was crippled with a third of his most prized aircraft lying in smouldering wrecks. It comes as a new report accused Putin of plotting a final killer offensive along three fronts to win the war this summer. The Russian army is nearing one million casualties in its bungled three-year-old invasion as peace talks continue to stall. Now, some 125,000 Russian soldiers are reportedly right now massing along the Sumy and Kharkiv frontiers, according to Ukraine's military intelligence. Over the past fortnight border villages have fallen to Russia as it is may to be preparing the ground for the offensive. But some senior commanders in Ukraine believe that could be a feint and Russia is actually preparing to attack further south to push further into the Donbas, Ukraine Pravda reports. Russia is likely to attack through three areas near each other in the Donbas - Kramatorsk, Kostiantynivka, and Pokrovsk. 9 Fire and smoke rise in Kyiv following a Russian drone and missile strike overnight Credit: Reuters
Daily Mirror
an hour ago
- Daily Mirror
'I went inside the new Madeleine McCann search area - and here's what I found'
Investigators hunting for missing Madeleine McCann spent three days scouring through scrubland and derelict buildings this week - I visited Praia da Luz to see how the search went The crumbling farm buildings searched by Maddie cops this week have clearly had regular visitors over the years. The four isolated plots, spread across a large area of overgrown clifftop coastline in Portugal, are covered from floor to ceiling with graffiti. Empty beer bottles and cans are scattered across the ground outside, showing they may have been popular meeting spots for the local youths. By the entrance of one of the buildings there were even four pairs of discarded women's knickers. Approaching the derelict buildings, the day after the police ended their search, a few signs remain to show officers were there. A couple of strips of police tape are trailed between bushes, while a number of trees around the buildings have been chopped back. Piles of rubbles and brambles can be seen outside each building where police have cleared a path for their forensic teams to enter. They also cleared the area around an old drainage well, which holds a pool of stagnant water at the bottom, which clearly became part of their investigation. Walking into the shells of the building - with their collapsed roofs and flaking walls - shows the police have cleaned them out. There are no brambles or bottles inside. The floors inside were swept tidy, with the original blue and white tiles visible in one of the outbuildings. But it is obvious the vandals and graffiti artists have also seen them as easy pickings over the years. The huge amount of graffiti - including artwork of sinister faces, cartoon characters, swear words and random spray paint scribbles - shows that there have been many people paying a visit. It is unclear when the buildings were abandoned, but those who headed into the scrublands over the years would have had no idea that, one day, it would become the scene of a major police investigation. German police, aided by their Portuguese colleague, spent three days scoring the buildings this week, using JCB diggers and a ground penetrating radar. They were hoping to find clues in the 18 year investigation into the disappearance of three-year-old Madeleine McCann. Little Maddie went missing from her holiday apartment on the evening of May 3, 2007. Her whereabouts remain unknown, although German prosecutors believe she is dead. Maddie had been on holiday with mum and dad, Kate and Gerry, along with her twin siblings and a group of family friends when she vanished. This week German and Portuguese officers covered a huge swathe of coastal scrubland between Praia da Luz - where Maddie and her family were staying - and the town of Lagos. The site is close to where German investigators prime suspect Christian Bruckner had been living at the time. He denies any involvement in Maddie's case.
South Wales Argus
an hour ago
- South Wales Argus
Veterans attend Normandy commemorations on 81st anniversary of D-Day
Along the coastline and near the D-Day landing beaches, tens of thousands of onlookers attended the commemorations, which included parachute jumps, flyovers, remembrance ceremonies, parades and historical re-enactments. Many were there to cheer the ever-dwindling number of surviving veterans in their late 90s and older. All remembered the thousands who died. US defence secretary Pete Hegseth commemorated the anniversary of the D-Day landings, in which American soldiers played a leading role, with veterans at the American cemetery overlooking the shore in the village of Colleville-sur-Mer. US defence secretary Pete Hegseth lays a wreath of flowers during the ceremony in Colleville-sur-Mer (Thomas Padilla/AP/PA) The June 6 1944 invasion of Nazi-occupied France used the largest-ever armada of ships, troops, planes and vehicles to breach Hitler's defences in western Europe. A total of 4,414 Allied troops were killed on D-Day itself. In the ensuing Battle of Normandy, 73,000 Allied forces were killed and 153,000 wounded. The battle – and especially Allied bombings of French villages and cities – killed around 20,000 French civilians between June and August 1944. The exact German casualties are unknown but historians estimate between 4,000 and 9,000 men were killed, wounded or missing during the D-Day invasion alone. 'The heroism, honour and sacrifice of the Allied forces on D-Day will always resonate with the US armed forces and our allies and partners across Europe,' said Lieutenant General Jason T Hinds, deputy commander of US Air Forces in Europe – Air Forces Africa. Guests attend the ceremony at the US cemetery (Thomas Padilla/AP/PA) 'Let us remember those who flew and fell. Let us honour those who survived and came home to build a better world. 'Let us ensure that their sacrifice was not in vain by meeting today's challenges with the same resolve, the same clarity of purpose and the same commitment to freedom.' Nearly 160,000 Allied troops landed on D-Day. Of those, 73,000 were from the United States and 83,000 from Britain and Canada. Forces from several other countries were also involved, including French troops fighting with General Charles de Gaulle. The Allies faced around 50,000 German forces. More than two million Allied soldiers, sailors, pilots, medics and other people from a dozen countries were involved in the overall Operation Overlord, the battle to wrest western France from Nazi control that started on D-Day.
