Inside abandoned farm buildings where cops held new search for Madeleine McCann
A new search took place for Madeleine McCann near to where she disappeared in Praia da Luz in 2007 and images taken by the Mirror show inside the abandoned farm buildings where search teams scoured through thick scrubland and empty buildings.
German and Portuguese investigators wound down the operation in Atalaia, near Lagos, Portugal, on Thursday, after three days of searching scrubland and abandoned structures. Their efforts focused on a 120-acre stretch of land, using equipment such as chainsaws, diggers and a ground-penetrating radar.
The operation comes 18 years after three-year-old Madeleine disappeared from nearby Praia da Luz while on holiday with her family in 2007. But it was called off with no signs that the police had made any significant discoveries, although we will now have to wait to see what they have found.
They spent the first two days of the search focusing on one particular derelict building, using ground-penetrating radar on the cobbled ground after clearing the area of debris and vegetation using a digger and chainsaws.
Then on the final day personnel could be seen holding pitchforks as they combed stretches of land. Pick-axes and shovels were used to dig some of the undergrowth and a digger was again used to remove rubble from one of the abandoned structures at the site.
German authorities requested the search as part of their continued attempts to source evidence to 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.
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