Approximately 18 years after the disappearance of the three-year-old British toddler Madeleine 'Maddie' McCann in southern Portugal in May 2007, the police are conducting a new search at the request of the German authorities.
The search is set to begin on Tuesday in Praia da Luz in southern Portugal, according to CNN Portugal and SIC Noticias. The Portuguese authorities have not yet confirmed the news.
Maddie disappeared from her hotel room in Praia da Luz in May 2007 while her parents were dining at a nearby restaurant. Police suspect that the toddler was abducted and murdered, but no body has ever been found.
On Monday, a spokesperson for the British police said they were aware of searches in Portugal as part of the investigation into the disappearance. However, the British police are not present but will "support their international colleagues if necessary."
According to CNN Portugal, a house where the German suspect, Christian Brückner (a convicted paedophile), is believed to have lived in the early 2000s will be searched.
German police suspect 48-year-old Brückner of kidnapping and murdering the girl. He was living in the Algarve in 2007, but he denies any involvement and has never been charged. He is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence in Germany for the rape of a 72-year-old woman, also in Praia da Luz.
The last known major search in the case took place about two years ago, at the end of May 2023. That search was unsuccessful.
