The search for Madeline McCann, who went missing in 2007, is expected to conclude today if German and Portuguese authorities fail to find any evidence relating to her disappearance
A search map has detailed the chilling 13-minute drive between the Praia da Luz hotel and a mysterious abandoned villa – as the desperate search for missing toddler Madeleine McCann resumes for a final day. The search for Madeline, who went missing in 2007, is expected to conclude today if German and Portuguese authorities fail to find any evidence relating to her disappearance over 18 years ago.
The investigation started off on Tuesday, June 3, and was set to last until Friday. Investigators are scouring a 120-acre area for evidence that could link prime suspect Christian Brueckner to her disappearance. He is coming to the end of a seven-year long prison sentence for the rape of a 72-year-old woman in the Algarve in 2005, which he still denies. Brueckner was arrested in Italy in 2018, but is due to be released from prison in Germany this September.
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Meanwhile, a chilling search map shows the 13-minute drive between the Praia da Luz hotel where Madeline was staying and the cottage. Search teams are scouring more than 20 plots of land east of Praia da Luz, between the Ocean Club holiday resort where Madeleine vanished and the cottage where German authorities’ prime suspect Christian Breuckner lived.
During yesterday’s search, investigators were spotted walking away from one of the search areas with a box – which was taken to a tent in their operations centre. Local newspaper Correio da Manha said the material had been collected from one of the abandoned buildings being searched, just a few miles from Praia da Luz.
German police were seen using a JCB digger at a large derelict farmhouse – where prime suspect Christian Brueckner used to live yesterday. This was paired with officers using ground-penetrating radar around the property and on the ground floor of the building.
An anonymous Portuguese police source said they have “low expectations” about this search. Despite this, they added that they have been given “orders” and are “not going to stand in the way”.
The source told The Sun: “The information that’s being put out in the public arena is that they’ll last five days with the preparation work and clean-up afterwards and we’ve been told to expect three days of full work on the ground. But on the Portuguese side at least there’s wishful thinking this could all be done in one day.
“We would love to be proved wrong and see a significant discovery because it’s what we’ve all been working towards for so many years. But the area that’s going to be turned upside down this week has already been searched by Portuguese officers.”
Portuguese detectives at the search scene have said they are not planning on returning to the site tomorrow.