A new search for Madeleine McCann has begun in scrubland and around an abandoned building near where she was last seen in Portugal.
Police are expected to use ground-penetrating radar, according to reports, in a search that will run until the end of the week.
The search for traces of the child’s body will focus on an area between Praia da Luz and one of the houses where Brueckner lived when the three-year-old disappeared 18 years ago.
Madeleine was three years old when she vanished from the holiday resort on May 3, 2007, sparking a Europe-wide police investigation.
German national Christian Brueckner was formally identified as an official suspect in the toddler’s disappearance in 2022.
Brueckner has denied any involvement and has not been charged with any crime related to the case.
About 30 German police and forensic experts will reportedly take part in the search, alongside Portuguese police.
The last search for Madeleine was carried out in May 2023, when police searched an inland reservoir in the Algarve.
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Key Points
- Ground penetrating radar being used following ‘tip off’, reports claim
- Search focused on scrubland and abandoned house
- New search launched 18 years after disappearance
- Met Police say they are aware of new search
- Last search took place in 2023 in remote dam
Police search abandoned farmhouse
11:11
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Rachel Clun
German police have been searching an abandoned farmhouse in their renewed search for Madeleine McCann.
Photos show officers searching around an abandoned building, and the Mirror reports that officers could be seen digging inside the derelict building.
Suspect in Madeleine’s disappearance complains of prison attack in interview
10:55
,
Rachel Clun
The prime suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann has complained about being attacked by fellow prisoners and spoken about the meal he is looking forward to on his release from prison.
Christian Brueckner spoke in an interview with Germany’s RTL, but declined to talk about the McCann case. He was named a prime suspect by German police in 2020, but has previously denied any involvement.
Brueckner is serving a seven-year sentence for the rape of a 72-year-old woman in Praia da Luz in 2005. He is due to be released from prison in September.
In the interview, Brueckner said a fellow inmate attacked him and broke a rib.
He told RTL he would go into hiding after his release, because of the publicity around him. He is also looking forward to having a beer and a steak once freed.
Search focused on scrubland and abandoned house
10:39
,
Rachel Clun
Photographs from the site of a renewed search for the body of Madeleine McCann show the area is covered by dense scrub.
The BBC reports the search is centred around what appears to be an abandoned cottage.
Where are police searching?
10:20
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Rachel Clun, PA
German police are focusing the search today around the Atalaia area, where Christian Brueckner was staying when Madeleine disappeared in 2007.
The Sun has reported search teams are expected to use radar equipment that can scan beneath the ground.
It has been reported that investigators will look at 21 pieces of land including trenches that were dug near the resort around the time of Madeleine’s disappearance, as well as wells, ruins, and water tanks.
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.
Brueckner has denied any involvement in Madeleine’s disappearance.
The renewed searches for Madeleine McCann are beginning in Portugal
10:04
,
Rachel Clun
Police from Germany and Portugal have gathered in the countryside a few miles from the Praia da Luz resort where she was last seen 18 years ago.
Madeleine, then aged three, disappeared while on holiday with her family after her parents went out to dinner nearby, and left her sleeping in a room with her toddler twin siblings.
Police vehicles were seen around 3.5 miles from the resort on Tuesday, in the Atalaia area.
Four vans carrying German officers were seen driving down a road leading to the sea, the BBC reported, alongside Portuguese police and a fire engine.
When have other searches been conducted for clues about Madeleine McCann?
09:49
,
Rachel Clun
There have been multiple searches for answers and clues in the 18 years since Madeleine McCann disappeared on May 3, 2007, including a lengthy initial investigation from Portuguese police.
Here are the key searches that have happened since then.
2008: Portuguese lawyer Marcos Aragao Correia paid for specialist divers to search the Barragem do Arade reservoir after he claimed to have been tipped off by criminal contacts that Madeleine’s body was there.
2014: Sniffer dogs and specialist teams are used to search an area of scrubland close to where Madeleine went missing.
2023: In late May, Portuguese police seal off an area near the Barragem do Arade reservoir, about 30 miles from Praia da Luz, and the next day police divers began searching the water.
Meanwhile, teams of officers with sniffer dogs, rakes and metal poles searched the banks of the reservoir.
A brief timeline of events since Madeleine's disappearance
09:34
,
Rachel Clun
May 3, 2007: Madeleine’s parents Kate and Gerry McCann discover their three-year-old daughter is missing from the bedroom of their holiday apartment in Praia da Luz. They had been dining with friends nearby.
September 9, 2007: The McCanns fly back to England with their two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie. Investigators have acknowledged Madeleine could be dead.
July 21, 2008: Portuguese authorities shelve their investigation.
April 25, 2012: Scotland Yard detectives say they believe Madeleine could still be alive and release an age-progression picture.
July 4, 2013: Scotland Yard confirms it has launched its own investigation.
June 3, 2020: German police reveal a 43-year-old German prisoner, later named as Christian Brueckner, has been identified as a suspect in Madeleine’s disappearance.
April 21, 2022: Brueckner is made a formal suspect by Portuguese authorities. Brueckner has maintained he had no involvement in the case.
May 3, 2025: Madeleine’s parents mark 18 years since her disappearance.
In pictures: Police arrive in renewed search for clues to Madeleine McCann's disappearance
09:14
,
Rachel Clun
Police vans with German license plates arrive at a blocked road in Atalaia, Portugal, as police from Germany and Portugal resume a search for the body of Madeleine McCann or other forensic clues.
Renewed search for clues will last until Friday
08:58
,
Rachel Clun, PA
The renewed search for clues about the disappearance of Madeleine McCann will last until Friday.
Portuguese law enforcement said the searches, led by a team of German police and forensics experts, will be carried out between June 2 and 6 in the municipality of Lagos, in accordance with a European investigation order.
Any evidence seized by the Policia Judiciaria will be passed to the German federal police.
A Portuguese police source told the Daily Mail they had low expectations about the search, but they would “love to be proved wrong” as they had worked for years to find answers.
They last carried out searches in the country in 2023 near the Barragem do Arade reservoir, about 30 miles from Praia da Luz.
It had also previously been 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.
In pictures: Police prepare to begin the new search
08:44
,
Rachel Clun
Police have set up a cordon on a dirt road in Atalaia, Portugal, as around 30 German police officers and forensic experts begin a new search for Madeleine McCann.
Portuguese police are also assisting, and have closed the roads and set up tents near a cottage once lived in by Christian Brueckner.
German prosecutors have said Brueckner is the prime suspect in Madeleine’s disappearance, however he has denied any involvement.
Suspect Christian Brueckner is months from release from prison
08:30
,
Amy-Clare Martin
German national Christian Brueckner, 47, is being investigated over the disappearance and murder of Madeleine McCann, although he denies any involvement.
Despite investigators first linking him to her disappearance in 2020, he has never been charged.
He is due to be released from German prison as early as September as his seven-year term for the rape of a 72-year-old American woman in Portugal in 2005 comes to an end.
He was acquitted over separate rape and sexual abuse charges at a court Braunschweig last October.
Prosecutors had argued he should serve a 15-year sentence and preventative detention over those alleged offences in Portugal between 2000 and 2017. However, a judge ruled there was insufficient evidence in the case.
Watch: Police set to launch new search in Portugal’s Praia De Luz for Madeleine McCann
08:15
,
Rachel Clun
Ground penetrating radar being used following ‘tip off’, reports claim
07:58
,
Amy-Clare Martin
Around 30 agents from Germany’s federal criminal police force, the BKA, are said to have descended on Praia da Luz to carry out the searches after receiving a tip-off.
Teams will use ground penetrating radar to scour trenches and scrubland between the Ocean Club resort where the three-year-old Madeleine vanished and a cottage previously used by Christian Brueckner in nearby Atalaia, according to reports.
An investigation source told The Sun: “German cops know it is now or never so they need to push ahead with every credible tip they have.
“Following Brueckner’s trial last year someone contacted them with theories on where anyone who took Madeleine might have dumped her, or her clothes.
“They told cops about trenches that were dug in Praia at the time Madeleine disappeared — and the house where Brueckner had lived on the edge of the village.
“Of course, all these places have been searched over and over again — but now they have a new weapon in their ground-scanning radar.
“It means they don’t need to dig for the sake of it. But as soon as they spot anything of interest they are ready to excavate and check it.
“With time running out they are praying they get a breakthrough.”
Mapped: Where new search for Madeleine McCann will be
07:00
,
Tara Cobham
Recap: McCann family pay tribute to Madeleine on 18th anniversary of her disappearance
06:30
,
Tara Cobham
Madeleine McCann’s family has marked the 18th anniversary of her disappearance by remembering her as a “very beautiful and unique person”.
Madeleine was three when she vanished while on a family holiday in Praia da Luz, Portugal, in 2007.
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.”
Read more here:
Where are Madeleine McCann’s family now?
06:00
,
Tara Cobham
Gerry and Kate McCann have refused to give up hope for their missing daughter.
Here’s a look at the McCann family, whose lives have been defined by the mystery.
Watch: Madeleine McCann’s father Gerry describes moment he realised daughter was missing
05:30
,
Tara Cobham
‘Gerry McCann broke the secrecy code and told me what really happened’
05:00
,
Tara Cobham
The assertion that 47-year-old Christian Brueckner could be the prime suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann looked a little thinner when he was acquitted in October on five unrelated sexual offences – two of which involved children – following a trial that began in February 2024.
Despite the huge amount of interest around Christian Brueckner’s past, the verdicts were no great surprise. They had been anticipated since last July when the presiding Judge, Uta Inse Engemann, in the German regional court of Braunschweig had ruled that there was “no longer sufficient evidence of guilt for all of the charges”.
Brueckner, a German national, remains in jail, serving the final months of a seven-year sentence for the rape of a 72-year-old American woman in 2005 at the Ocean Club resort in Praia da Luz — the same hotel where Madeleine went missing two years later. But as he seeks early release from the 2019 sentence, police in Germany are hurrying to charge the prime suspect in the disappearance of the British toddler before he walks free from prison.
David James Smith reports:
‘No plans’ to charge suspect in Madeleine McCann case, prosecutors say
04:30
,
Tara Cobham
German prosecutors have “no plans” to charge a man they suspect was involved in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann despite his potential release from prison.
Christian Brueckner has been serving a seven-year sentence for the 2005 rape of a woman in Portugal’s Algarve region, in the area where Madeleine went missing.
In 2020 it emerged that German prosecutors were investigating Brueckner in connection to Madeleine’s disappearance, and he was officially named as a suspect in 2022.
Rachel Clun reports:
Watch: Madeleine McCann campaign shares video on missing girl’s 20th birthday
04:00
,
Tara Cobham
Madeleine McCann detectives launch fresh search in Portugal
03:30
,
Tara Cobham
German police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann are set to conduct fresh searches in Portugal this week.
Madeleine, then aged three, disappeared in 2007 while on holiday with her family in the resort of Praia da Luz after her parents went out to dinner and left her sleeping in a room with her toddler twin siblings.
According to The Sun, the searches will take place this week near where she was last seen.
Read the full story here:
Watch: Divers filmed searching reservoir for Madeleine McCann two years ago
03:00
,
Tara Cobham
When did Madeleine disappear and from where
02:30
,
Tara Cobham
Madeleine McCann, then aged three, disappeared on 3 May 2007 while on holiday with her family.
They were staying in the resort of Praia da Luz in Portugal.
The girl went missing after her parents went out to dinner and left her sleeping in a room with her toddler twin siblings.
Timeline of Madeleine McCann’s disappearance
02:00
,
Tara Cobham
Madeleine McCann, a three-year-old girl from Rothley, Leicestershire, was reported missing from the Portuguese holiday resort of Praia da Luz on the Algarve on 3 May 2007, a case still unsolved and still the subject of intense interest among the public and press.
Here is a reminder of the events of the case:
Watch: Sniffer dogs and pickaxes used to scour reservoir
01:30
,
Tara Cobham
In pictures: The last search for Madeleine McCann at a reservoir in Portugal
01:00
,
Tara Cobham
When will the fresh searches for Madeleine take place
Tuesday 3 June 2025 00:30
,
Tara Cobham
Portuguese police said that searches will be carried out between Monday and Friday this week in the municipality of Lagos, in accordance with a European investigation order.
Any evidence seized by the Policia Judiciaria will be passed to the German federal police.
Mapped: Where police will begin new major search for Madeleine McCann
Tuesday 3 June 2025 00:00
,
Tara Cobham
German police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann are launching a major new search in Portugal.
Madeleine disappeared in 2007 while on holiday with her family in the resort of Praia da Luz after her parents went out for dinner and left her sleeping in a room with her toddler twin siblings.
Portuguese police said that searches will be carried out between Monday and Friday this week in the municipality of Lagos, in accordance with a European investigation order. Any evidence seized by the Policia Judiciaria will be passed to the German federal police.
Here, The Independent maps out the new search:
When were the last searches in Portugal
Monday 2 June 2025 23:30
,
Tara Cobham
Police last carried out searches in Portugal in 2023.
They scoured the area near the Barragem do Arade reservoir, about 30 miles from Praia da Luz, where the McCann family were staying.
Family vowed to keep searching for 'beautiful' Madeleine on 18th anniversary of disappearance
Monday 2 June 2025 23:00
,
Tara Cobham
Last month Madeleine’s family marked the 18th anniversary of her disappearance, describing her as “beautiful and unique” before her 22nd birthday, and expressing their determination to keep searching.
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 pictures: The holiday resort from where Madeleine went missing
Monday 2 June 2025 22:30
,
Tara Cobham
What Met Police have said about fresh searches
Monday 2 June 2025 22:10
,
Tara Cobham
A spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Police said: “We are aware of the searches being carried by the BKA (German federal police) in Portugal as part of their investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.
“The Metropolitan Police Service is not present at the search, we will support our international colleagues where necessary.”
Watch: Madeleine McCann’s father Gerry describes moment he realised daughter was missing
Monday 2 June 2025 21:36
,
Tara Cobham
Police in UK investigating case received more than £100,000 this year
Monday 2 June 2025 21:00
,
Tara Cobham
More than £100,000 was approved in additional funding for Scotland Yard detectives investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann this year.
Home Office sources said in April that a request to provide up to £108,000 was approved for the probe, known as Operation Grange, for 2025-26.
It is understood one detective chief inspector, one detective constable and one member of police staff are working on the investigation.
Read more here:
Who is suspect Christian Brueckner?
Monday 2 June 2025 20:16
,
Tara Cobham
Madeleine McCann’s disappearance has puzzled detectives for more than 15 years – bu
