Investigators are continuing to explore scrubland and abandoned buildings on the second day of the latest hunt for Madeleine McCann, with investigators bringing in an excavator as they search for evidence.
Teams of German and Portuguese officers, as well as firefighters, encounter the daunting task of hunting for clues 18 years on from the disappearance of the British three-year-old in 2007.
This week’s operation is concentrating on a sparsely developed area of land about 3.5 miles from Praia da Luz, where Madeleine was last seen while on holiday with her parents and siblings.
Madeleine disappeared after she was left sleeping in a room with her toddler twin brother and sister while her parents went for dinner with friends in a nearby restaurant.
Parents Kate and Gerry McCann are not commenting during the ‘active police investigation’, staff at the Find Madeleine Campaign said.
The place where they are working is an area of fields and scrubland between a main road and the sea, with a few derelict buildings including a vineyard.
While wearing safety gear including face masks and hard helmets, the police were observed on Wednesday removing plants from around abandoned structures and moving rubble with a digger.
It has been said that teams will examine where trenches were excavated 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.
Ground penetrating radar equipment arrived in vans from Germany on Wednesday and it is anticipated to be deployed this afternoon as the search around the area continues.
Sources said the equipment would not be used to ‘find a body’ but rather to see if the ground has been disturbed and any evidence buried.
Before this, police were observed sorting earth into plastic boxes and bins using pickaxes, shovels, and spades before bringing it to a blue tent for more analysis.
The investigation is being carried out at the request of the German federal police, as they look for proof that could implicate prime suspect Christian Brueckner, who is in jail for raping a 72-year-old woman in Praia da Luz in 2005.
If no charges are made against him, he is scheduled to be freed from prison in September.
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 said to be taking part in the search alongside Portuguese officers.
Unless something significant comes to light, the operation is anticipated to continue until Friday.
The Metropolitan Police said they were aware of the operation but that British officers would not be present.
In Portugal, this is the first search in almost two years.
It is not clear if detectives are now acting on a new tip-off about where Madeleine’s body could be.
German investigators and Portuguese officers last carried out searches in 2023, near the Barragem do Arade reservoir, approximately 30 miles from Praia da Luz.
They were the first major searches in Portugal for Madeleine McCann in nine years following an earlier June 2014 operation when British police were allowed to carry out digs in Praia da Luz that involved sniffer dogs trained in detecting bodies and ground-penetrating radar.
Those digs were linked to the leading UK police theory at the time Madeleine died during a break-in and burglars hid her body nearby.
Additionally, they were unable to present any proof that would have indicated the whereabouts of the missing child.
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 connections that Madeleine’s body was there.
Brueckner, who spent time in the area between 2000 and 2017, had photos and videos of himself near the reservoir.
The 48-year-old convicted paedophile faces having his hopes of being freed from prison in September scuppered after reportedly being accused of new crimes against prison guards behind bars.
He is under investigation on suspicion of abduction and murder in the McCann case but has denied any involvement in the girl’s 2007 disappearance.
Although the convicted paedophile was named as a suspect in the case by German authorities, he has not been prosecuted.
Brueckner’s jail term is set to end with his release this September – much earlier than prosecutors had hoped for after he was acquitted of unrelated sexual offences in court last October following a trial.
As the convicted rapist approaches the conclusion of his term, he is no longer being kept in solitary confinement.
It seems likely that Madeleine will never be located—not alive, anyway—if she is not located during this inquiry.
The amount of time it takes for authorities to locate a missing child is not certain. However, according to statistics, a significant portion of children are discovered in the first few days.
Madeleine’s parents naturally want closure and to be able to bury their daughter.
I do feel for the family, but during this time other children have gone missing, and there should be more emphasis on them.
It is hoped that the police will discover proof that will implicate wicked Brueckner.
The fact is that this would never have occurred if the parents had not left the children on their own, and why were they not charged with neglect?
The parents made a horrible mistake and their hearts must be breaking. Eighteen years of this, being raked up and they have to relive what occurred time and time again, but it is the parent’s fault, although I don’t believe they did it, but they should have been held accountable.
During their initial interview, there was no emotion. It resonates with me that other parents would have been heartbroken and in tears.
Personally, the case of Madeleine’s disappearance will never be solved, too much time has elapsed.
THE MONTHLY MOSQUITO 