LONDON – Authorities have announced that police are planning to carry out renewed search operations concerning the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, a British toddler who vanished 18 years ago near a Portuguese holiday spot. Madeleine was last seen in Praia da Luz, a resort town in southern Portugal, where she disappeared from her bed on May 3, 2007, during a family vacation.
This week, detectives are set to conduct “a broad range” of searches in the Lagos area of southern Portugal, following a request from a German public prosecutor, as stated by Portuguese authorities. Media reports have identified the chief suspect in the investigation as Christian Brueckner, a German national currently imprisoned in Germany, serving a seven-year sentence for the 2005 rape of a 72-year-old woman in Portugal.
Though Brueckner is currently under investigation for the suspected murder of Madeleine McCann, no charges have been filed against him. He has rejected any assertions of his involvement in Madeleine’s disappearance despite having spent several years in Portugal, including around the time she went missing.
The prosecutors in Braunschweig, Germany, overseeing the case, have not disclosed the specifics of the “judicial measures” being executed in Portugal, as indicated by Germany’s dpa news agency. They have confirmed that these proceedings are being conducted by Portuguese officials with assistance from Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office.
The UK’s Metropolitan Police acknowledged their awareness of the searches being executed by the BKA, Germany’s federal police, as part of the ongoing investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance. They stated that they will offer support to their international counterparts where needed but are not directly involved in the current search.
The McCann disappearance captivated global attention for many years, leading to numerous reported sightings reaching as far afield as Australia, and inspired several books and documentaries exploring her mysterious vanishing. Investigations by police in the UK, Portugal, and Germany persist in unraveling the events of the night Madeleine disappeared, amid her slumbering younger siblings — twin siblings aged two — while their parents dined with friends at a nearby restaurant.
The most recent police searches in the case, before this new effort, took place in 2023 involving a collaborative operation by detectives from three countries around a dam and reservoir approximately 50 kilometers from Praia da Luz.
Madeleine’s family recently commemorated the 18th anniversary of her disappearance, maintaining a strong resolve to continue their quest for answers and closure.