Madeleine McCann search in Portugal over, items collected for testing: police

Portuguese, German and British authorities have ceased their search for items relating to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann – a British girl who went missing as a toddler from Praia da Luz, Portugal, 16 years ago.

Madeleine was abducted from a ground-floor apartment while on a family vacation in Praia da Luz on May 3, 2007, when she was three years old.

Portugal’s Judicial Police said in a Thursday evening statement that a search request from German authorities has been completed and “resulted in the collection of some material that will be subject to” analysis, according to a translation.

Items collected during the search will be transported to German authorities for testing in accordance with international rules, Portuguese police said.

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German prosecutor Christian Wolters told broadcast station NDR earlier this week that authorities “have indications that we could find evidence” near a dam in Portugal’s Algarve region. 

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On Monday, police were seen conducting a search near the Arade dam, about 31 miles from Praia da Luz.

“The only thing that I would clarify is that it doesn’t come from the suspect,” Wolters said of the search for evidence. “So, we don’t have a confession or anything similar now, or an indication from the suspect of where it would make sense to search. . . . It was other indications that prompted us to conduct this search.”

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In 2020, German authorities named Christian Brueckner, 45, as a suspect in Madeleine’s disappearance. Brueckner continues to deny his involvement in the case.

Brueckner spent many years in Portugal, including in Praia da Luz, around the time of Madeleine’s disappearance.

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He was charged in 2022 for sex crimes against children that German authorities allege he committed in Portugal between 2000 and 2017, and he is currently serving time for the rape of a woman in 2005.

Madeleine was born in May 2003 and would be turning 20 years old this month.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.