Madeleine McCann: Police searching reservoir in Portugal

Dozens of officers descend on Arade dam, about 50km from where girl disappeared in 2007

A search begins at Barragem do Arade reservoir, in the Algave, Portugal, as part of the investigation into the disappearance of British child Madeleine McCann. PA

On Tuesday, between 20 and 30 police officers could be seen by the Arade dam, 50km from Praia da Luz resort village, where Madeleine was last seen alive in May 2007. PA

Police officers talk by an operation tent near Barragem do Arade, Portugal, Tuesday May 23, 2023. Portuguese police said they will resume searching for Madeleine McCann, the British toddler who disappeared in the country's Algarve region in 2007, in the next few days. Portugal's Judicial Police released a statement confirming local media reports that they would conduct the search at the request of the German authorities and in the presence of British officials. (AP Photo / Joao Matos)

Media at Barragem do Arade reservoir The child's disappearance led to worldwide interest, but has never been solved. PA

The search was requested by German police and is being carried out with the help of British officials in connection with a formal suspect in the case. PA

A boat heads out on to Barragem do Arade reservoir. AFP

The Barragem do Arade reservoir where Portuguese police are conducting a search in connection with missing child Madeleine McCann. PA

Police investigating the 2007 disappearance of Madeleine McCann have started searching a reservoir in Portugal.

Up to 30 officers could be seen on Tuesday at the Arade dam, about 50km from Praia da Luz, where Madeleine, who was three at the time, was last seen alive.

Police were seen searching the bank beside the dam with the help of a sniffer dog, while officers searched the water on board a fire department boat.

German prosecutors confirmed the search was taking place but said they could not give further details "for tactical, investigative reasons".

A blue tent was cordoned off to the press and the public.

The search was requested by German police and was being carried out with the help of British officials in connection with a formal suspect in the case.

German police are assisting the Portuguese authorities, the German prosecutors said, while London's Metropolitan Police said it also had officers on the ground.

German citizen and convicted sex offender Christian Brueckner, 45, was in the Algarve in 2007. He has denied any involvement.

German prosecutors in Braunschweig on Tuesday said “criminal procedural measures are currently taking place in Portugal as part of the investigation into the Madeleine McCann case”.

They added “the measures are being implemented by way of mutual legal assistance by the Portuguese prosecution authorities with the support of officers from the Federal Criminal Police Office”.

“More detailed information on the background is not being released at this time for investigative tactical reasons,” a statement said.

Portuguese police conduct a search at the reservoir. AFP

Brueckner is serving a seven-year prison sentence in Germany for a rape he committed in Portugal in 2005.

He is under investigation on suspicion of murder in the McCann case but has not been charged. He spent many years in Portugal, including in Praia da Luz, around the time of Madeleine’s disappearance. His yellow-and-white camper van was reportedly spotted near the area where she went missing and he is said to have called the reservoir “his little paradise”.

The Madeleine McCann case – in pictures

Kate and Gerry McCann display a poster of their missing daughter Madeleine at a press conference in June 2007, a month after she disappeared in Praia da Luz, Portugal. All photos: Getty Images

An aerial view of the resort and surrounding area where Madeleine McCann went missing in Praia da Luz.

British tourists look down a well while searching for Madeleine McCann in wasteland in May 2007.

Everton fans hold a banner appealing for the safe return of Madeleine McCann before a Premier League match in May 2007. She was a supporter of the club.

Kate McCann sits on board a private jet owned by Sir Philip Green bound for Rome and an audience with Pope Benedict XVI, at Faro Airport, Portugal in May 2007.

A mother and her children show their support for the missing girl in Rothley, the McCanns' town, in May 2007.

An appeal is displayed on the scoreboard at the FA Cup Final at Wembley Stadium in May 2007.

Kate and Gerry McCann hold an outfit, similar to the one Madeleine was wearing on the day she went missing, at a press conference in June 2007 in Berlin.

Pupils at Bankhead Primary School release yellow balloons for Madeleine McCann in June 2007 in Glasgow, Scotland. About 400 were released, each with a tag attached containing appeal information.

Kate McCann listens to her husband Gerry speak during a press conference in June 2007 in Madrid, Spain.

Gerry and Kate McCann leave a hotel on route to an interview with television crews in August 2007 in Praia da Luz.

Kate and Gerry McCann arrive back in the UK from Faro in September 2007. The McCanns had been made formal suspects in the disappearance of their daughter Madeleine.

Kate and Gerry McCann speak in front of an age-progressed police image of their daughter during a news conference to mark the fifth anniversary of her disappearance, in May 2012 in London.

Luis Mota Carmo (L), head of the Policia Judiciaria in the Algarve, speaks to British Det Chief Insp Andy Redwood as scrubland in in Praia da Luz is searched, in June 2014.

Police search scrubland in June 2014 in Praia da Luz.

British detectives arrive at Faro Police Station in December 2014 in Portugal, to observe questionings by Portuguese police of 11 people as part of the investigation into the disappearance.

Robert Murat and his wife Michaela Walczuch leave Faro's Police Station after being interviewed as witnesses in December 2014 in Faro.

Kate and Gerry McCann are interviewed by the BBC in April 2017.

A police officer erects fencing around an allotment that belonged to Christian Brueckner, who was named as the prime suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, in July 2020 in Hannover, Germany.

Police dig at the allotment in Hannover in July 2020.

Her disappearance stirred worldwide interest for several years, with reports of sightings of the missing girl as far away as Australia, along with a number of books and TV documentaries about the case.

Rewards for finding Madeleine, who would now be 20, reached several million dollars.

British, Portuguese and German police are still piecing together what happened on the night she disappeared from her bed in the southern Portuguese resort on May 3, 2007.

She was in the same room as brother and sister, twins who were two at the time, while her parents had dinner with friends at a nearby restaurant.