crime
Portugal: New search in the Maddie case
Madeleine McCann (Maddie) disappeared without a trace from a Portuguese holiday resort on May 3, 2007, shortly before her fourth birthday. photo
© Luis Forra/LUSA/epa/dpa
Maddie McCann’s mysterious disappearance in southern Portugal is still unsolved after more than 16 years. Now investigators in the area have scheduled a new search. Any other hints?
Surprise in the “Maddie case”: A good 16 years after the mysterious disappearance of the then three-year-old Madeleine McCann in southern Portugal, the investigators want to start a new search. The action had been requested by the German Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA) and will take place “in the next few days” in the Algarve, the Portuguese criminal police said. According to a report by the Portuguese state news agency Lusa, things should start today.
It was not announced whether there was any new information. The public prosecutor’s office in Braunschweig, which is investigating a previously convicted German on suspicion of murder in this case, initially did not want to comment on the dpa request either. But she announced a message for this morning.
Large area already cordoned off
In addition to Portuguese and German officials, British police officers are also said to be taking part in the new search. The Polícia Judiciaria did not give any further details in its brief statement. However, Lusa and other Portuguese media reported, citing the authorities, that the search should begin today at the Arade reservoir and last two to three days.
The news channel SIC Noticias observed that ten investigators from the criminal police and several firefighters had cordoned off a large area on the edge of the Arade reservoir yesterday. A command post was set up in a tent in the area, which is considered a natural paradise, to coordinate the search from there. One can assume that the investigations of the Germans have revealed new clues, the broadcaster suspected.
Every trace is missing
The Arade reservoir is located about 50 kilometers northeast of the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz. There Maddie disappeared from a holiday resort on May 3, 2007, shortly before her fourth birthday. The parents had left Maddie and her two younger siblings at the apartment while they had dinner with friends at a nearby restaurant. Since then there has been no trace of the girl. Investigators suspect that it was kidnapped and murdered. However, a body was never found.
The last known major search operation in this case took place almost three years ago, in the summer of 2020. As in previous operations, practically every stone had been turned. In July of that year, with the help of divers, a search was carried out in three wells in Vila do Bispo that had been shut down for years. Unsuccessful. The pressure to find something that will help investigators is probably even greater after such a long time.