Police to search Portuguese reservoir in connection to Madeleine McCann's disappearance

Lisbon/London, May 23

Police in Portugal announced they will begin searches at a reservoir on Tuesday in connection to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, a three-year-old British toddler who went missing in May 2007 while she was on a holiday with her family in Algarve, the media reported on Tuesday.

In a statement, the police said the searches will be conducted at the Arade dam, located some 50 km away from where Madeleine disappeared in Praia da Luz on May 3, 2007, the BBC reported.

The police added that British officers will also help in co-ordinating the searches which will continue until Wednesday.

Last year, Portuguese prosecutors had made 45-year-old German national Christian Brueckner a formal suspect, or an "arguido" in the case.

The search was requested by German police as Brueckner was living near the Praia da Luz resort when the McCann family was on holiday, and spent time in the area between 2000 and 2017.

He is currently in prison in Germany for the rape of a 72-year-old woman in 2005 in the same area where Madeleine went missing.

German state prosecutor in Braunschweig Hans Christian Wolters told the BBC that a short statement of confirmation would be released by the German authorities on Tuesday morning.

Wolters is treating Brueckner as the main suspect, although the latter has never been charged and has denied any involvement.

The state prosecutor told the BBC that a growing amount of evidence had connected Brueckner to the case, including his mobile phone records showing he was in the Praia de Luz area at the time of Madeleine's disappearance.

According to Portuguese television network SIC, an area of the reservoir's peninsula just over a mile long was sealed off by police shortly on Monday in preparation for the search operations.

Police have erected blue tents and closed off roads leading to the man-made dam, while a total of 20 officers have been assigned to the search.

This is not the first time the reservoir has been searched as part of the investigation.

In 2008, Portuguese lawyer Marcos Aragao Correia paid for specialist divers to check the waterway after he claimed to have been tipped off by criminal contacts that Madeleine's body was in the reservoir, reports the BBC.

Earlier this month, Madeleine's parents, Kate and Gerry, held a vigil to mark the 16th anniversary of her disappearance.

They also marked their daughter's 20th birthday in May, vowing to "never give up" on finding their daughter.