Portuguese, English and German authorities on Wednesday continued their search for Madeleine McCann – a British girl who went missing as a toddler from Portugal in 2007 — with search dogs and dive teams.
Madeleine was abducted from a ground-floor apartment while on a family vacation in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on May 3, 2007, when she was 3 years old.
"We have indications that we could find evidence there," German prosecutor Christian Wolters told broadcast station NDR of the search area in Portugal's Algarve region. "I don’t want to say what that is exactly, and I also don’t want to say where these indications come from."
Portugal's Judicial Police confirmed Monday that they would be searching the area near a dam over the next several days "at the request of the German authorities" and with the "presence of British authorities."
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Earlier on Monday, police were seen conducting a search near the Arade dam, about 31 miles from Praia da Luz. Police are expected to provide more information once it becomes available.
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"The only thing that I would clarify is that it doesn’t come from the suspect. 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," Wolters said, adding that "it was other indications that prompted us to conduct this search."
A source familiar with the investigation told Reuters, however, that photos of the Arade dam found at suspect Christian Brueckner's hideout may have prompted the search.
In 2020, German authorities named Brueckner, 45, as a suspect in Madeleine's disappearance. Brueckner continues to deny his involvement in the case.
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Brueckner spent many years in Portugal, including in Praia da Luz, around the time of Madeleine’s disappearance.
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.
