Germany Search operation in Maddie case resumed
The new search operation in the case of Madeleine McCann, who has been missing for more than 18 years, is continuing in southern Portugal after being interrupted overnight.
04.06.2025, 12:39
SDA
The newspaper "Correio da Manhã" and the TV station "SIC Notícias" reported that Portuguese and German officials are once again working in the cordoned-off search area of around 50 hectares not far from the Algarve seaside resort of Praia da Luz.
The Portuguese criminal investigation department confirmed the resumption of work when asked by Deutsche Presse-Agentur. However, there has been no official announcement on the progress of the search operation so far.
According to "Correio da Manhã", several abandoned houses as well as water wells and cisterns were inspected on Monday and Tuesday. Some excavations were also carried out. However, nothing relevant was discovered, the usually reliable newspaper assured.
Have new clues led to the new search?
It is not known whether there are any new clues that have led to the new search. The current search area had already been explored by the investigators several times in the past. According to the media, there is only one inhabited house and a few other abandoned ruins in the field area, which is about the size of 70 football pitches. It is located not far from a popular vacation area between the beaches of Praia da Luz and Porto de Mós.
In addition to officials from both countries, divers and firefighters are taking part in the new search operation this week. Ground radars and sniffer dogs are also being used. The media hype on site is once again huge - but not as big as in previous years, according to the Portuguese media.
The first search operation in two years is expected to end on Thursday, as the public prosecutor's office in Braunschweig announced on request. However, it was still not possible to provide any information on the background to the search, which is being carried out by the Portuguese law enforcement authorities with the support of officers from the German Federal Criminal Police Office.
Suspect could be released by early 2026 at the latest
Maddie, as the British girl is known, disappeared without a trace from a vacation resort in Praia da Luz in the Lagos district on May 3, 2007, shortly before her fourth birthday. German investigators suspect that Maddie was abducted and murdered. They suspect the 48-year-old German Christian B., who is currently in a German prison for another case.
The law enforcement agency from the federal state of Lower Saxony is responsible because the suspect's last place of residence in Germany was in the city of Braunschweig in Lower Saxony. The convicted sex offender is currently serving a prison sentence for the rape of a then 72-year-old American woman in Praia da Luz - the place where Madeleine disappeared. There are no charges against him in the Maddie case; the presumption of innocence applies. The man could be released by early 2026 at the latest.
