Police search for Madeleine’s body at three wells in Portugal
PORTUGUESE police have searched three isolated wells in their hunt for missing Madeleine McCann’s body.
Investigators reportedly brought in a team of specialist rescue firefighters who included expert divers to examine the water wells in Vila do Bispo on the Algarve.
The searches took place in “rural areas” of Vila do Bispo, a 20-minute drive west of the Praia da Luz resort where the British youngster was last seen on May 3, 2007, Portuguese daily Correio da Manha reported.
More details of the searches emerged yesterday after the revelation by Portuguese state broadcaster RTP hours earlier about the new searches for Madeleine’s body.
Reporter Sandra Felgueiras said they had taken place on Thursday and claimed “fundamental evidence” had been found linking new chief suspect Christian Brueckner to the youngster’s disappearance. About a dozen investigators were on the scene as the searches, using ropes and harnesses, were conducted.
Correio da Manha said they had taken place over recent weeks as part of a number of operations conducted by the Policia Judiciaria which included questioning of witnesses including former neighbours of the German paedophile. It said no evidence Madeleine’s body had been abandoned in the wells had been found.
There has been no official response from Portuguese police to the reports.
The searches are said to have involved officers from Portugal’s GNR force, which
1911 was the first time that Edinburgh’s police officers had called for trained dogs to track down a murder suspect
tends to cover rural areas, as well as PJ investigators and the fire rescue team.
The site of the searches was around 30 minutes’ drive from Praia Da Luz, the resort from where Madeleine went missing in 2007.
The three wells are located together on a small, narrow road leading to the Boca Do Rio beach close to the town of Budens.
It is understood that the beach, which is less than 20 minutes’ walk, from the wells, was well known to the main suspect and was where he regularly parked his VW camper van which was seen in recent pictures.
Plumber Jose Barata told Sky News that he saw the specialist teams surrounding the wells but did not know if they found anything. Last weekend it emerged Brueckner had been arrested in the Algarve in 2017 for allegedly exposing himself to children in a playground a short drive from Praia da Luz when he was on the run from German authorities.
He was never charged over the incident in Sao Bartolomeu de Messines and the investigation was mothballed following his extradition after it was discovered he was wanted for child sex abuse and possession of child pornography.
Brueckner, who denies being involved in Madeleine’s disappearance, is in prison in Germany on drugs charges.
He is appealing a rape conviction late last year for the rape of an American pensioner in Praia da Luz in September 2005 following a break-in.
An appeal hearing is due to take place next week.
German prosecutors say they have evidence the British youngster is dead and are conducting their case as a murder inquiry. British authorities say their Maddie probe is a missing persons’ inquiry.
Vila do Bispo is the name of a small town and a municipality around 10 miles west of Praia da Luz, encompassing an area of around 70 square miles.