LONDON — German police investigating the disappearance of British toddler Madeleine McCann are to carry out fresh searches near the Portuguese holiday resort she was last seen 18 years ago, U.K. police said on Monday.
The 3-year-old disappeared from her bed while on vacation with her family in the Praia da Luz resort, in southern Portugal, on May 3, 2007. She has not been seen since.
The main suspect in the case is Christian Brueckner, who is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence in Germany for raping a 72-year-old woman in Portugal in 2005.
He is under investigation on suspicion of murder in the McCann case but hasn’t been charged. He spent many years in Portugal, including in Praia da Luz, around the time of the child’s disappearance. Brueckner has denied any involvement in her disappearance.
“We are aware of the searches being carried by the BKA (German federal police) in Portugal as part of their investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann,” the Metropolitan Police, in London, said in a statement.
“The Metropolitan Police Service is not present at the search, we will support our international colleagues where necessary,” it added, without giving more details.
The McCann case received worldwide interest for several years, with reports of sightings of her stretching as far away as Australia as well as books and television documentaries about her disappearance.
Investigators in the U.K., Portugal and Germany are still piecing together what happened on the night she disappeared. She was in the same room as her brother and sister – 2-year-old twins – while their parents, Kate and Gerry, had dinner with friends at a nearby restaurant.
Madeleine’s family marked the 18th anniversary of her disappearance last month, and expressed their determination to keep searching.
