Portugal Colonial - New police search begins in hunt for missing Madeleine McCann

Madeleine, aged three, disappeared from an apartment in Praia da Luz in southern Portugal, sparking an international campaign to find her and unprecedented media coverage.

A previous search of a lake near the resort two years ago yielded no results, but on Tuesday investigators were back in a part of nearby Lagos to hunt for clues.

Several police vehicles were seen driving down a dirt road and a Portuguese police spokeswoman confirmed that the search had begun, with about 25 German investigators present.

The new searches are expected to continue until Friday and are being conducted at the request of German authorities investigating Christian Brueckner, a convicted rapist who is suspected of having killed Madeleine.

According to the British tabloid The Sun, investigators are equipped with ground radar technology that can scan the ground down to 4.5 metres (15 feet) in depth.

The area includes a cottage where Brueckner was living near the Ocean Club resort and undergrowth. The area is dotted with wells and ditches, it added.

Portuguese police refused to comment on the report when contacted by AFP.

A mobile phone registered in Brueckner's name was traced close to the family's accommodation on the night Madeleine went missing.

- Determined -

Brueckner, 48, is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence in Germany for the rape in 2005 of a 72-year-old American woman in Praia da Luz. His sentence is due to end in September.

He was acquitted in October 2024 in Germany at trial for two sexual assaults and three rapes committed in Portugal between 2000 and 2017.

The German authorities in 2020 said they were convinced of Brueckner's involvement in Madeleine's disappearance, which gained worldwide publicity and has seen several false leads.

He has not been charged in connection with the McCann case.

Brueckner, who according to German media had a string of previous convictions, including for sexual offences, assault and theft, worked as an odd-job man during his 10 years in the Algarve, but also burgled hotel rooms and holiday apartments.

At the time of Madeleine's disappearance he was living in a camper van.

A former neighbour in Portugal told Sky News television in 2020 that he was "always a bit angry, driving fast up and down the lane, and then one day, around 2006, he just disappeared without a word".

He returned to Germany in 2007 -- the year Madeleine disappeared -- settling in Hanover, but still spent time in Portugal.

On the 18th anniversary of their daughter's disappearance on May 3 this year, Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry McCann said they were still determined to find out what happened.

"We will do our utmost to achieve this."

Nogueira--PC