New search for Madeleine McCann ENDS with dozens of police seen packing up equipment at remote Portuguese site.
The latest search for clues relating to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann has drawn to a close after three days.
More than 20 German police officers ᴀssisted Portugese authorities as they scoured several areas near Praia da Luz – the resort where Madeleine disappeared in May 2007 while on holiday with her family.
The operation took place between Tuesday and Thursday, and was looking for clues as to how the then-three-year-old vanished from the Ocean Club holiday complex in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz.
Officers pack up a tent at the end of the day of searching at one of the base camps close to Praia De Luz, Portugal, where searches are being carried out by officers investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann
But today cops were seen packing up their equipment at the remote site.
German police are adamant convicted rapist and paedophile Christian Brueckner took part in the disappearance of the young Birt, though he has consistently denied this.
The search area is scrubland at Atalaia which is around 3.5 miles from Praia da Luz and just a mile from where the German drifter lived.
It is not currently known whether any useful information was found in the latest search, which came after German authorities received a tip-off.
Locals say the area – which is crisscrossed by footpaths and on a popular coastal walk known as the Fisherman’s Trail – was popular with wild campers, hippies and drifters.
There is evidence of rough sleeping in many of the buildings with empty wine bottles, beer cans and food tins strewn on the floor.
Police investigators search an area during an operation in the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine (or Maddie) McCann at Atalaia, Lagos in Algarve on June 5, 2025
Madeleine McCann (pictured) vanished from the Ocean Club holiday complex in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz in May 2007
German police are adamant convicted rapist and paedophile Christian Brueckner (pictured) did it
Brueckner is thought to have parked his VW camper van close by and used the scrubland as a rat run to get to and from Praia da Luz.
He was sensationally named by German authorities in June 2020 as the man responsible for Madeleine’s abduction and murder, but he has not been charged – and the sands of time are running out.
In three months, he could walk out of jail and that is why detectives are desperately looking for something concrete to link him to her disappearance to go with the circumstantial evidence they have.
His mobile phone places him in the area when then three-year-old Madeleine vanished and his profile as a conceited rapist and paedophile fits the bill.
Plus, a key witness has told authorities Brueckner told him a year after she vanished that ‘Maddie didn’t scream’ when he took her.
Police have spent the last few days clearing away rubble and debris from inside the buildings using a backhoe and piles of dust covered debris have been piled outside.
Once a working was cleared, officers wearing masks to prevent their idenтιтy being revealed went in using spades and pickaxes to level off the ground.
Some were seen carrying away soil in plastic boxes to blue tent that has been set up closeby, and any evidence recovered will be sent back to Germany.
A criminal police investigator searches the area near a ruin as police resumes the search for the body of Madeleine McCann, who went missing in the Portuguese Algarve in May 2007, in Atalaia, Portugal, June 5, 2025
Members of the search teams at one of the base camps close to Praia De Luz, Portugal, where searches are being carried out by officers investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, in countryside a few miles from the resort where she was last seen in 2007
Ground penetrating equipment was brought in for the search and this was used extensively at least two buildings
The roofs of the eerie buildings being searched have all caved in and some have wooden posts holding up exterior walls – meaning search teams have to wear hard hats.
Ground penetrating equipment was brought in for the search and this was used extensively at least two buildings and was expected to be used on the other sites.
There are also several wells on the scrubland and firefighters were drafted in to drain off the water so they can be examined.
Police are hoping that any evidence found at the Praia da Luz site can be used to convict Brueckner, who German authorities are convinced is guilty of hidnapping her.
Brueckner nears the end of a seven-year sentence for raping an elderly American woman in Praia da Luz in 2005 police need to move fast.
His earliest possible release date is September 17 however that is unlikely as he will have to pay 1500 Euro in outstanding fines from a series of motor offences to do so.
But his legal team say he is broke and so a release date of January 6 looks more likely.
He has already admitted he will ‘probably leave the country’ which means police will have a nightmare to bring him back if charged.
Police are hoping that any evidence found at the Praia da Luz site can be used to convict Brueckner
Brueckner is thought to have parked his VW camper van close by and used the scrubland as a rat run to get to and from Praia da Luz
Today, cops were seen packing up their equipment at the remote site
Last October he was cleared of a series of unrelated Sєx attacks that took place in the Algarve between 2000 and 2017.
Two years ago police also searched a dam close by for evidence but after a week-long operation nothing was found.
Brueckner continues to deny any involvement with Madeleine’s disappearance.
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The latest search for clues relating to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann has drawn to a close after three days. More than 20 German police officers ᴀssisted…