Portuguese police renew search for Madeleine McCann in Algarve

Portuguese police have reopened the search for Madeleine McCann in the Algarve, acting on a German request, as investigators continue to pursue links to suspect Christian Brueckner.

Portuguese police have begun a new search for Madeleine McCann in the Algarve region, nearly two decades after the British child disappeared from a holiday resort in Praia da Luz. The operation, which started on June 2 and will run through June 6, was launched at the request of German authorities, according to Portugal’s Judicial Police (PJ).

In a statement issued on Monday, the PJ confirmed that it is executing a European Investigation Order on behalf of prosecutors in Braunschweig, Germany. The German city’s public prosecutor’s office formally identified German national Christian Brueckner as a suspect in the McCann case in 2022.

The current search is focused on areas between Praia da Luz and a residence where Brueckner reportedly lived at the time of Madeleine’s disappearance in 2007. According to CNN Portugal and German newspaper Bild, investigators are looking for physical evidence, potentially including the child's remains.

All evidence gathered during the search will be handed over to Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), which is working alongside Portuguese authorities. Braunschweig prosecutors told Reuters that “criminal procedural measures” were underway in Portugal but did not provide further comment.

London’s Metropolitan Police said it was aware of the operation but is not participating directly. The force noted that it would continue to “support our international colleagues where necessary.”

In 2020, German investigators stated that they believed Madeleine McCann was dead and named Brueckner—who has a history of child abuse and drug offences—as the primary suspect. He is currently serving a prison sentence in Germany for the 2005 rape of a 72-year-old woman in the same region of the Algarve. Brueckner has denied any involvement in the McCann case and has not been charged in relation to her disappearance.

This is the first major search effort since May 2023, when police combed a remote reservoir inland from the Algarve without finding any significant evidence.