Madeleine McCann RECAP: Fresh search for missing tot ends after just three days

The search for missing toddler Madeleine McCann has officially ended after its third day near where she disappeared in Praia da Luz in 2007. It was expected to be called off today if German

and Portuguese police failed to find any evidence relating to her disappearance 18 years ago.

This morning, search teams were spotted using a JCB digger to clear rubble from the remains of a derelict building at the far eastern end of the 50-hectare site between Praia da Luz and

Lagos. Yesterday, the operation moved away from disused farm buildings close to where prime suspect Christian Brueckner used to live when the three-year-old vanished on May 3 2007.

It comes after Brueckner gave a face-to-face interview with the German network RTL from prison.

For three days we stood on a windswept headland, desperate for any sign of a development in the long-running Madeleine McCann mystery.

German officers armed with pick-axes, shovels, hi-tech radar and chainsaws painstakingly searched for clues that could solve the case. We saw them carrying away boxes of soil, a children’s

car seat and white bags filled with unknown contents. And then it all came to an end.

As quickly as the German and Portuguese search teams arrived, they were gone, after cordial handshakes and a round of applause. German detectives handed a crate of beer to Policia Judiciaria

officers as a thank you - but there appeared little to celebrate.

As with previous searches, we now wait and see what they found. But it’s very apparent they didn’t find the one thing they were hoping to discover - Madeleine’s body.

German police, who requested the latest search in Portugal, have reportedly found nothing of consequence to take back for analysis.

Reports in Portugal have suggested just animal bones and adult clothing were brought up in the three-day search.

German and Portuguese police came together as the renewed search was called off.

Officers stood around for a debrief before they embraced each other and broke out into a round of applause. Despite this, it is believed investigators found no trace or evidence of the

missing girl during their three-day operation.

The search appears to have ended this evening as Portuguese and German police officers were seen stood in a circle to debrief after a third day of searching. The debrief ended with a round

of applause as the two teams shook hands, with a crate of beer having been brought out for the debrief.

German police have found "no traces" of missing Madeleine McCann during their renewd search, CNN Portugal reported earlier today.

Investigators reportedly found animal bones and adult clothes, but German cops are yet to comment on these reports.

Searches are continuing this afternoon. Two minibuses with German number plates have arrived on the scene. Portuguese police have also been seen ordering a BBC TV crew off the site after

they filmed inside a ruined house without permission.

A former neighbour of suspect Christian Brueckner, who lived close to the search area when Madeleine McCann vanished in 2007, said locals were exhausted by the renewed search.

Asked about her thoughts on the latest operation, the neighbour told the Times: "It’s a pile of rubbish, we are all so exhausted, it just goes on and on. It beggars belief."

Dozens of Portuguese and German police officers continue to scour a grassy area near Praia da Luz, Portugal - but the search is likely to come to a close later this afternoon if no

significant disovery is made.

Any samples taken away during this week's search will need to be sent for analysis back in Germany. It will likely take weeks for the results to come back.

Police have been pictured over the last few days carrying away bags of earth and a box of materials found on the scrubland near Praia da Luz.

According to Portuguese TV reports, search teams discovered animal bones and pieces of cloth at the site

Police are likely to be searching for a body, or for any sign that Madeleine McCann was taken to the vast scrubland after she was abducted from a nearby holiday resort in 2007.

The toddler vanished while on a trip to Praia da Luz with family. Her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, were eating at a nearby restaurant around 100 yards from the accommodation where

Madeleine, then aged 3, was sleeping with her toddler twin siblings. When Kate returned to check on the kids, Madeleine was gone.

Officers are believed to be focusing on two more derelict buildings using high-tech ground penetrating radar equipment.

Sources close to the police search say that the operation could wrap up as early as 4pm today, The Sun reports.

German and Portuguese police are desperately searching an area close to where Madeleine McCann vanished in 2007. Portuguese detectives at the search scene have said they are not planning on

returning to the site tomorrow.

German and Portuguese investigators are expected to end their search of the scrubland near Praia da Luz today if no significant evidence is found. The operation kicked off on Tuesday, June

3, and was set to last until at least Friday.

Search teams are scouring more than 20 plots of land east of Praia da Luz, between the Ocean Club holiday resort where Madeleine vanished and the cottage where German authorities' prime

suspect Christian Breuckner lived.

Investigators are scouring a 120-acre area for evidence that could link prime suspect Christian Brueckner to Madeleine's disappearance.

He is coming to the end of a seven-year long prison sentence for the rape of a 72-year-old woman in the Algarve in 2005, which he still denies. Brueckner was arrested in Italy in 2018, but

is due to be released from prison in Germany this September.

Authorities fear that Brueckner could disappear when he walks free from prison if they can't tie him to the toddler's disappearance before then.

The ground-penetrating radar is being used inside a third abandoned farmhouse on the search site.

The equipment can reportedly search up to 15ft beneath the ground.

Around a dozen officers wearing gloves are now carrying out a fingertip search around the perimeter of the large farmhouse which was the centre of attention on the first day.

A former neighbour of suspect Christian Bruckner says the convicted paedophile was a "nasty piece of work".

The resident, who said she would often ride her horse around the search area, said the outbuildings that were scoured by police this week have been abandoned since at least the 80s. Speaking

about her interactions with Brueckner, the neighbour said: "If I was riding past and he'd be standing outside, we'd say hello, you know, how are you. Nothing more. Then we found out he was

a really nasty piece of work."

She added: "It is the first time I've heard of Atalaia being searched. I know the properties because I used go up there all the time with my horse. I know exactly where they are. Whether

he'd been up there or done anything, no clue."

The latest search for Madeleine McCann has seen multiple police officers from Germany and Portugal deploy high-tech equipment across plots of land near Praia da Luz.

The operation is estimated to have cost at least £300,000, according to the Times. The newspaper reports more than 60 officers have so far been involved in the search. On Wednesday, officers

used ground penetrating radar, aerial drones and an excavator to scour the area in hopes to find evidence linking to the toddler's disappearance.

A man who claims he was close to Christian Brueckner says investigators are currently searching the wrong location.

Ken Ralphs told GB News that Brueckner's alleged accomplice "started to cry" one night and confessed "he was going to get involved with Christian to take a child in Praia de Luz". According

to Mr Ralphs, there was a "property and a house" which was being used by the German national before he returned to his homeland.

He believes officers should be focusing on that location, rather than where they're currently searching.

During yesterday's search, investigators were spotted walking away from one of the search areas with a box - which was taken to a tent in their operations centre. Local newspaper Correio da

Manha said the material had been collected from one of the abandoned buildings being searched, just a few miles from Praia da Luz.

The newspaper said the material will be analysed to see if it contains anything relevant to the investigation.

German and Portuguese police are yet to make any official comments about the search.

Portuguese detectives at the search scene say they are not planning on being here tomorrow - suggesting this is the final day of the German-led operation.

Officers are trying to find evidence that could implicate the prime suspect, Christian Brueckner, who is currently in prison for raping a 72-year-old woman in Praia da Luz in 2005. He is due

to be released in September.

This is the house Christian Brueckner was reportedly staying in Monte Judeu, Portugal.

Searches are being carried out close to Praia De Luz, by officers investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, in countryside a few miles from the resort where she was last seen in

2007. The search is being conducted at the request of the German federal police as they look for evidence that could implicate Brueckner, who German prosecutors say is the prime suspect in

Madeleine's disappearance.

A JCB digger can be seen clearing rubble from the remains of a derelict building at the far eastern end of the 50-hectare site between Praia da Luz and Lagos.

A completely separate operation to carry out the controlled demolition of unstable cliffs next to the scene is taking place today, involving fire crews, maritime police and local officials.

The prime suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann has been described by a former neighbour as an "angry" young man who was heard having "arguments with his girlfriend".

Ruth Maclean, a British expat who lived next door to Christian Brueckner in 2007 - just a mile from the latest search area - told The Times: "He was my neighbour, he was German, young, quite

angry. I would hear him having arguments with his girlfriend."

She added: "He raped a lady in the town. I heard about that afterwards, just a ghastly piece of work. But I didn’t know of him being a ghastly piece of work at the time." Slamming the search

effort, Maclean said: "We are all so exhausted. It just goes on and on. It beggars belief."

"I know the properties [being searched] because I ride up there all the time with my horses. There may have been one or two wells in the old days... The fact they are going to dredge them

seems absolutely ludicrous, but who knows."

Searches for Madeleine McCann are due to resume this morning close to where she disappeared from Praia da Luz, Portugal.

German and Portuguese police will have until Friday to find any evidence relating to her disappearance 18 years ago.

German police are searching the site in Praia da Luz after they received a tip-off.

Authorities from the country previously searched around the area in 2023 amid suspicion Christian Brueckner might have been at the site around when Madeleine McCann vanished.

Brueckner has claimed he has no involvement with her disappearance and called the area his "paradise" that he liked to visit.

An eyewitness has said its "clear" search activity in Praia da Luz has moved.

Sky News reporter Dan Whitehead, who is at the site, said: "The focus yesterday for police was on disused farm buildings, close to where the prime suspect Christian B lived.

"It's clear that the activity has moved elsewhere at the moment."

In April this year, ministers approved up to £108,000 in additional funding for Scotland Yard detectives investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

The probe, known as Operation Grange, has totalled more than £13.2m since 2011.