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The Independent UK
The Independent UK
National
Holly Evans

Madeleine McCann news – latest: Prime suspect’s friend claims Scotland Yard ‘ignored crucial information’

Italian Carabinieri

Holes up to 2ft deep were dug up in the reservoir search, in the hope of unearthing clothing fibres, local media reported

Police officers who scoured a reservoir in Portugal in the search for Madeleine McCann have warned against hope as they hit a fresh roadblock in their investigation.

A large section of the Barragem do Arade reservoir was cordoned off in May, about 30 miles from where three-year-old Madeleine went missing in Praia da Luz 16 years ago.

It is believed that the main suspect in the case, convicted sex offender Christian Brueckner, regularly visited the reservoir’s peninsula and had described it as a “little slice of paradise”.

But detectives searching the reservoir have now said there is “no compelling evidence” Madeleine is there.

Holes up to 2ft deep were dug up in the reservoir search, in the hope of unearthing clothing fibres, local media reported.

But despite initial hope, German public prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters told newspaper Bild: “Please don’t expect too much.”

This comes after a former friend of Brueckner, Helge Busching, claimed that the jailed paedophile had told him “she didn’t scream” during a conversation about the missing three-year-old.

He told Bild he revealed the crucial information to Scotland Yard in 2008 but was ignored.

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