Police divers were seen entering the water early on Tuesday morning at the Barragem do Arade reservoir in Portugal where fresh searches are beginning in the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. A police motor boat has also been sent into the water with two officers on it.
The reservoir is around 50km from Praia da Luz where Madeleine went missing in 2007. In a statement Policia Judiciaria said it is co-ordinating searches in the Algarve at the request of German police and in the presence of British officers.
The prime suspect in her disappearance, convicted sex offender Christian Brueckner, spent time in the area between 2000 and 2017. Investigators believe the 45-year-old killed Madeleine, then aged three, after abducting her from a holiday apartment.
Police divers appeared to be concentrating their search at a particular area of the reservoir. Officers had set up two white tents on the bank of the reservoir.
Earlier speaking on Good Morning Britain, child safety expert Jim Gamble, who played a central role in the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann said Brueckner ‘fits the bill’ and that the German police who are normally ‘cautious and conservative’ are ‘adamant’ they’re on the right track.
A Policia Judiciaria statement said it is co-ordinating searches in the Algarve at the request of German police and in the presence of British officers. An area near the Barragem do Arade reservoir, around 50km from Praia da Luz where Madeleine went missing in 2007, was being sealed off ahead of searches according to Portuguese news website SIC.
Investigators believe the 45-year-old Brueckner killed Madeleine, then aged three, after abducting her from a holiday apartment. Mr Gamble told hosts Richard Madeley and Susanna Reid:”They will follow the evidence and they have something in my opinion, that they haven’t shared. They are too positive in their in their public assertions about death and about this suspect not to have something else. And it’s right that you hold back that information when you’re investigating. So I would like to think if this is a positive line of inquiry linked to Christian Bruckner and that investigation, that if they do find evidence they will be able to help use that to link their suspect to this case.”
