Madeleine McCann search team finds 'evidence' in abandoned houses

Teams investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann have taken samples of potential evidence from properties near Praia Da Luz in Portugal. German and Portuguese police have been searching abandoned properties near the area where Madeleine went missing 18 years ago.
The search teams were seen using pickaxes, shovels and chainsaws to clear dense vegetation and dig near a derelict building. On Tuesday, fresh searches for Madeleine began in countryside a few miles from Praia da Luz, with firefighters spotted pumping water to drain a well.
Madeleine, then aged three, vanished while on holiday with her family in the Algarve resort, after her parents went out to dinner and left her sleeping in a room with her toddler twin siblings.
READ MORE: Family of missing Brit in Portugal urge locals to check CCTV footage
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About a dozen officers focused on one abandoned building where digging was taking place, while another member of the search team cleared large rocks.
The Daily Express reported that investigation teams have taken samples of potential evidence from properties near Praia Da Luz in Portugal. The search is being carried out at the request of the German investigators, as they look for evidence that could implicate prime suspect Christian Brueckner, who is in prison for raping a 72-year-old woman in Praia da Luz in 2005.
He is due to be released from jail in September if no further charges are brought. For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation, sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here
In October last year, Brueckner was cleared by a German court of unrelated sexual offences, alleged to have taken place in Portugal between 2000 and 2017.
It has been reported that teams will look where trenches were dug near the resort at the time of Madeleine's disappearance, at wells, ruins and water tanks, and that there are plans to examine 21 pieces of land.
The Metropolitan Police said they were aware of the operation but that British officers will not be present.
German investigators and Portuguese officers last carried out searches in 2023, near the Barragem do Arade reservoir, about 30 miles from Praia da Luz. Brueckner, who spent time in the area between 2000 and 2017, had photographs and videos of himself near the reservoir.
It was previously searched in 2008, when Portuguese lawyer Marcos Aragao Correia paid for specialist divers to search it, after he claimed to have been tipped off by criminal contacts that Madeleine's body was there. British police were later given permission to examine scrubland near where she vanished in 2014.
Last month Madeleine's family, who are from Rothley in Leicestershire, marked the 18th anniversary of her disappearance, describing her as "beautiful and unique", before her 22nd birthday, and vowed to continue the search.
A statement from her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, and the family, said: "The years appear to be passing even more quickly and whilst we have no significant news to share, our determination to 'leave no stone unturned' is unwavering. We will do our utmost to achieve this."
In April, ministers approved more than £100,000 in additional funding for Scotland Yard detectives investigating Madeleine's disappearance.
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