Madeleine McCann search latest: Investigators scour abandoned farmhouse near suspect’s home in Portugal

Watch live: Madeleine McCann investigators scour abandoned farmhouse near suspect's home in Portugal

Rachel Clun3 June 2025 11:43

Police cordon off dirt roads in vast search area near the sea

Investigators from Germany and Portugal are searching a vast area covered in scrub and long grass near the sea in the Algarve region of south-east Portugal.

Some officers can be seen searching the scrub, while others have focused on an abandoned farmhouse in the vicinity.

Dirt roads have been cordoned off to prevent anyone other than official investigators accessing the site.

Rachel Clun3 June 2025 11:25

Police search abandoned farmhouse

German police have been searching an abandoned farmhouse in their renewed search for Madeleine McCann.

Photos show officers searching around an abandoned building, and the Mirror reports that officers could be seen digging inside the derelict building.

Rachel Clun3 June 2025 11:11

Suspect in Madeleine’s disappearance complains of prison attack in interview

The prime suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann has complained about being attacked by fellow prisoners and spoken about the meal he is looking forward to on his release from prison.

Christian Brueckner spoke in an interview with Germany’s RTL, but declined to talk about the McCann case. He was named a prime suspect by German police in 2020, but has previously denied any involvement.

Brueckner is serving a seven-year sentence for the rape of a 72-year-old woman in Praia da Luz in 2005. He is due to be released from prison in September.

In the interview, Brueckner said a fellow inmate attacked him and broke a rib.

He told RTL he would go into hiding after his release, because of the publicity around him. He is also looking forward to having a beer and a steak once freed.

Rachel Clun3 June 2025 10:55

Search focused on scrubland and abandoned house

Photographs from the site of a renewed search for the body of Madeleine McCann show the area is covered by dense scrub.

The BBC reports the search is centred around what appears to be an abandoned cottage.

Rachel Clun3 June 2025 10:39

Where are police searching?

German police are focusing the search today around the Atalaia area, where Christian Brueckner was staying when Madeleine disappeared in 2007.

The Sun has reported search teams are expected to use radar equipment that can scan beneath the ground.

It has been reported that investigators will look at 21 pieces of land including trenches that were dug near the resort around the time of Madeleine’s disappearance, as well as wells, ruins, and water tanks.

The search is being carried out at the request of the German federal police 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.

Brueckner has denied any involvement in Madeleine’s disappearance.

Rachel Clun, PA3 June 2025 10:20

The renewed searches for Madeleine McCann are beginning in Portugal

Police from Germany and Portugal have gathered in the countryside a few miles from the Praia da Luz resort where she was last seen 18 years ago.

Madeleine, then aged three, disappeared while on holiday with her family after her parents went out to dinner nearby, and left her sleeping in a room with her toddler twin siblings.

Police vehicles were seen around 3.5 miles from the resort on Tuesday, in the Atalaia area.

Four vans carrying German officers were seen driving down a road leading to the sea, the BBC reported, alongside Portuguese police and a fire engine.

Rachel Clun3 June 2025 10:04

When have other searches been conducted for clues about Madeleine McCann?

There have been multiple searches for answers and clues in the 18 years since Madeleine McCann disappeared on May 3, 2007, including a lengthy initial investigation from Portuguese police.

Here are the key searches that have happened since then.

2008: Portuguese lawyer Marcos Aragao Correia paid for specialist divers to search the Barragem do Arade reservoir after he claimed to have been tipped off by criminal contacts that Madeleine’s body was there.

2014: Sniffer dogs and specialist teams are used to search an area of scrubland close to where Madeleine went missing.

2023: In late May, Portuguese police seal off an area near the Barragem do Arade reservoir, about 30 miles from Praia da Luz, and the next day police divers began searching the water.

Meanwhile, teams of officers with sniffer dogs, rakes and metal poles searched the banks of the reservoir.

Rachel Clun3 June 2025 09:49

A brief timeline of events since Madeleine's disappearance

May 3, 2007: Madeleine’s parents Kate and Gerry McCann discover their three-year-old daughter is missing from the bedroom of their holiday apartment in Praia da Luz. They had been dining with friends nearby.

September 9, 2007: The McCanns fly back to England with their two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie. Investigators have acknowledged Madeleine could be dead.

July 21, 2008: Portuguese authorities shelve their investigation.

April 25, 2012: Scotland Yard detectives say they believe Madeleine could still be alive and release an age-progression picture.

July 4, 2013: Scotland Yard confirms it has launched its own investigation.

June 3, 2020: German police reveal a 43-year-old German prisoner, later named as Christian Brueckner, has been identified as a suspect in Madeleine’s disappearance.

April 21, 2022: Brueckner is made a formal suspect by Portuguese authorities. Brueckner has maintained he had no involvement in the case.

May 3, 2025: Madeleine’s parents mark 18 years since her disappearance.

Rachel Clun3 June 2025 09:34

In pictures: Police arrive in renewed search for clues to Madeleine McCann's disappearance

Police vans with German license plates arrive at a blocked road in Atalaia, Portugal, as police from Germany and Portugal resume a search for the body of Madeleine McCann or other forensic clues.

Rachel Clun3 June 2025 09:14