{"id":25367,"date":"2023-05-23T16:31:46","date_gmt":"2023-05-23T20:31:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/?p=25367"},"modified":"2023-05-23T16:33:12","modified_gmt":"2023-05-23T20:33:12","slug":"madeleine-mccann-police-digging-near-reservoir","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldjusticenews.com\/news\/2023\/05\/23\/madeleine-mccann-police-digging-near-reservoir\/","title":{"rendered":"Madeleine McCann: Police digging near reservoir"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Police officers have started digging near a reservoir in Portugal in a long-running investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.<\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The Arade dam is 31 miles (50km) from where the British toddler went missing in Praia da Luz 16 years ago.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The operation is being led by German police looking for evidence to link her disappearance to Christian Brueckner.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The 45-year-old German national was made a formal suspect, or an “arguido”, by Portuguese prosecutors in 2022.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Brueckner is known to have visited the picturesque spot around the time Madeleine, who would now be 20, went missing.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Sniffer dogs were used in a search of the reservoir’s banks, and police officers went out into the water on an inflatable boat.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Uniformed and plain-clothed officers spent a number of hours scouring the scrubland, using pickaxes and inspecting small rocks with rakes and spades.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Emergency services and officials from Portugal, Germany and the UK held briefings near blue police tents erected at the site.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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Speaking to the German regional public broadcaster NDR, German state prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters said the authorities “have grounds to believe that we could find evidence there (in the reservoir)”.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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In a separate statement to German TV channel RTL, Mr Wolters said he could not “give any concrete information” on the clues on which the search operation is based.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“They are not tips that come from the accused… but you can imagine that we don`t start searching somewhere in Portugal on the off chance, but that there must be a good reason for it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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“We do have one, but I ask for your understanding that I cannot disclose it here at the moment for tactical reasons.”<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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\"Firefighters<\/picture><\/span><\/div>
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Specialists are combing through the area located 31 miles (50km) from the apartment where Madeleine went missing (Image: PA Media)<\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
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Around lunchtime, more than 20 officers were digging beside the reservoir. A number of bags have been taken away from the search area, although it is not known what is in them.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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There are reportedly four areas of interest to be searched this week.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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A short statement from the prosecutor’s office in the German city of Braunschweig has confirmed the search but did not say why it was taking place.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The Metropolitan Police said its officers were in Portugal so they can inform Madeleine’s family of any developments.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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The new searches come as the Home Office granted an extra \u00a3110,000 in funding this financial year for the Metropolitan Police to assist with finding Madeleine.<\/p>\n

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It is not the first time the reservoir has been searched as part of the investigation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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In 2008, Portuguese lawyer Marcos Aragao Correia paid specialist divers to check the waterway after an apparent tip-off from criminal contacts that Madeleine’s body was in the water.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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