Madeleine McCann updates: Items found in reservoir search, police confirm in major update

German prosecutors said on Thursday authorities had secured some items during a search of a reservoir in Portugal in the 16-year-old hunt for missing British girl Madeleine McCann which would be evaluated in coming days and weeks.

“Whether some of the items actually relate to the Madeleine McCann case cannot yet be confirmed,” the prosecutor’s statement read.

German authorities, who have named a suspect in the case, last week helped Portuguese crews comb the remote area inland from the Algarve coastal resort where McCann – then aged three – went missing from her bedroom during a family holiday in 2007.

A British couple claim to have found a ‘shrine’ to missing Madeleine McCann in an area close to the desolate reservoir in Portugal searched by police earlier this week.

Christian Brueckner was declared a prime suspect in the case of the disappearance of Madeleine by Portuguese police in April 2022.

Already in prison in Germany for the rape and murder of a 72-year-old woman, he has now also been charged with multiple sex offences which are alleged to have taken place between 2000 and 2007.

Police in Germany claim to have “concrete evidence” that the British girl is dead though this has not been proven.

A spokesperson from the Braunschweig prosecutor’s office previously said: “The accused is the same person against whom charges were brought in connection with the disappearance of the then three-year-old British girl Madeleine Beth McCann.

“Specifically, the accused is charged with three offences of aggravated rape and two offences of sexual abuse of children.

“The investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann continues.”

The charges mentioned do not relate to the McCann case. But in May German police claim to have found new evidence linked to Madeleine inside a van belonging to Brueckner.

Christian Brueckner was first named in connection with the disappearance of Madeleine McCann in the summer of 2007 when the then-three-year-old went missing.

His yellow and white VW T3 Westfalia campervan was reportedly identified as having been near to the Praia da Luz resort in Portugal where the young girl went missing on May 3, 2007.

In April 2022, Brueckner was jailed in Germany for the rape and murder of a 72-year-old woman in the same resort – Praia da Luz – as where Madeleine went missing.

Police in Germany, who are treating the case as a murder enquiry, believe Brueckner planned to rob the holiday apartment but “moved on to a sexual motive”.

It is believed he has a total of 17 convictions including burglary as he steals from hotels and holiday let apartments.

Brueckner is a prolific burglar and has been previously convicted for sex crimes against young girls.

He was born in Germany in 1976 and moved to Portugal in his late teens.

It is believed he lived there between 1995 and 2007 working in the food industry.

Brueckner is described as being about 6ft tall, slim and white with short blond hair.

The fresh search at the reservoir – one of six in the Algarve – is the first in Portugal since 2014, and comes as the Metropolitan Police were granted a further £110,000 by the Home Office to fund their search for Madeleine, who would turn 20 this month.

It brings the total amount spent on the search for the Leicestershire-born girl, codenamed Operation Grange, to just shy of £13.1m since 2011, and is significantly less than the more than £300,000 approved by the Home Office the year prior.

While the costs incurred by German and Portuguese authorities are unknown, Lisbon’s then-attorney general Fernando Jose Pinto Monteiro said in 2012 that the search for Madeleine had been the most expensive in the country’s history.

Prosecutor for the city of Braunschweig, Christian Wolters, said the individual items seized as part of searches would be evaluated over the coming days and weeks.

“Whether some of the items actually relate to the Madeleine McCann case cannot yet be confirmed,” the prosecutor’s statement read.

Maryam Zakir-Hussain reports:

A British couple claim to have found a ‘shrine’ to missing Madeleine McCann in an area close to the desolate reservoir in Portugal searched by police earlier this week.

In April 2022, Brueckner was jailed in Germany for the rape and murder of a 72-year-old woman in the same resort – Praia da Luz – as where Madeleine went missing.

Police in Germany, who are treating the case as a murder enquiry, believe Brueckner planned to rob the holiday apartment but “moved on to a sexual motive”.

It is believed he has a total of 17 convictions including burglary as he steals from hotels and holiday let apartments.

Out of respect for their privacy, especially given their ages, Madeleine’s younger siblings have largely been shielded from the glare of the spotlight.

However, Amelie McCann, now 18, did join her parents in remembering her missing sister on the 16th anniversary of her disappearance on 7 May 2023.

Ms McCann reportedly joined in with chants including “Never never give up”, “leave no stone unturned”, “don’t forget about me” and “still missing, still missed”.

Her parents were among the 70-strong crowd in attendance but her brother Sean was not, preferring to remain off stage.

Rob Gladstone, leading prayers at the event, told his audience: “We are here this evening to show our loving concern for Madeleine and for all young children who have been taken away from their families against their will.

“We are also here to encourage one another to keep up hope and pray for a renewal of strength even after this long time.”

Reflecting on the importance of the twins in keeping their family unit together in a 2017 interview with the BBC’s Fiona Bruce, Gerry McCann said the ordeal had forced them to face “a new normality” in living without their daughter.

Kate McCann added: “What people do say is that you don’t realise how strong you are until you have no option.

“And I think that’s very true. Obviously massive events like this cause a lot of reaction, a lot of trauma and upset. But ultimately you have to keep going – and especially when you have got other children involved.

“Some of that is subconscious I think – your mind and body just take over to a certain extent. But if you can’t change something immediately, you have to go with it and do the best that you can.”

The couple also addressed the online abuse they have received, commenting: “I’m sure it is a very small minority of people who spend their time doing it, but it has totally inhibited what we do.

“Personally, we don’t use social media, although we have used it in Madeleine’s campaign.

“But for our twins who are growing up in an era where mobile technology is used all the time, we don’t want them not to be able to use it in the same way that their peers do.”