The search for Madeleine McCann is over, say Portuguese police

Portuguese authorities confirmed on Thursday evening that the search for Madeleine McCann, a British girl who was 3 years old when she disappeared from her family’s holiday apartment in the Algarve in 2007, has ended.

The search for Arade Dam Reservoir and Surrounding Areas in Southern Portugal”resulted in collecting some material”, which will be expertly analyzed, the Portuguese police said in a statement, but there were no indications that anything conclusive had been found. The search was prompted by a request from the German authorities.

Madeleine’s case had fascinated and horrified the British public, and soon much of Europe, after she disappeared on May 3, 2007 while on holiday with her family in the Portuguese coastal town of Praia da Luz.

Soon Madeleine’s face was on the front pages of the British tabloid press, her bright blue-green eyes and blonde bob haircut becoming instantly recognizable amid the endless speculation about her whereabouts and who might be responsible for her disappearance.

Divers and police officers with sniffer dogs had searched the reservoir and surrounding areas, about 50 kilometers from Praia da Luz.

Madeleine, who was days short of her 4th birthday, and her siblings, 2-year-old twins, were left asleep in the family’s holiday apartment while their parents, Gerry and Kate McCann, dined with friends at a neighboring restaurant.

Mr. McCann left the diner to check on the kids around 9:00 PM and everything seemed fine. But when his wife showed up an hour later, around 10 p.m., Madeleine was nowhere to be seen.

Rumors spread about her whereabouts and what had happened that night, as the case sparked an international search for a suspect and sent shockwaves across Europe. Madeleine’s parents were later paid hundreds of thousands of dollars in libel damages due to stories that unfoundedly suggested that the couple were responsible for Madeleine’s death.

The initial investigation by the Portuguese police in the vicinity of the holiday apartment was roundly criticized. The search soon spread to the surrounding area, but no trace of Madeleine was found.

In 2012, after London police reviewed the investigation at the behest of Britain’s then Prime Minister David Cameron, British officers said Madeleine might still be alive.

It would be almost 10 years before the focus of the investigation shifted in 2020 to a German man, whose name was not released at the time. Last year, Portuguese police named him as a formal suspect.

The suspect was later identified by the German media as 45-year-old Christian B.. He occasionally lived in Portugal from 1995 to 2007, has a criminal record including convictions for child sexual abuse and is serving a sentence in a German prison for an unrelated sexual crime.

Portuguese police confirmed earlier this week that they were conducting searches in connection with Madeleine’s disappearance in the country’s southern Algarve with international cooperation. The German public prosecutor’s office also confirmed that a criminal investigation into the Madeleine McCann case is ongoing.

Earlier this month, Madeleine’s parents held a vigil in their English Midlands village to mark 16 years since her disappearance, issuing a brief statement noting that their daughter was “still missing” and “still very much missed”. became.

“It’s hard to find the words to express how we feel,” the McCann family statement added before thanking people for their support. “The police investigation continues and we are waiting for a breakthrough.”