Police in Portugal will continue on Tuesday the search for Madeleine McCann, the British child who disappeared in 2007.
The search operation is set to begin in the remote reservoir of Arade, in the southern Algarve region, about 50 kilometers (30 miles) inland from a beach resort where the 3-year-old girl disappeared from a rented apartment. while on a holiday with his family.
Local television footage showed police tents being set up while the area around the dam was cordoned off.
Reports say authorities also combed the area in 2008 but divers only found the remains of the animal.
Why is the new search being made?
According to the news agency Reuters, the new search was carried out at the behest of the German authorities, who last year formally identified a German man, Christian B., as an official suspect in the disappearance of McCann.
He is under investigation on suspicion of murder but has not been charged.
In June 2020, German prosecutors said they had “concrete evidence” that he killed the British woman.
The 45-year-old was in the Algarve in 2007 but has denied any involvement.
Last October, the suspect was indicted by prosecutors in the German city of Braunschweig in several different cases involving sexual offenses allegedly committed in Portugal between 2000 and 2017.
What are the circumstances of Madeleine McCann’s disappearance?
On May 3, 2007, McCann disappeared from her bed at the tourist resort of Praia da Luz.
The boy was in the same room as his 2-year-old twin brother while his parents were eating with friends at a nearby tapas bar.
British, Portuguese and German police have since tried to piece together what happened.
McCann’s disappearance has drawn worldwide attention amid public claims that he has been spotted stretching as far as Australia.
There are also many books and television documentaries about the case.
dvv/rt (AFP, AP, Reuters)
