Authorities investigating the disappearance of British girl Madeleine McCann in 2007 have undertaken new searches in Portugal, the German prosecutor's office in charge of the case said on Tuesday.
These operations "are currently underway in Portugal", according to a press release from the Brunswick prosecutor's office (northern Germany). These are new "researches" carried out with the support of the German judicial police, the prosecution told AFP.
German justice did not give more details on the nature and location of the ongoing research in this case, which is one of the great criminal enigmas of recent years.
The Portuguese police announced Monday evening that new excavations would be carried out "in the coming days, at the request of the German authorities".
According to images from Portuguese television, a perimeter was delimited near a dam located about fifty kilometers from the place where "Maddie" disappeared, shortly before her fourth birthday, while she was staying with her parents in a hotel complex in Praia da Luz, a small seaside resort in the Algarve region (southern Portugal).
A German with a repeat pedophile profile has been the main suspect in the girl's disappearance since 2020.
The investigation stalled for years before this man, who at the time of the events lived a few kilometers from the hotel, drew the attention of the authorities.
The Brunswick public prosecutor's office has since been carrying out its own investigations in conjunction with the Portuguese and German authorities.
Christian B. is currently serving a prison sentence in Germany for the 2005 rape of a 72-year-old American woman in Portugal.
He has also been charged in Germany for five other crimes and sexual offenses committed between 2000 and 2017, still in Portugal.
23/05/2023 12:25:39 -- Berlin (AFP) © 2023 AFP
