Portuguese Judicial Police criminal investigation unit members remove equipment set near the Arade dam in Silves on 25 May, 2023, after the completion of the search operation in the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. Photo: AFP / Filipe Amorim
Several objects have been found during a search of a Portuguese reservoir in connection with the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, German officials say.
But Braunschweig prosecutors say it is too early to confirm whether the items, which are being analysed, are connected to the missing Briton
Portuguese police helped by their German counterparts, searched the Arade reservoir in Portugal last week.
Madeleine disappeared from a holiday complex in the Algarve in May 2007.
Madeleine McCann Photo: AFP
Police say their investigation into 46-year-old German national Christian Brueckner, who has been named as an "arguido" or official suspect, is expected to continue for some time.
Christian Wolters, prosecutor for the city of Braunschweig, said the items found in Portugal would be examined over the coming weeks.
"We thank all officers who participated in the search. The cooperation between the Portuguese police, the British officers and the German federal police was outstanding and very constructive," he said.
Heavy machinery, sniffer dogs and pickaxes were used during the three-day search - which came at the request of German investigators who believe convicted sex offender Brueckner is the prime suspect in her disappearance.
He is currently serving a prison sentence in Germany for the 2005 rape of a woman on the Algarve. Brueckner lived in the region between 1995 and 2007, say police.
The Arade lake is 50km from where Madeleine went missing while on holiday with her family in Praia da Luz.
Portuguese authorities from the Judicial Police criminal investigation unit work during a new search operation amid the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann at the Arade dam, in Silves, near Praia da Luz, on 23 May, 2023. Photo: AFP / Filipe Amorim
Brueckner is thought to have often travelled in his Volkswagen T3 camper van to the reservoir - which is known to have been used as an unofficial camping spot.
The German denies any involvement in Madeleine's disappearance, saying he was "miles away" at the time.
Madeleine was three years old when she vanished from the holiday complex where she had been on holiday with her parents Kate and Gerry McCann on 3 May, 2007.
They left her and her younger twin siblings asleep in their apartment while they went out to dinner with friends.
Last month, the McCann family marked the 16th anniversary of Madeleine's disappearance, saying she is "still very much missed" and they "await a breakthrough".
- BBC