Madeleine case: material found in searches will be sent to Germany

This Thursday, the Portuguese authorities ended their searches at the Arade dam, in the south of the country, as part of the resumption of investigations into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, which occurred in 2007. During the work, materials were collected that will be sent to the German authorities.

“The collected material will be handed over to the German authorities, in accordance with the rules of international judicial cooperation”, informed the Judiciary Police of Portugal to the CNN emphasizing that sending this material does not interrupt Portuguese investigations.

The Judiciary Police did not say what these samples were about or whether they might represent a change in the direction of the investigations. the spokesperson ofO Braunschweig Public Prosecutor’s Office in the state of Lower Saxony, Hans Christian wolters, informed to CNN that, depending on the results obtained by the investigation, a press conference should take place next week.

Earlier this week, the police resumed investigations into the case. The main focus is on looking for evidence linking a German suspect to the disappearance of the British girl. On Monday (22), the structure for the work was set up, which began on Tuesday (23) and mobilized heavy equipment and sniffer dogs.

Emergency services brought a remote-controlled tractor-mounted tree cutter to clear what appeared to be a new search area, a few hundred meters from a temporary camp on the banks of the Barragem do Arade by Portuguese police, assisted by German police. from the BKA and England from Scotland Yard.

The German police believe that the Arade Dam can hide clues left by the main suspect, Christian Bruckner. The site had already been the target of a private search in 2008.

the case

Madeleine has been missing since May 3, 2007, when she disappeared from an apartment in the Praia da Luz resort in the Algarve, where she slept with her siblings while her parents had dinner a few meters away. She would turn 4 years old. The dam where the investigations take place is about 50 km from the site.

The case had great worldwide repercussions, mainly due to the huge publicity campaign carried out by the girl’s parents to try to discover her whereabouts. About 600 people were investigated and four were considered suspects but later acquitted.

In September 2007, Portuguese police classified Kate and Gerry McCann, Madeleine’s parents, as suspects in their daughter’s disappearance, after DNA was found in a car the family rented 25 days after reporting her disappearance. They denied all allegations and subsequently the case against them was dropped.

During all these years, there were several news about the whereabouts of Madeleine, both dead and alive, in different countries of the world. None of them, however, proved true. The most recent news on the subject occurred in February of this year, when the German Julia Faustyna, 21 years old, declared herself to be Madeleine McCann. The fact generated strong worldwide repercussions, but the police ruled out the possibility and the young woman’s family expressed themselves through a note, saying that she was always part of their family, and that there are photos and memories that prove it.