Madeleine McCann reservoir search: What do we know about Portugal’s Barragem do Arade?

Algarve beauty spot being combed by team of police investigators

Police in Portugal investigating the disappearance of British citizen Madeleine McCann 16 years ago have begun searching a reservoir in the Algarve known to have been frequented by the latest suspect in the case.

Ms McCann, from Rothley, Leicestershire, was just three years old when she went missing from an apartment complex at the Ocean Club holiday resort of Praia da Luz in the municipality of Lagos on 3 May 2007.

Her case remains unsolved and is still the subject of intense public and press interest.

Her parents, doctors Gerry and Kate McCann, continue to campaign for her return and recently posted a poem remembering her on their Find Madeleine website, reminding readers that she is “still missing ... still very much missed”.

They added: “The police investigation continues, and we await a breakthrough. Thank you to everyone for your support – it really helps.”

Despite the best efforts of investigators, the McCann case had lain dormant for several years before it suddenly exploded back into life in June 2020. German media revealed that Christian Brueckner, a prisoner, now aged 45, with a track record of child abuse and drug trafficking, had been identified as a new suspect by the public prosecutor of the German city of Braunschweig.

He was reportedly living in a Volkswagen camper van in the Algarve at the time of Madeleine’s disappearance.

German investigators have classified their probe into his movements as a murder inquiry, saying they are working on the assumption that Madeleine is dead. They reported in July 2021 that they had found an abandoned cellar beneath his former allotment near Hanover where she could, theoretically, have been held captive.

Madeleine McCann (Getty)

Hans Christian Wolters, the prosecutor leading the investigation into Brueckner, has said he is “very confident” the inmate is responsible for kidnapping her.

“If you knew the evidence we had you would come to the same conclusion as I do but I can’t give you details because we don’t want the accused to know what we have on him – these are tactical considerations,” he told the BBC.

Brueckner was formally named an “arguido” (suspect) in relation to the case by the Portuguese authorities on 21 April 2022.

Barragem do Arade (AFP/Getty)

Now, a German-led police operation is examining the Barragem do Arade reservoir in the Algarve said to have been visited by Brueckner during his 17-year stay in the region between 2000 and 2017.

According to Portuguese broadcaster SIC, the suspect considered the area his “little slice of paradise” and the investigation is set to last for several days.

One source has been quoted as saying: “Portuguese police will offer logistical support but the initiative is German and they were the ones that requested the work that is going to take place this week. Scotland Yard officers are due to travel to Portugal but theirs will be a watching brief.”

The Metropolitan Police has since said its officers will be there in order to inform Madeleine’s family if there are any developments.

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“Met officers will be in Portugal and I am grateful to the Policia Judiciaria and Bundeskriminalamt for allowing us to be present whilst their work is ongoing, so that we can inform Madeleine’s family of any developments,” detective chief inspector Mark Cranwell said.

A brief statement from Mr Wolters’ office in Braunschweig confirmed the search but did not reveal why it was taking place, saying only that investigators were acting in response to “certain tips”.

The dam being searched is situated approximately 31 miles northeast of the coastal resort from which Madeleine disappeared.

It was constructed in 1955 and is fed by the 35-mile-long Arade river.

Portuguese authorities searching the Arade dam area (EPA)

Its waters were previously searched in 2008 by specialist divers paid for by Portuguese lawyer Marcos Aragao Correia, who claimed to have been tipped off by criminal contacts that the girl’s body was in the waterway.

On Monday 22 May, investigators sealed off a mile-long peninsula jutting into the reservoir and began setting up makeshift blue tents to serve as a base of operations.

A rigid-hull inflatable boat is being used by officers to search the water and a no-fly zone has been implemented overhead, allowing only police drones to buzz by.

Search teams arrive back at one of the operation tents (AP)

A track leading to the search area was also cordoned off with police tape and marked vehicles from Portugal’s National Republican Guard.

“There are around two dozen Policia Judiciaria officers who seem to be supervising things at this stage,” one onlooker told the media.

Pictures from the site show members of the emergency services with their faces covered by bandanas searching the water’s edge and surrounding grasslands with sniffer dogs.

Policia Judiciaria officers at the search site (AFP/Getty)

Others were seen with rakes, pickaxes, spades and metal rods combing the ground for clues while what looked like evidence bags were seen being removed from the scene.

A Daily Mail report has suggested they are seeking traces of the clothes Madeleine might have worn, particularly the pink pyjamas she was wearing on the day of her disappearance.

Part of the municipality of Silves, the beauty spot is a well-known tourist attraction, drawing visitors for hiking, camping and canoeing or touring its nearby vineyards.