Portuguese police have resumed the search for Madeleine McCann, who went missing as a toddler in the country’s Algarve region in 2007

Portuguese police have resumed the search for Madeleine McCann, who went missing as a toddler in the country’s Algarve region in 2007.

Portugal’s Judicial Police released a statement confirming local media reports that they would conduct the search at the request of the German authorities and in the presence of British officials.

Detectives have closed off the area near a reservoir in Silves ahead of the official search, which started on Tuesday morning.

Here are the latest updates in the search for Madeleine.

When did she go missing?

Madeleine disappeared on 3 May, 2007 while on holiday with her family in Praia da Luz at the age of three.

The child, from Rothley, Leicestershire, was with her parents Kate and Gerry McCann, and her two-year-old twin sibling.

The twins had been left asleep at 8:30pm in the ground-floor apartment while their parents were having dinner with friends in a restaurant 55 metres away.

Their parents checked on the children throughout the evening until Kate discovered Madeleine was missing at 10pm.
Searches are expected to begin on Tuesday as part of the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine (Photo: PA)
A major search was under way over the following weeks.

The case received global media attention, particularly after Portuguese police misinterpreted British DNA analysis, leading them to believe Madeleine had died in an accident in the apartment and her parents covered it up.

The McCanns were made suspects in September 2007 but the status was lifted when Portugal’s attorney general archived the case in July 2008 due to lack of evidence.

Why police are searching an Algarve reservoir?

Portuguese police are set to begin searching a reservoir in the Algarve that the chief suspect Christian Brueckner used to visit.

The search, which will centre on the Barragem do Arade reservoir, was requested by German police, according to Correio da Manhã, a Portuguese newspaper.

A brief statement from the prosecutor’s office in the German city of Braunschweig confirmed the search but did not reveal why it was taking place.
Portuguese police said they will resume searching for Madeleine McCann (Photo: Joao Matos/AP)
British detectives will be present during the search but will only have a “watching brief”.

The Portuguese police have been photographed installing tents near the area – which is about 50km from the resort where the family was staying.

The fresh search is the first major operation in the investigation into what happened to Madeleine since 2014 – when British officers were given permission to dig in Praia da Luz, using sniffer dogs and ground-penetrating radar.

This time around, divers will explore the reservoir, and digs will take place in the nearby woods.

The area has already been searched twice in 2008 by divers hired by Portuguese lawyer Marcos Aragão Correia.

Major new Madeleine McCann search underway as police face race against tim

He said underworld contacts had tipped him off that Madeleine had been murdered and her body was disposed of in the river.

Bones were retrieved during the previous search but Portuguese police claimed they were too small to be human.

Who is the main suspect?

It has been reported that the prime suspect in Madeleine’s disappearance, convicted sex offender Brueckner, 45, spent time in the area between 2000 and 2017.

Detectives believe he killed the three-year-old after abducting her from a holiday apartment.

The Sun reported that a fresh search was launched after detectives found photos and videos of Brueckner near the reservoir.

Reporters have been kept a mile away from the site and a no-fly zone has been placed over the water, the newspaper said.

Brueckner is facing charges in Germany over a number of separate sex offences allegedly committed in Portugal during that time.

German authorities are expected to release a statement about the search later on Tuesday.