Investigators looking for new clues relating to Madeleine McCann‘s disappearance found two buried guns near the resort where she vanished from, it has been revealed.
German authorities who flew to Portugal last week launched fresh searches through Atalaia – a stretch of scrubland littered with rubbish and graffiti-covered buildings linked by a network of dusty tracks known in Portuguese as the Fisherman’s Trail.
Connecting Praia da Luz with the nearby town of Lagos, the track is a popular hiking route for tourists, but for several days last week it was cordoned off for members of the BKA – Germany‘s equivalent of the FBI – to conduct searches.
00:04
02:24
Olive Press reported that the two firearms have now been sent back to Germany for analysis, along with bone fragments and ‘bits of old adult clothing.’
But not everyone is happy with how the operation, estimated to have cost £300,000, went.
One officer told MailOnline: ‘We always knew it was going to be a waste of time but we have to show cooperation.
‘What did they expect to find after 18 years? We were happy to work with them but we knew it would be a waste of time.’
But Portuguese media reported the search turned up enough material that investigators deemed worthy of further analysis at a laboratory.
a
+9
View gallery
Officers pack up a tent at the end of the day of searching at one of the base camps close to Praia De Luz, Portugal
+9
View gallery
A search team close to Praia De Luz, Portugal, where searches are being carried out by officers investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann
+9
View gallery
Christian Brueckner (pictured) is the prime suspect in the disappearance of the young girl
+9
View gallery
Madeleine McCann (pictured) vanished in May 2007 while holidaying with her family in Portugal
‘During the search, several items were seized that will be examined further by the German police,’ reported CNN Portugal.
The materials will now be carefully analyzed in the police laboratory ‘to assess their potential relevance to the investigation’, according the newspaper Correio da Manha.
It comes as convicted rapist and paedophile Christian Brueckner – the man who German prosecutors believe was behind Madeleine’s disappearance – draws closer to his release from prison.
German police announced in 2020 that it had opened an investigation into Brueckner, 48, connecting him with Madeleine’s abduction and murder.
But he has not been charged – and the sands of time are running out.
He has vehemently denied the allegations.
Brueckner is serving a seven-year sentence for raping a 71-year-old woman, but is due for release in September and has already vowed to leave Germany.
It means prosecutors will have trouble bringing him to court should they find enough evidence to charge him in connection with Madeleine’s disappearance.
His earliest possible release date is September 17 – though his lawyer said he would have to pay €1,500 (£1,300) in outstanding fines from a series of motor offences to leave then.
Brueckner’s lawyer Philipp Marquort told MailOnline: ‘I haven’t had a chance to speak with him yet about the searches and I am not going to comment on what has been happening in Portugal.
+9
View gallery
Madeleine McCann went missing in 2007 while on holiday with her family in Portugal
Convicted rapist and paedophile Christian Brueckner, 48, has been suspected by German prosecutors as being the man behind Madeleine’s ‘abduction and murder’
‘What I will say is that I don’t think he will be coming out in September as he doesn’t have any money to pay the fines because it went on his legal fees, so I can’t see him leaving prison until early next year.
‘He will probably see the news on the TV in his cell and he will talk about it when he calls me next time but I still do think when he is freed he will leave Germany.’
Meanwhile, German prosecutors have been accused by Portuguese media of failing to properly investigate a claim that Madeleine was run over by a drunk driver.
Portuguese officers allegedly received a tip about a British man who was ‘covering up a dark secret’ about his German wife running over the young girl while drunk, then hiding the body.
But German authorities rejected a Portuguese request to use an undercover police officer to try to befriend the wife and firm up their suspicions, Correio da Manha claimed.
The report – which says a sister of the British husband made the tip-off to UK police in 2018 – said: ‘German prosecutors were asked to authorise a covert police operation with someone posing as a friend of the woman’s and trying to get her to confess, but the courts refused.
‘It was decided to continue solely with the investigation into suspect Christian Brueckner, rejecting other possibilities.’
Correio da Manha said the mystery couple were ‘alcoholics’ and the wife had been drinking near the Ocean Club on the night Madeleine went missing.
+9
View gallery
Investigators at the site of the searches last week
+9
View gallery
Police searched the remote Portuguese area for three days
+9
View gallery
Permission had been given to search the derelict outbuildings on the scrubland close to where Brueckner used to live
Timeline of Madeleine McCann’s disappearance as new search begins
It also claimed the couple’s neighbour had told police she heard them having a row the day after the three-year-old disappeared.
She said she heard the man repeatedly yelling ‘Why did you bring her?’
Portuguese police are said to have got the knock-back from the Germans after urging them to look more closely into the possibility the ‘German wife’ had driven home ‘drunk’ with Madeleine after running her over, then enlisting her husband’s help in disposing the body at sea.
Christian BruecknerFB
News
THE HIGHWAY 70 PUZZLE: KENWOOD BUS FOOTAGE MAY SHOW THE CRASH BEFORE IT HAPPENED. 🚌📹 Seconds before impact, the dashcam captures the bus drifting into the opposite lane. Students’ voices can be heard reacting moments later. Crash specialists say the footage might reveal a warning sign that went unnoticed until it was too late
On March 27, 2026, shortly before noon, a Clarksville-Montgomery County Schools (CMCSS) bus carrying 24 eighth-grade students and five adults from Kenwood Middle School traveled along Highway 70 near Cedar Grove in Carroll County, Tennessee. The group was heading to…
THE “AUTOPILOT” MOMENT: DASHCAM FROM KENWOOD BUS CRASH STUNS INVESTIGATORS. 🚌📹 The footage shows the bus moving calmly across the center line — almost as if no one touched the wheel. Students can reportedly be heard reacting inside moments later. Crash specialists now say the clip may reveal a critical gap in the official timeline
On March 27, 2026, a Clarksville-Montgomery County Schools (CMCSS) bus carrying 24 eighth-graders and five adults from Kenwood Middle School was en route to the Greenpower USA Toyota Hub City Grand Prix in Jackson, Tennessee. The students had spent the…
THE 8 AM TIMELINE: KENWOOD BUS FOOTAGE RAISES A QUESTION NO ONE CAN ANSWER. 🚌📹 At 7:58 AM, the dashcam shows the school bus beginning a slow drift across Highway 70. Seconds pass… no correction… no braking. By the time the collision happens, investigators say the video suggests something unusual may have happened before anyone realized the danger
On March 27, 2026, shortly after noon, a Clarksville-Montgomery County School System (CMCSS) school bus carrying 24 students and five adults from Kenwood Middle School drifted across the double yellow lines on Highway 70 near Cedar Grove in Carroll County,…
THE 7:58 DRIFT: KENWOOD BUS DASHCAM SHOWS A MOMENT THAT SHOULDN’T EXIST. 🚌📹 Newly surfaced footage from the Highway 70 crash shows the bus slowly crossing the double yellow line — no sudden swerve, no visible braking. Just a quiet drift toward oncoming traffic. Crash analysts say the timeline raises disturbing questions about what was happening in the driver’s seat in those final seconds. Parents now say the video reveals a “calm before the chaos” that investigators still haven’t fully explained
On March 27, 2026, a routine school field trip from Kenwood Middle School in Clarksville, Tennessee, turned into tragedy on Highway 70 near Huntingdon in Carroll County. A yellow school bus carrying 24 students, four teachers, and the driver —…
JUST 6 FEET FROM THE EDGE: Investigators measured the location where Arielle Konig was found injured during the hike with Gerhardt Konig on the steep Hawaii trail. According to testimony the apparent struggle may have happened only 6 feet from the cliff 👇 Read the full story in the comments
Testimony in the attempted murder trial of Dr. Gerhardt Konig has revealed a chilling detail: investigators measured the location where Arielle Konig was discovered bloodied and injured, determining that the apparent struggle occurred just 6 feet (or in some accounts,…
7 WOUNDS — THE DETAIL A PARAMEDIC COULD NOT IGNORE: Emergency responders testified that Arielle Konig had multiple head injuries when they reached the remote trail where she had been hiking with Gerhardt Konig. One paramedic said the number of visible wounds stood out immediately 7 👇 Read the full story in the comments.
Emergency responders who reached Arielle Konig on the remote Pali Puka Trail testified that she had multiple head injuries when they arrived. One paramedic told the court the number of visible wounds stood out immediately — seven distinct lacerations and…
End of content
No more pages to load
