Madeleine McCann, aged three, suddenly vanished while on holiday with her family in the resort of Praia da Luz in Portugal in 2007. Now German police are searching an area where prime suspect Christian Brueckner once lived near

Kate and Gerry McCannn have campaigned for 18 years to find their daughter(Image: PA)

German police are ‘praying for a breakthrough’ in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann as they commence a new search following a tip-off, according to reports.

Madeleine, then aged three, vanished in 2007 while on holiday with her family in the resort of Praia da Luz in Portugal. Her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, went out to dinner with friends a few hundred yards away and left her sleeping in a room at their accommodation with her toddler twin siblings.

But when they returned to the apartment, Madeleine was gone. For the past 18 years, they have tirelessly campaigned to find their daughter and get answers on what happened on that fateful night of May 3. The Metropolitan Police has spent more than £13million on the case, dubbed Operation Grange, to date.

Now, new information has reportedly come to light following the trial of Christian Brueckner, who German prosecutors say is the prime suspect in Madeleine’s disappearance. Brueckner, who is currently serving a seven-year prison sentence in Germany for the rape of an elderly woman at her home in Praia da Luz in 2005, has denied any involvement.

Madeleine McCann vanished from their holiday apartment on May 3, 2007(Image: PA)

On Monday, Portuguese police closed off dirt roads in the area where searches are said to be taking place, while tents have been set up in the nearby Atalaia area, where Brueckner once lived in a cottage. According to The Sun, the new searches will involve radar equipment that can scan beneath the ground and will focus on trenches that were reportedly dug at the time of the little girl’s disappearance.

An investigating source told The Sun: “Following Brueckner’s trial last year, someone contacted them with theories on where anyone who took Madeleine might’ve dumped her. They told cops about trenches that were dug in Praia at the time Madeleine disappeared, and the house where Brueckner had lived on the edge of the village.

“Of course, all of these places have been searched over and over again, but now they have a new weapon in their ground-scanning radar. It means they don’t need to dig for the sake of it. But as soon as they spot anything of interest they are ready to excavate and check it.”

The source added: “With time running out they are praying they get a breakthrough.” The fresh investigation will see around 30 German police officers, including forensic experts, scour the area for any trace of Maddie.

German authorities said they are receiving support from Portuguese law enforcement, while the Portuguese police said that searches will be carried out between June 2 and 6 in the municipality of Lagos, in accordance with a European investigation order. A spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Police said: “We are aware of the searches being carried by the BKA (German federal police) in Portugal as part of their investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

Convicted paedophile Christian Brueckner(Image: REX/Shutterstock)

“The Metropolitan Police Service is not present at the search, we will support our international colleagues where necessary.” German police reportedly believe the tip-off could be their final chance to find vital forensic evidence.

The investigation source added: “German cops know it is now or never so they need to push ahead with every credible tip they have.” They last carried out searches in 2023 near the Barragem do Arade reservoir, about 30 miles from Praia da Luz.

Brueckner, who spent time in the area between 2000 and 2017, had photographs and videos of himself near the reservoir. It had previously been searched in 2008, when Portuguese lawyer Marcos Aragao Correia paid for specialist divers to search it after he claimed to have been tipped off by criminal contacts that Madeleine’s body was there.

British police were later given permission to examine scrubland near where she vanished in 2014. Brueckner, who has more than a dozen previous convictions for burglary, theft and sex offences, including serving an 18-month sentence in Germany for a sex attack on a youth when he was a teen, has not been charged in the McCann case.

In October, he was cleared of a string of alleged sex offences in Portugal between 2000 and 2017, unrelated to Madeleine’s case. He faced charges of raping an Irish tour rep, a teenage girl and an elderly woman in her holiday apartment. He also faced a child sex charge for allegedly exposing himself to a German girl on a beach in Salema.

Last month, Madeleine’s family marked the 18th anniversary of her disappearance, describing her as “beautiful and unique” before her 22nd birthday, and expressing their determination to keep searching.

A statement from her parents Kate and Gerry McCann and the family said: “The years appear to be passing even more quickly and whilst we have no significant news to share, our determination to ‘leave no stone unturned’ is unwavering. We will do our utmost to achieve this.”

In April, ministers approved more than £100,000 in additional funding for Scotland Yard detectives investigating Madeleine’s disappearance.