of certain indications. i cannot disclose the background. that is to remain our secret for the moment. reporter: over the past 16 years, investigators have searched numerous wells and properties in the area including this one which was searched in 2008 turning up only animal bones. the primary suspect, christian bruckner, convicted sex offender, lived here in 1995 and 2007 about a mile away from the resort where the mccanns are staying. he is currently in prison for rape. he hasn t been charged in mccann s disappearance and denies involvement. but the prosecutor didn t deny the suggestion that there had been evidence tying him to the crime. makes you so certain that madeleine mccann is difference? we have evidence for this. reporter: the family clings on to the hope that she is still
scott mclean is tracking the investigation, live from london, he joins us now. good morning to you, scott, so, what more are you learning about this new search for madeleine mccann? good morning. the search area is a mountainous, bushy scrubland area around this very vast reservoir, surrounded by parkland and walking trails but the reason they are going back to this is because of a tip by german authorities who are involved here because the prime suspect, named by german prosecutors is a german man who is already jailed in that country for other crimes. it is not clear why they are going back to search this place in particular, but our colleagues at cnn portugal report that police say they are looking for objects which might be of interest or, to rule out other hypotheses. the reservoir, here, itself, has already been searched by divers 15 years ago, back in 2008. in that case, they turned up only animal bones. this time, the focus of the search will be on land, all in the hopes of a
the reason that they are going back to the area is based on a tip from german prosecutors who are investigating a suspect named christian bruckner, a known pedophile. this is a bushy scrub land area about 35 miles or so from the resort town where madeleine mccann went missing from. it is also an area that police had actually searched back in 2008 in the reservoir there itself. and in that case they found animal bones but nothing else. we understand from our colleagues in portugal that this time around, this two day search, will be focusing on the land area. now, this case from the get go back in 2007 has been filled with twists and turns. the mccanns themselves, the parents, initially viewed as suspects. there was a lot of criticism about the initial police response to this as well. and it wasn t until 2020 that the german prosecutors announced that they had a suspect named
to why they are going back to this place. they say no more information can be released. according to our colleagues in portugal, the search scheduled to take place over the next two days maxmaximum. is this a pretty vast area, about 50 kilometers. and it is surrounded by parkland and walking trails, sort of a mountainous scrub land area. and so we re talking about potentially a needle in a haystack where police have said that they are looking for that they are looking for objects that may be of interest and possibly to rule out other hypotheses. but beyond that, we don t really know why they have gone back to this area which by the way they actually searched back in 2008 inside of the actual reservoir telephone, and they turned up only animal bones in that case. this time around they will be focusing on the land. and because it is german police, obviously linked to
had somehow stepped out of this life and maybe into history. two weeks in, her family wasn t giving up, hoping to find her alive. her mother was forbidding herself to think the worst. i don t want you know, i don t want her to be out in those fields so this will let us know. i believe that she s not outside. what are those searches like? they re they re rough. you never know what you re going to come across. i now can understand the difference between human bones and animal bones. still scares the hell out of you. christina s boyfriend hunter told police he was in dallas with friends the night she disappeared but he d been stingy with the details. he had erased conversations on his phone between himself and christina. investigators were also trying