portuguese reservoir. madeleine, from leicestershire, was three years old when she vanished from her parents holiday apartment in the algarve in 2007. the search was requested by police in germany. our berlin correspondent damien mcguinness has more. the major search of the reservoir in portugal and the surrounding area is the first time in almost a decade that a large scale search in portugal has been carried out in connection to the disappearance of maddy mccann. german prosecutors appear to be driving this, and are certainly driving the investigation into the prime suspect christian bruckner, a german citizen who is in prison here in germany for a separate conviction that of the rape of a 72 year old woman in portugal in 2005. mr bruckner says he s innocent, but german state prosecutors believe he s guilty, and believe that he is connected to the disappearance of maddy mccann. so far, they haven t found enough evidence to press charges. they say they ve got all sorts of leads,
on the land, on a promontory sometimes used as a campsite. the search is being coordinated by the portugue5ejudiciary police, at the request of german pro5ecutor5. a handful of british officers are also at the scene. a diving team s vehicle is present at the site, but we have not seen diver5 in the water. it i516 years since madeline mccann vanished from a holiday apartment, just a few days before her fourth birthday. it became one of the most infamous missing persons cases. madeleine s parents have never given up hope of finding her alive. earlier this month on the 16th anniversary of her disappearance, they wrote, the police investigation continue5 and we await a breakthrough. this latest investigation i5 centred on a suspect called christian brueckner, currently serving a prison sentence in germany for a rape in portugal in 2005. he s never been charged over madeline mccann 5 disappearance and has denied any involvement, but the german state prosecutor said there was growing evide
vehicle is present at the site, but we have not seen divers the water. it is 16 years since madeline mccann vanished from a holiday apartment, just a few days before her fourth birthday. it became one of the most infamous missing persons cases. madeline s parents have never given up madeline s parents have never given up hope of finding her alive. earlier this month on the 16th anniversary of her disappearance, they wrote, the police investigation continues and we await a breakthrough. this latest investigation is centred on a suspect called christian brueckner, currently serving a prison sentence in germany for a rape in portugal in 2005. he s never been charged over madeline mccann s disappearance and has denied any involvement, but the german state prosecutor said there was growing evidence connecting him to the case, including mobile phone records. he is believed to have been a regular visitor at the site being searched today. the former head of the child exploitation and 0nline
it has turned much worse. we have been watching police officers using dogs, boats, posts, to search through the undergrowth, and all of it is another attempt to find out what happened to madeleine mccann 16 years ago. working methodically through the undergrowth, probing for anything that could provide a clue to what happened to madeleine mccann. german and portuguese police officers, with british police in attendance, searching the edge of a reservoir in the algarve. this was a planned operation that also involved dogs and a rigid hull inflatable boat, and it is expected to run into a second day tomorrow. that promontory, which has been the focus of the search, has a car park and impromptu campsite on it, and what the police have been doing is searching down from the car park to the edge of the water. madeleine mccann vanished from a holiday apartment 30 miles away in may 2007, just a few days before her fourth birthday. it s become one of the most infamous
missing persons cases. her parents, kate and gerry mccann, have never given up hope of finding her alive. earlier this month they released a simple statement. the police investigation continues and we await a breakthrough. that investigation has led to the arade reservoir because the main suspect was a regular at the impromptu campsite. he is christian brueckner, a german man currently serving a prison sentence for rape. it is german prosecutors who are leading this investigation. they ve not charged brueckner and he s denied any involvement in madeleine mccann s disappearance. the prosecutor said today s search was based on intelligence. you can imagine we don t start searching somewhere in portugal on the off chance, he said. there must be a good reason for it. we do have one, but i ask you for understanding that i cannot disclose it for tactical reasons. madeleine mccann vanished from a holiday apartment in praia da luz in may 2007.