Madeleine McCann update as police to launch new search in reservoir
Police have launched a new search for the body of Madeleine McCann
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Police have launched a new search for the body of Madeleine McCann in the first major operation in nine years.
German officers are set to investigate a remote Algarve reservoir where convicted rapist and prime suspect Christian B is believed to have visited.
The location is approximately a 45 minute drive from the Ocean Club holiday resort in Praia da Luz where Maddie vanished in 2007.
Portuguese police are expected to begin closing roads leading to a dam near the town of Silves ahead of the official start of the search tomorrow.
The location is approximately a 45 minute drive from the Ocean Club holiday resort in Praia da Luz
Wiki Common images
Investigators will search the area for at least two days and will continue if anything of relevance is found.
Scotland Yard detectives have reportedly travelled to the area but only with a “watching brief.”
The last major operation was in June 2014 when British police searched Praia da Luz with sniffer dogs trained in detecting bodies and ground-penetrating radar.
Divers are expected to search the dam while officers explore a woodland area near the water.
Police tents and lorries have been spotted by eyewitnesses.
The area of focus is the Barragem do Arade reservoir in Silves where a lorry driver says he saw a woman handing a child like Madeleine over to a man two days after she went missing from her holiday apartment.
It has previously been searched in February and March 2008 by divers hired by a Portuguese lawyer.
The privately funded operation is being lead by Marcos Aragao Correia who claims he had been tipped off by underworld contacts that Maddie had been murdered before her body was thrown into the reservoir within 48 hours of her disappearance.
During the second search, two bags of small bones were found after divers had earlier recovered several lengths of cord, some plastic tape and a single white cotton sock.
Portuguese police ruled out the possibility of the bones being human due to their size.
Correia has been described by Madeleine's parents Gerry and Kate McCann as a self-publicist and said there was no evidence suggesting any link between their daughter and the reservoir.
Addressing the development, Policia Judiciaria force said in a statement: "In view of the news made public, the Judiciary Police confirms that, regarding the investigation into the disappearance of an English child, which occurred in the Algarve in 2007, steps are still being taken to fully clarify the situation.
Madeleine McCann went missing in 2007 from a holiday resort in Portugal
PA"Within the scope of international cooperation, in the next few days in the Algarve region, new searches will be carried out, coordinated by the Judiciary Police, at the request of the German Authorities (BKA) and with the presence of the British Authorities.
"Information will be provided in due course on the outcome of the proceedings."