A new search for Madeleine McCann is set to begin this week, with police hopeful it could uncover explosive evidence.
Police are reportedly set to resume the search for Madeleine McCann on Tuesday, June 3, near the area in Portugal where the British toddler disappeared more than 18 years ago.
German authorities requested the operation, which will focus on land between Praia da Luz and a property once linked to Christian Brueckner, the main suspect in the case.
“They will be land searches only. The main objective is to look for any signs of Madeleine’s body,” a Portuguese source confirmed, per The Mirror.
The search, which is expected to last around three days unless something significant is found, marks the first in Portugal since 2023, when authorities combed through Arade Dam - dubbed Brueckner’s “little paradise.” That effort, like the one before it in 2014, turned up no evidence.
UK officials continue to back the investigation, dubbed Operation Grange, with Parliament approving another £108,000 (over $146K) in funding this April.
The probe has now cost taxpayers over £13.2 million ($17m) since it launched in 2011 and is currently being led by one chief inspector, a detective constable, and a police staff member.
The renewed effort comes just weeks after the McCann family marked 18 years since Madeleine’s disappearance on May 3, 2007.
At the time, the three-year-old was asleep in a holiday apartment while her parents, Kate and Gerry, dined nearby with friends. Kate later found her daughter missing during a routine check.
Reflecting on that night in her 2011 memoir, Kate McCann revealed a detail that still haunts her: “To my horror, I saw that, no doubt in all innocence and simply to explain why she was bending the rules a bit, the receptionist had added the reason for our request: we wanted to eat close to our apartments as we were leaving our young children alone there and checking on them intermittently."
"We now bitterly regret it and will do so until the end of our days," she added, per The New York Post.
In a statement last month, the family reiterated their continued hope: “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."
"No matter how near or far she is, she continues to be right here with us, every day, but especially on her special day. We continue to 'celebrate' her as the very beautiful and unique person she is. We miss her," they added.
This week’s search also follows renewed scrutiny of the convicted German sex offender, who was named as a suspect in 2020 but has not been charged.
A recent Channel 4 documentary, Madeleine McCann: The Unseen Evidence, revealed disturbing items found at a German factory he once owned, including USB sticks and 75 children's swimming costumes.
The site was discovered after a neighbour’s dog unearthed what resembled a grave. Among the contents were “highly disturbing material,” a nude selfie of Brueckner taken near the Arade Dam, satnav records from the Algarve region, and chilling written fantasies involving child abduction.
One particularly damning piece of evidence involved a 2008 conversation in Spain, where Brueckner allegedly confessed to a man named Helge B., saying: “She didn’t scream.”
Despite being named as a suspect in 2020, Brueckner has denied any involvement in Madeleine’s disappearance.