New clues in the Maddie case? Searches are underway again in the south of Portugal and American author Carroll is once again campaigning against Trump for insult

Surprise in the “Maddie case”: More than 16 years after the mysterious disappearance of the then three-year-old British girl Madeleine McCann in the south of Portugal, the detectives want to start a new search.

The action was requested by the German Federal Police (BKA) and would take place in the Algarve “in the coming days”, the Portuguese police said on Monday. According to a report from the Portuguese state news agency Lusa, it should start on Tuesday.

Whether there is new information has not been announced. The public prosecutor’s office in Braunschweig, which is investigating a previously convicted German on suspicion of murder in this case, initially also did not want to respond to the dpa request. However, she announced a message for Tuesday morning.

In addition to Portuguese and German officials, British police officers are said to be taking part in the new search. The Polícia Judiciaria gave no further details in its short statement. However, Lusa and other Portuguese media reported, citing authorities, that the search should begin on Tuesday at the Arade reservoir and last two to three days.

The news channel SIC Noticias found that ten detectives and several firefighters had already cordoned off a large area on the edge of the Arade reservoir on Monday. In the area, which is considered a natural paradise, a command post has been set up in a tent to coordinate the search from there. It can be assumed that the investigations of the Germans have yielded new clues, the broadcaster suspected.

The Arade reservoir is located about 50 kilometers northeast of the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz. Maddie disappeared from a holiday resort on May 3, 2007, shortly before her fourth birthday. The parents had left Maddie and her two younger siblings in the apartment while they were having dinner with friends at a nearby restaurant. Since then there has been no trace of the girl. Investigators suspect it was kidnapped and murdered. However, no body was ever found.

The last known major search in this case took place nearly three years ago, in the summer of 2020. As with previous operations, practically every stone had been turned over. In July of that year, divers searched three wells in Vila do Bispo that had been closed for years. Failed. The pressure to find something that can help researchers is probably even greater after such a long time. (sda/dpa)