The investigation into the 2007 disappearance of Madeleine McCann appears to have advanced. The Portuguese police announced that they had put an end to the excavations carried out since Tuesday near a lake in southern Portugal, at the request of the German authorities. The judicial police specified in a press release that “the material collected will be handed over to the German authorities”, who have claimed since 2020 to be convinced that the British girl is dead and suspect a German multi-recidivist sexual aggressor already imprisoned in his country for a rape in Portugal. .
The police did not give any details on the elements collected or on the purpose of the operation carried out with the participation of German and British investigators, near the banks of a water reservoir located in Silves, a municipality in the tourist region of the Algarve.
Soil and tissue samples
Between Tuesday and Thursday, investigators surveyed the excavation area using dogs, a drone and a tracked brushcutter. Some portions of the land were combed through using probes, shovels and rakes. According to local media, investigators have collected since the beginning of the excavations samples of soil and gathered several shreds of fabric found on the spot.
Also according to the local press, the police were looking for a pink blanket or the pajamas Maddie was wearing the night she disappeared. According to the Portuguese weekly Espressoit was the testimony of an informant “considered very credible” by the German investigators who led them to take an interest in this place again.