By Alyssa McMurtry
OVIEDO, Spain (AA) - Portuguese police began a fresh search for clues surrounding the disappearance of Madeleine McCann in the Barragem do Arade reservoir area on Tuesday.
Sixteen years ago, the three-year British girl disappeared from her family’s holiday apartment some 50 kilometers (31 miles) away from where the search is taking place.
Police in a statement confirmed that the search will be carried out over the next few days at the behest of German authorities. British police are also present.
This marks the first substantial search effort in the McCann case since 2014 when UK authorities combed through the vacation resort of Praia da Luz, the last place McCann was seen.
According to the German newspaper Bild, authorities believe convicted German pedophile Christian Bruckner, 45, is behind her disappearance.
Bruckner is now in a German prison and was charged with three offenses of raping women and two offenses of sexually abusing children last year. The alleged crimes occurred in Portugal between December 2000 and 2017, and are not linked to the McCann case.
McCann’s disappearance has been described as one of the most heavily-reported missing persons cases in modern times.
Portuguese inspector Goncalo Amaral, who was initially in charge of the case, publicly shared his opinion that the girl’s parents were behind her disappearance.
The McCans later sued Amaral for libel. They originally won their case, but their claim was later rejected in an appeal court.
A 21-year-old in Poland recently garnered attention after she claimed to be McCann. However, subsequent DNA testing confirmed she was not the missing child.