Madeleine McCann search causes concerns in Praia da Luz

By Lauren Turner 

BBC News

2 June 2014 Last updated at 17:15 

For the McCann family, the latest search for evidence about their daughter's disappearance couldn't come soon enough. But some in the resort of Praia da Luz are frustrated by the timing.

It is the start of the summer season on the Algarve - its busiest period of the year by far.

Families and retired couples are heading from the UK to the resort of Praia da Luz - making the short journey from Faro Airport further along the coast.

Here, the population increases four-fold in the summer months, remaining popular for the same reasons it attracted the McCanns - it is compact, family-friendly and has activities to keep all ages occupied.

Children can be seen paddling in the waves and building sandcastles on the beach, all under the blazing sun.

But just up the hill a large area of scrubland has become a hive of activity with police officers inside a cordon and journalists outside.

The land is owned by a company belonging to one of Portugal's richest men and is a short distance from the centre of the village.

Many residents walking past it don't want to comment at all.

Those who do speak tend not to give their names - but express their fears about the effect the renewed attention on the search for missing Madeleine McCann will have on this tiny village that comes into its own in the summer months.

A woman from Essex, one of many British people with a holiday home here, says: "We're all fed up with this. It's a nuisance at this time of year.

"All this attention had an effect before and now it will again. It's totally disruptive."

Another holidaymaker, from Newry, County Down, is here with her family, including her grandchildren, and has walked down to the search ground to show them what is happening.

She says: "My sympathies are with the McCann family - I met them in 2007.

"But I don't know what the police hope to achieve. It disturbs the village."

She also points out that in the hot weather, the ground will be very hard, making any searches potentially difficult.

'Detrimental'

One woman known as Nana, who has lived in the area for 15 years, feels so strongly that she walks up to the site on Rua 25 da Abril with a handmade placard bearing the words: "Dig up lies, not Luz".

"I'm very angry, frustrated, furious," she says.

"It has such a detrimental effect on Luz locally, for tourism.

"People live off tourism. Luz is suffering and that's why I'm angry."

The police activity is happening now because Portuguese authorities recently accepted a Metropolitan Police request to search the area of scrubland near where Madeleine, then three years old, went missing in 2007.

Gerry McCann, Madeleine's father, has expressed his family's gratitude that the Metropolitan Police team had moved on to a "very active" phase in its investigation.

But local mayor Victor Mata wants to know why the search is happening at precisely the wrong time for the tourism industry.

Sitting in his office, almost within sight of the cordoned off area, he says through a translator: "The next three months are when the entire village earns its keep.

"The timing couldn't be worse. Summer essentially starts today.

"The people of Luz are not against the searches for Madeleine but seeing as it's been seven years, they would have appreciated it if they could have started in a few months' time."

He says he personally has heard of several British families cancelling their trips in recent days, having seen the media reports about the searches.

"They've decided to go somewhere else because of this," he says.

"Luz is losing out."

As well as being put off by the police activity, holidaymakers may also be staying away because of the number of press congregating here, with one hotel saying a booking had been cancelled for that very reason.

Despite the resort's desire to move on from the tragedy of missing Madeleine, it seems a hard task.

At the beach, a family buying ice creams comment on having seen a television film crew and discuss the search amongst themselves.

And at the Ocean Club, two women in beachwear slow down as they approach apartment 5a, where the McCanns were staying when Madeleine vanished.

In the church that overlooks the bustling beach, a sanctuary away from the heat and noise outside its doors, a middle-aged woman lights a candle inside.

It joins four other flames burning, each a silent act of remembrance.

It is here that Kate McCann says she still seeks solace on her visits back to the resort, drawn to the area she last saw her daughter.

This next stage of the investigation is focused on trying to provide the answers she still needs.  

And closure is also what the people of Praia da Luz want - disruptive as this latest development must be.

Madeleine McCann search: Police seal off area in Praia da Luz in preparation for 'dig'

By Western Morning News  |  Posted: June 02, 2014 

Police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann in Portugal have cordoned off an area of scrubland amid mounting speculation that they are about to start a digging operation.

The area, in Praia da Luz on the Algarve where three-year-old Madeleine disappeared in May 2007, was taped off and local police officers were seen milling about with dogs.

Scotland Yard, which is carrying out its own investigation into what happened to Madeleine, said the force was “not prepared to give a running commentary” about the case.

The apparent development came two weeks after Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley from Scotland Yard said officers are working through every credible line of inquiry in the search for the missing girl.

He said: “In the forthcoming weeks we are going to be going to a substantial phase of operational activity on the ground in Portugal.

“It’s something that you would expect in any major inquiry.

“A thorough serious crime investigation works systematically through all the credible possibilities, and often in an investigation you will have more than one credible possibility.

“Therefore, just because we’re doing a substantial phase of work in the forthcoming week doesn’t mean that it’s going to immediately lead to answers that will explain everything.”

The Portuguese have also re-opened their inquiry into Madeleince’s disappearance and while they are working with the UK force, they have refused to set up an official joint investigation.

The area cordoned off today has been searched before.

One line of inquiry for Scotland Yard is a lone male paedophile who staged a series of sex attacks on young British girls while they were on holiday in the Algarve.

They are looking at nine sexual assaults and three “near misses” on British girls aged six to 12 between 2004 and 2006, including one in 2005 on a 10-year-old girl in Praia da Luz, where Madeleine vanished two years later.

Hundreds of people have already made contact with police in response to appeals for help to find the attacker.

New search for Madeleine McCann

Detectives are flying to Praia da Luz for a new search for clues leading to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

02 Jun. 14 (10:31)

Officers will use radar penetration equipment to look for signs of soil disturbance while mechanical diggers will carry out full excavations. Trained sniffer dogs will also be used to search for human remains. The main target is a fenced-off wasteland area the size of three football pitches 100 yards from the Ocean Club apartment where her family was staying, the Daily Mail reports.

The new search operation, which could last up to a week, was instigated by Prime Minister David Cameron after Portuguese police failed to find Madeleine.

Little Madeleine, 3, went missing on May 3, 2007, while her parents Kate and Gerry were having dinner with friends at a nearby tapas restaurant.

The Scotland Yard team also intends to interview eight Portuguese nationals. The costs of the work will be met by Scotland Yard, BBC reports. 

Source: Reuters,BBC, Daily Mail

Come and dig up my garden' says mother of cleared Maddie suspect

A MUM whose son was cleared as a suspect in Madeleine McCann’s disappearance welcomed the new police search. 

By Jerry Lawton/Published 2nd June 2014 

Jenny Murat told British detectives: “Come and dig up my garden if you think it will help your search.” 

Her son Robert Murat, 40, has been probed then eliminated as an official suspect – or arguido – by Portuguese police.

She added: “They won’t find a thing but if they need to do it as part of their investigation they’re welcome.

“That poor girl’s parents need some answers after seven years.”

British ex-pat Jenny, 78, lives just 100 yards away from the holiday flat in Portugal’s Praia da Luz where Maddie vanished. She said Scotland Yard had not been in contact yet.

She was speaking as British and Portuguese police prepare to dig up parts of the resort.

She added: “I’ve had it all before when my son Robert was living here and now I’m thinking: ‘Not again.’

“But if it helps police rule out a certain scenario, let it be. We’ve got nothing to hide.”

She added: “I’ve been away in England for a while but I’m home now and my garden’s overgrown and full of weeds.”

She said police had originally searched her home and garden in July 2007, just two months after the then three-year-old vanished as her parents dined nearby. She said: “I remember it only too well.

“There were six policemen with sniffer dogs all over the place.” 

She insists the new dig will anger locals adding: “They feel it could ruin our tourism industry.”

Madeleine McCann: UK Cops Search Scrubland

A team of around 30 have travelled to Praia da Luz and began by unloading equipment and mapping out the four acre site.8:59pm UK, Monday 02 June 2014 

By Tom Parmenter, Sky News Correspondent, in Praia da Luz 

British police teams have started a search of scrubland on the Algarve in their renewed investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

A team of around 30 officers and police staff have travelled to Praia da Luz and began by unloading equipment and mapping out the four acre site.

The cordoned off area is a five-minute walk from the Ocean Club complex where Madeleine, who was three at the time, was staying with her family in May 2007.

Parents Gerry and Kate McCann will be kept updated but have not travelled to Portugal.

The agreement between the Metropolitan Police and their Portuguese counterparts is limited to one search area after the British team failed to get permission to search elsewhere in the resort.

It is understood they will use ground penetrating radar to identify any anomalies within the ground that may warrant further investigation with police dogs or physical digging.

Other potential search sites include another area of scrubland close to the McCanns' holiday apartment.

The land which had been earmarked for development is now fenced off but was an open area on the night Madeleine vanished.

Former Scotland Yard detective Peter Bleksley told Sky News the radar equipment likely to be used in the operation can detect if the ground has been disturbed as far back as seven years ago.

British expat residents in the town have confirmed they recently saw a military aircraft flying for long periods possibly conducting aerial reconnaissance.

The renewed activity by authorities has caused anger in the resort among expats and business owners who just want to move on.

One Dutch resident, called 'Nana', complained that the police and the press are back.

She told Sky News the timing of the search at the start of the tourist season was "outrageous" and doing "tremendous" damage to the town, adding: "Luz is totally innocent."

She also wore a sign around her neck, saying: "Dig up the lies not Luz."

'Nana' denied police were doing everything they could, saying "they are on the wrong path".

The publisher of the Portugal News newspaper Paul Luckman who lives nearby said the local police are co-operating with the British teams.

He said: "They are going to do what is asked of them, they will do it professionally and properly...our information is that it will go on until the end of this week.

"I think realistically we have to say we have reached the end of the line here....there isn't anything left to do after this."

Police prepare for search in Madeleine McCann case

By Staff  The Associated Press 

LISBON, Portugal – Police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann cordoned off Monday an area of scrubland near where the British girl vanished seven years ago.

Officers placed yellow-and-white police tape around the waste ground, which is mostly level and slightly larger than a soccer field, and were expected to conduct a forensic examination of the area in coming days. Officials have previously said detectives may use excavators, dogs and ground-penetrating radar as they scrutinize the terrain.

Officials made no immediate comment on Monday’s developments. Cases that are under investigation in Portugal are covered by a judicial secrecy law, which forbids the release of information.

The scrubland is about 300 metres (330 yards) from the Praia da Luz resort in southern Portugal where Madeleine vanished from her family’s vacation apartment in May 2007, shortly before her fourth birthday. The area was searched in the days following her disappearance.

Authorities in Portugal and Britain said recently they would conduct new searches in coming weeks after reviewing the case file and a new public appeal for information.

Portuguese police closed the case in 2008 because authorities had detected no crime. The public prosecutor’s office in Lisbon last year reopened the investigation, saying new leads emerged during the case review though it did not elaborate.

British police launched Operation Grange in 2011 to try to find out what happened to Madeleine. British detectives have been sifting through the Portuguese case files and say they have identified new avenues of investigation. Among other things, they have compiled a record of cases involving sexual assaults on children in the area between 2004 and 2010. 

© The Canadian Press, 2014

Madeleine McCann: UK Cops Search Scrubland

A team of around 30 have travelled to Praia da Luz and began by unloading equipment and mapping out the four acre site.

By Tom Parmenter, Sky News Correspondent, in Praia da Luz 

British police teams have started a search of scrubland on the Algarve in their renewed investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

A team of around 30 officers and police staff have travelled to Praia da Luz and began by unloading equipment and mapping out the four acre site.

The cordoned off area is a five-minute walk from the Ocean Club complex where Madeleine, who was three at the time, was staying with her family in May 2007.

Parents Gerry and Kate McCann will be kept updated but have not travelled to Portugal.

An area has been sealed off near the Ocean Club where the family stayed

The agreement between the Metropolitan Police and their Portuguese counterparts is limited to one search area after the British team failed to get permission to search elsewhere in the resort.

It is understood they will use ground penetrating radar to identify any anomalies within the ground that may warrant further investigation with police dogs or physical digging.

Other potential search sites include another area of scrubland close to the McCanns' holiday apartment.

The land which had been earmarked for development is now fenced off but was an open area on the night Madeleine vanished.

Former Scotland Yard detective Peter Bleksley told Sky News the radar equipment likely to be used in the operation can detect if the ground has been disturbed as far back as seven years ago.

British expat residents in the town have confirmed they recently saw a military aircraft flying for long periods possibly conducting aerial reconnaissance.

The renewed activity by authorities has caused anger in the resort among expats and business owners who just want to move on.

One Dutch resident, called 'Nana', complained that the police and the press are back.

She told Sky News the timing of the search at the start of the tourist season was "outrageous" and doing "tremendous" damage to the town, adding: "Luz is totally innocent."

She also wore a sign around her neck, saying: "Dig up the lies not Luz."

'Nana' denied police were doing everything they could, saying "they are on the wrong path".

The publisher of the Portugal News newspaper Paul Luckman who lives nearby said the local police are co-operating with the British teams.

He said: "They are going to do what is asked of them, they will do it professionally and properly...our information is that it will go on until the end of this week.

"I think realistically we have to say we have reached the end of the line here....there isn't anything left to do after this."

Police search for Madeleine McCann begins near Praia da Luz

Police sources in Lisbon say the searches in scrubland close to resort are expected to last the entire week 

Brendan de Beer in Praia da Luz
theguardian.com, Monday 2 June 2014 16.04 BST 

Searches for the missing British girl Madeleine McCann have begun in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz on a piece land roughly the equivalent of three football pitches. A white tent was erected at the site around mid afternoon.

Regional Polícia Judiciária director Mota Carmo was earlier seen arriving on Monday morning with a group of British officers after holding a morning briefing which is believed to have taken place in the resort.

The search area, located about 2km from the apartment where Madeleine went missing, had been cordoned off in the early hours of Monday morning by local GNR police accompanied by dogs. One police officer guarding the area told the Guardian the dogs were there "to assist us in our job of maintaining public order", adding they would not be used in the search.

Nine vehicles, including two large vans, have congregated on a hilltop in the secured area, with officers surveying the area with binoculars and other devices.

The search commenced on Monday morning at 11am – 15 Met police officers then left the site in four vehicles at 1:50pm.



The tent was erected later in the afternoon.

A local resident, who had joined a handful of residents on the fringe of the scrubland being searched, was sceptical as to what police would achieve in their search.

"This is very rugged terrain and it hasn't rained for several days, so any digging will be a thankless task," one said.

Luz Mayor Victor Mata, while supporting the search for Madeleine, "as the people of Luz always have since the day Madeleine went missing," questioned the timing of the search.

"The official bathing started yesterday and this is time when the number of people in Luz increases four-fold.

"Livelihoods here depend on the three summer months and this disruption is not good for business. I know of at least two hotels which have had cancellations as a direct result of the searches which started this morning.

"But if police are certain over the fruits their searches might bear, locals here will be the first to join assist in any searches".

Police sources in the capital, Lisbon, said the searches are expected to last the entire week.

"The plan is for searches to commence today and we think the operation should be complete by the end of the week."

The current search is the result of a letter of international request sent by Scotland Yard to their Portuguese counterparts.

The attorney-general's office in Lisbon last week confirmed they had received another letter from British authorities but failed to reveal any details, saying "the content of this letter is confidential".

Police in Lisbon said they are aware that the Metropolitan police are interested in searching three sites in the area, but that approval had so far only been received for searches at one single site.

Reports in the local media on Monday said the equipment expected to be used in the search is thought to have been brought over by the Met.

Police in Portugal refused to comment on this report, but said: "We have access to all the equipment that could be used in the searches, except for specialised dogs, which would have to come from the UK."

Specialist equipment being used in Madeleine search

Last updated Tue 3 Jun 2014World

Madeleine McCann

Portugal 

British police have arrived in Portugal where officers have cordoned off an area of waste land in Praia da Luz in the search for Madeleine McCann.

The activity comes a fortnight after the force said it was working through every credible line of enquiry but Scotland Yard said it would not give a running commentary on the developments. 

Specialist equipment is being used to spot signs of any disturbed earth. 

ITV News Correspondent Martin Geissler reports from Praia da Luz.

Timeline of events: Madeleine McCann disappearance

Madeleine McCann  

June 2, 20147:55 am 

By Irene Ogrodnik  Global News and The Associated Press

TORONTO – Police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann have cordoned off an area of scrubland near where the British girl vanished seven years ago.

Officers placed yellow-and-white police tape today around the waste ground, which is slightly larger than a soccer field, and were expected to examine the area in coming days.

McCann vanished from a vacation home in Portugal’s Algarve region on May 3, 2007, days before her fourth birthday.

The case has generated intense media interest worldwide.

Here’s a look back at the events surrounding the case:

2007

May 3, 2007: Madeleine goes missing from a Portuguese villa while her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, have dinner with seven friends at a nearby

restaurant.

Her parents say they checked frequently on their three children sleeping that night in the apartment in the town of Praia da Luz in the Algarve region. Kate

McCann reportedly went to check on the children at 10 p.m. to find Madeleine had disappeared.

Madeleine goes missing nine days before her fourth birthday. Dozens of Portuguese police helped by search dogs look for Madeleine.

May 4, 2007: Police state they are unable to reveal details of the investigation under Portuguese secrecy laws.

May 5, 2007: Police reveal that they believe Madeleine was abducted but that they believe she is still alive. A sketch of the suspect is released but media reports state it is vague and simply features the back of a man’s head.

May 8, 2007: Police say they are unsure of Madeleine’s whereabouts after investigating more than 350 suspicious incidents.

May 11, 2007: Soccer star David Beckham makes a televised appeal, asking the public to call with any information.

May 12, 2007: Madeleine turns four-years-old.

May 14, 2007: Madeleine’s parents say they will not return home until their daughter is found. Robert Murat is named an official suspect.

May 17, 2007: The website www.findmadeleine.com is launched.

May 30, 2007: Madeleine’s parents meet with Pope Benedict.

June 1, 2007: Kate and Gerry McCann hold a news conference in Spain, pleading with local police for help.

June 22, 2007: A worldwide balloon release marks the 50th day since Madeleine disappeared.

Aug.  6, 2007: Reports state sniffer dogs have found traces of blood on a wall of the apartment where Madeleine went missing.

Aug. 11, 2007: Investigators publically acknowledge that 100 days after Madeleine went missing; they believe the young girl could be dead.

Sept. 6, 2007: Kate McCann is questioned for 11 hours as a witness by police.

Sept. 7, 2007: Portuguese police officially name the McCanns as suspects and both are questioned.

Oct. 2, 2007:  Goncalo Amaral, the head detective in the inquiry, is removed from the case after criticizing the British police.

Dec. 22, 2007: The McCanns send a public message to their daughter, stating: “Our only Christmas wish is for you to be back with us again.”

Portuguese authorities close their investigation, and say they are no longer considering the parents or Murat as suspects.  They release thousands of pages of evidence from the case, including a number of reported sightings of the girl.

ONE YEAR LATER

February 4, 2008: Portugal’s top detective says that police were “hasty” in making the McCanns suspects.

April 10, 2008: The McCanns call for a Europe-wide missing child alert system in Brussels.

July 21, 2008: Police state the McCanns and Robert Murat are no longer suspects.

TWO YEARS LATER

Aug. 6, 2009: Private detectives release a sketch of a woman whom they believe might have information about Madeleine.

The woman, a “Victoria Beckham lookalike,” reportedly had an Australian accent and was spotted by two British men in Barcelona, Spain, three days after the girl disappeared in Portugal. The woman reportedly spoke with one of the men, but investigators refused to give any details on the content of the conversation.

Sept. 23, 2009: The McCanns return to Lisbon for the first time since their daughter’s disappearance.

Nov.  3, 2009: UK police release a 60-second video of how Madeleine might look now, aged six-years-old.

THREE YEARS LATER

Jan.  12, 2010: The McCanns face former Portuguese police officer Goncalo Amaral in a libel court over his claims that Madeleine is dead and that they were involved in her disappearance.

Amaral made the allegations in his July 2008 book “Maddie: The Truth Of The Lie.”

March 6, 2010: The McCanns criticize the release of previously unseen files on their daughter’s case to British newspapers.

Nov. 2010: The McCanns announce they’re writing a book about their daughter’s disappearance.

December 2010: The McCanns issue a Christmas appeal for help in the search for Madeleine.

FOUR YEARS LATER

May 2011: The McCanns ask British Prime Minister David Cameron to launch an independent investigation into the disappearance of their daughter.

In an open letter in the Sun newspaper published on Madeleine’s eighth birthday, around the fourth anniversary of her disappearance, Kate and Gerry McCann urge the prime minister to secure a formal inquiry.

“It’s not right that a young, vulnerable British citizen has essentially been given up on,” the letter states.

June 13, 2011: Kate McCann appeals to ministers to provide more help for the families of loved ones.

July 28, 2011: A British tourist in India claims she

saw Madeleine in a market in the northern city of Leh.

The tourist says the child was with a French woman and a Belgian man.

The McCanns say their private investigator is looking into the claims, but downplay the credibility of the report.

Oct. 19, 2011: Kate and Gerry McCann launch their book “Madeleine” in Madrid. The book was written by the couple and is an account of how their daughter vanished in 2007.

FIVE YEARS LATER

April 17, 2012: Spanish police search for Madeleine in a holiday resort in Costa del Sol following a tip from colleagues in Portugal.

April 24, 2012:  British police ask Portugal to reopen the case, saying that as the fifth anniversary of her disappearance approaches there is a possibility she is still alive.

Police also release a new image of what McCann would likely look like today, expressing hope that she would be found even years after the then-three-year-old vanished.

May 3, 2012: The parents of Madeleine say they believe Portuguese authorities will eventually reopen the investigation into their daughter’s disappearance.

Madeleine’s father Geri tells journalists that there was “ongoing dialogue” with officials in Portugal. “I am sure the investigation will get opened again in due course,” he says.

SIX YEARS LATER

July 4, 2013:  British police say they have launched a full investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine and want to trace 38 “persons of interest” in the case.

Detectives also say it’s possible that Madeleine is still alive.

Oct. 14, 2013:  Portugal’s public broadcaster says prosecutors are now reopening the police investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, after a review of evidence found new leads in the case.

SEVEN YEARS LATER

June 2, 2014: Police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine cordon off an area of scrubland near where the British girl vanished.

Officers placed yellow-and-white police tape around the waste ground, which is mostly level and slightly larger than a soccer field, and were expected to conduct a forensic examination of the area in coming days. Officials have previously said detectives may use excavators, dogs and ground-penetrating radar as they scrutinize the terrain.

READ MORE: Police prepare for search in Madeleine McCann case

Officials made no immediate comment on Monday’s developments. Cases that are under investigation in Portugal are covered by a judicial secrecy law, which forbids the release of information.

- With files from the Associated Press 

Madeleine McCann: police search scrubland in Praia da Luz

Portuguese police to use ground-penetrating radar at wasteland 300m from apartment where girl disappeared in 2007 

Mark Tran  

theguardian.com, Monday 2 June 2014 10.06 BST 

Police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann have sealed off an area of scrubland in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz to begin fresh searches, which are expected to involve the use of ground-penetrating radar.

The equipment will detect whether the ground has been disturbed and excavations of any site could then follow.

Last month, Scotland Yard said it would begin a "substantial phase of activity on the ground" as part of the renewed investigation into Madeleine's disappearance.

The BBC reported that the operation was under way on Monday, with Portuguese police and dogs at the site, which is surrounded by flats and villas, many of them holiday properties. The initial search, involving a dozen British officers who will oversee the effort, is to focus on wasteland 300 metres from the Ocean Club apartments, where the McCanns were staying. The ground, which had been used to grow cabbages, is now hard and covered with bushes and thick grass.

The site has reportedly been selected because of its proximity to the Ocean Club resort and because it is in the direction of the spot where a suspect was seen walking with a little girl in his arms the night of Madeleine's disappearance.

The ground searches are expected to focus on three parts of the resort where three-year-old Madeleine went missing on 3 May 2007 while her mother and father, Kate and Gerry McCann, were having dinner with friends at a tapas restaurant near their holiday apartment.

Metropolitan police assistant commissioner Mark Rowley said last month the operation in Praia da Luz did not amount to a significant breakthrough, instead describing it as the "routine slog" of an ongoing investigation. He said there were many fruitful lines of inquiry being explored but conceded: "We may go through every line of inquiry and all of them draw a blank."

Rowley appealed for media restraint ahead of the searches, a call that was echoed by a Polícia Judiciária source in Lisbon who insisted the investigation would not be "transformed into a media circus".

The renewed searches followed negotiations between Britain and Portugal involving various international letters of request from Britain. Each search requires prior approval from prosecutors in Portugal. British police began a review of the case in 2011 at the instigation of David Cameron following appeals from the McCanns and then launched their own investigation.

Madeleine McCann: police cordon off waste land

Monday 02 June 2014 Portugal , UK

Police searching for Madeleine McCann seal off an area in Praia da Luz, where they are expected to start digging.

The area, in Praia da Luz on the Algarve where three-year-old Madeleine disappeared in May 2007, was taped off on Monday and local police officers were seen milling about with dogs.

Scotland Yard, which is carrying out its own investigation into what happened to Madeleine, said the force was "not prepared to give a running commentary" about the case.

Joing investigation

The apparent development came two weeks after Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley from Scotland Yard said officers are working through every credible line of inquiry in the search for the missing girl.

He said: "In the forthcoming weeks we are going to be going to a substantial phase of operational activity on the ground in Portugal. It's something that you would expect in any major inquiry.

"A thorough serious crime investigation works systematically through all the credible possibilities, and often in an investigation you will have more than one credible possibility.

"Therefore, just because we're doing a substantial phase of work in the forthcoming week doesn't mean that it's going to immediately lead to answers that will explain everything." 

Sex attacks 

The Portuguese have also re-opened their inquiry into Madeleince's disappearance and while they are working with the UK force, they have refused to set up an official joint investigation. The area cordoned off has been searched before.

One line of inquiry for Scotland Yard is a lone male paedophile who staged a series of sex attacks on young British girls while they were on holiday in the Algarve.

They are looking at nine sexual assaults and three "near misses" on British girls aged six to 12 between 2004 and 2006, including one in 2005 on a 10-year-old girl in Praia da Luz, where Madeleine vanished two years later.

Hundreds of people have already made contact with police in response to appeals for help to find the attacker.

Police Prepare for Search in Madeleine McCann Case

PRAIA DA LUZ, Portugal June 2, 2014 (AP) 

By HELENA ALVES and BARRY HATTON 

Police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann on Monday cordoned off scrubland near the resort where the British girl vanished seven years ago.

Officers placed yellow-and-white police tape around the waste ground, which is larger than a soccer field and covered in bushes and some trees. They were expected to conduct a forensic examination of the area in coming days. Officials have previously said detectives may use excavators, dogs and ground-penetrating radar as they scrutinize the terrain. Police kept watch over the area from an adjacent low hill.

Officials made no immediate comment on Monday's developments. Cases that are under investigation in Portugal are covered by a judicial secrecy law, which forbids the release of information.

The scrubland is about 300 meters (330 yards) from the Praia da Luz resort in southern Portugal where Madeleine vanished from her family's vacation apartment in May 2007, shortly before her fourth birthday. The area was searched in the days following her disappearance.

Authorities in Portugal and Britain said recently they would conduct new searches in coming weeks after reviewing the case file and a new public appeal for information.

Portuguese police closed the case in 2008 because authorities had detected no crime. The public prosecutor's office in Lisbon last year reopened the investigation, saying new leads emerged during the case review though it did not elaborate.

British police launched Operation Grange in 2011 to try to find out what happened to Madeleine. British detectives have been sifting through the Portuguese case files and say they have identified new avenues of investigation. Among other things, they have compiled a record of cases involving sexual assaults on children in the area between 2004 and 2010.

———— 
Hatton contributed from Lisbon, Portugal