Police have been searching wells in the southernmost district of Portugal for the body of Madeleine McCann, the 3-year-old British girl who vanished from the resort where her family was staying 13 years ago.
The Daily Mail said that rescue firefighters, including a team of expert divers, searched a third well in the area on Thursday, this one just over six miles from Praia da Luz, where McCann was last seen in 2007.
Two previous well searches took place in Vila do Bispo, a 20 minute drive west of Praia da Luz, the newspaper said.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, McCann was on vacation with her family in May 2007 and is believed to have been kidnapped in her sleep. Investigators in multiple countries have identified Christian Brueckner, 43, as the prime suspect in McCann’s disappearance. Brueckner, who has denied a connection with the disappearance, is in prison in Germany on drug charges, but he has prior convictions for child molestation and rape. Witnesses have said someone who looked like Brueckner was in the area of the Praia da Luz resort at the time McCann disappeared.
After Brueckner was named as the suspect, the Daily Mail said, Portuguese investigators were reportedly put on standby to search wells or other possible locations as burial sites as German prosecutors gathered more information.
Brueckner was also convicted of raping a 72-year-old American woman in Praia da Luz in 2005. Brueckner reportedly moved to Praia da Luz in 1995 after serving part of a two-year sentence for molesting a 6-year-old girl.
For the latest true crime and justice news, subscribe to the ‘Crime Stories with Nancy Grace’ podcast:
[Featured image: A waiter hangs Madeleine McCann’s picture in Portugal a week after she went missing. (AP Photo/Armando Franca)]
