British tabloids claim that an elderly couple’s discovery of what they called a “shrine” to missing toddler Maddie McCann — just a few months after her disappearance — may have prompted last week’s search of a remote Portuguese reservoir prime suspect Christian Brueckner allegedly called his “little paradise.”
The British couple, who asked to be identified only as Ralf and Ann, retired to their Portuguese holiday home near the Barragem do Arade reservoir and told the Daily Mail that they spotted the trio of rocks, with a photograph of Maddie and flowers, eight months after the 3-year-old girl’s disappearance in 2007. They said they took photos and notified Portuguese authorities but never heard back.
Then, three years ago, when German police named Brueckner the prime suspect in the girl’s disappearance and presumed murder, Ralf and Ann said they tried again, contacting German authorities this time.
“I immediately contacted the (criminal investigations unit) in Germany and told them what we had, and I received a reply within a few hours,” Ralf said. “They wanted to know everything we had seen, and then they asked me to send them the pictures, and they sent a map of the reservoir, asking me to point out where the stones were.”
The stones were a half mile across the water from a picnic area where Portuguese police were seen searching this week.
Portuguese police searched the area for three days, at the request of German authorities, as CrimeOnline reported.
“[The search] resulted in the collection of some material that will be subject to the competent expertise. The material collected will be handed over to the German authorities,” police said.
Other sources said that nothing of real significance was found.
The toddler disappeared on May 3, 2007, while her parents were having dinner at the Praia da Luz resort. The reservoir is about 30 miles from the resort.
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[Featured image: Police work by the banks of the Arade reservoir near Silves, Portugal on May 23, 2023. (AP Photo/Joao Matos) Insert: Madeleine McCann]
