Madeleine McCann: Police will search a Portugal reservoir

The reservoir is a place where suspect Christian Brueckner would visit, the Mirror reports.

On May 3, 2007, Madeleine McCann went missing from the holiday apartment where her family were staying in Praia da Luz in Portugal.

The British toddler’s parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, have stayed hopeful that she will be found alive and that they will be reunited with her.

Madeleine McCann went missing in 2007 (Image: PA Media)

How long will the search last?

Police are expected to close the roads that lead to a man-made dam near Silves, a Portuguese town, ahead of the search that will start tomorrow (May 23), the Mirror reports.

Detectives from Scotland Yard are understood to have made their way to the area but only with a “watching brief”.

As it stands, the search will last at least two days and if anything relevant is found, it will continue.

In June 2014, the British police gained permission to do digs in Praia da Luz which saw the involvement of sniffer dogs that are trained in finding bodies as well as ground-penetrating radar.

Expert divers will explore the dam with digs also taking place in the woodland next to the water.

Barragem do Arade reservoir near Silves will be searched and this is where a lorry driver says he saw a child-like Madeleine McCann being handed over to a man by a woman two days after the toddler went missing, the Mirror reports.

The reservoir has been searched twice before, in February and March 2008, by divers who were hired by a Portuguese lawyer.

The privately-funded operation was organised by Marcos Aragao Correia after he claimed he had been tipped off by underworld contacts that the young girl had been murdered and her body was thrown into the reservoir within 48 hours of her going missing.

During the second search of the reservoir, two bags which contained small bones were found.

Divers had earlier found cord, plastic tape and one white cotton sock.

Portuguese police were made aware of the findings but due to the size of the bones, they ruled that they did not belong to a human.

Previously, Madeleine’s parents, from Rothley, Leicestershire, had dismissed Mr Correia as a self-publicist and said no evidence existed that would suggest a link between Madeleine and the reservoir.

Since March 2008, the reservoir isn’t thought to have been searched as part of the investigation into Madeleine McCann’s disappearance, according to the Mirror.