MADDIE BOMBSHELL
POLICE have launched a major search for Madeleine McCann's body at a remote reservoir and dam that the prime suspect called his "little paradise".
German and Portuguese cops investigating Christian B are starting to search the desolate site 45 minutes from Praia da Luz where Maddie vanished in 2007.
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Pictures showed police tents being erected and officers scouring the shoreline at Arade Dam near Silves.
And the conditions are looking good for the search, with a local drought meaning the water level is very low.
German investigators who suspect Christian B are believed to have requested the search after discovering new leads.
The spot is around 30 miles from the Ocean Club apartment where the three-year-old disappeared from while on holiday with her parents Kate and Gerry.
Arade Dam can only be accessed by a dirt road and has been linked to the Maddie case before and was searched in 2008.
It was the location of a sighting days after she vanished with a woman handing a child matching her description to a mystery man.
The evidence sparking the renewed search remains unknown - but sources said Christian B used to call the dam his "little paradise".
He was reportedly "seen there often" and would sometimes spend the night in the barren area near an derelict hilltop diner.
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And the reservoir is located in-between where he would park his grotty camper van in Praia da Luz and a villa in which he would stay in Foral.
"[Christian B] moved around that area. He had a house 12miles from the place," a source told The Sun.
"British authorities will come too to supervise and the Germans may join the search. The operation is expected to last two days- maybe more.
“We are also hearing criminal science experts will join.
"Most of it will take place on land but also part on the dam water, which is currently very shallow owing to a drought.”
German police insist Christian B is the man they believe took Maddie - but three years after announcing him as a suspect, they have yet to bring charges.
The 2008 search of the dam turned up a 17ft length of cord, strips of tape, and small bones - but none of this has ever been linked definitively to the case.
Portuguese police are soon expected to start closing off roads soon leading to the man-made dam near the town of Silves.
The official start of the search tomorrow - but police are already on the ground.
Scotland Yard detectives are understood to have travelled to the area but only with a “watching brief.”
The search is set to last for at least two days and beyond that if anything of relevance is found.
It will be the first major operation in Portugal of its kind since June 2014.
British police were given permission to do digs that involved sniffer dogs trained in detecting bodies and ground-penetrating radar in Praia da Luz.
The new search is expected to include divers exploring the murky depths of the reservoir behind the dam.
Cops are also expected to dig up the woods by the water.
The area which will be searched is the Barragem do Arade reservoir near Silves.
Portuguese broadcaster SIC reported German police sought permission to search the dam in an official judicial request to Portugal after concluding it was an “area of interest.”
It said: “Investigators know suspect Christian B used to come to this dam regularly.
“He would call it his little paradise and would often spend the night here. He was seen here often.
“The German authorities considered this reservoir to be an area of interest and ended up sending an International letter of request or letter rogatory."
Today is being described as a preparation day in which the logistics to enable the search proper to start tomorrow are being put in place.
The Portuguese Policia Judiciaria is coordinating the work that is being done.
It was not immediately clear when the German search request was made but it is thought to have been sent to Portugal several weeks ago.
Although divers are expected to participate in an underwater search, local reports are claiming around “80 per cent” of the searches will be land searches and the rest underwater ones.
The reservoir was searched twice in February and March 2008 by divers hired by a Portuguese lawyer.
Marcos Aragao Correia organised the privately-funded operation after claimed he received an "underworld" tip.
He claimed he had been tipped off by underworld contacts that Madeleine had been murdered and her body thrown into the reservoir within 48 hours of her disappearance.
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Two bags containing small bones were found during the second search after divers had earlier recovered several lengths of cord, some plastic tape and a single white cotton sock.
Portuguese police were alerted following the discovery but subsequently ruled out the possibility the bones were human because of their size.
Madeleine’s parents Gerry and Kate McCann had previously dismissed Mr Correia as a self-publicist and said there was no evidence suggesting any link between their daughter and the reservoir.
It is not thought to have been searched since March 2008 as part of the ongoing investigation into her disappearance.
The peninsula just over a mile long jutting into the reservoir was sealed off just after midday on Monday.
Several local council lorries were spotted on the piece of land as tents and other structures were erected.
Behind them in another area just under a mile away Portuguese Civil Protection workers were seen setting up a large blue tent alongside police who had mounted their own blue tent.
An onlooker said: “There are around two dozen Policia Judiciaria officers who seem to be supervising things at this stage.”
There was no obvious sign of any German police today although they are due in the area later.
Portuguese officials have not yet made any official comment.
It was not immediately clear what had prompted this week’s operation.
German police have had a long-running probe into Christian B - and despite slow progress just last month vowed "nothing had changed".
Christian B's lawyers have been defiant and have long insisted his innocence.
The sex offender is known to have been living near Praia da Luz - engaging in petty crime such as stealing from hotel rooms when Maddie vanished.
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One well-placed source described it as a German-led operation which was being coordinated with the help of Portuguese police.
They said it linked to information the authorities had gleaned pointing to regular trips had made to the dam.
The insider said: “Portuguese police will offer logistical support but the initiative is German and they were the ones that requested the work that is going to take place this week.
“Scotland Yard officers are due to travel to Portugal but theirs will be a watching brief.”
Earlier this month Kate and Gerry posted a poignant tribute to mark their daughter’s 20th birthday, telling her: “We love you and we’re waiting for you. We’re never going to give up.”
They added: “Happy Birthday Madeleine. Still missing. Still very much missed. Still looking. For as long as it takes.”
The message on the official Find Maddie Campaign Facebook page accompanied a cherished last photo of her as a three-year-old, beaming in a pink sunhat and clutching tennis balls.
Kate and Gerry are expected to be kept informed of any developments as a result of the new search through Scotland Yard liaison officers.
German prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters has consistently said he is convinced Madeleine is dead and the caged paedophile, 45, has been named as the sole suspect.
The deviant, currently serving time for the September 2005 rape of an American OPA in the resort where Madeleine vanished, has yet to face any formal accusation over the youngster’s disappearance.
Last April he was made an official suspect or arguido in Portugal over Madeleine’s disappearance, although his defence lawyer Friedrich Fulscher labelled it a “procedural trick” linked to statute of limitations legislation at the time.
Last autumn he was charged in Germany with several sex crimes on the Algarve against women and children including the rape of an Irish holiday rep in 2004 and the sexual abuse of a 10-year-old girl on a beach near Praia da Luz in 2007.
His lawyer revealed in April those charges had been dropped against him in a bombshell development after successfully arguing prosecutors had no jurisdiction over him in Braunschweig where the Madeleine case was being brought.
The case could end up with prosecutors in Saxony-Anhalt instead but an appeal lodged by the Braunschweig public prosecutor’s office has yet to be decided.
Braunschweig prosecutor Mr Wolters has insisted they are still in control of the Madeleine McCann investigation.
In July 2020 Portuguese police and firefighters searched three wells for Madeleine’s body but failed to find any trace of her.
The abandoned wells are a 15 minute drive from a cottage rented on the outskirts of Praia da Luz, on a narrow road leading down to a beach where the paedophile used to park his VW camper van.
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The Scotland Yard digs nearly nine years ago in Praia da Luz were linked to the leading UK police theory at the time Madeleine died during a break-in and burglars dumped her body nearby.
The searches failed to find any trace of the missing youngster.
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