Madeleine McCann search ends after just three days as investigators seen packing up equipment
by StephenRigley · LBCBy StephenRigley
The renewed search for missing toddler Madeleine McCann has been officially ended after just three days.
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Police have been scouring scrubland and abandoned structures near the Portuguese town of Praia da Luz, where the three-year-old British girl was last seen 18 years ago.
They spent two days focusing on one particular derelict building, using a ground-penetrating radar on the cobbled ground after clearing the area of debris and vegetation.
There was an option to extend the search until tomorrow if any clues had been found - but officers turned up "nothing of consequence".
Read More: Police deploy digger at barn in ‘now or never’ radar search for Madeleine McCann
This afternoon officers could be seen carrying equipment such as bins, boxes and folding tables away from their base area in Atalaia on the outskirts of Lagos on Thursday afternoon.
Personnel also loaded vans, which were parked at the base area near to abandoned buildings, with some of the equipment used in the searches.
The German and Portuguese investigators could be seen shaking hands and embracing as the search drew to a close.
They were seen standing in a circle for a debrief before they participated in a round of applause. One member of the search team was seen holding a crate of beer.
Authorities have not yet commented on the ending of the latest searches.
German authorities had requested the search as part of their continued attempts to find evidence to implicate prime suspect Christian Brueckner who is currently coming to the end of a prison sentence for the rape of an elderly American woman in Praia da Luz in 2005.
He has not been charged or indicted over Madeleine's disappearance and denies any involvement.
It comes 18 years after three-year-old Madeleine disappeared from Praia da Luz while on holiday with her family in 2007.
She vanished after she was left sleeping while her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, went for dinner in a nearby restaurant.