German police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann are carrying out fresh searches in Portugal, police in the UK have said.
The Metropolitan Police say they are “aware” of the searches being carried out by German federal police in Portugal – where Madeleine disappeared in 2007 while on holiday with her family in the resort of Praia da Luz.
A spokesperson for the force said: “We are aware of the searches being carried by the BKA (German federal police) in Portugal as part of their investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.
“The Metropolitan Police Service is not present at the search, we will support our international colleagues where necessary.”
Madeleine, aged three, was asleep with her younger twin siblings in the family’s Portuguese rented holiday apartment before mother Kate discovered her missing at around 10pm on 3 May, 2007.
Her parents were dining nearby on the complex with friends and taking turns to check on all their sleeping children every half an hour.
It comes as Portuguese police sources told Sky’s partner in Portugal, SIC Noticias, that the search is expected to start on Tuesday morning.
Officers are expected to search more than 20 rustic plots of land in the easternmost part of Praia da Luz – near where Madeleine disappeared 18 years ago, and close to the house where suspect Christian B lived at the time.
Christian B, who cannot be fully identified under Germany’s privacy law, is currently in jail and coming to the end of his sentence for the rape of an elderly American woman in the resort.
He has not been charged or indicted in relation to the disappearance of Madeleine. A German prosecutor told Sky News in January that he will not face any charges in the foreseeable future.
In October, he was acquitted on a series of rape and indecent assault charges after a non-jury trial in Germany, in which several references were made to his status as the main suspect in the Madeleine case.
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