Police are starting a new search only 50km from where Madeleine McCann was last seen, 16 years after she vanished in Portugal. Portuguese police will search a reservoir inland from where a British three-year-old disappeared in 2007, according to authorities.

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A fire brigade spokesperson said a police search was set to begin on Tuesday at a dam in the southern Algarve region, about 50 kilometers inland from the beach resort where Madeleine vanished from a rented apartment while on vacation with her family.

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According to a source with knowledge of the investigation, the operation in the municipality of Silves was conducted at the request of German authorities, who last year formally named German citizen Christian Brueckner as an official suspect in McCann’s disappearance.

Brueckne is a prolific burglar who has also been found guilty of committing sexual crimes against young girls.

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He moved to Portugal in his late teens to work in the food industry after being born in Germany in 1976.
Between 1995 and 2007, he is thought to have lived there, spending time in his campervan close to the Praia da Luz resort in the Algarve.

Pictures of Brueckner in prison in Germany, where he is currently incarcerated, have been made public.
He is described as having short blond hair, standing at about 6 feet tall, and being slim.

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A yellow and white VW T3 Westfalia campervan belonging to Brueckner was reportedly seen close to the Praia da Luz resort in Portugal, the location of Maddie’s disappearance. This led to the identification of Brueckner as a suspect in the case.

He dismissed the accusations made against him and denied being in the area at the time.
However, according to German prosecutors, phone logs indicate he received a call on May 3, 2007, close to the Ocean Club.

Brueckner insists that he was miles away with a young German woman whom he was allegedly driving to the Faro airport.