German police search allotment in Madeleine McCann case
German police are searching a garden allotment in the northern city of Hanover in connection with the disappearance of British girl Madeleine McCann, prosecutors said.
“I can confirm that the search is being carried out in connection with our investigations into the Maddie McCann case,” Brunswick prosecutor Julia Meyer said, when asked about the move first reported by local newspaper Hannoversche Allgemeine Zeitung.
Police raised hopes in June that the mystery over the 2007 disappearance of the then three-year-old girl could finally be solved when they revealed they are investigating a 43-year-old German man in relation to the case.
Christian Hoppe, from Germany’s Federal Criminal Police Office (BKA), said the suspect is serving a prison sentence for a sex crime and has two previous convictions for “sexual contact with girls”.
Madeleine vanished on 3 May 2007 during a family holiday in the Algarve while her parents were dining with friends nearby in the resort of Praia da Luz.
Despite a huge international manhunt, no trace of her has been found, nor has anyone been charged over her disappearance.
The suspect has a history of previous sex offences including child sex offences and rape. He is currently serving a sentence for drug trafficking in Kiel.
He has applied to be released early on probation after having completed two-thirds of the sentence, with a decision still pending.
A court in Brunswick had separately sentenced him to seven years in prison last December for an assault against a 72-year-old US tourist in 2005 – in the same seaside village of Praia da Luz where Madeleine went missing.
But that sentence has not yet been finalised pending an appeal by the defendant’s lawyers over extradition technicalities.
According to police, the suspect lived in the Algarve region of Portugal between 1995 and 2007.
He made a living doing odd jobs in the area where Madeleine was taken, and also burgled hotel rooms and holiday flats.
German public prosecutors have said they believe Madeleine McCann is dead.
