Police spent three days scouring reservoir after request by German authorities hoping to prove case against convicted rapist

Portuguese police have said material unearthed from a reservoir in Algarve will be sent to Germany for analysis after the first major search for Madeleine McCann in a decade came to a close.

After three days of excavation on a spit of land jutting into the Barragem do Arade reservoir in south Portugal, officers were stood down and a spokesperson for the Polícia Judiciária said the collected material would be delivered to the German authorities.

Search reportedly to take place at behest of German authorities about 25 miles from where Madeleine went missing

An active search for Madeleine McCann is to be carried out for the first time in nearly a decade in a reservoir in Portugal, according to reports.

Police officers are to search Barragem do Arade reservoir near the town of Silves in the Algarve, according to German media, about 25 miles (40km) from Praia da Luz where Madeleine disappeared aged three from her family’s holiday apartment on 3 May 2007.

German prosecutor says investigators are sure Christian Brückner killed three-year-old and have ‘new facts’

Fresh evidence has been found against the prime suspect in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, a German prosecutor has revealed.

Hans Christian Wolters said in an interview on Portuguese television that investigators believed they had found “some facts, some new evidence, not forensic evidence.”

German police had previously said Christian Brueckner, 44, was probably responsible for toddler’s disappearance in 2007

A German man has been formally identified as a suspect in the disappearance of British toddler Madeleine McCann 15 years ago, Portuguese prosecutors have said.

Christian Brueckner, a convicted rapist, has been made an “arguido”, translated as “named suspect” or “formal suspect” who is treated by Portuguese police as more than a witness but has not been arrested or charged.

The German’s lawyer said that his client has not been charged over the case.

Prosecutors in Faro did not publicly name the man but said in a statement he was identified as a suspect by German authorities at their request.

The timing of the move could be related to Portugal’s 15-year statute of limitations for crimes with a maximum prison sentence of 10 years or more. Madeleine disappeared on 3 May 2007, while on holiday with her parents in Praia da Luz in Portugal.

It is the first time that Portuguese prosecutors have identified an official suspect in the case since Kate and Gerry McCann, Madeleine’s parents, were named suspects in 2007. They were later cleared.

Prosecutors said the investigation has been carried out with cooperation from British and German authorities.