Police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann have this morning cordoned off an area of scrubland on the western edge of Praia da Luz as the seven-year investigation enters what has been reported to be “a significant new phase”.
Intriguingly, the area to be minutely searched with the help of ground-penetrating radar is not one that had been highlighted as a potential ‘search spot’ in recent news reports, but it is one that was searched when Madeleine was first reported missing on May 3, 2007.
The large area is on a rise overlooking the sea, at least a quarter of a mile from where the McCann’s stayed on their fateful holiday.
It is the first area on Met investigators’ list and as former police search advisor Keith Farquharson told Sky News this morning: “They wouldn’t just be identifying that part by plucking it out of thin air. They have obviously got hard information and the evidence trail is leading to that particular area.”
Luz residents have been aware of military aircraft flying over the village recently “possibly conducting aerial reconnaissance”, said Sky News which is leading this morning with details of the search.
The news channel added that Madeleine’s parents Kate and Gerry will be “the first to know” if anything is discovered but, for now at least, they are “staying away” and are not believed to be in Portugal.
It is ironic that this latest phase of police activity should coincide with the official start of the Algarve’s “beach season”.
As police descended on the village, lifeguards in Luz were setting up beach huts and preparing the region for tourist throngs.
Indeed, locals as well as visitors have criticised the timing of this high-profile search “after so many years”, particularly as SKY reporter Tom Parmenter pointed out “there are no guarantees that any of this will yield results”.
Police activity is expected to last for “days rather than hours”, he added.
If anything significant is discovered by police accompanied by sniffer dogs, “perhaps digging will follow”.
Parmenter added that the Algarve’s very dry conditions favoured working with ground-penetrating radar. “It will work a great deal better in Portugal than in UK,” he said.
