Madeleine McCann police to dig up scrubland in Praia da Luz

 
Search: Police begin combing the area of scrubland
Kiran Randhawa3 June 2014

Police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann were today preparing to dig up scrubland in Portugal.

The area was cordoned off this morning and a team of Portuguese police officers, some with dogs, and at least four vehicles were stationed on the mound to the west of Praia da Luz, where the toddler vanished in May 2007.

The development marks a significant new phase of the investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance.

Officers from the Metropolitan Police team that has been spearheading the new investigation have not yet travelled to the site.

The apparent development came two weeks after Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley from Scotland Yard said officers are working through every credible line of inquiry in the search for the missing girl.

He said: “In the forthcoming weeks we are going to be going to a substantial phase of operational activity on the ground in Portugal.

“It’s something that you would expect in any major inquiry.

“A thorough serious crime investigation works systematically through all the credible possibilities, and often in an investigation you will have more than one credible possibility.

Madeleine McCann: Police are appealing to trace a man who targeted other girls in the Algarve

“Therefore, just because we’re doing a substantial phase of work in the forthcoming week doesn’t mean that it’s going to immediately lead to answers that will explain everything.”

The Portuguese have also re-opened their inquiry into Madeleine’s disappearance and while they are working with the UK force, they have refused to set up an official joint investigation.

Madeleine McCann - In pictures

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The area cordoned off today has been searched before.

One line of inquiry for Scotland Yard is a lone male paedophile who staged a series of sex attacks on young British girls while they were on holiday in the Algarve.

They are looking at nine sexual assaults and three “near misses” on British girls aged six to 12 between 2004 and 2006, including one in 2005 on a 10-year-old girl in Praia da Luz, where Madeleine vanished two years later.

Hundreds of people have already made contact with police in response to appeals for help to find the attacker.

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