[imagesource:here]

Whilst Madeleine McCann’s parents will probably never give up hope of finding their daughter alive, by now, they must fear the worst.

It’s been more than 13 years she went missing from a holiday apartment in Portugal, and recent developments point to her having been murdered.

The prime suspect, Christian Brückner, is currently in prison in Germany for a drugs offence, and the search that has begun in the garden of a plot of land near Hanover is believed to be linked to him.

Sky’s crime correspondent Martin Brunt called the search a “dramatic development”, with more below from the Guardian:

A small excavator is being used to clear the plot and police officers are combing the ground with rakes and shovels, according to footage shown on German media…

One resident of Hanover said up to 100 officers had been present at the allotment. Forensics officers in white suits and accompanied by sniffer dogs were also reportedly on the scene.

Image: Alexander Koerner/Getty Images

The allotment lies in the rural region between Hanover Ahlem and Seelze-Letter, and is around 40 miles from Braunschweig, where Brückner was last registered as living. It is flanked by a small house and shed which Brückner is believed to have lived in.

Image: AP Photo/Martin Meissner

Clearly, German investigators believe Maddie is no longer alive, which is something they have already publicly stated, whilst admitting that they don’t have enough evidence to get a warrant for Brückner on those charges.

A neighbour in the area says that the search seemed to be focused on an area of the plot where a bungalow had been built, as well as a garden shed, with investigators set to continue their efforts today.

The garden plot search comes a few weeks after police in Portugal searched three wells in the Algarve area, which is where Maddie and her family were on holiday at the time of her disappearance.

[source:guardian]