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Ex-Met cop shares why fresh search for missing Madeleine McCann is differentPeter Kirkham pointed out one key difference in this week's renewed searches for the British toddler who went

missing on holiday in Portugal almost two decades agoCommentsNewsSteven White22:42, 03 Jun 2025Peter said officers will be using the latest technology in the searches this week(Image: MDM) A

former Met Detective Chief Inspector said that the new search for Madeleine McCann is not just a case of going over old ground.

However, Peter Kirkham warned that there is only a small chance of finding a breakthrough in the case of the toddler who went missing on holiday in Portugal in 2007. "There have been several

large scale searches connected to the Madeleine McCann investigation in the many years since she disappeared in Praia Da Luz. So what is different this time?" he asked when writing in the

Mirror.

‌ Mr Kirkham noted that the key difference from previous searches is the inclusion of a potential suspect to work back from. He said: "The main difference is that on this occasion, officers

are not just working from the crime scene but working back from a possible suspect – Christian Brueckner – too.

‌Madeleine was just three years old when she vanished(Image: PA) "This provides a very different context for the investigation as a whole and for the searches in particular but the

importance of this is often overlooked." He noted that setectives investigating serious crimes are often engaged in what is known as a "reactive investigation".

This is when a crime happens and officers respond to it by following lines of specific enquiry that could explain how it came to happen. These types of searches are often concentrated on the

crime scene due to the fact that at least a some of the crime must have occurred there.

Article continues below He went on: "But where detectives know someone who they suspect of committing the crime they can focus on lines of enquiry arising from them too. They will know some

things about the suspect – such as where they live or work, what car they drive and hundreds of other things – which provide a new focus for searches.

"Officers engaged in the previous, reactive investigation simply did not know of the potential new locations." He admitted that it's hard to understand exactly what is happening behind the

scenes.

Pervert Christian Brueckner is a suspect in the case of missing Madeleine (Image: Getty Images)‌ In this case, the German police who led the investigation centred on Brueckner have released

little detail to the public, he said.

Mr Kirkham added: "It is, however, clear to me as a former Senior Investigating Officer that most of the searches planned for the next few days arise from lines of enquiry starting with

Brueckner and will be at locations connected with him in some way.

"This makes the searches 'new', in the sense that the officers conducting the previous, reactive investigation into the disappearance could not have carried them out. As they were unaware of

Brueckner as a significant suspect they had no reason to search locations connected to him.

‌ "This means the current searches are not just the police going over old ground again in case they missed something previously. And it means there is more chance of something new being

found, if (and it is a very big if) the suspicions about Brueckner are correct and he was involved."

Portuguese and German investigators work during a new search for Madeleine (Image: AFP via Getty Images) The ex-cop said that this week's searches will see officers equipped with the "very

latest technology" to help them. Ground penetrating radar and other equipment used in these types of search improve every year, he noted, and offer the chance to revisit previous areas

searched with lesser tools at the time.

‌ He continued: "Out of public sight, there will also have been a huge amount of research carried out into the circumstances of the disappearance. No doubt some gaps in previous searches

will have been identified which will be filled over the next few days too.

"All of that said, however, when it comes to the fundamental question of whether these searches will finally find some trace of Madeleine and explain how and why she disappeared in 2007, I

am still fairly pessimistic. The suspicions about Brueckner, whilst substantial, fall a long way short of being any sort of proof of his involvement."

Mr Kirkham said that although Brueckner is the "best suspect" known to officers at this time, there are "others, known and unknown". He also conceded that no one is yet absoltely sure of

what happened to the three-year-old the night she went missing.

Article continues below He finished: "There are several other possible explanations which cannot be eliminated, even after nearly twenty years of international investigation. I hope the

searches find something which moves the investigation forward.

"Madeleine’s parents and family have suffered from not knowing what happened to her for almost twenty years now. They deserve something after all this time. But, sadly, the chances of these

searches providing that something are very, very small."

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