Police on Thursday (May 25) wrapped up the latest search effort in the 16-year-old hunt for missing British girl Madeleine McCann. They collected unspecified samples by a reservoir in Portugal but a German prosecutor played down hopes of an imminent breakthrough. Portuguese police said in a statement the three-day operation requested by Germany was now over and that the collected material would be handed over to German authorities after “safeguarding the interests of the investigation still ongoing in Portugal”. Police would not say whether any useful clues were found during the search that involved sniffer dogs, use of a tractor-based tree-cutter and investigators raking the cleared ground in a few small areas.

A source close to the investigation told Reuters there was nothing tangible to report. German authorities, who have named a suspect in the case, have been helping Portuguese crews comb the remote area inland from the Algarve coastal resort where McCann – then aged three – went missing during a family holiday in 2007. The command centre near the reservoir was dismantled by late afternoon on Thursday. German prosecutor Christian Wolters told Reuters expectation was not high and that it was important to show that authorities were investigating the case. He did not expect the results of the studies of the collected samples to be announced any time soon. The Sun newspaper brings you the latest breaking news videos and explainers from the UK and around the world Stay informed on the dynamic world of UK politics with The Sun.

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