Scotland Yard Detectives in Portugal Getting Set to Dig

British police use helicopter as they fly over Portuguese wasteland
 in new hunt for Madeleine McCann after her disappearance
 from holiday resort seven years ago

British policemen take to the air in fresh search for Madeleine McCann
Detectives scoured Praia da Luz and coastline using helicopter
Specialist officers expected to examine several sites in holiday resort
Team said to consist of six police officials and two forensics experts
Digging comes seven years after British girl went missing aged three
Scotland Yard wants to speak with eight witnesses 'relevant' to case
This has been requested in letter to the Portuguese attorney general

Detectives from Scotland Yard have used a helicopter in a fresh search for Madeleine McCann ahead of crucial excavation work in the holiday resort where she vanished.

After Scotland Yard detectives met with Portuguese authorities, an Alouette helicopter scoured the Praia da Luz coast on an apparent reconnaissance mission.

Military photographers, who were accompanied by British policemen, took pictures of the beach and key sites in the resort where detectives plan to dig for clues in the coming days.

Aerial view: Specialist officers are expected to examine several sites in
Praia da Luz after permission to dig was granted by Portuguese authorities,
seven years after Maddie went missing from the area aged three

The preparatory work began amid ongoing tensions between British and Portuguese authorities over the cold case inquiry into Madeleine's disappearance seven years ago.

A team of Scotland Yard detectives flew in to the country on Wednesday and later met with their counterparts for four hours.

It is thought they have requested permission to question eight crucial witnesses after being given the green light to excavate key sites yards from where Madeleine was last seen on May 3, 2007.


They have already had requests rejected by the Policia Judiciaria, however, including plans to raid homes of some of the prime suspects in the case.

Scotland Yard commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said yesterday: 'There are always going to be complications when you have got one police force in one country working with the police force of another.

‘They are doing searches as much as to rule scenarios out as much as rule them in. They will be concentrating on several different places at different phases.

‘Certain areas should have been searched properly way back by the Portuguese authorities but were not.’

Area near ocean Club Resort near trail where one witness
saw a man and small child the night Maddy disappeared

The searches are not being conducted as the result of any new information. They are a sensitive issue for the Portuguese because any digging would suggest local police have done too little. Duh! Is there anyone who doesn't already know that?

It is understood that the McCanns will not travel to Portugal but will be kept abreast of any developments at home. The high-profile dig is the latest stage of the Met’s sweeping cold case review of a notorious abduction.

A team of detectives have been undertaking a painstaking search through every document collected during the huge inquiry.

They have also made a series of appeals on the BBC’s Crimewatch which has led to new information coming to light. Police are expected to dig up two areas of land near the Ocean Club’s apartment 5a, where Madeleine vanished on May 3, 2007. They will also examine the beach.

Fresh aerial photographs are likely to be taken of the sites to assess the geography and geology. Officers on foot will examine the most likely locations, looking for any changes in vegetation, disturbances among rocks, unusual depressions or excess soil.

Hi-tech tools can detect changes in magnetic fields in the ground caused by disturbed earth and changes to resistance in wet soil caused by a body.

Ground penetrating radar and similar equipment was used during a search at the Haut de la Garenne former children’s home in Jersey several years ago.

On that occasion, police also employed specialist sniffer dogs and archaeologists, as well as pathologists to look for bodies. Last month, police announced they were about to begin ‘operational activity’ on the ground in Portugal, raising hopes that arrests could be imminent.

Any formal interviews will be conducted by Portuguese police with Met officers sitting in.

Officers are trying to identify a serial sex attacker who may have struck at least 18 times in Algarve resorts from 2004 to 2010.

Several British girls, including one as young as ten, were assaulted as they slept in their beds.

Last Saturday was the anniversary of Madeleine’s disappearance and prayers were said for her at her village church in Rothley, Leicestershire

Mr McCann, 45, said then: ‘The Met are going back out to Portugal very soon. They are chipping away and there is new evidence. We are going to continue hoping we get a happy outcome.’