THE last-gasp search for Madeleine McCann has been called off at the end of the third day – dashing hopes of nailing Christian Brueckner to the case with DNA evidence.
Scores of cops painstakingly combed scrubland near Praia da Luz with JCBs, radar and fingertip searches, believing the tot or her pyjamas could have been buried there.
There was an option to extend the search until tomorrow if any clues had been found – but cops turned up “nothing of consequence”.
Despite initial suggestions samples collected during the search would be sent to Germany for analysis, Portuguese sources this afternoon confirmed that would not happen.
Animal bones and adult clothing were unearthed, but no traces linked to Madeleine McCann, so there is no cause for further inspection.
A Portuguese police officer told The Sun: “We have found nothing. There is nothing worth being sent to Germany for testing. We are finishing today.”
A group of 30 officers was seen searching scrubland on foot before dismantling the cordon tape around 4pm.
Attention now turns to prime suspect Brueckner’s impending release from jail, when he is expected to flee from Germany and slip away for good.
Prosecutors have until September to rustle up an extension to his sentence to guarantee the opportunity to bring him to justice in the event of conclusive evidence.
At least five abandoned stone farmhouses and barns were scoured in the area, where Brueckner is known to have lived in a “wild camp”.
