Madeleine McCann disappearance: Hidden cellar found as German garden digs ends

Madeleine McCann Credit: PA/AP

Police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann have finished their search of a garden in Germany.

Local media reported officers have discovered the remains of a cellar at the site.

Prosecutors said the two-day search in Hanover was linked to a murder investigation against a 43-year-old man but could not comment further.

Police work at the scene Credit: Peter Steffen/dpa/AP

Madeleine was three when she went missing while on holiday with her family in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on May 3, 2007.



German investigators believe a suspect known as Christian B killed her soon after abducting her from a holiday apartment in the resort.

Christian B is currently in prison in Germany. Credit: PA

Christian B is currently in jail in Germany for drug dealing.

He is appealing against a conviction for the 2005 rape of a 72-year-old woman, also at Praia da Luz.

Newspaper Bild reported the foundations of a garden house were found on the site and, among the remains, a hidden cellar room was found.

German prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters, who is leading the investigation into Christian B, had previously said prosecutors have “concrete evidence”, but not “forensic evidence” that Madeleine was killed by the suspect.

He said they may “know more” than Scotland Yard, who are still treating the case as a missing person investigation.

There has also been search activity in Portugal.

Earlier this month The Mirror reported that police and divers in the Algarve examined three disused wells around 10 miles from Praia da Luz.