Madeleine McCann police probe samples of 'clothes and bone fragments found during their new search in Portugal'
Investigators launched fresh searches last week through a stretch of scrubland littered with rubbish and graffiti-covered buildings linked by a network of dusty tracks known in Portuguese as the Fisherman's Trail.
Connecting Praia da Luz with the nearby town of Lagos, the track is a popular hiking route for tourists, but for four days last week it was cordoned off for members of the BKA - Germany 's equivalent of the FBI - to conduct their searches.
Sources close to the investigation said that 'only animal bones and bits of old adult clothing' have been found in the estimated £300,000 operation.
One officer told MailOnline: 'We always knew it was going to be a waste of time but we have to show cooperation.
'What did they expect to find after 18 years? We were happy to work with them but we knew it would be a waste of time.'
But Portuguese media claimed the search turned up enough material that investigators deemed worthy of further analysis at a laboratory.
'During the search, several items were seized that will be examined further by the German police,' reported CNN Portugal.
The materials will now be carefully analyzed in the police laboratory 'to assess their potential relevance to the investigation', according the daily newspaper Correio da Manhã.
It comes as convicted rapist and paedophile Christian Brueckner - the man who German prosecutors believe was behind Madeleine's disappearance - draws closer to his release from prison.
Brueckner, 48, was sensationally named by German authorities in June 2020 as the man responsible for Madeleine's abduction and murder, but he has not been charged – and the sands of time are running out.
He has vehemently denied the allegations.
Brueckner is currently serving a seven-year sentence for a separate rape case, but is due for release in September and has already vowed to leave Germany.
As a result, it means prosecutors will have trouble bringing him to court should they find enough evidence to charge him in connection with Madeleine's disappearance.
His earliest possible release date is September 17 - though his lawyer said he would have to pay €1500 in outstanding fines from a series of motor offences to leave then.
Brueckner's lawyer Philipp Marquort told MailOnline:'I haven't had a chance to speak with him yet about the searches and I am not going to comment on what has been happening in Portugal.
'What I will say is that I don't think he will be coming out in September as he doesn't have any money to pay the fines because it went on his legal fees, so I can't see him leaving prison until early next year.
'He will probably see the news on the TV in his cell and he will talk about it when he calls me next time but I still do think when he is freed he will leave Germany.'
Polcie searched the remote Portuguese area for three days
Meanwhile, German prosecutors have been accused by Portuguese media of failing to properly investigate a claim that McCann was run over by a drunk driver.
Portuguese officers allegedly received a tip about a British man who was 'covering up a dark secret' about his German wife running over Madeleine while drunk, then hiding the body.
But German authorities rejected a Portuguese request to use an undercover police officer to try to befriend the wife and firm up their suspicions, Portuguese daily Correio da Manha claimed.
The report - which claims a sister of the British husband made the tip-off to police in the UK in 2018 - said: 'German prosecutors were asked to authorise a covert police operation with someone posing as a friend of the woman's and trying to get her to confess, but the courts refused.
'It was decided to continue solely with the investigation into suspect Christian Brueckner, rejecting other possibilities.'
Correio da Manha said the mystery couple were 'alcoholics' and the wife had been drinking near the Ocean Club on the night Madeleine went missing.
It also claimed the couple's neighbour had told police she heard them rowing the day after the three-year-old disappeared.
She said she heard the man yelling 'Why did you bring her?' over and over again.
Portuguese police are reportedly said to have got the knock-back from the Germans after urging them to look more closely into the possibility the 'German wife' had driven home 'drunk' with Madeleine after running her over, then enlisting her husband's help in disposing of the body at sea.
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