The three-day search was called off after limited findings including animals bones were unearthed in Praia da Luz

Animal bones are reported to be among limited findings after a three-day search for forensic evidence in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann case, who vanished from a holiday home in Portugal 18 years ago, was called off.

Local media said some material had been gathered on Wednesday and sent for analysis to see if it contained anything relevant to the investigation.

German investigators were given until Friday to search an area between Praia da Luz and the cottage where he lived at the time of the toddler’s disappearance in 2007, but the search was wound up on Thursday.

Christian Brueckner, a suspect in case, is due to be released from prison within months.

A neighbour who lived near Brueckner around the time of Madeleine’s disappearance described him as “quite angry”, and said she would hear him having rows with his girlfriend.

Police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann ramped up their hunt of scrubland and abandoned buildings on Wednesday with heavy machinery, including JCB and ground-penetrating radar.

Madeleine was three when she disappeared, sparking a Europe-wide police investigation.

German national Brueckner, who was formally identified as a suspect in 2022, has denied any involvement.