Investigators looking for new evidence in the Madeleine McCann case are preparing to drain two wells as they comb the site around a derelict farmhouse in Portugal in the hope of finding signs of the missing three-year-old's body.Portuguese and German police today launched joint searches of an area in Portugal's Algarve region, a short distance from the beach resort of Praia da Luz where the British toddler disappeared while on holiday in 2007.A source involved in the search operation said the targeted area is 'vast' with police using ground-penetrating radar across several hectares.Prosecutors in Germany formally identified convicted paedophile Christian Brueckner as an official suspect in the case in 2022.Should investigators uncover any relevant evidence, this could mean they finally press charges against Brueckner, who is nearing the end of a seven-year jail sentence for raping a woman in the Algarve in 2006.The scale of the searches, described as a ‘last-throw-of-the-dice’, could be the most extensive in the McCann case since the initial investigation was closed in 2008. But cracks have already started to show between the German team and local authorities, with Portuguese cops warning that the latest search, like so many before it, will come to nothing.Cops said they are 'complying' with decisions taken by their German counterparts, with an anonymous source saying overnight: 'We have low expectations about these searches but we’ve got our orders and we’re not going to stand in the way.' A worker could be seen using a spade to dig ground along the side of a rundown building, while others wearing gloves were seen carrying branches away Supply tents had been set up used to store equipment including the new ground penetrating radar system Madeleine went missing on May 3, 2007, while on holiday with her family in the Algarve town of Praia da Luz, sparking a frenzied search and gaining the attention of the world's media Prosecutors in Germany formally identified convicted paedophile Christian Brueckner as an official suspect in the case in 2022 Portuguese Investigation Police arrive in a van on the site where investigators are carrying out new search operations Criminal Investigators stand in a field near ruins during the new search operations A van belonging to Portugal's Maritime Police attended the scene. The force has jurisdiction over coastal areas Footage of the scene showed uniformed officers on a cordon on a dirt road in Atalaia Investigators are seen at the site which is a short drive from Praia da Luz, where Madeleine was last seen A police cordon is seen at the site, which is a mix of shrubland and woodland by the coast