The evidence was found near the Portuguese seaside resort where Madeleine McCann went missing.

Madeleine McCann (Image: Getty)

Investigators looking into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann have sent tiny fragments, recovered at last week’s search, to Germany for testing.

The search of an area close to where the British toddler went missing and regularly used by convicted German paedophile Christian Brueckner, 38, seemingly ended in disappointment last Thursday as investigators failed to unearth concrete evidence connected to the disappearance.

But it has since been revealed that tiny fragments of clothes and bone were recovered, which could help to connect Brueckner, German police’s main suspect, with the crime.

A source told the Berlin Morning Post: “Several objects have apparently been discovered, which are now being examined in more detail by the police in the laboratory.

As Portuguese media report, clothing debris and bones were found, among other things.

Police are beleived to have recovered fragments which are currently being tested (Image: James Manning/PA Wire)

“The investigators have not officially commented on whether the finds could have anything to do with Madeleine’s disappearance but that is clearly their hope.”

The samples are now being tested in Germany with police hoping that they can provide a forensic breakthrough into the case which has puzzled detectives since 2007, when the three-year-old went missing from her holiday apartment in Praia da Luz while her parents dined nearby.

Brueckner is coming towards the end of a jail sentence after being convicted in 2020 of the 2005 rape of an elderly American tourist in the resort where Madeleine was last seen.

He has been a suspect in the McCann case since 2020 although he has not been formally charged and denies any involvement.

Last week, German police searched an area close to where the toddler went missing, using state of the art, ground penetrating radar equipment in the hope of making progress.

German paedophile Christian Brueckner remains the main suspect in the case (Image: Getty)

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It was initially reported that police found little more than animal bones and adults clothing as prosecutors race against time to prevent Brueckner from being released.

In 2016, Brueckner was convicted of abusing a five-year-old girl in a park after images were found on his laptop. He was sentenced to 15 months in prison.

Following his release from prison, Brueckner is reported to have been in a bar with a friend watching 10th-anniversary coverage of Madeleine’s disappearance, when he confided that he “knew all about” what had happened.

The same year, he is reported to have told another acquaintance that Maddie “did not scream”, although the validity of the witness has been called into question.