Portuguese authorities assisted by German police on Tuesday began searching a reservoir near the area where British girl Madeleine McCann disappeared in 2007 when she was three years old.

The first development for several years in the unsolved case in Portugal followed last year’s move by German prosecutors, who formally identified German man Christian Brueckner as an official suspect in McCann’s disappearance.

A Reuters witness said fire brigade members deployed a dinghy boat while police officers combed the area surrounding the Arade reservoir, located 52km (32 miles) inland from the beachside resort from where the toddler disappeared.