The Portuguese police have announced that the “material collected” in three days of searching Madeleine McCann would be sent to Germany for testing.
The operation is over, tents are down and heavy equipment has been removed.
After receiving “certain tips-offs”, officers searched the Algarve reservoir and the surrounding scrubland.
Portugal has yet to reveal if there was anything of significance found, but several bags have been taken.
The police said that the search had “resulted” in “some material which will be subjected to competent expertise”, adding that the material would be “given to the German authorities”.
When the area was reopened, it was discovered that holes had been dug in order to collect soil samples.
On the first day, Tuesday, a police boat was spotted in the water near the Arade Dam and on Wednesday afternoon teams started digging at a peninsula.
Sources close to the investigation have said that there is “nothing” to report after the search. The search involved clearing a large area of undergrowth with rakes, pickaxes and sniffer dogs.
German prosecutor Christian Wolters said: “Ofcourse there is an expectation, but they are not high.”
He stressed that it was crucial to demonstrate that the authorities are investigating the case.
The reservoir is located about 31 miles away from the place where Madeleine , a young girl who went missing in Praia da Luz on 3 May 2007, , was reported as missing by.
She was only three years old.
Wolters, the prosecutor, said: “We are still searching for it.” We’re looking for more than just that. Other things are also important.
Any clothing found could be helpful in the investigation.
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Last year, German prosecutors named Christian B as an official suspect for Madeleine’s abduction.
The convicted drug dealer and child abuser used to frequent the reservoir. He allegedly called it “his paradise”.
Christian B is in prison right now for raping an elderly woman of 72 years in the same Algarve area where Madeleine disappeared.
He has not been charged for any crime relating to the missing British girl. He denies having any involvement in the disappearance of her.
After the Home Office provided an additional PS110,000 for the Metropolitan Police in order to assist them with the search, the amount was reduced from over PS300,000.
Since 2011, more than PS13m (£13m) has been donated to Operation Grange, the investigation into her disappearance.
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