The Portuguese police are investigating a new clue related to Maddie McCann’s disappearance. Stephen Birch, a South African businessman, believes the girl’s body is buried in Robert Murat’s backyard, after having conducted a search with his ground-penetrating radar (GPR).

Stephen Birch has been fascinated by the Madeleine McCann case and the mystery surrounding it, and has taken upon himself to search for new clues. According to newspaper Correio da Manhã, he arrived in Portugal two weeks ago and began surveying the home of Robert Murat, who holds dual British and Portuguese citizenship and lives nextdoor to the Ocean Club, the holiday resort where the McCann’s were staying when their daughter went missing. Murat had been named as a formal suspect early in the investigation in 2007, but was soon cleared after the police investigation began focusing on the McCanns themselves.

Every time Murat left the house, Birch used his GPR to search for the girl’s body and claims to have found it after discovering an anomaly in the “northeastern corner of the house” about 60cm below surface, where cement pavement was added shortly after Maddie disappeared.

Despite the case being shelved for lack of evidence in 2008, two teams of investigators of the Portuguese and British police forces are currently shifting through the files and looking into possible new angles. According to several sources, the police are following up on the new clue despite having conducted searches and dug up Murat’s property in the past.

Five years after the girl’s mysterious disappearance in Praia da Luz, Algarve, Kate and Gerry McCann still believe their daughter is alive and hope she will one day return home.