Madeleine McCann: UK police begin new investigation

After painstakingly going through more than 30,000 documents and other relevant material from Britain and Portugal, including material gathered by private investigators, detectives from the Metropolitan police have moved from reviewing what has happened to Madeleine into a new investigation.

The £5m review uncovered a number of potential suspects who had not yet been interviewed.

Of the 38 “persons of interest” identified by Scotland Yard, 12 are British nationals believed to have been in Portugal at the time Madeleine went missing.

The others are from Portugal and three other European countries.

The Metropolitan police said they were now at “an advanced stage of dialogue” with each of those countries, and would be seeking more information about the people they want to speak to, and any potential involvement they might have with Madeleine’s disappearance.

Detective chief inspector Andy Redwood, who is leading the investigation, known as Operation Grange, said Madeleine’s parents were in no way connected with this line of inquiry, and none of the 38 persons of interest were known to the McCann family.

The search for Madeleine

Madeleine has been missing since she vanished from her parents’ apartment in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz in 2007.

The Metropolitan police recently issued a new computer generated image to show what she might look like today, to help the public search for her.

According to DCI Redwood, “We, and the Portuguese authorities, remain completely committed to finding out what happened to Madeleine, and everything we do is utterly focused on her best interests.”

“We continue to believe that there is a possibility that Madeleine is alive.”

The review was launched after Madeleine’s parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, asked the Prime Minister David Cameron to help find out what had happened to their daughter. The fact that it is such a serious case, involving a British child, means that Scotland Yard has been able to investigate, funded by the Home Office.

A team of 37 staff, mostly police officers, are working on the new investigation, and a small number will travel to Portugal to follow any new lines and seek out fresh evidence.

Mr and Mrs McCann are being kept in regular contact with all the new developments, and are being fully updated.

DCI Redwood said they were working closely with their counterparts in Portugal, and were grateful for the co-operation they have given. “The review today has given us new thinking, new theories, and new evidence”, he said.

There was no guarantee of any outcome, he admitted, but said that police had an “absolute determination” to find out exactly what has happened to Madeleine McCann.