Madeleine McCann: Police still pursuing "critical" lead 10 years on

[Raptor]

Police investigating Madeleine McCann's disappearance say a critical line of inquiry is still being pursued, 10 years after she went missing.
Met Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley said they still hoped they could provide answers to what happened.
Three-year-old Madeleine disappeared from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal on 3 May, 2007.
Her mother Kate described the approaching 10th anniversary as a "horrible marker of time, stolen time".
Asked if police were any closer to solving the case than they were six years ago, Mr Rowley said: "I know we have a significant line of inquiry which is worth pursuing, and because it's worth pursuing it could provide an answer, but until we've gone through it I won't know whether we are going to get there or not."

But he added that there was no "definitive evidence" as to whether Madeleine was alive or dead.
He declined to expand on the nature of the working theories or reveal whether any suspects were currently being considered but said the investigating team were still receiving evidence and new information from members of the public on a daily basis.
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He said UK and Portuguese detectives were doing "a critical piece of work and we don't want to spoil it by putting titbits of information out publicly".
But he added that "there was no reason whatsoever" to suspect Madeleine's parents were involved in her disappearance.
"However she left that apartment, she's been abducted," he said. "This is a young girl who is missing."
He said: "We've got some thoughts on what we think the most likely explanations might be and we are pursuing those."
Four detectives are working on the case in the UK, scaled back from 30 in 2011, with more than £11m spent so far.
Scotland Yard started its review of the case in May 2011, after then-Prime Minister David Cameron responded to a plea from the McCanns.
Ahead of the 10th anniversary Kate McCann wrote in a message on the Official Find Madeleine Campaign Facebook page: "Ten years - there's no easy way to say it, describe it, accept it.
"I remember when Madeleine first disappeared I couldn't even begin to consider anything in terms of years...
"And now here we are... Madeleine, our Madeleine - ten years."
She said she and husband Gerry were "bracing ourselves for the next couple of weeks" of coverage.
With "no new appeals that the police wish to make at this moment in time" she said the family, from Rothley, Leicestershire, was "keeping any media involvement marking this unwanted milestone to a minimum".
Thursday 3 May 2007: Timeline

• 20:30 Kate and Gerry McCann leave their apartment to have dinner at a Tapas bar
• 21:05 Gerry McCann checks on Madeleine and her siblings
• 22:00 A man is seen carrying a child wearing pyjamas heading towards the ocean (E-fit images of the suspect were released as part of a 2013 Crimewatch appeal)
• 22:00 Kate McCann raises the alarm that Madeleine has gone missing

Officers have sifted through some 40,000 documents and looked at more than 600 individuals since the UK investigation was launched.
The Home office asked the Met to review the case and all the material gathered since 2007.
In March, the Home Office confirmed £85,000 was being given to the inquiry to fund the next six months.
Mr Rowley said four people considered as possible suspects in 2013 have been ruled out. Interviews took place at a police station in Faro, Portugal, and a large area of wasteland close to the Praia da Luz apartment was searched.
He said the enormity and complexity of the case had brought challenges. But the relationship with Portuguese investigators was "better than ever" and that was paying dividends in the progress made.
He said: "In a missing child inquiry every day is agony and an anniversary brings this into sharp focus.
"Our thoughts are with Madeleine's family at this time - as it is with any family in a missing person's inquiry - and that drives our commitment to do everything we can for her."

BBC News


DJ OD

[DJ OD]

OMG Really... this again.

Let me re-write (correct) that timeline:

20:30 Kate and Gerry McCann leave their apartment to have dinner at a Tapas bar and get a little party on
21:05 Gerry McCann checks on Madeleine and her siblings
21:10 Gerry can't get the eldest to settle so slips her some sedatives.
21:30 Maddy starts to convulse and foaming at the mouth due to being overdosed by her half pissed dad with sedatives.
21:45 Maddy is unresponsive and deemed dead. Gerry panics and decides to make up a story to cover himself.
22:00 Gerry is seen carrying a child wearing pyjamas heading towards the ocean (Random E-fit images of the suspect were released as part of a 2013 Crimewatch appeal)
22:01 Kate McCann raises the alarm that Madeleine has gone missing

Makes me sick to think about these twats. People in the world are desperate to have children and twats like this and that Chinese cunt are wiping out life.


DJ OD

[TJB]

I've never understood how the McCann's haven't been prosecuted. From the Government website.....

• babies, toddlers and very young children should never be left alone
• Parents can be prosecuted if they leave a child unsupervised ‘in a manner likely to cause unnecessary suffering or injury to health’.

I've taken my kids on holiday since they were 6 months old. Without fail, they've always fallen asleep in their buggies whenever we went out. I wouldn't even consider leaving them in a strange apartment.

[piggzy]

They know what happened to her.... Cunts

[Bald Bouncer]

I've never understood how the McCann's haven't been prosecuted. From the Government website.....

• babies, toddlers and very young children should never be left alone
• Parents can be prosecuted if they leave a child unsupervised ‘in a manner likely to cause unnecessary suffering or injury to health’.

I've taken my kids on holiday since they were 6 months old. Without fail, they've always fallen asleep in their buggies whenever we went out. I wouldn't even consider leaving them in a strange apartment.

I think it would be down to Portugal's laws and justice system as it may be different, if you smoke cannabis in a country that it is legal to do so you can't then be prosecuted back in the UK for it, I agree I think anyone who leaves a child alone to go out is a total cunt and anyone who thinks it's ok is also a total cunt

[Over Carl]

While you may have a point on that (tbh I'm not sure as I don't know) but I can see your reasoning. However I'm not 100 percent sure if that totally stands as I believe UK citizens can be prosecuted for committing crimes (according to UK statute) when abroad even if the act is not a crime in the country the are conducting the act (I believe this was introduced to allow prosecution of kiddy fiddlers who travel to counties with questionable ages of consent).

But if we go down the lines of local law having precedence, then surely the McCanns should have fully cooperated with the local enquiry.

However to date I have never heard any reason that excuses the behaviour of the McCanns.

[Bald Bouncer]

While you may have a point on that (tbh I'm not sure as I don't know) but I can see your reasoning. However I'm not 100 percent sure if that totally stands as I believe UK citizens can be prosecuted for committing crimes (according to UK statute) when abroad even if the act is not a crime in the country the are conducting the act (I believe this was introduced to allow prosecution of kiddy fiddlers who travel to counties with questionable ages of consent).

But if we go down the lines of local law having precedence, then surely the McCanns should have fully cooperated with the local enquiry.

However to date I have never heard any reason that excuses the behaviour of the McCanns.

Yes you may be right I had not considered that, I guess it depends if it falls within legislation covering crimes abroad, willingness of the CPS to prosecute them and the chances of that are zero, I do agree as many people have said had this been a plumber and his wife from Hull it would have been handled very differently.

[4me2]

For some reason that seem to be protected by the Murdoch empire. His greatest deciple Blair is the McCann's biggest champion.

[piggzy]

For some reason that seem to be protected by the Murdoch empire. His greatest deciple Blair is the McCann's biggest champion.

Exactly what I am thinking. Their Funding campaign was never about finding her imho ... it was used to help the cover up !

[Soulassassin]

And every time the case goes quiet or funding runs out, Hey presto!!!!! a new lead and further funding.

[DavidF]

I just can't help thinking....If this was little Alice from the X estate where the parents were either working class or below......The whole case would have been rapped up done and dusted within the year. Mum and Dad would probably be getting out with their new identities about now. Oh what it must be like to be middle class and be "clean" of all that suspicion eh ?