MADDIE COPS CLOSE TO THE TRUTH
Major line of inquiry could provide an answer
POLICE think they are close to learning what happened to missing Madeleine Mccann. As the 10th anniversary of the girl’s disappearance looms, Met officer Mark Rowley said: “We have a significant line of inquiry which could give an answer.”
A LIVE investigation into Madeleine Mccann’s disappearance is now at a crucial stage, revealed a Scotland Yard chief as parents Kate and Gerry faced 10 years without their girl.
Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley said there are still “significant investigative avenues” that are of “great interest” to both the UK and Portuguese detectives. Mr Rowley added: “Ourselves and the Portuguese are doing a critical piece of work and we don’t want to spoil it by putting titbits of information out. “We’ve got some thoughts on what we think the most likely explanations might be and we are pursuing those.” He was speaking after Kate, 49, and Gerry Mccann, 48, told of their heartache preparing for the 10th anniversary of the day Madeleine vanished, branding May 3 “a horrible marker of stolen time”. The girl, aged three, disappeared from the family’s holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in Portugal that day in 2007. Mr Rowley tried to sound positive, despite the £11million UK probe failing to make a single arrest in six years and downsizing from 30 to four detectives. Asked if police were any closer to solving the case than when the UK investigation was launched, he said: “I know we have a significant line of inquiry which is worth pursuing. “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.” He said the team were examining a “particular hypothesis” but refused to reveal what it was so as not to compromise a “live investigation”. Mr Rowley also declined to say whether any suspects were being probed. Scotland Yard refused to reveal if the theory is the same one the team were investigating this time last year when former Scotland Yard boss, Sir Bernard Hogan-howe, said: “There is a line of inquiry that remains to be concluded and it’s expected that in the coming months that will happen.” Sir Bernard’s replacement Cressida Dick, confirmed by Home Secretary Amber Rudd in February, said last week she “will see where the case goes” when asked if the Yard probe will continue. Mr Rowley did temper expectation by warning the case may remain unsolved. He said: “What I’ve always said on this case, and I’ve said it to Kate and Gerry as well, we will do everything reasonably
possible to try and find an answer. I just can’t quite guarantee it. “It always really hurts that you can’t guarantee a success but we will do everything that we reasonably can do to try and get there.” He said the possibility of a “burglary gone wrong” was a “sensible hypothesis” which has not been “entirely ruled out”. Mr Rowley said there was still a “lot unknown”, adding: “All the different hypotheses have to remain open.” Police have looked at more than 600 individuals who were identified as being potentially significant to Madeleine’s disappearance. Four people identified as suspects in 2013 have been ruled out of the inquiry, Mr Rowley added. Meanwhile, police working on the case continue to receive information on a daily basis. Mr Rowley said there was no “definitive evidence” as to whether Madeleine is alive or dead. He added: “That’s why we describe it as a missing person inquiry. “We understand why, after this many years, people will be pessimistic, but it’s important we keep an open mind.” The officer added that however Madeleine left the flat, she was abducted. “She wasn’t old enough to make a decision to set off and start her own life,” he said. About 30 officers were working on the UK probe, Operation Grange, when it was established in 2011. The team has now been scaled back to four detectives. Last month the British government said €100,000 was being given to the inquiry to cover further operational costs from April to September. And Mr Rowley insisted that the investigation has achieved “an awful lot”. He said: “I think people get seduced perhaps by what they see in TV dramas, where the most complex cases are solved in 30 minutes or 60 minutes. “What we started with here was something extraordinary. We’ve achieved a complete understanding of it all. “We’ve sifted out many of the potential suspects, many of the people of interest, and where we are today is with a much smaller team focused on a small number of remaining critical lines of inquiry that we think are significant.” Asked about the cost of the investigation, he said: “Big cases can take a lot of resources and a lot of time. “We’ve tried to be careful about public money and as we’ve started with that massive sifting we’ve reduced the number of resources and the funding’s reduced accordingly. “But we will stick with it as long as the funding’s available and as long as there are sensible lines of inquiry to pursue.”