‘Critical’ leads in Madeleine case
As 10th anniversary of Madeleine McCann’s disappearance approaches, police pursue ‘significant’ lead
British detectives working on the Madeleine McCann case are still pursuing “critical” leads as the 10th anniversary of her disappearance approaches, a Scotland Yard chief says.
BRITISH DETECTIVES working on the Madeleine McCann case are still pursuing “critical” leads as the 10th anniversary of her disappearance approaches, a Scotland Yard chief has revealed.
Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley said last night that there were “significant investigative avenues” that are of “great interest” to both the UK and Portuguese teams.
Officers have sifted through some 40,000 documents and looked at more than 600 individuals since 2011.
In an interview nearly a decade on from the youngster’s disappearance, Mr Rowley also confirmed that four people considered as possible suspects in 2013 had been ruled out.
Madeleine was three years old when she vanished from the family’s holiday apartment in Praia da Luz in Portugal on May 3, 2007.
Her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, of Rothley, Leicestershire, have vowed to “never give up” hope of finding her.
Asked if police were any closer to solving the case, 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.
“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 publicly.”
He declined to expand on the nature of the working theories or reveal whether any suspects were currently being considered, saying that disclosing further detail would not help the investigation.
Mr Rowley said: “We’ve got some critical lines of inquiry, those link to particular hypotheses, but I’m not going to discuss those because those are very much live investigation.
“We’ve got some thoughts on what we think the most likely explanations might be and we are pursuing those.”
However, he described the possibility of a burglary gone wrong as a “sensible hypothesis” which has not been entirely ruled out.
The senior officer was also asked about the theory of a sex predator being responsible for Madeleine’s disappearance.
Mr Rowley said: “That’s been one key line of inquiry. The reality is in the modern world in any urban area if you cast your net widely you will find a whole pattern of offences.”
He said there was still a “lot unknown” in the case, 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 the investigation.
In 2013 the team identified four people as suspects in the case, but interviews and searches did not find sufficient evidence.
Mr Rowley said those people were no longer the subject of further investigation.
Meanwhile, police working on the case continue to receive information on a daily basis.
Mr Rowley said: “Thousands of pieces of information have come forward, some useful, some not, but amongst that have been some nuggets that have thrown some extra light on the original material that came from the time.”
On the question of whether Madeleine was still alive, Mr Rowley said there was no “definitive evidence” either way.
He went on to explain: “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.”