TOP BRIT COP: WE MAY NEVER FIND MADDIE
New handout is ‘waste of money’
FINDING missing Madeleine McCann could now be “almost impossible” – and police handed extra cash to keep on searching stand little chance of success, tough-talking British detective Colin Sutton has claimed.
A DETECTIVE who rejected the opportunity to head the Madeleine McCann inquiry believes finding her could be “almost impossible”.
Colin Sutton told a TV documentary that her body could have been buried down any one of 600 ancient wells near the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz, from where she vanished in 2007.
And he predicted the Metropolitan Police stood little chance of finding her, despite recently being handed extra cash to continue their search.
Sutton said investigators faced a “thankless task” and added: “It’s almost impossible without specific intelligence that would allow you to focus on a specific area.
“It’s a large area of low population and scrubland and ancient wells.
“And there are areas where humans don’t go from one decade to the next.
“It would be very easy to secrete something there and be very confident it wouldn’t be found.’’
He said the only hope was someone who knew what had happened to Madeleine would eventually reveal her fate. Forensic scientist Professor David Barclay, who has studied the area, said: “It was the easiest place to hide a body I’ve ever visited.’’
Local journalist Paul Luckman, who runs Portugal News, claimed there were “vast quantities” of hiding places.
The revelations emerged in a re-worked TV documentary screened this weekend on Australia’s Channel 7 – days after the Home Office granted extra funding so that the inquiry could carry on for another six months.
Madeleine’s parents Gerry and Kate McCann, from Rothley, Leics, continue to hope she may still be found alive.
IT’S almost 11 years since Madeleine McCann disappeared.
More than a decade of pain and heartache for her parents Kate and Gerry.
The investigation has thrown up so many false dawns.
There have been 8,685 reported sightings across 101 countries since she vanished.
But now tough-talking ex-Scotland Yard detective Colin Sutton has said what many have feared for some time.
Finding her now could be “virtually impossible”, he claims.
One problem is the area around the Portuguese town of Praia da Luz is deserted scrubland dotted with 600 ancient wells.
Experts describe it as the “easiest place” to hide a body.
This all comes as some people question the amount of cash being funnelled into the international search.
Just last week, another lump of public cash was signed off to keep the police investigation going.
That brings the total bill to £11million. People are rightly asking: just how much more can we do?