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Best opportunity yet to find Madeline McCann
Investigators still searching for Madeleine McCann, the British toddler who went missing from a Portuguese holiday rental home five years ago this week, say they believe the girl is still alive and they now have the "best opportunity" yet to solve the case.
McCann was 3 years old when she vanished on vacation with her parents Kate and Gerry McCann and twin siblings in the Algarve region of Portugal. The girl's parents say they found Madeleine missing after having left the children in the home unsupervised while having dinner less than 500 feet away.
"[We are] seeking to bring closure to the case," Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood told the BBC. Detectives for the first time since the investigation into McCann's disappearance, dubbed Operation Grange by U.K. police, say that as a result of evidence uncovered during their latest review they now believe there is a possibility Madeleine is still alive and are appealing for direct information as to her whereabouts.
Police didn't specify what clues led them to believe the girl may still be still alive.
"I am satisfied that the systems and processes that we are bringing to this set of circumstances will give us the best opportunity to find those investigative opportunities that we can then present to our colleagues in Portugal," Redwood said.
Investigators released an age progression image of Maddy as her ninth birthday approaches on May 12.The image was created in close collaboration with the family, according to a statement from the U.K.'s Metropolitan police.
British police today called on Portugal to reopen the case, saying they have close to 200 leads that could help find the missing girl alive. But in Portugal there is much less support for reopening the investigation, and the McCann's own Portuguese lawyer says it is hard to find people who sympathize with the couple.
"Everyone believes I am defending a father and mother that killed the daughter and got rid of the corpse," the McCann's Portuguese lawyer Isabel Duarte said.
With 28 detectives and seven civilian support staff, the Operation Grange team is handling the massive trove of reports and documents on the case. Hundreds of reported sightings of Maddy have come in since she disappeared, but they have all led nowhere.
"Our initial estimates in terms of the amount of material we are facing is that it will be somewhere in the region of 40,000 pieces of information," Redwood said. "There is, ultimately, a process of us turning every single piece of paper over and interpreting and analyzing what is contained within them."
After Maddy's reported disappearance on May 3, 2007, the Pol?cia Judici?ria, the Portuguese investigative police, initially decided that the girl had been abducted, but soon stated that they hypothesized that she died in the rented house.
An Algarve resident named Robert Murat was named a suspect on May 17, 2007. In September of 2007 Kate and Gerry McCann were also named as suspects in the mystery surrounding what happened to their daughter, but they were cleared, along with Murat, in July of 2008.
Intense international attention has been drawn to the case, primarily because of the actions of the McCanns at the time and their subsequent use of the media to bring focus on the case. Investigators in Portugal have been criticized for their slow response and delay in their analysis of forensic evidence.
British Prime Minister David Cameron established a new inquiry into Maddy's disappearance last May after Kate and Gerry McCann pled for a U.K. police review of the case. To date the investigation has cost U.K. taxpayers an estimated cost $3.2 million.
"It's taken pressure off us I have to say, knowing the police are actually reviewing everything. It's a huge step for us," Gerry McCann told the BBC.
Re: Best opportunity yet to find Madeline McCann
Above Us Only Sky
This is such a bizarre case.
I still tend to believe the parents are responsible, but who knows?
I always thought they were innocent. I can't give a reason why.
The reason I think they are innocent is because I saw that movie I mentioned above
Above Us Only Sky
Lord knows there are a couple of things I wish I'd never watched so with that intro you gave I'm certainly not watching this. Otherwise DD would never leave my sight and I'd be arrested because homeschooling is illegal.
I am convinced this is what happen and it is heartbreaking to think of her still suffering.
I don't see any reason why the parents would have been involved.
Same here.
<a href="http://www.thenest.com/?utm_source=ticker&utm_medium=HTML&utm_campaign=tickers" title="Home Dbecause there is a demand for blonde hair blue eyed children in the human trafficking world
Again going back to that awful movie (it was quite good, subject matter is what I found disturbing), a lot of the plot line revolved around a white american being kidnapped in the Phillapines.
Above Us Only Sky
So many thoughts on this. CNN says that 35 officers are working on the case. It's sad that she's missing and all but 35 employees on a missing persons case that is 5 years old? Who's looking for other missing children? Is it because she's white, wealthy, etc?
And who thought it was a good idea to be like "you chill here, three year old, we're gonna get some tapas?"
My Blog
I don't know that the parents made their kid disappear but I sure as shiit believe them to be fully responsible for leaving their child in a situation for this to happen.
What kind of dumb fuuks leave their 4 year old and 2 year old twins unattended, out of damned sight while they trudge over to the other side of the resort for some dinner?
Idiots, the lot of them.
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That is what I side-eye. I don't know if the parents killed the girl, obviously, but I do know that leaving your 3 children alone while you go out for dinner in another country is pretty damn silly.
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While I would never leave my kid like that, my understanding is that is isnt all that uncommon in european countries. Also, werent the parents dinner table literally within eyesight of the hotel room window?
Wherever it was, apparently it wasn't close enough to notice someone come in and then leave with their child.
Or nobody took their child at all and the parents themselves were responsible.
I was under the impression it was like having dinner outside your house while your kids were inside. I could see doing that in a B&B type situation. It wasn't some giant AI / Sandals type deal with a maze of hallways or something, was it?
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