Madeleine McCann police investigate theory she disappeared
after leaving holiday home to try to find her parents.- Portuguese police are probing whether toddler woke up and walked out of flat
- Met Police's Operation Grange inquiry is separate to Portuguese detectives'
- But both met up recently to discuss possibility she was taken after wandering off
- Previous lines of investigation included a bungled burglary at the apartment
By GERARD COUZENS FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 25 November 2018
Portuguese police are investigating the theory that Madeleine McCann disappeared after waking up and walking out of her parents' Algarve holiday apartment.
Sources close to the probe into the three-year-old's 2007 disappearance say investigators are revisiting the possibility something happened to her after she left the flat - and not inside.
The news comes after Scotland Yard's Operation Grange team told her parents Kate and Gerry McCann they are pursuing two vital new leads and not one 'final line of inquiry'.
The British and Portuguese efforts to find out what happened to the toddler are being carried out separately - but the two are believed to have met to discuss the theory.
A spokesman for Portugal's Attorney General's Office refused to comment, but a well-placed source said: 'The heads of the two police investigations are corresponding with each other directly and have combined their efforts without resorting to rogatory letters like before.
'A meeting took place recently at the HQ of the General Attorney's Office in Portugal, which was attended by the prosecutor from Portimao who is in charge of the Portuguese inquiry.
'One of the lines of investigation that continues to be pursued is that the child could have walked out of the holiday flat herself.'
Rogatory letters are ones sent to a foreign court to help in the pursuit of justice.
The last of the six sent to the Portuguese police by their British counterparts was answered on October 25 2016, but none have been sent since.
Another well-informed insider added: 'Despite the fact there are two investigations and two different teams, the relationship between both is very healthy and well-informed and benefits from shared intelligence.'
Hinting both forces may have gone cold on the idea the youngster had been the victim of a botched burglary or a paedophile who had forced entry to snatch her, the insider said: 'The theory that Madeleine left the flat of her own accord to go looking for her parents is not something that hasn't been discussed before.
'But the Portuguese process tends to value lines of investigation that are put forward.
'Until we know for sure what happened though, no scenario is likely to be ruled out.'
A third source, referring to the absence of new rogatory letters, said: 'The pattern of direct cooperation that now exists means formal requests for international cooperation are not necessary.
'The Portuguese inquiry is still open, meaning that any new work can be executed as part of that investigation without the needs for rogatory letters.
The theory Madeline may have lost her way in the dark and taken a wrong turn as she went looking for her parents in Praia da Luz was one of the early hypotheses put forward to explain her disappearance.
It has also been suggested a panicking drink-driver might have run her over and sped off with her body before hiding it in the countryside.
Portuguese police have made no secret of their rejection of the theory championed by a British detective about Madeleine being kidnapped by thieves during a bungled burglary.
In July 2014 four Portuguese men faced a barrage of more than 250 questions while being quizzed as arguidos or formal suspects in interviews on the Algarve conducted at Scotland Yard's request.
They were questioned as part of the theory Madeleine, three when she disappeared from Praia da Luz, may have been killed during a botched break-in and her body buried on waste ground nearby.
More recently it has been suggested officers are keen to identify a woman in purple seen hanging round the holiday flat around the time Madeleine went missing.
The Home Office announced last week it would grant an extra £150,000 to Operation Grange to keep the investigation going until spring next year.
It is understood police recently told her parents during a meeting at their Leicestershire home that they were 'hopeful' of a result and were focusing on 'two specific and active' lines of inquiry, not just one as was initially thought.
Scotland Yard has refused to go public with details on what they are looking at.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-6426393/Police-Portugal-investigate-theory-Madeleine-McCann-left-apartment-parents.html626
