Madeleine may be dead, police saySaturday, 11 August 2007
Police in Portugal have acknowledged for the first time that missing Madeleine McCann may be dead.
Speaking to the BBC, one of the detectives leading the investigation said new evidence had given "intensity" to the possibility she was killed.
Chief Inspector Olegario Sousa said Kate and Gerry McCann were not being considered as suspects following recent rumours they were under suspicion.
Madeleine vanished 100 days ago in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz.
Mr Sousa said renewed searches by detectives with British sniffer dogs have revealed clues which could point to Madeleine's death.
He was referring to traces of blood found inside the apartment room where Madeleine was sleeping, which are now being analysed by forensic scientists in Britain.
Mr Sousa refused to confirm or deny reports in Portuguese newspapers that the sniffer dogs had detected odours of a dead body that had been in the apartment.
The police spokesman made it clear that other lines of inquiry have not been ruled out.
He said
Kate and Gerry McCann and their friends who had been on holiday with them were not being treated as suspectsA spokeswoman for the McCann family said: "It is obviously heartening that the police in Portugal have finally confirmed that Kate and Gerry McCann are not suspects following the hurtful and unhelpful comments that have been made this week.
"Kate and Gerry understand that the police in Portugal are working hard to do everything in their power to find Madeleine McCann. "They continue to hope and pray that Madeleine is still alive."
Mr Sousa spoke after Kate and Gerry McCann attended a church service marking 100 days since Madeleine's disappearance.
The church of Nossa Senhora da Luz was packed with holidaymakers and locals, many wearing green and yellow to symbolise hope.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/6942198.stmu