Madeleine McCann Could Be Living With Abductor, Says Scotland Yard
Scotland Yard detectives released a picture of what Madeleine McCann may look like today as they said they had uncovered new information to suggest she could be alive and living with her abductor.
The senior officer leading an investigative review into the disappearance of Madeleine five years ago is calling on Portuguese police to reopen their inquiry into the case.
Releasing an age-enhanced image of Madeleine - as she nears her ninth birthday on 12 May - Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood, of Scotland Yard’s homicide and serious crime command, said: “We genuinely believe there’s a possibility that she is alive. I want to make a direct appeal. If you know where Madeleine McCann is or if you have any direct information or evidence about what happened to her, then please make contact.”
Redwood and his 37-strong team have identified 195 missed investigative opportunities in the 40,000 pieces of evidence they have examined from the Portuguese inquiry, the family’s home force in Leicestershire, and the information gleaned by a team of private detectives hired by the McCann family since Madeleine went missing, aged three, from the resort of Praia de Luz on 3 May 2007.
“We are in a unique position seeking to draw together the three key strands of information about her disappearance,” said Redwood.
He unequivocally dismissed the conspiracy theory - promoted by the original Portuguese lead detective Goncalo Amaral - that Madeleine’s parents had anything to do with her disappearance.
He said detectives believe Madeleine was abducted in “a criminal act by a stranger”.