Cops Suspect Parents In Missing British Girl Case

Missing girl's parents will not face immediate new police questioning in Portugal
(The Associated Press, September 19, 2007)

Parents of a British girl who disappeared during a vacation have been told they will not immediately face new police questioning over their daughter's fate, a family spokesman and the public prosecutor's office in Portugal said Wednesday.

Gerry and Kate McCann have been named as suspects in the case by Portuguese prosecutors, but have been told not to expect to be questioned again immediately by detectives in the immediate future.

The public prosecutor's office said in a statement that, with no new evidence in the case gathered, "further questioning has not been ordered." But no lines of investigation had been excluded, the statement said.

"Clearly this information will need to be assessed very carefully by Gerry and Kate's Portuguese lawyer but, on the face of it, it appears to be encouraging," family spokesman Clarence Mitchell said.

The couple will remain official suspects in the case, prosecutors said.

Their daughter Madeleine, then 3 years old but now 4, vanished from a resort while her parents were dining at a restaurant nearby on May 3.

Forensic tests conducted at a government laboratory in Britain found evidence indicating that DNA from Madeleine was in the trunk of a rental car the parents used after her disappearance.

However, Portugal's national police chief, Alipio Ribeiro, said last week that the forensic tests on the car were not conclusive, and that he expected the investigation to continue.

A photograph of a small blonde child in Morocco is to be studied by experts examining the disappearance of four-year-old Madeleine McCann.
The photo, showing the child being carried on a woman's back, was taken three weeks ago by a Spanish tourist.

I would think they'd be able to find the people in the photo in Morocco with some investigation. Fair haired children aren't that uncommon -- especially up north that way.

Pictured girl 'is not Madeleine'
(BBC News, September 26, 2007)

British and Spanish reporters claim to have traced the girl, pictured being carried on a Moroccan woman's back.

London newspaper the Evening Standard says the girl is a five-year-old from the village of Zinat.

The McCanns' spokesman said the news, if true, was disappointing.

Madeleine disappeared on 3 May from a holiday apartment in Portugal.

Experts were said to be examining the image, taken three weeks ago by a Spanish tourist, in the hope that the girl was the missing four-year-old from Rothley, Leicestershire.

But Rashid Razaq, the Standard reporter who flew to Morocco from London, said he had seen the youngster in the picture.

"She has got a resemblance to Madeleine but when you see her properly, it is obvious it isn't her."

He said the girl in the picture was five-year-old Bushra Binhisa, daughter of an olive farmer.

The Spanish reporter who also claims to have traced the girl in the picture says she is a Moroccan of Berber origin.

The reporter told the BBC he found her by showing the photo to people in the village who quickly identified the family.

Family spokesman Clarence Mitchell promised that the search for Madeleine would continue.

Pictured girl 'is not Madeleine'

London newspaper the Evening Standard says the girl is a five-year-old from the village of Zinat.

Here's the actual girl, in a better picture:

The Portuguese detective leading the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann was sacked tonight after he accused British police of helping her parents cover up their role in their daughter's death.

...

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article2577284.ece

Quote:

The Portuguese detective leading the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann was sacked tonight after he accused British police of helping her parents cover up their role in their daughter's death.

I suspect the British Royal Air Force is heading towards Portugal soon.

Not long ago I read a newspaper report suggesting that the maid (employed by the family?) was now a "person of interest" to the Portugese police in this case. I can't find that article now, sorry.
But really, who'll be the next suspect? How many suspects will there end up being?
Surely the focus of the investigations should be to try & find this little girl, not all these very public declarations of "suspicions" of different individuals?

Btw is the PJ policeman now pulled off the case, the same man who beat a "confession" out of a Portuguese woman who reported her daughter missing not long ago?[/quote

I suppose so. (But at least they don't shoot suspects with seven shots shots in the head in Portugal.)

But really, who'll be the next suspect? How many suspects will there end up being?