Madeleine McCann: Cameron Welcomes Met Probe

**bb1** Fri Jul 05, 2013 8:02 pm

http://news.sky.com/story/1112085/madeleine-mccann-cameron-welcomes-met-probe

Madeleine McCann: Cameron Welcomes Met Probe
The Prime Minister welcomes the announcement that police have "new leads" - including 12 British potential suspects.

The Prime Minister has welcomed the decision by British detectives to launch their own investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

David Cameron said the case of the then three-year-old, who went missing from a holiday apartment in Portugal's Algarve six years ago, was one that continued to shock the nation.

Scotland Yard has said there are 12 Britons among 38 potential suspects investigators hope to question and officers believe there is a chance Madeleine is alive.

The 12 British "persons of interest" were in Portugal when Madeleine vanished and are currently thought to be in Portugal or the UK.

The McCanns and their holiday friends are not among the 38 people identified and none of them are known to the family, police have said.

Speaking at Evelina Children's Hospital in London during celebrations of the 65th birthday of the National Health Service, Mr Cameron said: "It is welcome because they say that there is new evidence, new leads to follow, new things to be done.

Kate and Gerry McCann have welcomed the new investigation

"It was a case that did shock and still shocks the nation and if an answer can be found we should try and find it."

Madeleine went missing from a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz on May 3, 2007, as her parents Kate and Gerry dined at a nearby tapas restaurant with friends.

The Portuguese investigation is officially closed but authorities there are backing the Scotland Yard inquiry and officers from both countries will work together in pursuing new leads.

A team of 37 Met police officers and staff are working on the case, and they are sending a formal letter of request to Portuguese authorities for help.

So far the team has gathered 30,500 documents and generated 3,800 actions that they need to tackle.

They are around two-thirds of the way through their review, and so far have been to Portugal 16 times.

They have interviewed witnesses, found new evidence and are working on new theories about what happened to Madeleine.