Madeleine police face April deadline over questioning Portuguese suspects

Madeleine police face April deadline over questioning Portuguese suspects

TIME is running out for ­Scotland Yard to question three Portuguese suspects in connection with the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

By JAMES MURRAY
PUBLISHED: 00:01, Sun, Mar 22, 2015

The trio were given “arguido” or suspect status in July last year which allowed Portuguese detectives to question them intensively about their movements around the time that Madeleine vanished in May 2007.

Details of those interviews have now been analysed by Scotland Yard officers.

Under Portuguese law the arguido status lasts for only eight months but can be extended, although that is not common.

If no formal accusations can be made, investigations are shelved, which automatically removes the arguido status.

With an April deadline approaching, the Yard is carefully considering its next move. Senior Portuguese police officers recently met British officials in Portugal for an update on what the Yard team seeks to do and how long it will take.

Although there are no plans to drop the four-year £10million Operation Grange investigation, led by Detective Chief Inspector Nicola Wall, the meeting focused on what new information has come to light and what more needs to be done.

It is understood that part of the discussion was about DNA samples taken from the Ocean Club holiday apartment in Praia da Luz on the Algarve where Madeleine was staying with her family.

The trio waiting to have their arguido status lifted are former Ocean Club driver Jose Carlos da Silva, jobless schizophrenic Paulo Jorge Ribeiro and Ricardo Jorge, who was just 16 at the time Madeleine vanished.

They have all strenuously denied knowing anything about her disappearance.