Portugal Travel

Team of 12 hired to help find Madeleine

Wednesday, 15 April 2009 14:00

{mosimage} Madeleine McCann's parents have hired a team of 12 private investigators to help them find their daughter. The team – believed to include former Scotland Yard detectives and ex-members of the security services – is understood to have been working secretly in Portugal for the past few weeks. The news coincides with Madeleine's father, Gerry, making a 24-hour flying visit to Portugal, to speak to lawyers and the British ambassador about what more could be done to try to find Madeleine. The child, from Rothley, near Loughborough, was three years old when she disappeared from the family's holiday apartment in the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz in May 2007. The Mercury has previously reported that the family had hired a team of former high- ranking detectives to help go through Portuguese police files which were released to the family last summer. Now, there are reports the team includes former members of the security forces, working in Portugal, who have experience in investigating old cases. A source told the Sun newspaper: "The team in Portugal comprises some of the most experienced officers in the police and security services. "They feel there is still a great deal of stuff to be gone over and new leads to be found." Clarence Mitchell, spokesman for the McCanns, refused to comment on operational details. However, he told the Mercury: "There is a small team helping Kate and Gerry McCann and all the work you would expect to be done to find Madeleine is being done. "It is common knowledge there are a number of former police officers in the team. I will not discuss any other services involved despite speculation in the Sun, and I will not discuss numbers. "If they are getting anywhere close to finding Madeleine we would not talk about it until she was found. "Kate and Gerry will leave no stone unturned in their search for Madeleine." Mr McCann flew to Portugal on Tuesday and told a Portuguese news agency that he expected it would be "the first of several" visits over the coming months. He also said he wanted to improve relations with the Portuguese authorities, which were rocky in the months after he and his wife were named arguidos – or official suspects. The status has since been dropped. Mr McCann, who returned home yesterday , said: "We want to make it clear what's gone on in the past is, by and large, done and we very, very much want to focus on what can still be done for the search." advertisement < Prev   Next >

Last Updated on Saturday, 02 May 2009 21:05