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Original Source:
Sun 06 June 2007. |
From LUCY
HAGANand NICK PARKER [deleted from sun]
in Praia da Luz June 06, 2007 |
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COPS
admitted yesterday a DNA swab from
Madeleine McCann suspect Robert Murat
was bungled, putting him back under
suspicion.
Police sources in Portugal originally
said a sample taken from the scene of
the four-year-old’s abduction 33 days
ago did not match one from Murat.
Murat, 33, who has always denied being
involved, gave a second sample two days
ago.
He is in hiding as he awaits the
results, which could take weeks.
Police spokesman Olegario Sousa said the
second swab was taken because the first
sample may not have been large enough,
may have been contaminated or even LOST.
Samples from Murat, his mother Jenny,
business associate Sergey Malinka and
Luis Antonio — the estranged husband of
Mr Murat’s girlfriend — had already
taken four weeks to process at three
different labs.
DNA has also been taken from Maddie’s
parents Kate and Gerry McCann, their two
other children and 12 people in their
group who went on holiday to Portugal.
The bungle was revealed as Kate, 38, and
Gerry met Portuguese cops for the first
time in 12 days.
Gerry went to the meeting at the British
consulate in Portimao with a list of
questions about possible leads.
The couple are also thought to have
asked for more contact with officers —
after not having been briefed in nearly
a fortnight.
The McCanns do not want to be seen to be
criticising the Portuguese police, but
expressed “frustration” at progress in
the early stages.
Due to stringent Portuguese law they
have not been able to do a
reconstruction of Maddie’s last
whereabouts for BBC’s Crimewatch, on
which the McCanns appeared last night.
Police will not let the inside of the
apartment be shown, on the grounds that
it is a breach of their investigation.
Yesterday the McCanns flew to Germany by
private jet to publicise their campaign
to find Madeleine.
Before setting out, their two-year-old
twins Sean and Amelie gave their dad a
39th birthday card they had made.
Mum Kate helped them sign it — and it
included the words “Love from
Madeleine.”
The twins remained with an aunt in Praia
da Luz as their parents flew to meet
Germany’s Deputy Interior Minister and
the Mayor of Berlin before heading to
Amsterdam.
After more interviews on Thursday, they
will fly back to the Algarve for a jazz
concert in their daughter’s name in
Lagos.
They have already visited Spain and
Italy and plan to go to Morocco at the
weekend.
Morocco has surfaced often in the hunt,
with a reported sighting of a girl with
a man. |
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With thanks
to courthouse
steps |
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