The police investigation into Madeleine McCann’s disappearance is refocusing on
the theory that she was abducted from her bed by a paedophile.
It emerged that Portuguese police have launched the country’s biggest ever
anti-paedophile operation, raiding 75 properties where child pornography has
been downloaded.
The operation, codenamed Predator, will analyse 150 computers seized from 80
suspects.
While the raids are not being officially linked to the Madeleine inquiry, they
indicate the focus of the investigation has shifted away accusations that her
parents, Kate and Gerry, may have harmed the four-year-old and back to a search
for a potential abductor.
A friend of the McCanns said they were hoping the raids could provide “vital
leads”.
Kate and Gerry have been the focus of the inquiry for several weeks since being
made formal suspects, or “arguidos”, in their daughter’s disappearance.
However, at the start of this week the case was taken over by Portugal’s
second most senior police officer, Paulo Rebelo, and the direction of the
inquiry has changed.
On Tuesday, police spent five hours at the Ocean Club apartment in Praia da Luz
from where Madeleine was seized on May 3.
They have also been searching the nearby beach.
The McCanns' spokesman Clarence Mitchell said last night: “We are naturally
encouraged by news of such police activity and we would hope that any evidence
that proves relevant to the search for Madeleine will be swiftly acted upon.”
A friend of the couple added: “This shows the scale of the problem in Portugal and
appears to shows that the Portuguese police appear to be looking in the right
direction. It may provide vital leads.”
Meanwhile in the UK,
it has emerged that Leicestershire Police have asked tourists who stayed at the
Ocean Club resort to provide DNA samples and fingerprints.
British police wrote to former guests requesting help in their efforts to
identify a number of samples recovered from the McCanns’ apartment. British
authorities would not confirm whether Superintendent Stuart Prior, of
Leicestershire Constabulary, which is co-ordinating the investigation in the UK,
had sent the appeal nor whether interviews had been undertaken.
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