British police have urged Portuguese authorities to reopen the case into Madeleine McCann's disappearance, claiming detectives have uncovered leads to finding her alive

British police have urged Portugues authorities to reopen the case into Madeleine McCann's disappearance, claiming detectives have uncovered leads to finding her alive Photo: PA

Here are some of the key questions surrounding her disappearance from her parent's holiday flat in Praia da Luz on May 3, 2007: 

If Madeleine id dead, where is her body?  

Various theories have been put forward, however none have stood up to closer scrutiny. One detective was quoted not long after the three-year-old disappeared as saying that her body was dumped at sea in a bag weighted with stones. Police are said to have at one point considered the possibility the McCanns somehow recruited an accomplice to help smuggle the body on to a boat.

Another theory is that Madeleine was buried beneath major roadworks. The area around the Nossa Senhora da Luz church, where the McCanns regularly prayed, was dug up for water pipes around the time Madeleine disappeared. Officials dismissed this theory because the holes were just 27 in deep and 16 in wide. 

If she is alive, where could she be?

There have been dozens of alleged sightings of Madeleine since her disappearance on May 3, 2007. There were several unconfirmed sightings Portugal in the months immediately afterwards, before the focus switched to Morocco, where a string of people claimed to have seen the three-year-old. Since then, witnesses have claimed to have spotted her in Belgium, Malta, Spain, Bosnia, France, Britain, Brazil, the Netherlands, New Zealand and India.

Who is responsible for her disappearance?

There have been numerous suspects in the case, some named individuals – including Kate and Gerry McCann themselves – and several people whose descriptions were circulated following Madeleine’s disappearance. All the named suspects have been ruled out and released without charge. The McCann’s arguido status was lifted when Portuguese police shelved their investigation into Madeleine’s disappearance in July 2008.

E-fits of unidentified suspects linked to the disappearance – ranging from a Victoria Beckham lookalike in Barcelona suspected of trying to buy a daughter to a moustached man apparently seen watching the McCann’s apartment – have failed to yield anything concrete. Reports have tried to link numerous known paedophiles to the case but no convincing evidence has ever been uncovered.

What happened to Robert Murat, the first person to be named as a suspect?

Murat, who lived close to the Praia da Luz apartment in Portugal where Madeleine went missing in May 2007, was the first formal suspect, or arguido, in the McCann case. He denied any involvement in her disappearance and was later released without charge by Portuguese police. In July 2008 he accepted a settlement of £600,000 in libel damages over claims in nearly 100 articles.

Has DNA evidence not produced any leads?

Shortly after Madeleine’s disappearance, reports suggested that traces of the toddler’s DNA had been found in the McCann’s apartment and car rented 25 days after her disappearance. This played a large role in the decision by police to name them as suspects. However, It turned out the analysis conducted in the UK was "inconclusive" and there was no foundation for making that allegation. The McCann’s were awarded hundreds of thousands of pounds in libel damages in 2008 over reports concerning the evidence.

British detectives have expressed dismay over flaws in the Portuguese police’s investigation, in which dozens of people were allowed to trample over the crime scene and evidence was found to be contaminated with cigarette ash. Files relating to the case also disclosed that several other holidaymakers stayed in the flat from which Madeleine disappeared while it was still designated as a crime scene.

Who can solve the case?

The official investigation was shelved in July 2008 but Scotland Yard's review of the case, Operation Grange, was launched last year when David Cameron responded to a plea from Madeleine's parents. The Metropolitan Police is urging Portuguese authorities to reopen the case, claiming it has identified new leads after spending £2 million reinvestigating the evidence. A team of more than 30 officers involved in the case had been out to Portugal seven times, including a visit to the family's holiday flat in Praia da Luz.

Is there any chance that Madeleine in alive?

Scotland Yard says there are 195 potential leads to finding her alive. Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood said he believed her disappearance was a stranger abduction, as he said there were 195 "investigative opportunities". He said "evidence that she is alive stems from the forensic view of the timeline" that there was the opportunity for her to be taken. Investigations show "there do appear to be gaps", he added.