Portuguese detectives investigating Madeleine McCann’s disappearance are
reported to have carried out fresh searches of the church where her parents
prayed for the safe return of their daughter.
Officers carried out a detailed investigation of the church and an old cemetery
nearby in a bid to discover whether the four-year-old’s
body could have been hidden there in the days following her disappearance.
They have also re-interviewed the Catholic priest at Church
of Nossa Senhora
da Luz - Our Lady of the Light - in
the Algarve
resort of Praia da Luz.
Father Jose Manuel Pacheco, 46, became a friend and confidant of Kate and Gerry
McCann in the days and weeks following their daughter’s disappearance.
He gave the McCanns keys to the 16th century church overlooking the sea so they
could use it as a sanctuary and pray privately whenever they wanted.
The couple, both 39, are devout Catholics and went to Mass at the church most
Sundays during the 130 days they spent in the Algarve.
They also attended regular candle lit vigils organised by the local community
to pray for Madeleine’s safe return.
Officers from the Policia Judiciaria searched the building a fortnight ago to
explore whether the girl’s body could have been hidden there,
it was claimed in a Portuguese newspaper.
The search was carried out "informally and with maximum discretion"
as part of a review of the case by Paulo Rebelo, Portugal’s second most senior
policeman who took over the investigation in early October.
It is understood that detectives want to establish how often and at what times
the McCanns visited the church, which is a short walk from their holiday
apartment.
"Police have spoken several times to the priest in Praia da Luz since Madeleine disappeared," a source told Dairio de Noticias. But it is not
known whether he has ever made a formal witness statement to detectives.
The McCanns, both doctors from Rothley in Leicestershire, were made arguidos -
or formal suspects - on September 7 but they have always vehemently denied any
involvement in their daughter’s disappearance.
Kate McCann’s mother said that the idea that her daughter was in anyway
responsible for harming Madeleine was "absolutely bizarre" concerns
over the conduct of the investigation by the police.
"This is the daughter that Kate and Gerry waited years for, that Kate and
Gerry idolised, that Kate and Gerry would have laid down their own lives for...
it’s absolutely bizarre," Susan Healy said in an interview aired by the
Portuguese broadcaster SIC on Sunday night.
Meanwhile Metodo 3, the Spanish detective agency
hired by the McCanns in September, said they were treating the alleged sighting
of a woman handing over a child wrapped in a blanket to a man on 5 May as a
"significant" lead and had also passed the information on to
Portuguese police.
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