By: CECÍLIA PIRES
PORTUGUESE INVESTIGATORS working on the Madeleine McCann case are still struggling to clarify if the girl was abducted alive or if she was killed in the holiday apartment in Praia da Luz where the family was staying on May 3.
According to police sources, the Birmingham laboratory is still going through some of the evidence taken from the apartment at the beginning of August. It seems its aim is to clarify if Madeleine was in fact killed in the room or just taken from there.
They are also still working on the indications given by British dogs in the beginning of August, about the presence of a dead body in the boot of the Renault Scenic rented by Gerry and Kate McCann 25 days after Madeleine went missing.
On Wednesday, a team of forensic experts from the Portuguese police was to travel to the UK to meet with the Birmingham team.
They were due to be briefed by the team analysing the Madeleine case evidence about all the forensic tests already done and what they effectively prove plus what is still to be finished there. No further information was available before The Resident went to press.
The investigation is heading towards a crucial period as all files related to the investigation may lose the secrecy of justice constraint early in the new year.
Secrecy of justice
According to the new Portuguese Penal Code, criminal investigations have to be public and risk being considered unacceptable by a court if they are not, unless a judge orders the secrecy of justice about its contents.
PJ investigators working on the case fear that the release of details of the case to the public and the fact that suspects may question all the procedures followed until now may slow down and even block the investigation.
If you have any information on the whereabouts of Madeleine McCann, please contact the McCanns’ helpline on +34 902 300 213 or the Portuguese Police on +351 282 405 400.
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