Madeleine McCann may be alive, police say
British police issued this age-enhanced photo of what Madeleine McCann might look like at age nine.
Madeleine McCann, the 3-year-old English girl who went missing in Portugal almost five years ago, may still be alive, and Scotland Yard wants police there to reopen the case, The Associated Press reported.
The British police also released a computer-enhanced photo of what they believe she might look like today at age 9.
"We would like the case to be reopened," Insp. Andy Redwood said, according to the AP. "I should stress quite clearly that the decision is in Portugal."
The girl’s disappearance on May 3, 2007, created international interest and controversy.
Her parents, Kate and Gerry, said someone grabbed their daughter as she slept during a family vacation.
The McCanns left their three children alone in a one-bedroom apartment while they dined about 130 yards away. They discovered her missing during regular checks during the night.
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British Prime Minister David Cameron created a review in the case last May at the request of Kate and Gerry McCann, BBC said.
The McCanns kept their daughter’s case in the media through many high-profile pleas and campaigns.
The 37-person team is sifting through 40,000 pieces of evidence and has created nearly 200 “investigative opportunities” to present to Portuguese police.
“Officers have so far identified around 195 such opportunities within the historic material, and are also developing what they believe to be genuinely new material,” a police statement said, BBC reported.
Police have spent more than $3 million on the case, AFP reported.
"We genuinely believe there is a possibility that she is alive," Redwood told AFP.
During the review, investigators said they’ve found “gaps” in the forensics that could’ve allowed for abduction.
“It feels like there still is momentum in the case,” the McCann’s spokesman, Clarence Mitchell, told AFP. “They (the McCanns) want the case reopened and it was very encouraging to hear that the police in both countries want that as well.”
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