Missing Madeleine McCann Investigators ‘Probing New Suspect’: Report

Investigators in the 12-year-old case of missing girl Madeleine McCann are probing a new kidnap suspect, it has been reported.

The Portuguese daily Correio de Manha claims that detectives investigating the long-running case are exploring a “new clue” and a “new suspect,” the British tabloid The Sun has reported.

Madeleine was 3 when she vanished while on holiday with her parents in Praia da Luz, Portugal, on May 3, 2007.

“A new clue and a new suspect, which the PJ (Policia Judiciaria) are trying to keep an absolute secret, has led to new resources being put in place to investigate the little girl’s whereabouts,” The Sun cited the Portugese publication as saying on May 2, the eve of the 12th anniversary of the little girl’s disappearance.

The paper also claimed that Portuguese police said they are “nearer to knowing what happened” to the missing child.

A photo of Madeleine McCann is displayed on a TV screen at an apartment in Berlin on Oct. 16, 2013. Johannes Eilese/AFP/Getty Images

12th Anniversary of Disappearance

On May 3, which is 12 years to the day Madeleine went missing, her parents updated Find Madeleine campaign website, signing off with a hopeful “For as long as it takes...Kate and Gerry.”

“It’s that time of year again,” they wrote.

“As much as we'd like to fast forward the first couple of weeks of May, there’s no getting around it.

“The months and years roll by too quickly; Madeleine will be sixteen this month. It’s impossible to put into words just how that makes us feel.

“There is comfort and reassurance though in knowing that the investigation continues and many people around the world remain vigilant.

“Thank you to everyone who continues to support us and for your ongoing hope and belief.”

Photo of missing Madeleine McCann released Sept. 16, 2007. Handout/Getty Images

Scotland Yard Requests More Resources

British detectives at Scotland Yard have asked for more resources for their investigation, The Telegraph reports.

On May 2, Commissioner Cressida Dick told The Telegraph the Metropolitan Police had applied for additional government funding to continue the probe.

“We have active lines of inquiries and I think the public would expect us to see those through,” she told the publication.

“A very small team continues to work on this case with Portuguese colleagues and we have put in an application to the Home Office for further funding,” she said.

The long-running investigation, dubbed “Operation Grange,” has so far absorbed about $15 million in public money, according to The Daily Mail.

In November, the British Home Office agreed to give another $190,000 to detectives probing Madeleine’s disappearance, with Metropolitan Police Commissioner Cressida Dick saying detectives would keep up the hunt until it “has reached its conclusion.”

Some oppose giving more taxpayer money to continue an investigation that appears to have long gone cold.

“Sometimes you just have to put sentiment to one side and say enough is enough,” said former Metropolitan Police senior detective Sue Hill, who has worked on dozens of missing child cases, according to ITV.

“The UK taxpayers’ money could be better spent on the nation, rather than the search of the three-year-old who was left by her neglectful parents so they were able to go for lunch,” said James Craig, the man behind a Change.org petition calling for an end to the long-running investigation.

Kate McCann launches her book “Madeleine” in London on May 12, 2011. Dan Kitwood/Getty Images

Theories on What Happened

Madeleine disappeared from her family’s holiday apartment in Praia da Luz after being left alone with her younger twin siblings, Sean and Amelie, while her parents went out with friends.

A number of theories have been posited as to what happened.

One is that it was a burglary gone wrong.

Scotland Yard noted in a 2011 review of its investigation that the area in Praia da Luz had seen a 400 percent increase in break-ins in the months before Madeleine disappeared. Detectives have suggested that the little girl may have woken up and startled the burglars.

A second theory is that Madeleine was abducted by a sex attacker.

According to the Telegraph, investigators found nine sexual assaults on young British girls in the area during a period of three years before she went missing.

A third theory is that it was a kidnapping-to-order by a childless couple.

The fact that no evidence has been found that Madeleine is dead supports the notion that she remains alive somewhere, unaware of her true identity.

Two artist’s impressions of what missing child Madeleine McCann could look like at age 6. Child Exploitation and Online Protection Centre via Getty Images

‘Every Possibility’ Madeleine Is Still Alive

A former investigator who worked to try and solve Madeleine’s disappearance is convinced that the girl is still alive and that the case could see a breakthrough.

“There is every possibility that Madeleine is still alive and could be being hidden somewhere and having no idea that she is at the center of a worldwide hunt for her,” former detective David Edgar told The Sun in October; he was hired by the McCanns for three years before Metropolitan Police detectives took over.  “She could literally be anywhere in the world but my hunch is that she is in Portugal.”

He said that someone who has a guilty conscience could eventually come forward.

“The best hope of a breakthrough, even after all this time, will be if and when someone’s conscience is pricked. It may be that the person responsible for Madeleine’s kidnap is dying and makes a deathbed confession, or someone close to that person comes forward after he or she has passed away,” Edgar added.

Madeleine’s parents have said that there is “absolutely nothing” to suggest that their daughter was harmed or killed.

Gerry McCann told a BBC Radio 4 interviewer last September that he’s convinced his daughter is still alive.

“I just want to hug her, to hold her, to cry—a lot. Never a day goes by when I don’t think of Madeleine,” he said, according to an Australian news service.