Madeleine McCann may still be alive, say British police
Madeleine McCann: British police have a list of 38 persons of interest and have launched a full investigation into the 2007 disappearance of Madeleine McCann in Portugal.
Composite photos showing three-year-old Madeleine McCann, left, with a computer generated age progression image of the missing child as she might look now, right, issued Thursday July 4, 2013.
(AP Photo/PA, Metropolitan Police, Teri Blythe)
London
British police say they have launched a full investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, and want to trace 38 "persons of interest" in the case.
Detectives say it's possible that Madeleine, who vanished from a Portuguese holiday resort six years ago, is still alive.
Scotland Yard said Thursday that 12 of the individuals of interest are British, and the rest from a variety of European countries. The force says it is working with governments across the continent to find out more.
While her parents were at a nearby restaurant, McCann vanished from a vacation home in Portugal's Algarve region on May 3, 2007, days before her fourth birthday. The case has generated intense media interest.
Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood said police "continue to believe that there is a possibility that Madeleine is alive."
Today's comments echo one's made in May. As was reported then by Reuters, "Kate and Gerry remain very, very pleased with the work that Scotland Yard are doing and have been encouraged by Operation Grange from the day it began," the McCanns' spokesman Clarence Mitchell was quoted as saying by the British media.
British Prime Minister David Cameron ordered a new investigation by London police after the McCanns wrote to him in 2011 saying neither British nor Portuguese authorities had done enough to try to find their daughter.
Copyright 2013 The Associated Press.