Madeleine mother 'to be suspect'

[Dan2nd]

Kate McCann - mother of missing four-year-old Madeleine - will be formally declared a suspect by the Portuguese police, the family has said.
Mrs McCann has arrived for her second police interview in 24 hours. It is thought she will be made an "arguida".

This would allow the authorities to put certain questions and give her the legal right to remain silent.

Gerry McCann will be questioned later. Both deny any involvement in Madeleine's disappearance on 3 May.

A large number of journalists and members of the public were outside the police station in Portimao, Portugal, to watch Mrs McCann arrive by car.

She entered the building to the sound of a few whistles and some shouts in Portuguese from the waiting crowd.

One British tourist shouted: "We believe you, Kate."

She is stunned and disappointed

John Corner
McCann family friend


Kate McCann's anguish

It is understood that Portuguese police have told Mrs McCann, 39, they have 22 questions they want to ask her during this interview although they have not told her what they are.

A McCann family spokesman said: "Just before the session ended last night, the police made it clear they had some further questions to ask which would require her to be in arguida status rather than just witness status."

The spokesman added: "She is shocked and surprised in several ways. First of all that such an accusation could be made against her.

"And obviously she is concerned that such a line of investigation can become a distraction from further attempts to find Madeleine."

Lawyer present

Family friend John Corner, who spoke to Mrs McCann on Thursday night, said Kate thought the police believed she murdered her daughter.

Mr Corner, who is godfather to the couple's twins, told the Today programme: "She is stunned and disappointed. Really disappointed, not only to be at this stage a suspect but I think the realisation that they're not actually looking for Madeleine I think is almost a double whammy."

Speaking from Glasgow, Mrs McCann's brother-in-law John McCann said: "We just need to see what exactly is going to develop in Portugal.

"We just want to see exactly what the Portuguese police are saying. We cannot believe the line that they are going down - we just find it unbelievable."

Madeleine, of Rothley, Leicestershire, disappeared from the family's holiday apartment while her parents were eating in a nearby restaurant.


Madeleine was last seen on 3 May

Mrs McCann had previously been interviewed before by police the day after Madeleine disappeared, but yesterday was the first time her lawyer had been present.

She was questioned as a witness until after midnight on Thursday. Police have previously said the McCanns are not suspects.

In a statement released before her interview yesterday, she appealed to her daughter's abductors, saying: "It is not too late - please let her go or call the police."

She said: "We came to Portugal an ordinary family of five. We just want to know what happened on 3 May and want to be able to go home one family, reunited."

Mrs McCann will become the second formal suspect in the case. The first was Robert Murat, a British man living locally. He has not been arrested or charged.

Mrs McCann's husband Gerry, originally from Glasgow, is expected to be questioned on Friday afternoon about Madeleine's disappearance from an apartment in Praia da Luz, Algarve. It's is not known whether he too will be questioned as a suspect

Blood traces

Samples, including suspected traces of blood, have been recovered from the McCanns' holiday apartment.

The UK's Forensic Science Service has spent the past month analysing them.

Portuguese police spokesman Chief Inspector Olegario Sousa said partial results from tests had been received, but would give no further details.

Last week, the McCanns launched a libel action against a Portuguese newspaper which claimed they killed their daughter.

A public statement from the director of police followed, saying neither Kate nor Gerry McCann had ever been viewed as suspects.

The McCanns have travelled extensively through Europe to raise awareness of the search for their daughter.

This was always going to happen..

[:Hazel]

theres something fishy about the whole thing so this doesnt surprise me at all..

[seattlegrace]

I don't think they've had any involvement with the disappearance whatsoever. I doubt they would have been able to keep something like this quiet for so long, especially when the best investigators have been investigating.

[T0M]

I dont think they had any involvement in the kidnapping but i do blame them for leaving the kids alone in the apartment

[Sammeth.]

I think police are just trying anything to get an answer. They have been critisized and are in full glare of the media spot light, and I think they want to appear is if they are trying to do something. I mean, its completley contradictary to what they have said before. For example saying Friends and Hotel Staff could vouch for Kate being with friends ALL night, up until Gerry alerted her of Madeleines disappearance.

The blood they have found in the McCanns car hasnt been proved to be Madeleines yet.

[Devil.Wont.Cry]

if they did do it then their the best actors in the world!! but tbh i dont think they did, how could she have done it if she had been in a restaurant and the father was the only 1to check on maddy and like tom said, bit stupid to leave them on their own

[Sammeth.]

They have finished questioning her and they havent charged her. Im watching it on Sky News live. Gerry is now being questioned again.

I think its stupid to suggest that blood found in a hire car, (hired 25 days after Madeleine was abducted), is Madeleines.

[Nixt]

I don't think they've had any involvement with the disappearance whatsoever. I doubt they would have been able to keep something like this quiet for so long, especially when the best investigators have been investigating.

It's wrong to make such an assumption, some people are very good at hiding things and the only way they can be sure is to look in depth. In England being made a suspect is a big deal but in Portugal the only real difference is that they have the power to ask tougher questions; I think this needs to be done so they can be sure. The McCann's said they were prepared to do whatever needs to be done to help get their daughter back, so they should have no problem asking a few tough questions.

[Simmzay]

So the claim is that her blood was found on a car, a car they rented 25 days after the disappearance. So if this is true, I can assume that she died in the room, there was no abduction and they were transporting the body to some sort of destination, maybe a burial?

It's all speculation at this point but it doesn't look good to me.

[Sammeth.]

A car they rented 25 days AFTER her abduction means...how many people could have used that car before then?! Lots.

But again, we have to remember, the way the Portugese handle these things are a LOT different than we would do here.