Portugal’s Attorney General’s Office (PGR) has reported that it indeed has received a request from Scotland Yard for assistance in the case of Madeleine McCann.
A note sent to press agency Lusa today stated that "a request has been lodged at the Procuradoria-Geral da República (PGR) from the British authorities requesting aid." There is no indication how long the request has been at the PGR offices but is has been 'analysed' before being acted on.
Further bureaucracy lies ahead as the request made by the British authorities "will now be referred to the competent court" in Portimão where the Madeline McCann case is being handled.
On January 13th 2014 the UK’s Daily Mirror reported that the British police were poised to make arrests in Portugal related to the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.
Scotland Yard’s ‘Operation Grange’ officers had identified a trio of burglars that had been operating in the western Algarve area and whose mobile phone records showed heightened activity in the hours after Madeline’s disappearance.
The Mirror reported that the British police soon will be travelling to the Algarve to interview the suspects. The newspaper added that a request had been sent to the Portuguese authorities to authorise the detention of the suspect for questioning.
In October 2013 Scotland Yard asked the Portuguese authorities to reopen the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. The case had been shelved in July 2008 as there were no leads to follow or evidence to analyse.
The prosecutor's office reopened the investigation after the Judicial Police received significant new evidence.
Madeleine McCann disappeared in May 2007 from an apartment in Praia da Luz while her parents dined with a group of friends at a nearby restaurant.
