The Judiciary Police clarified yesterday that, in the investigation into the disappearance of English child Madeleine McCann, in the Algarve in 2007, steps continue to be taken, aiming to clarify the situation, and that they are still in contact with the child's relatives."In this context and as opportunely made public, in close coordination with the German (BKA) and English (Metropolitan Police) authorities, formal acts of investigation and expertise have been carried out, in Portugal and abroad, as well as sharing information and revisited statements", said the Judiciary Police (PJ) in a statement.
According to the PJ, as "it is also normal in this type of situation and corresponds to good practices", face-to-face contacts were made with the relatives of the missing child, transmitting only "the procedural status, within the scope of the ongoing investigation, pending at the Public Ministry of the District of Faro".
This clarification from the PJ comes after the BBC, cited by the EFE agency, reported that the PJ apologised to the parents of Madeleine McCann, who was 3 years old at the time of her disappearance, for "the way it dealt with the girl's disappearance in the Algarve, in May 2007".
According to the same news, a delegation of PJ agents travelled from Lisbon to London at the beginning of this year to apologise to Gerry McCann, Maddie's father, after the parents were named as suspects in the girl's disappearance.
Madeleine McCann disappeared from the room where she was sleeping at a resort in Praia da Luz, in the Algarve, while her parents were having dinner with friends nearby.
In September 2007, the parents - Kate and Gerry McCann - were considered suspects in the initial Portuguese investigation, then led by detective Gonçalo Amaral, but this status was withdrawn from the PJ inspector the following year.
Gonçalo Amaral went on to accuse the parents of involvement in their daughter's disappearance and even wrote a book related to the case of Maddie's disappearance.
However, Portuguese police have now admitted that the investigation was not correctly conducted.
After years of investigation, Portuguese agents this year supported the German authorities, who believe that German Christian Brueckner murdered the child, according to the BBC program.
According to the BBC, Hans Christian Wolters, the German prosecutor on the case, welcomed Portugal's apology, saying: "It's a good sign. It shows that, in Portugal, there is progress in the McCann case."
Source Lusa
