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BRITAIN-GERMANY-POLICE
Parents of missing British girl welcome potential breakthrough
LONDON, June 4, 2020 (BSS/AFP) – The parents of missing British girl
Madeleine McCann have welcomed a new appeal for information about a
suspect in her high-profile disappearance, their spokesman said on
Thursday.
Madeleine, aged three, vanished from an apartment at a holiday
complex in southern Portugal in 2007, sparking a huge investigation.
Portuguese police closed their case in 2008 but theories about what
might have happened to the girl continue to swirl.
Detectives in Britain and Germany said on Wednesday night a
43-year-old German man with a history of child sex abuse was now a
prime suspect, raising hopes of a breakthrough.
“Biggest break yet in search for Madeleine,” said the Daily
Telegraph, one of six national British newspapers to have the story on
their front page.
The Daily Mail asked: “Have they found man who took Maddie?”
Clarence Mitchell, a spokesman for Madeleine’s parents Kate and
Gerry, told BBC television: “They are grateful and they welcome this
appeal.
“They have not given up hope of finding Madeleine alive, despite
the length of time — they’ve never given up that hope.
“But they are realistic and they say that whatever the outcome of
this appeal and the police work, they do need to know because they
need to find peace.”
The Metropolitan Police in London, which opened its own inquiry in
2013, said on Wednesday the new suspect was identified after a tip-off
in 2017.
They alerted their German counterparts and police in Portugal were
also contacted.
Germany’s federal criminal agency said the unidentified suspect is
serving a “long prison sentence” for an unrelated matter and has
previous convictions for child sexual abuse.
He regularly lived between 1995 and 2007 in the Algarve — the same
region as the Praia da Luz resort the girl disappeared from — and did
occasional jobs in the area, police said.
Police cited two vehicles the suspect was known to have used as
well as two phone numbers.
Mitchell echoed British police in calling the suspect’s
identification “significant”.
“Of all the thousands of leads and potential suspects that have
been mentioned in the past or discussed in the media, there has never
been something as clear-cut as that from not just one, but indeed now
three, police forces,” he said.
British police have insisted they are treating their probe as a
missing persons case.
But lead investigator Christian Hoppe told Germany’s ZDF television
their inquiry had led police to suspect that the man had killed
Madeleine.
Mitchell added the family wanted closure.
“They simply want to establish what happened to their daughter, to
find out the truth and to bring whoever was responsible for her
disappearance to justice,” he said.
BSS/AFP/MRU/1810hrs