Police plea to reopen Madeleine McCann case

SCOTLAND Yard urged Portuguese authorities to reopen the search for Madeleine McCann today as detectives said there were 195 potential leads to finding her alive.

The detective leading the Metropolitan Police review said the case could still be solved before officers released a picture of what she might now look like as a nine-year-old.

Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood said he believed her disappearance was down to a stranger abduction, as he said there were 195 “investigative opportunities”.

Police refused to say what evidence they had uncovered to suggest Madeleine was alive.

Mr Redwood confirmed his team had been out to Portugal seven times, including a visit to the family’s holiday flat in Praia da Luz.

It will be five years ago next week since the three-year-old went missing as her parents Kate and Gerry McCann dined with friends nearby.

A spokesman for the McCanns said the family were pleased with the image.

Commander Simon Foy said: “Most significantly, the message we want to bring to you is that, on the evidence, there is a possibility that she is alive and we desperately need your help today to appeal directly to the public for information to support our investigation.”

Mr Redwood said “evidence that she is alive stems from the forensic view of the timeline” that there was the opportunity for her to be taken.

Investigations show “there do appear to be gaps”, he added.