Top Brit cop hunting for Madeleine McCann says he is following up ‘critical leads’ on 10th anniversary of tot’s disappearance
THE top British detective hunting for Madeleine McCann has revealed he is following up “critical” leads on the tenth anniversary of the tot’s disappearance.
Speaking ahead of the 10-year anniversary Met Police Assistant Commissioner Mark Rowley said they are following up “significant” leads.
Asked if police were any closer to solving the case than they were six years ago when the UK investigation was launched, Mr Rowley said: “I know we have a significant line of inquiry which is worth pursuing, and because it’s worth pursuing it could provide an answer, but until we’ve gone through it I won’t know whether we are going to get there or not.
“Ourselves and the Portuguese are doing a critical piece of work and we don’t want to spoil it by putting titbits of information out publicly.”
He declined to expand on the nature of the working theories or reveal whether any suspects were currently being considered, saying that disclosing further detail would not help the investigation.
Mr Rowley said: “We’ve got some critical lines of inquiry, those link to particular hypotheses, but I’m not going to discuss those because those are very much live investigation.
“We’ve got some thoughts on what we think the most likely explanations might be and we are pursuing those.”
He described the possibility of a “burglary gone wrong” as a “sensible hypothesis” which has not been “entirely ruled out”.
The Scotland Yard chief admits there is still a “lot unknown” about the case after nearly 10 years and fear they may never solve it.
Mr Rowley said his diminished team of officers were “hurting” because they can’t guarantee finding the answer to end Maddie’s parents’ nightmare.
He said: “I so wish I could say we will definitely solve it but a small number of cases sadly don’t get solved.
“I just can’t quite guarantee it. It always hurts that you can’t guarantee success but we will do everything we reasonably can do to try and get there.”
The senior officer constantly tries to buoy up desperate Kate and Gerry McCann by telling them: “We will do everything reasonably possible to try and find an answer.”
Mr Rowley said: “All the different hypotheses have to remain open and we’ve got some thoughts on what we think the most likely explanations might be.”
They include that Maddie fell prey to a sex fiend or become the victim of a “burglary gone wrong.”
One thing, for certain, he said is that the three-year-old did NOT simply wander out of the Portuguese holiday apartment on her own accord as some criminal experts have suggested.
Mr Rowley said there was “no definitive evidence” proving Maddie – who would now be aged 13 – is alive or dead.
He said that however Maddie left the Praia da Luz flat in May 2007 while her parents were dining nearby with pals, it was an abduction.
He added: “She wasn’t old enough to make a decision to set off and start her own life.”
Mr Rowley said Operation Grange – the investigation set up on the orders of former Prime Minister David Cameron six years ago – was “a missing people inquiry” and not a murder inquiry.
He said: “We understand why, after this many years, people will be pessimistic, but it’s important we keep an open mind.
“We’ve got some thoughts on what we think the most likely explanations might be and we are pursuing those.”
Ex GP Kate, 49, and heart doctor Gerry, 48, today described their “decade of pain” in a posting on the Find Maddie website, saying: “Thankfully there is an active police investigation to try and find Madeleine and bring her abductor to justice. There are no new appeals that the police wish to make at this moment in time.”
The couple from Rothley, Leics, have vowed never to give up searching for their eldest child.
Mr Rowley said the team had not “entirely ruled out” that possibility of “a burglary gone wrong” saying it’s a “sensible hypothesis.”
Refusing to go into detail, the officer said they had a “significant line of inquiry worth pursuing” which could “provide an answer.”
But he admitted it was painfully slow going, saying: “We don’t know whether we’re going to get there or not.”
Four un-named suspects identified in 2013 and among 600 people of interest to the investigation were ruled out after extensive interviews and searches.
But Mr Rowley remains confident that “significant investigative avenues” are still of “great interest” to his force and the Portuguese police, who are assisting them.
Since May 2011 detectives have sifted through a huge pile of 40,000 documents in the near £12 million inquiry paid for by the taxpayer through Home Office funding – and which has previously been blasted for being “a ridiculous waste of public money” by watchdog The Metropolitan Police Authority.
The team, which has been cut from 30 officers at the peak to now just four, continue to receive information each day and occasionally some extra useful nuggets.
Last month they received an extra £85,000 funding to continue until September at which point the inquiry is set to be shelved.
Despite failing to unearth any significant clues leading to Maddie’s whereabouts, Mr Rowley insists they have achieved “an awful lot.”
He said: “I think people get seduced perhaps by what they see in TV dramas where the most complex cases are solved in 30 minutes or 60 minutes. What we started with here was something extraordinary.
“We’ve achieved a complete understanding of it all. We’ve sifted out many of the potential suspects, many of the people of interest and where we are today is with a much smaller team focused on a small number of remaining critical lines of inquiry that we think are significant.”
He defended the vast amount the controversial hunt has cost, saying: “Big cases can take a lot of resources and a lot of time. We’ve tried to be careful about public money and as we’ve started with that massive sifting we’ve reduced the number of resources and the funding’s reduced accordingly.”
He continued: “But we will stick with it as long as the funding’s available and as long as there are sensible lines of inquiry to pursue.”
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