cops new e-fit of maddie abducter

THE face of Madeleine McCann's abductor could finally be unmasked by hi-tech police profiling computers, we can reveal.

A Metropolitan Police case review squad will be given access to key descriptions of potential suspects.

And they will use advanced software to produce a definitive e-fit.

It is hoped it will produce an image of a man seen lurking near the McCanns' holiday flat in Portugal around the time Madeleine was snatched.

Several eyewitness accounts of the "suspicious" male will be run through the Electronic Facial Identification Technique. The team will be led by Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood - who snared a Portuguese killer who had been on the run for 15 years.

DCI Redwood will utilise profiling software - available to just five forces worldwide - to mine a wealth of data buried in the original McCann files.

They have never been co-ordinated because several were never put in the public domain by the Portuguese police
A source close to Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry, of Rothley, Leics, said: "There is a long list of people who were interviewed at the time.

"Several of these spotted a man acting suspiciously around their apartment. It's a good chance this was the same man as many of the descriptions are extremely similar. They have never been co-ordinated because several were never put in the public domain by the Portuguese police. Kate found them only by trawling through the files. She was devastated.

"Now with the review we can pull all these together for the first time."

DCI Redwood will oversee a team of murder squad detectives at London's Belgravia Police Station. Around ten officers will work on the review - with others on stand-by in case of a major breakthrough. A Scotland Yard source said: "Andy is an extremely experienced homicide detective."

Kate, 43, and Gerry, 42, are confident that a single image will galvanise the global search for Madeleine, who vanished in Praia da Luz on May 3, 2007, when just three.

Last night a private detective hired by the couple was set to give his huge dossier of evidence to Scotland Yard.

Our source said the work of ex-cop Dave Edgar "will be of enormous help to the Met for the review".

The source added: "The Met will have the files from the Portuguese and Leicestershire police but Dave's work has been the only real active investigation for the last two years."

And i would imagine when they do release a new e-fit it brings more help to the case than that of them pathetic egg shaped drawings given to the public by the Portuguese police in the early days of the investigation!

I agree with you clairesy.

This all sounds so positive and professional.

That´s the way how an investigation should be thoroughly conducted "so positive and professional".