McCann's Made Arguidos On A Mere Possibility/attorney general Fernando Jose Pinto Monteiro

Madeleine hunt will be taken 'to the ends of the earth' even though case has been shelved, says Portugal's top policeman

Portugal's top police officer has vowed to search "to the ends of the Earth" for Madeleine McCann - even though the case has been officially shelved by prosecutors..

National director of the Judicial Police, Almeida Rodrigues, insisted his detectives would chase up every lead until the mystery is solved.

He insisted the case would remain open and that officers would never give up on the hunt.


He told newspaper 24 Horas: "The Judicial Police will continue to chase up every credible lead we receive and we will travel to the ends of the Earth if needs be.


"As with other unexplained disappearances, there are some cases that are always open.

"The fact that the criminal process has been archived does not mean the case is closed.

"A case only stops being investigated if there is a successful criminal trial."

Mr Rodrigues spoke after attorney general Fernando Jose Pinto Monteiro announced the archiving of the case on Monday.

A leaked police report stated yesterday that Kate and Gerry McCann were made police suspects because of the 'mere possibility' they were involved in their daughter's disappearance.

The couple endured ten months of agony as the prime suspects in the Madeleine McCann investigation despite police having no real evidence against them.

In a leaked copy of Portuguese police's final report on their 14-month £2.5million investigation, detectives admitted they found nothing to support their suspicions against the McCanns.


The Madeleine investigation was formally shelved on Monday and the couple, both 40, were told they were no longer arguidos - formal suspects.

Later this week, their lawyer will be given access to the estimated 11,000 documents in the police files.

It is hoped the files will contain clues that could help find Madeleine, who was three when she went missing from her family's rented holiday apartment in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz on May 3 last year.

The Portuguese newspaper Expresso claimed to have a leaked copy of the police's final report, which was handed to prosecutors last month.

The newspaper said the 57-page report provides details of the chain of events which led to the police decision to name the McCanns, of Rothley, Leicestershire, as arguidos.

The report said detectives had acted on the belief that forensic tests in the couple's apartment and hire car supported 'the possibility of a corpse'. It added: 'They (the McCanns) were made arguidos due to the mere possibility of their involvement.'

The report admitted police had not found any evidence against the other named suspect, British expat Robert Murat, 34. He was also cleared on Monday.

It concluded: 'It was not possible to obtain a concrete and objective conclusion about what truly happened that night, or the current whereabouts of the missing child.'

Goncalo Amaral, the former head of the investigation who is due to publish a book on the case tomorrow, insisted the accusations against the McCanns could be resurrected 'at any moment'.

Mr Amaral said: 'The attorney general does not say they are innocent... It is not a statement of innocence of Madeleine's parents.'