22/10/2007

Investigators To Re-interview McCann Friends

Friends of Madeleine McCann's parents who dined with the couple on the night the four-year-old disappeared are to be re-interviewed.

Madeleine is believed to have been abducted from a holiday apartment at a resort in Praia da Luz on the Portuguese Algarve while parents, Gerry and Kate McCann enjoyed a meal at a nearby tapas bar with the friends, Rachel and Matthew Oldfield, Russell O'Brien and his partner Jane Tanner, David and Fiona Payne and Mrs Payne's mother, Dianne Webster.

Portuguese Policia Judiciaria National Director Alipio Ribeiro has now told reporters that officers investigating Madeleine's disappearance would travel to the UK within days to speak again to the McCanns' friends.

Meanwhile, on Monday, it was also confirmed that a comedy sketch that referred to the McCann case on Channel 4's 'Bremner, Bird and Fortune' show has received more than 50 complaints from viewers.

The sketch suggested that Prime Minister Gordon Brown would use Madeleine McCann as a publicity tool for an election campaign.

Channel 4 has defended the sketch, saying that it was satirising the lengths that politicians would go to to win public support and was not aimed at the McCanns.

Madeleine disappeared from the apartment in Praia da Luz on May 3. Gerry and Kate McCann remain official suspects in the case - both deny any involvement in their daughter's disappearance.

(KMcA)

Related UK National News Stories
Click here for the latest headlines.

11 July 2007
Police continue to question Madeleine suspect
Police are continuing to re-interview the only official suspect in the case of the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. Robert Murat returned to Policia Judiciara headquarters in Portimao on Wednesday morning for a second day of questioning over the four-year-old's disappearance.
30 May 2007
Madeleine's parents meet with the Pope
The parents of missing British girl Madeleine McCann have attended an audience with Pope Benedict XVI in Rome today. Gerry and Kate McCann's visit is part of a series of trips to highlight the case, which will include trips to Spain, the Netherlands, Morocco and Germany.
14 October 2013
E-Fit Images Released Of Madeline McCann Suspect
The Metropolitan Police investigating the abduction of a three-year-old British girl called Madeleine McCann from an apartment in the Portuguese Algarve resort of Praia da Luz on the 3rd May 2007, have released two e-fit images of a man who is of vital importance in the case.
11 June 2014
Madeleine Police Begin New Search In Second Area
Police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann in Portugal have began searching a second area in Praia da Luz, after a week-long search in scrubland ended without findings.
26 April 2012
Portuguese Authorities Rule Out Reopening Madeleine McCann Case
As the fifth anniversary approaches Portuguese authorities have said they will not be reopening their investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. Police in the country said there were no new elements that would allow for the inquiry to be reviewed.