Woman targeted as ‘prime suspect’ in the Madeleine McCann case
A woman has been revealed as the 'prime suspect' in the Madeleine McCan case, 10 years after the toddler's disappearance.
It's understood the woman was allegedly spotted close to the spot where three-year-old Madeleine went missing in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz on May 3, 2007, The Sun reports.
It comes as mum Kate McCann admitted she feels “guilty” about the £11 million (A$19 million) spent on the investigation in a revealing interview alongside husband Gerry ahead of the tenth anniversary of their daughter’s disappearance.
The duo believe Maddie can still be found alive.
A source close to Scotland Yard told the Sunday Express detectives are due to question the woman, who does not currently live in Portugal, about her whereabouts on the night of Madeleine’s disappearance.
“Detectives have scoured Europe looking for this woman who is thought to hold the key to solving the entire case," the insider said.
“After months of tireless police work they will soon be in a position to move in and finally get some answers after a decade of dead-ends.
“It is a hugely significant line of inquiry that officers hope could lead to an arrest.”
Asked directly about the female suspect, Scotland Yard said it would not comment on specific aspects of the investigation.
The Home Office gave the Met Police an extra £85,000 (A$147,000) in funding last month to help find the missing child, extending the Operation Grange to September this year.
Senior officers described the latest cash boost as the “last throw of the dice” as total funding reached £11.1 million (A$19.2 million).
Speaking about the cost of the investigation, Mrs McCann told the BBC’s Fiona Bruce during a heartbreaking interview it's hard not to feel guilty.
“You do feel guilty. Other families haven’t had the publicity and money," she said.
Mr McCann said any criticism about the money spent on the hunt was unfair because other cases involving missing British tourists had been solved in the long process.
More than 600 individuals who were identified as being potentially significant to the disappearance have been investigated with no luck as yet.
“In 2013 Operation Grange identified four individuals they declared to be suspects in the case," Assistant Commissioner of London’s Metropolitan Police Mark Rowley said.
“This led to interviews at a police station in Faro facilitated by the local Policia Judiciária and the search of a large area of wasteland which is close to the apartment where the family were staying in Praia Da Luz.
“The inquiries did not find any evidence to further implicate the individuals in the disappearance and so they are no longer subject of further investigation.”
30 British detectives were working on the UK side of the investigation sifting through 40,000 documents at the peak of the investigation.
Mrs McCann told BBC how the couple have had further hope because of several new “credible lines of inquiry”.
They have vowed to do “whatever it takes for as long as it takes” to find Madeleine.
They couple said they have tried to keep a “very normal, happy and fulfilling life” for twins Sean and Amelie, now 12, and have never blamed each other over Maddie.
