Relatives Insist Girl’s Parents Innocent
By BARRY HATTON
PRAIA DA LUZ, Portugal – Relatives of a British couple named as suspects in the disappearance of their young daughter insisted Saturday that the pair are innocent, and challenged police to reveal what evidence they have against them.
Kate and Gerry McCann, who have run an international campaign to find their missing daughter Madeleine, were declared suspects in the case Friday, their lawyer said, after traces of blood were found in their rental car – a startling twist to a story that has made headlines around the world.
Kate McCann was named a suspect when she went to a police station in southern Portugal for her second straight day of interrogation, her lawyer Carlos Pinto Abreu said. Her husband Gerry, who later spent more than seven hours at the same police station, also was declared a suspect, Pinto Abreu told reporters.
"They have not been charged, and the investigation continues," he said without elaborating.
The couple have strenuously professed their innocence, and relatives said police should reveal what, if any, evidence there was against them.
"I’m led to believe that no hard evidence has been shown to them," Gerry’s brother John McCann told British Broadcasting Corp. radio.
"If this is what it takes to speed up the process of absolutely exonerating Gerry and Kate, let’s get on with it," he added. "I hope the police can move quickly, bring whatever evidence they have got and discuss with Gerry and Kate why they think what they think."
Madeleine’s aunt Philomena McCann told Sky News television that police were "on a fishing expedition to get closure on this very high-profile case."
She said Kate and Gerry McCann had been planning to return to Britain in the next few days, but were now unsure whether police would allow them to leave Portugal.
The couple, who have not spoken publicly since being made suspects, are expected to attend services later Saturday at the tiny church in Praia da Luz, the resort town from which Madeleine disappeared four months ago.
Philomena McCann said police had suggested 4-year-old Madeleine might have been killed accidentally and offered the mother a plea deal if she confessed.
"They tried to get her to confess to having accidentally killed Madeleine by offering her a deal through her lawyer – ‘If you say you killed Madeleine by accident and then hid her and disposed of the body, then we can guarantee you a two-year jail sentence or even less,’" she told ITV news.
A police spokesman, Olegario Sousa, confirmed to The Associated Press that police had named a new suspect, but would not say it was Mrs. McCann. He cited privacy laws in declining to comment further. He could not be reached for comment later on Gerry McCann.
The latest developments marked a dramatic turn in a case that has pulled at the world’s heartstrings for months, ever since Kate McCann ran screaming from a hotel room on May 3, saying her daughter had disappeared. The McCanns, both doctors from central England, said they were dining at the time in a hotel restaurant, but returned frequently to check on Madeleine and her twin 2-year-old siblings.
Since then, the McCanns have toured Europe with photos of Madeleine and the child’s stuffed animals and clothing, even meeting with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican. Celebrities including J.K. Rowling and David Beckham made public appeals that helped the family raise more than $2 million.
The money, controlled by an independent auditor, is meant for charities that aid in missing children cases.
Until Friday, suspicion had focused on a British man who lived near the hotel from which Madeleine disappeared and who was the only formal suspect. But police said new forensic tests done on evidence gathered months after the girl vanished found traces of blood in the couple’s car, according to Justine McGuinness, a spokeswoman for the family.
The new evidence – including the traces of blood missed in earlier forensic tests – was uncovered by sniffer dogs brought from Britain.
McGuinness said the police allegations against Kate McCann did not add up, since the rental car had not been acquired until 25 days after Madeleine’s disappearance. Gerry McCann called the allegations against his wife "ludicrous."
"We will fight this all the way, and we will not stop looking for Madeleine," he wrote on the couple’s Web site Friday.
The story made the front pages of every British newspaper Saturday, and most devoted several pages to the latest developments. "Did you kill her by accident?" asked the Daily Mirror, citing the reported words of Portuguese police. "The accused" said the Daily Mail over a picture of Kate McCann.
For the first time, several newspapers allowed a note of doubt about the McCanns’ story to creep in to their reports.
"We so want to admire her," columnist Andrew Pierce wrote in the Daily Telegraph of Kate McCann. "I hope at the end of this we still do."
The McCanns have been given the status of arguido, or formal suspects. Under Portuguese law, formal suspects gain certain legal protections, but police also have more latitude to question them. Police also have to show suspects any evidence against them.
The McCanns’ cause, and the couple’s apparent strength in the face of adversity, has hit a nerve among millions, who have followed their lives as they cared for their two other children and went to church in Praia da Luz. Photographs of the bright-eyed, fair-haired girl have been posted throughout the world.
The publicity has helped lead to numerous reported sightings of the girl, from as far away as northern Europe and Morocco, amid speculation she might have been taken by an international pedophile ring.
The only formal suspect until now has been Robert Murat, who lives with his mother near the hotel from which the girl disappeared. He has always maintained his innocence. Sousa said Murat’s status as a suspect had not changed.
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Associated Press writers Paul Haven in Praia da Luz and Jill Lawless in London contributed to this report.