Papers outlining the case against the parents of missing Madeleine McCann are expected to be passed to the public prosecutor, Portuguese police said.

Missing Madeleine McCann’s parents are waiting today to learn whether crucial forensic results will shed new light on what happened to their daughter.

Portuguese police failed to tell the parents of missing Madeleine McCann about a possible forensic breakthrough that could end their agonising wait to learn what happened to their daughter.

A senior Portuguese police officer said detectives investigating Madeleine McCann’s disappearance had a “positive feeling” about the inquiry as they await key DNA test results.

Police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann are focusing on the possibility that she may be dead, a senior official said today.

Madeleine McCann’s parents were hoping for the best but fearing the worst tonight as they awaited DNA test results that could support detectives’ theory that their daughter was killed.

Relations between Portuguese police and Madeleine McCann’s parents are under strain today after detectives revealed in an interview that she might have been killed, without telling her family first.

One hundred days after Madeleine McCann disappeared from her family’s holiday apartment, Portuguese police acknowledged for the first time today that she could be dead.

Portuguese police have suddenly adopted a harder attitude towards the parents of missing Madeleine McCann in recent days, a source said tonight.

The parents of missing Madeleine McCann showed signs of strain today as they faced a growing backlash in Portugal.

DNA test results expected today could confirm whether a possible sighting of missing Madeleine McCann in Belgium needs further investigation.

AN Italian man and Portuguese woman who allegedly tried to extort money from the parents of missing British four-year-old Madeleine McCann remained in custody in southern Spain yesterday pending further questioning, a police spokeswoman said.

Spanish police said tonight they had arrested an Italian man and Portuguese woman who allegedly tried to extort money from the parents of Madeleine McCann, offering them information about their missing four-year-old daughter.

Madeleine McCann's friends and family may have destroyed vital evidence in the first few hours after her abduction, according to Portuguese police.

Portuguese police officers with sniffer dogs carried out a fruitless search for the body of Madeleine McCann today after a tip-off from a Dutch source.

The distraught parents of Madeleine McCann lashed out today at a newspaper which printed claims their daughter was buried nearby before Portuguese police even had a chance to investigate.

The anguished parents of Madeleine McCann are facing a nerve wracking day as police investigate claims their daughter's body is lying hidden only a few miles from where she was abducted.

Portuguese police today started investigating an area nine miles from where Madeleine McCann was abducted after a tip off from a Dutch source.

JK ROWLING is considering putting bookmarks bearing the face of missing Madeleine McCann in copies of her final instalment about the world’s favourite boy wizard.

Portuguese police got a crucial fact wrong in their description of the man thought to have abducted Madeleine McCann, a family source said today.

A British man questioned by police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann was officially classed as a 'suspect' today.

Portuguese police were questioning several people tonight about missing Madeleine McCann as they searched the home of a British man.

Police investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann are interviewing a man as they searched a villa 160 yards from where she was snatched.

A businessman has offered a reward of £1m (€1.5m) for information that leads to the return of Madeleine McCann as the search for the three-year-old enters its eighth day.

Police searching for missing three-year-old Madeleine McCann tonight confirmed that family members and friends had been interviewed again today, but emphasised: “There are no suspicions upon them.”