Relations under strain between police and McCanns

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.

Exactly 100 days after she disappeared from the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz, investigators acknowledged for the first time yesterday that she could be dead.

As Kate and Gerry McCann clung to the hope their daughter will be found alive, Chief Inspector Olegario Sousa said new evidence suggesting she was killed was being investigated with “intensity”.

He told the BBC: “In these past few days, there have been some developments, and some clues have been found, that could point in a possible death of the little child.

“But till the moment, and we are waiting for the lab results of the evidence that has been collected, all the lines are open.”

This appears to be a reference to sniffer dogs’ discovery of blood specks on a wall in the McCanns’ holiday flat.

The samples have been sent to Britain for DNA tests, which are expected to be returned early this week.

A McCann family friend said it was “extraordinary” the police had “not had the decency” to tell the couple they now believed Madeleine could be dead before stating it in an on-the-record interview.

Mr Sousa also said the McCanns and the seven friends with them on holiday when Madeleine disappeared on May 3 were not considered suspects – contrary to unconfirmed reports in Portuguese papers last week suggesting they were now under suspicion.

The senior officer’s comments appear to contradict the message that the McCanns, from Rothley, Leicestershire, have been receiving from the investigators.

On Tuesday Mrs McCann said police had told her only the previous week that they were “looking for a living child”.

The rift with the police added to the couple’s pain as they marked yesterday’s grim 100-day milestone.

Mr and Mrs McCann sought strength in prayer at the end of one of the worst weeks they have experienced since four-year-old Madeleine went missing.

They endured “incredibly hurtful” speculation and innuendo in the Portuguese press, claims that locals want them to return to Britain, and a hardening of detectives’ attitudes towards them.

The McCanns yesterday attended a poignant service for Madeleine and other missing children in the church of Nossa Senhora da Luz in the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz.

Clutching her daughter’s favourite soft toy, Mrs McCann made an emotional appeal for people to keep supporting her and her husband through their “journey of hope”.

The church was packed with holidaymakers and locals for the special service, which had the theme “100 Days of Hope”.

Like the McCanns, many wore green and yellow to symbolise hope. Throughout the service they came to the front of the church to offer their support for the couple with kisses and handshakes.

There are signs that some people in Praia da Luz are becoming fed up with the presence of so many journalists reporting on the search for Madeleine.

A car parked outside the church during the service had the message “CIRCUS GO HOME” written in dust in one of its windows, and it was claimed this week that locals wanted the family they referred to as “these bloody McCanns” to go home.

Father Haynes Hubbard, the Anglican chaplain of the Algarve, who led the service, said those in church did not agree “for one second” that they should return to Britain.

He went on: “It would be easier for us if they left, but it wouldn’t be right.”

Her voice breaking with emotion, Mrs McCann told the worshippers: “Please stay with us as we continue our journey of hope and please keep Madeleine in your thoughts and prayers.”

Her husband struggled to hold back tears as he stressed that they had not given up hope and would not stop looking for Madeleine until they found her.

A family friend said the last week had been one of the hardest for the McCanns since Madeleine’s disappearance.

They are hoping that the coming days will bring some release from the extreme pressure they have been under recently.

Back in the UK yesterday family and friends of the McCanns prayed for Madeleine’s safe return and sports stars urged people to join the hunt for the young girl.

Mrs McCann’s parents, Susan and Brian Healy, distributed posters, stickers and balloons to members of the public in Liverpool city centre.

Mrs Healy, 62, said: “It’s been very hard this week. I think where Kate and Gerry tell us to stay strong, not to take some of the criticism on board – it is not helpful, it is very hurtful and a lot of it is speculation.

A lone piper played a specially commissioned tune for Madeleine at the opening of the World Pipe Band Championships in Glasgow at 12.30pm.