Madeleine's mum to be officially named a suspect
 

After interviewing Madeleine's parents separately yesterday the police are now going to officially name Madeleine's mum as a suspect.

here's the story on Skynews

Kate McCann is on her way to a Portuguese police station, where she is expected to be declared a formal suspect in the disappearance of her daughter Madeleine.
She is said to be "horrified" at the latest development in the investigation.

Mrs McCann's lawyer arrived at the police station in Portimao ahead of her.

Sky News Crime Correspondent Martin Brunt said the move doesn't mean that police are close to charging Madeleine's mother.

"The police are doing this so they can ask her a list of 22 questions about the night Madeleine disappeared," he said.

"There are specific questions they need to ask and they can only do that if she is a suspect."

But a family friend said: "They are treating Kate McCann as if she is involved in some way in the death of her daughter."

It is thought Kate will face questions linked to the results of DNA tests on samples taken from the family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz.

Martin Brunt said tests have also been carried out on a car the McCanns hired five weeks after Madeleine's disappearance.

"They weren't using it at the time she went missing," he said.

Brunt added that Mrs McCann is "horrified to be under suspicion".

The McCann family spokesman said: "She is shocked and surprised in several ways. First of all that such an accusation could be made against her.

"And obviously she is concerned that such a line of investigation can become a distraction from further attempts to find Madeleine."

Gerry's brother John McCann said the prospect of Kate becoming a suspect was "unbelievable".

"We just want to see exactly what the Portuguese police are saying," he said.

"We cannot believe the line that they are going down - we just find it unbelievable."

Mrs McCann, who was questioned for nearly 11 hours yesterday, expects to be made an "arguido", a formal suspect, in the case.

In all honesty, i seriously thought the parents were involved from day 1.

***Update***
The mother could be charged today!

The police could charge the mother of madeleine mccann today for the "accidental death" of her daughter!!

Sky sources have said Kate McCann could be charged with the accidental death of her daughter.
Mrs McCann's lawyer has warned her she may face charges today, said a family friend.

Madeleine's mother has been made a formal suspect in the case, the friend added.

Portuguese police suggested to Mrs McCann that traces of Madeleine's blood were found in a car the family hired 25 days after the girl went missing.

It is thought Kate is being asked more questions linked to the DNA tests on samples taken from the car.

Mrs McCann told them there was "no way" her daughter's blood could have been found inside the car and she continues to protest her innocence, the friend said.

However, her lawyer, Carlos Pinto de Abreu, has told her she could be charged today.

Madeleine's aunt Philomena McCann told Sky News that the suggestion Kate killed her daughter by mistake was "ludicrous".

The McCann family spokesperson Justine McGuiness said: "The police are treating Kate as if she is involved in the death of her daughter.

"That suggestion hasn't been put to Gerry, so they are treating them differently.

"It is a ridiculous suggestion."

The McCanns announced on August 31 that they would take legal action against a Portuguese newspaper which claimed they killed Madeleine.

A large crowd whistled and shouted as Kate arrived back in Portimao for more questioning.

Mrs McCann was greeted by journalists, locals and holidaymakers, many of them whistling and shouting at her.

One British tourist shouted: "We believe you, Kate." But there were apparent jeers from other people in the crowd.

Madeleine's mother has been made an "arguida", a formal suspect, in the case, according to her friend.

An arguida receives more protection under Portuguese law, including the right to remain silent in formal interviews.

Sky News Crime Correspondent Martin Brunt said: "The police are doing this so they can ask her a list of 22 questions about the night Madeleine disappeared."

"There are specific questions they need to ask and they can only do that if she is a suspect."

The friend added: "She is shocked and surprised in several ways. First of all that such an accusation could be made against her.

"And obviously she is concerned that such a line of investigation can become a distraction from further attempts to find Madeleine."

Gerry McCann is due to be re-interviewed this afternoon.


SOURCE

Wow, this is getting stranger and stranger.

I really don't see how they can charge her of "accidental death", when no body has been found to confirm that Madeline is actually dead. I really, really hope she wasn't involved. I don't understand how a person could do something like that and blatently lie to everyone who's been so supportive in helping find their daughter :( It's such a horrible thought.

Jesus christ, its hard to know wether to believe it or not :(

There was apparently her blood found on the inside of their rental car 25 days after she was missing.

It's seriously messed up if they have "Hidden" her death and played it off as a kidnapping, i mean all the campaigns, all the searches, all the donations. It would be atrocious..

Whoever it was, it's awful.

Thing is, they hired the car 25 days after she was missing, so if her body was put in the car - hence the blood - then where would have they put the body before that? The police were on the scene pretty early on, and 25 days is quite a long time, with pretty decent police involvement. Hm.

To be honest, I've never really got to involved with the whole Madeleine case, but whoever did it - whether it be a parent, or a complete stranger - and whatever they did to her, then I hope they're punished correctly. x

:|
But why just the mother?

^ I don't think they've got round to questioning the father yet...? x

I think they should have started the whole thing with the parents being suspects. It's what they do when a person dies or is murdered or whatever, question all the immediate family to rule it out.

I have no sympathy for them.

And also, the amount of coverage the media gave at the beginning pretty much passed a death sentance on the little girl if she was kidnapped, because who'd actually keep her alive with the whole world on the lookout for them.

Whatever happened to her, she's not alive, and it's so sad.

^^ I agree even if she was alive in the begining theres no chance whoever took her would risk keeping it that way

what kind of parent leaves their kids unattended anyway? it's sick.

Its really strange, they bang on about how caring they are as parents,, then leave their children alone. There is the sad fact that most people who get hurt or murdered, its someone they know that did it to them.

I dont know what to believe, however, if it was her, I will be so angry at all the lies she told for attention and money being spent on a lost cause.

The fact she says there is no way that there was Madelines blood in the car, means she is denying the fact, I honestly believe someone they know did this if it wasnt them. But on a family holiday who would they have brought with them?? It was just them..

All I can say is wtf.

I'm not quite sure what to belive about this, I wondered whether the parents had anything to do with from the start, but where would you keep a little girl's body for 25 days before hiring the car? =S

I know this is going to sound bad, but the way the keep having it in the papers all the time when there is no new evidence or leads was, well, desensitising. It is an awful thing to happen. But I'd much prefer to read new of them actually finding a new lead or getting somewhere than just putting in filler.

The mother thing is a twist. Its been over 4 months and now they think her mom did it? How could someone keep the dissapearance so public if they did it? And where on earth would they have hidden her? Kidnappers for some blonde child trade makes more sense... Have to wonder though, why police were searching the hire car if they did rent it 25days after the dissapearance. What with the grounds being searched so much, if she had indeed murdered the child, they would have moved her fast. Not waited so long when its so public.

I don't think i'd want to know where they'd hide a kids body for 25days. If they managed to do that, it sounds like it was planned. And thats even worse.

My thoughts exactly.

I'm not sure what to think any more. I'm surprised that they weren't suspects from day one.

Indeed, especially at that age. Checking on them every half an hour isn't enough - they're so unpredictable at that age.

TBH, I don't care about this anymore. It's getting boring. And the media are going on like someone has never gone missing before, even though 100s (if not 1000s) of children have gone missing since.

oh my..

hmm.
i thought it was the something to do with the parents from day 1 too.
there's just something strange about it all..i can't quite put my finger on what it is..

I don't know what I think about whether her parents are involved or not. But I don't think, as others have said that with all the media coverage whoever took her/whatever happened would have kept her alive. Whatever it is it's horrible and incredibly sad.

anyone could have hired that car in the days between maddie going missing and the McCann's hiring it.

the blood was apparently loose not soaked into the upholstery. they could have been moving some of her belongings to the airport and it could have fallen from there, thus being transported from the apartment to the car.

there are so many theories going around, what i think is awful is that if they are wrong the person who actually did it will get away with it because they'll be long gone now.

mand x

I've believed it to be the parents from day 1 as well.
They always appear too calm and collected and any emotion they show just seems too staged.
Now they say they wish to find their daughter, yet they've visited numerous other countries purely for publicity. Also, they always said they would stay in Portugal until she was found yet as soon as the police say they are finding evidence that would indicate what actually happened, they decided they should be in Britain again.
It's way too fishy if you ask me.

if you killed a child, much more you own child, would you really hang around and see what happens, even more so publicising the disappearance?

Honestly, I think they made it so public as to take the spotlight off them.
With it going public straight away then making them the suspects in the beginning would have incurred a huge shitstorm of fury. However, if it was more private then they could have been classed suspects from the offset without the world knowing.

I think all along the police have suspected them, but with it being public and with the lack of evidence, they didn't wish to call it and have a backlash.

I know a lot of people wouldn't, but I do believe there are some who are sick enough to.

Yeah and the thing is, they went out to a resturant and left the kids in the apartment, with the french doors OPEN.
Its bad when its in your own home.
But in a villa in another country is even worse.

Me and my stepmum have thought it was the parents from day one.
They've just been too calm i think.

The mum has cried a few times when she's been on camera, but the dad hasn't. However, different people do have different ways of showing their emotions.

I just really want to know..

Me too.

If it was the parents, they've made a fool out of everyone, including the pope!

it's terrible if they did it.
it's terrible if they didn't and they're being treated as suspects.
whatever happened, madeleine is almost certainly dead by now and it's horrible.

I don't get why they said now even after interviewing the father that he isn't a suspect. Why just her?

What other possible explanation is there if they found blood in the car? But like others have said where did they hide her for 25 days? The police are obviously **** if they didn't find her in those 25 days if it was the parents.

It's horrible whatever the truth is and the media always seem to twist everything so I never know what to believe. It must be an awful time for the whole family.

To be honest two weeks after it happened I had the feeling it was something to do with her parents.

I mean what kind of parent leaves their child on their own in a hotel room? And they were offered a babysitter on their holiday sight to look after the kids for FREEE and they refused.

And the video footage they showed of Madeline walking up the steps to the plane and tripping up them, with no assistance from a parent discusted me! They seemed to be too busy filming her rather than helping her.

It's discusting and I hate having to hear about the matter from my Mom, and because all she ever watches is Sky News when something like this is going on I have to hear about it more.

I know I don't have to listen to it or watch it, but you can't really help it when it's really loud whilst your cooking in the other room.

But I hope Madeline is safe and well and she gets found before the end of the year. :)

^ I was going to post exactly that.

Now it'd just look stupid.

Damn you Linda! =P

Umm I realy hope Madeleine's going to be ok... But it isn't looking good is it.
And they wouldn't call her mum a suspect unless she was... Really, you know, a suspect :\
Just hope nothing's happened to that poor little girl ):
All you can really wish for her is that she's with a really caring couple or something, who are taking care of her.
But if that's happening, they should just give her back...
Though, someone would've surely noticed two people with Madeleine wouldn't they.
Horrible situation, hope it doesn't happen to anyone else.

I am not at all surprised by this, the parents have seemed sketchy to me since I first heard about this whole mess. I don't want to speculate any further, but I definitely agree with the decision.

It's horrible, but I certainly hope they can solve it. I would be genuinely floored if poor Madeleine is still alive. I just hope they can find a body so we can know for sure.

Its been something odd with her parents since the start of this! Like why wait an hour before you call the police when they realised she had gone?! It doesnt make sense,

Gerry Maghan has now been made an official suspect aswell.

It wouldn't suprise me if it was them to be honest...the big publicity to make them look innocence...her crying because she's guilty and things..*shrugs*

Hmm, I find it interesting it's only when the police accuse them of being a suspect that everyone starts to agree they are. I honestly don't know either way but I can understand why they suspect them with the whole blood thing.

Nah, I've been arguing with my family since it happened that they did it.

i said they had something to do with it when it all started.
if that was me i would be crying alday an night and i wouldn't be able to go on tv and not cry, i think that it worrying.
ive been saying she is dead for a long time, i know its a horrible tin to say but its been too long now.
the police over there are very relexed so if they did hind her body i think they would hve got away with it.
its sick if they are involved.

I think it's a logical explaination.
Innocent untill prooven guilty.

It's very easy to speculate on cases such as this, especially when no-one knows any facts other than what the papers have reported.

The facts in the public domain, as I see them, are that this girl went missing on 3rd May and hasn't been seen since. Everything else is opinion and lurid speculation. How one can deduce that the parents did it, it was professional kidnappers, it was the bloke down the street, whether she's dead or alive etc etc from what's actually known about the case is completely beyond me.

..and didn't they have trained dogs able to sniff out dead bodies that identified there had been dead bodies in the hotel room?

What I want to know is, why does one little girl get all the media attention when there are so many other children who are/have gone missing?

Because she's from a respectable, white middle class family. If she was the daughter of a black single mum from Toxteth it would have been no more than a brief article in the national press. Sad but true.

That and the fact that her parents are media whores.

Very much so. The only news we hear is from the media, and to be completely honest, that isn't exactly the most honest of sources. The police are bound to know a lot more than they are letting on, and most stories that we hear of the situation will be at least a little biased.

As I see it, the Portugese police are under a lot of pressure to find out what happened with poor Madeline, as the story is so much in the public eye. As a result, they're going down routes that they perhaps wouldn't have gone down if it wasn't so publicised. The media is doing it's usual frenzy, after all, they just need to sell papers - so, it's looking through all of the possible footage or information, putting two and two together to make nine. As long as it sells papers, who cares if it's accurate or not.

I don't know the facts, and I don't want to speculate as to whether or not it was them. However, I just hope, for the family, that some sort of outcome is reached, and it's the right outcome.

This is another sad but true point.