Family of Missing Girl Want Search
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LONDON – The family of a young girl who disappeared during a vacation in Portugal called today for an end to the rampant speculation surrounding the case and said the focus should return to the search for her.
Portugese police have named Kate and Gerry McCann as suspects in the disappearance of their daughter Madaleine, who was 3 when she vanished from a resort while her parents were dining at a restaurant nearby.
A former government official appointed to speak for the McCanns in the weeks after Madeleine’s disappearance, Clarence Mitchell, said any suggestion the two had harmed their daughter was “as ludicrous as it is nonsensical.”
“Indeed, it would be laughable if it wasn’t so serious,” said Mr. Mitchell, standing beside the couple in the driveway of their home in Rothley, central England.
Mr. Mitchell, who resigned from his government job this week to take up a full-time post as their spokesman, said there were “entirely innocent explanations for anything the police may have found during their inquiries.”
The couple, both doctors, strongly deny any involvement in the disappearance of Madeleine. They have led a high-profile international campaign to find her.
Mr. Mitchell said he was prevented by Portuguese law from going into detail about the case, but stressed the McCanns would continue to cooperate with Portuguese authorities.
Portuguese media have reported that detectives in the country wanted to interview the McCanns again, but Mr. Mitchell said officials had made no request to speak to the couple, who returned to England on Sept. 9 with their 2-year-old twins.
“The focus must now move away from the rampant, unfounded and inaccurate speculation of recent days to return to the child at the very center of this: Madeleine,” he said. “The task is simply to find her. Kate and Gerry are again urging everyone to keep looking as they firmly believe she could still be alive.”
In Portugal, a judicial oversight body said Tuesday it was taking charge of issuing public information about the case, but had no immediate plans to release new details.
The judge could decide this week what steps should be taken next in the case.
Forensic tests conducted at a government laboratory in Britain found evidence indicating that DNA from Madeleine was in the trunk of a rental car the parents used after her disappearance.
However, Portugal’s national police chief, Alipio Ribeiro, said last week that the forensic tests on the car were not conclusive, and that he expected the investigation to continue.