From the archives - Madeleine McCann DNA 'an accurate match'

Madeleine McCann DNA 'an accurate match'

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The Portuguese police's theory is apparently that Madeleine was killed by accident by one or both of her parents 

By Gordon Rayner, Caroline Gammell and Nick Britten
3:36PM BST 12 Apr 2008


DNA samples that are a "100 per cent match" to Madeleine McCann have been found in her parents' hire car and holiday apartment, it has been claimed.




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Sources close to the case said the traces - understood to be blood - were being treated by Portuguese detectives as strong evidence that [You must be registered and logged in to see this link.]
Police in the Algarve apparently now believe they have enough evidence to charge her parents, Kate and Gerry, with "accidentally" killing the four-year-old and hiding her body. A file on the case will today be sent to a prosecutor who could order the couple to return to Portugal to face charges this week.



The McCanns, who were named last week as official suspects in the case, have claimed that they were being "framed" over their daughter's disappearance 131 days ago.
But a source close to the Portuguese investigation said that the prevailing mood among detectives was that: "The parents have a lot of explaining to do."
The source claimed that two DNA samples found in the McCanns' hire car - one apparently a full match to Madeleine and one partial - were of a type that suggested they had come directly from her body, rather than from clothes she had worn.
The development came as:

• Social workers and police met to discuss the welfare of the McCanns' two-year-old twins, who could be placed on an "at-risk" register.
  

• Police in Praia da Luz were preparing to search the villa where the McCanns had been staying until Sunday.
  

• Kate McCann faced fresh slurs in the Portuguese media, with claims that she was aggressive towards her children and sometimes "out of control".
  

• The McCanns were given police advice on how to deal with hate mail after a backlash against them gathered pace in Britain.
  

The McCanns have vowed to fight to clear their names, and hired two of the country's leading solicitors, Michael Caplan QC and Angus McBride, to advise them.
Sources close to the investigation revealed that the DNA evidence - analysed by the Forensic Science Service in Britain - was regarded by Portuguese police as crucial.
A sample that was a full match to Madeleine's DNA was allegedly found on the windowsill of the McCanns' apartment at the Ocean Club in Praia da Luz. Although the nature of the sample was not disclosed, previous reports claimed that blood had been found by sniffer dogs.
One Portuguese newspaper claimed that "biological fluids" with an 80 per cent match to Madeleine were found under the carpet in the boot of the McCanns' hire car, which was rented 25 days after she disappeared.
Forensic experts in the UK have pointed out that if the samples found in the car were hair or skin they would be of little evidential value as they could have rubbed off Madeleine's toys or clothing.
But there were fresh reports claiming that both samples were blood, and one source close to the inquiry told The Daily Telegraph that the nature of the samples led police to believe that they had come from Madeleine's body being placed in the car.




The Portuguese police's theory is apparently that Madeleine was killed by accident by one or both of her parents, and that her body was hidden before being disposed of a month later using the hire car.
The McCanns have reacted with fury to the claims, accusing the police of a "stitch-up" and pointing out that they could not have moved a body when the eyes of the world were constantly upon them in the weeks after Madeleine's disappearance.
Their distress was heightened when it emerged that Leicestershire's child protection team met to discuss the welfare of their two-year-old twins, Sean and Amelie, who could be placed on an "at-risk" register if they were considered to be vulnerable.
Social workers were expected to visit the family home in the village of Rothley this week to assess whether the children were being cared for properly and whether they had been in any way traumatised by the events of the past four months.
Child welfare experts said social services were obliged to investigate any case where parents were suspected by police of harming their children, and that placing the twins in foster care could become an option if the McCanns were charged or forced to return to Portugal for long periods.
Police in Portimao were expected to hand over a file on the case to a senior prosecutor, who would decide whether to bring charges or order further inquiries.
Officers were poised to search the villa that the McCanns had been renting for the past three months, and which they vacated on Sunday when they flew back to Britain for the first time since Madeleine's disappearance.
The couple have been subjected to constant smears in the Portuguese press, but there is also evidence that public sympathy in the UK may be on the wane.
Police confirmed an officer had discussed "security issues" with the McCanns amid fears that they would receive hate mail, and a BBC Radio 5 Live phone-in debate on the subject of "do you support the McCanns" was abandoned after a large number of messages condemning them were followed by demands from listeners that an ongoing police investigation should not be the subject of a radio phone-in.

Blood found in McCanns' hire car 'DID come from Madeleine'

Last updated at 22:46 08 January 2008


Traces of blood found in Gerry and Kate McCanns' hire car and holiday flat DID belong to Madeleine, it has been claimed.

It reflects detectives' belief that she is dead and her parents disposed of her body.

Tests carried out at a UK laboratory confirmed beyond doubt that the blood was that of the toddler, a Portuguese newspaper reported.

The McCanns have always insisted there were innocent explanations for the traces found behind the sofa at the Ocean club apartment in Praia da Luz and in the boot of the Renault Scenic they hired there 25 days after Madeleine vanished on May 3.
They have had independent DNA tests on the car which they say revealed no trace of Madeleine and are understood to be distressed by the reports which they categorically deny.
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They claim that the DNA could be linked to Madeleine's siblings, two-year-old twins Sean and Amelie.
But the respected Portuguese newspaper Correio da Manha reported yesterday: "The definitive result of the tests leave no doubts for the Policia Judiciaria.
"The blood found in the McCanns' car is that of Madeleine as well as those samples detected in the flat."
Detectives in Portugal asked British scientists to carry out new tests after initial ones by the Forensic Science Service laboratory in Birmingham proved inconclusive.

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It is understood that they are using a new technique called low copy number analysis, which allows them to find a genetic fingerprint from a tiny sample.
The samples from the flat and the hire car were said to be damaged and of low quality, but police sources now claim the latest results are definitive.
Portuguese detectives plan to travel to Britain in the coming weeks to reinterview the McCanns and the friends they were dining with at a tapas restaurant on the night Madeleine vanished.
Yesterday Dr Russell O'Brien and his partner Jane Tanner were named as the two friends reported last year to have told police they wanted to change their account of that evening.
Ms Tanner, 37, from Exeter, says she saw a mystery man carrying a child away from the flat at 9.15pm on the night Madeleine vanished.
Police were said to believe Dr O'Brien, 36, wanted to change his statement to claim he also saw the man, newspaper 24 Horas reported.
But staff at the restaurant say Ms Tanner was at the table througout the meal and only left after Kate came running in shouting, "They've taken her", the newspaper reported.
Dr O'Brien and Ms Tanner have denied contacting police to change their stories and sources close to the McCanns support that posistion.
Portuguese police believe Madeleine died in an accident and that Kate and Gerry conspired with their friends to dispose of the body.
Police sources claim the couple could be charged with manslaughter as well as hiding a body and wasting police time.
Kate and Gerry deny involvement in their daughter's disappearance.
They have had independent DNA tests on the car which they say revealed no trace of Madeleine.
Last night, their spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: "These reports are very distressing for Kate and Gerry - they are depressed that again wild rumour and speculation is being presented as fact.
"We wish Portuguese police would just get on with their investigation, come over to England and carry out the interviews with Kate and Gerry and their friends. All those interviews will prove, yet again, that Kate and Gerry have nothing to hide.
"As for the supposed DNA testing, we cannot comment on yet more unsubstantiated rampant speculation in the Portuguese press.
"It is ridiculous to suggest that Madeleine's blood was in the their car because she was never in it.
"It was hired more than 20 days after she went missing, which means it was impossible for her to have ever been in it.
"Kate and Gerry were in no way involved in her death. Nor were they involved in disposing of her body.
"To suggest otherwise is ridiculous. This report is flying in the face of all other articles which reported that the DNA and forensic tests were inconclusive.
"If there had been anything found, I would have thought there would have been more urgent activity on behalf of the Portuguese police than there has been.
"We have been waiting months now for them to come to England to carry out their re-interviewing.
"Anything the police feel may give them cause for concern can be wholly and innocently explained.
"But until we actually see the official FSS report, we have no idea what it contains, and I suggest the Portuguese press don't either."


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