Portugal police review Madeleine McCann case

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Portuguese police have launched a review of the Madeleine McCann case.

A team of detectives based in Oporto in northern Portugal has been appointed to re-examine the original investigation into the little girl's disappearance from the Algarve in 2007, the Portuguese newspaper Jornal de Noticias reported.

Scotland Yard officers have been carrying out their own review since last May.

It is understood that the team from Portugal's investigative Policia Judiciaria (PJ), headed by senior officer Helena Monteiro, has been looking at the Madeleine case for some weeks now.

Madeleine was nearly four when she went missing from her family's holiday flat in Praia da Luz in the Algarve on May 3 2007 as her parents Kate and Gerry dined with friends nearby.

Portuguese detectives, helped by officers from Leicestershire Police, carried out a massive investigation into her disappearance. The official inquiry was formally shelved in July 2008.

Scotland Yard's review of the case, called Operation Grange, was launched after a request from Home Secretary Theresa May supported by Prime Minister David Cameron.

Portugal's Correio da Manha newspaper reported that the PJ officers have not found any new leads that point to Madeleine's whereabouts and so will not formally reopen their investigation.

McCann family spokesman Clarence Mitchell said: "Kate and Gerry obviously welcome the work being done by the PJ in Oporto alongside that of the Met investigative team.

"They clearly hope that it will lead to the case being reopened in due course.

"There is good co-operation between the Met and the PJ, and Kate and Gerry remain grateful for the time and resources that have been put into the search for Madeleine.

"They will not be discussing any details whilst both the Met investigative review and the PJ work is continuing, but clearly it is a positive development."

PA