04-26-2012, 06:00 PM
Citing a lack of new evidence, Portuguese police will not reopen the Madeleine McCann missing child case, despite British police claiming Wednesday to have 195 new leads.
"There are no new elements at the moment that would allow for the reopening of the inquiry," Pedro do Carmo, deputy head of the Portugal criminal police department reportedly told AFP.
The decision comes one day after British police reviewing McCann's disappearance said they believed she could still be alive five years after she vanished.
Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood of Scotland Yard's Homicide and Serious Crime Command said he is leading a team of 37 police officers who have been reviewing 40,000 pieces of evidence gathered since May.
"As we have always said, the prosecution will only reopen the case if there are new, credible and relevant facts, and not on the basis of hypothesis or speculation," a spokesman for the Portuguese police station reportedly told AFP.
"We would like the case to be reopened; our case is clear," Redwood told reporters Wednesday. "I should stress quite clearly that the decision is in Portugal."
"There are no new elements at the moment that would allow for the reopening of the inquiry," Pedro do Carmo, deputy head of the Portugal criminal police department reportedly told AFP.
The decision comes one day after British police reviewing McCann's disappearance said they believed she could still be alive five years after she vanished.
Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood of Scotland Yard's Homicide and Serious Crime Command said he is leading a team of 37 police officers who have been reviewing 40,000 pieces of evidence gathered since May.
"As we have always said, the prosecution will only reopen the case if there are new, credible and relevant facts, and not on the basis of hypothesis or speculation," a spokesman for the Portuguese police station reportedly told AFP.
"We would like the case to be reopened; our case is clear," Redwood told reporters Wednesday. "I should stress quite clearly that the decision is in Portugal."