Madeleine McCann: Police receive 270 calls and emails after appeal for information about latest suspect
Scotland Yard says it is "pleased" with the information coming in - and is assessing and prioritising the new leads.
Friday 5 June 2020 10:54, UK
The Metropolitan Police has received more than 270 calls and emails since launching a new appeal about the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.
Detective Chief Inspector Mark Cranwell says Scotland Yard is "pleased" with the information coming into the incident room, and is assessing and prioritising the new leads.
On Wednesday night, details about the latest suspect in the little girl's disappearance - named only as Christian B for legal reasons - was shared by British, German and Portuguese authorities.
Madeleine's parents Kate and Gerry McCann are "encouraged" by the results of the latest appeal over their daughter's disappearance.
Clarence Mitchell, a spokesman for Madeleine's family, said her parents are "trying to maintain as normal a life as possible" and awaiting updates from police.
In separate developments, it has been alleged that the 43-year-old German told a man in a bar that he was involved in Madeleine going missing from her bedroom during a family holiday in the Algarve in May 2007.
He also showed his companion a video of himself raping a 72-year-old American tourist in 2005.
Last December, he was convicted of that attack and jailed for seven years - and it has also been confirmed that he has previous convictions for child sexual abuse.
Public prosecutors in Germany have said that they believe Madeleine is dead, and police there are treating her disappearance as a murder investigation.
British police still consider the case as a missing person inquiry, because there is "no definitive evidence whether Madeleine is alive or dead".
Describing Christian B in further detail, Braunschweig state prosecutor Hans Christian Wolters said: "We are talking about a sexual predator who has already been convicted of crimes against little girls and he's already serving a long sentence."
Mr Wolters added that the suspect regularly lived in the Algarve between 1995 and 2007, and mostly funded his lifestyle by committing crimes - including thefts in hotel complexes and apartments.
German police have said they do not believe the murder was premeditated.
Sky's crime correspondent Martin Brunt said: "It is quite extraordinary for police to reveal such detail in the course of such a complex and high profile investigation.
"But it shows that after three years, though they have a good deal of circumstantial evidence against the suspect, they are struggling to find hard evidence."
Family spokesman Mr Mitchell said: "From everything police are saying and doing, this would appear to be the most significant lead that they are trying to close down in the 13 years since Madeleine disappeared."
He said that the couple remain hopeful that their daughter could be found alive, but added: "They are realistic, they simply want to know what happened to their daughter."
Mr Mitchell also said that both the German and British police believe there are people who know what happened to her - and stressed anyone who has information about the jailed suspect should feel safe enough to come forward.
Madeleine vanished from her bedroom on 3 May 2007 while Kate and Gerry McCann were dining with friends nearby in the resort of Praia da Luz.
The name of the latest suspect was given to the Metropolitan Police in 2017 - 10 years after the three-year-old's disappearance.
He has been described as white with short blond hair and about 6ft tall with a slim build.
Police are also appealing for information about the movements of two vehicles linked to Christian B during the period around Madeleine going missing.
Both cars - a Volkswagen camper van and a Jaguar - are now in the possession of German police.
The suspect had the Jaguar re-registered in Germany under someone else's name the day after Madeleine went missing.
Although both vehicles have been forensically examined, they have not produced any evidence of Madeleine's presence.