The news came after it was revealed by police that forensic examination had discovered traces of Madeleine's blood in a vehicle hired by the McCanns 25 days after the girl's mysterious disappearance in the resort village of Praia da Luz in Portugal. It was previously reported in August that spots of blood had also been found in the apartment where Madeleine was last seen.
Kate McCann arrived at the Police station in Portimao on Friday the 7th of September and was questioned for over five hours by Portuguese police in relation to the daughter's mysterious disappearance. She emerged looking strained. Her husband Gerry was later questioned at the station as a witness
Madeleine McCann was reported missing by her parents when they returned to their holiday apartment in the Ocean Club resort at 10 p.m. on May the third, just nine days short of Madeleine's fourth birthday. The parents had been dining at a Tapas bar just 100 yards from the apartment with friends and all had taken in turns in checking on the group's children, who were sleeping in the apartments. Madeleine's younger twin siblings were still asleep in the apartment. The McCanns are both English doctors and were holidaying with friends at the resort.
According to Kate McCann, her husband Gerry had last checked on the children at 9 p.m. and when they returned at 10 p.m. they found her bed empty and a window open.
Reports at the time by one of the other women in the group were of a man seen walking quickly from the resort carrying what looked like a white child wrapped in a blanket. Later an Englishman with a questionable history, Robert Murat, was named as a suspect and taken in for questioning but released after police investigated his alibi.
Madeleine's parents chose to stay in the Portuguese resort and began a campaign to "Find Madeleine". This campaign quickly rose to a worldwide phenomena and soon the MacCanns were traveling the world a massive media campaign targeted at fast response for missing children. The Campaigns slogan is "look" and directs the viewer to a photo of Madeleine with a unique mark in her right eye. The MCanns have since traveled to America and had an audience with the Pope.
One focus during the early investigation was a small cuddly toy that the child always carried with her that was found on a shelf way above the child's reach. The parents claimed that Madeleine had gone to bed clutching the toy but the stranger must have removed it from her because of it possibility as an identification means. The child's photo was widely distributed in the media and on the Internet. Chain emails were sent to millions worldwide as part of the "Find Madeleine" campaign and media blitz.
Madeleine's father Gerry McCann began a website FindingMadeline.com [1] and donations flooded in around the world. Worldwide events were held to keep the media focus on the girl's disappearance in the hope that she would be found alive. That hope faded as time went by but the McCanns spoke to the media saying they would never give up on finding Madeleine and begging the "abductors" to return their little girl to them.
During the months after the girl's disappearance the parents were often seen praying and attending church services, one of which was the audience with Pope Benedict.
Other suspects came to light over the course of the investigation but were seemingly dismissed as suspects after investigation and many sightings of Madeleine occurred throughout Europe. Internet forums raised more questions and the McCanns were often under public scrutiny for their decision to dine at the Tapas bar and leave their children unattended in the apartment.
The Portuguese police came under media fire for the chain of evidence and possible forensic contamination in the first few days of the investigation and their lack of fast response.
The media focus switched from suspecting a stranger to spotlight the parents themselves. When the blood was found in the apartment the police attitude seemed to shift as well, with less being said about the stranger and more being said about what other things could have possibly gone on in the apartment. Police admitted off the record that they thought some "accident" may have occurred to the child which was covered up by the parents.
With the latest questioning of Kate McCann, the world's attention is once again focused on the Portuguese resort area. What was the little girl's sad fate and what did happen that night. Only the parents know at this stage whether they are guilty or innocent in the disappearance of their child. The rest of the world will make up it's own mind as time goes on. There are many things that do not add up in the disappearance of Madeleine McCann but with children missing and children dying, just what is logical.
Madeleine McCann Wikipedia Page [2]
Madeleine McCann Disappearance Timeline Telegraph UK [3]