McCanns: We Believe Madeleine Is Still Alive

The parents of Madeleine McCann have told Sky News they are more hopeful than they have ever been that their missing daughter will be found alive.

And they are confident that the Portuguese authorities will reopen the abandoned police investigation soon.

Kate and Gerry McCann said they were aware of many of the 195 new leads identified by a Scotland Yard review team, though detectives have not revealed any detail of the clues.

Mr McCann said: "We believe there is new information, but there is also a need to identify links between some of the old information. The investigation needs to be reopened."

Mrs McCann said: "For so long we felt we were searching for Madeleine on our own, but that's not the case now. We are more hopeful than we have been since the early days."

Last week Scotland Yard said its review team, which is only a quarter of the way through the mountain of evidence collected by Portuguese and British police, had found enough leads to justify reopening the investigation.

But Lisbon's attorney-general said he needed "new facts, not mere hypotheses and speculation" to order a reinvestigation.

The McCanns were not discouraged by that because they say they understand there are diplomatic protocols to be overcome.

"None of us expected a sudden decision to reopen - things don't happen like that - but we believe the Portuguese authorities will be convinced of the need to reinvestigate.

"It's the only way Madeleine's abductor will be brought to justice," said Mr McCann.

"There is no evidence Madeleine has come to any harm and we believe she was taken to keep. She was much younger than other children who are taken for sexual purposes."

Madeleine was a few days short of her fourth birthday when she vanished from the family's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz on May 3, 2007.

The couple were dining nearby with friends and say their daughter must have been snatched from her bed in between regular half-hour checks they were making on her and their younger twins Sean and Amelie.

Police have released an age-progressed image of how Madeleine would look today, aged nine.

Her mother said of it: "When I look at it I see Madeleine. Although it's a marker of five years passed, I do see her in it and I think it's a good likeness. We want people to study it and look for her."

Her father said: "I don't think of it as Madeleine in that way. It's important people don't think of her as a four-year-old frozen in time. This is how she will look today. These images have worked in other cases of missing children."

Mrs McCann said: "Someone knows what happened and we appeal to them to tell us. It's not too late. If it's your brother, your son, your colleague, please let us know."

Anyone with information is urged to call their local police, Scotland Yard on 0207 321 9251 or Crimestoppers in confidence on 0800 555 111 . They can also email
Operation.Grange@met.pnn.police.uk or visit www.findmadeleine.com