Samples of suspected traces of blood, found by sniffer dogs
in Madeleine's apartment, sent to Forensic Science Service lab in Birmingham for analysis.
Two British police technicians, using specialist 'Pulsar' equipment,
check the grounds of Casa Liliana to detect whether any earth has been 'disturbed' in the last few months.
Members of the Murat family drive 4 vehicles, shared by the Murat
family, to police headquarters for them to be searched again by sniffer dogs.
Kate and Gerry manage an early morning run in 'pleasantly cooler'
conditions.
They record a short interview with Sky News
UK lab to test blood found in Madeleine room Guardian
Sandra Laville, crime correspondent
Tuesday August 7 2007
Blood samples from the Portuguese apartment where Madeleine McCann was staying while on holiday with her family will
reach a British laboratory tomorrow for analysis.
The samples, which are understood to have been found in the apartment by a team of sniffer dogs operated by police from
Leicestershire, will be examined by scientists from the Forensic Science Service (FSS), based in Birmingham, the Guardian
understands.
The first task for scientists will be to try to get a DNA sample from the blood, reported to have been found on a wall
of the villa in Praia de la Luz where the McCann family was staying.
If the scientists are successful, the profile will be checked against the DNA of the missing four-year-old and against
the national DNA database, set up by the FSS.
Police from Leicestershire, where the McCann family live, are leading the UK contingent of officers in Portugal helping
detectives. Among the team is a detective sergeant from the Metropolitan police who speaks Portuguese and is working as a
translator. Also on the team is a British-based profiler who is helping to build a picture of the suspected abductor.
Leicestershire police refused to comment yesterday on whether it was their officers who discovered the blood smears.
But reports from Portugal suggested officers from the Leicestershire force used specialised equipment and their own sniffer
dogs to re-examine the two-bedroom apartment on the Mark Warner holiday complex.
Blood was reportedly found on a wall in the bedroom where Madeleine had been sleeping with her younger brother and sister
on May 3, the night she disappeared. A source was quoted as saying that one of the dogs stopped at the spot and barked to
indicate it had found something.
Reports in the Portuguese press today suggested police had suspected for some months that Madeleine died in the apartment
on May 3. The Diario de Noticias (DN) quoted a source close to the inquiry as saying that police had completely discounted
kidnap as a result.
The source said detectives from Britain and Portugal had been closely monitoring the movements of the parents, Gerry
and Kate, since Madeleine's disappearance.
Police sources told DN that they were concentrating "on the family circle and their friends", some of whom had been under
surveillance in the UK.
Meanwhile, it was reported that Portuguese police had been monitoring a second suspect in the investigation.
The new suspect, said DN, is a man of about 40, about 1.70-1.75m tall, with brownish hair and who could be African or
English. This man was seen with Robert Murat, the only named suspect in the case, and, before Madeleine's disappearance, in
the company of the McCann family.
Separately, the lawyer for Mr Murat said he would sue for wrongful arrest once his client was proved innocent.
Mr McCann said today he could not comment on any specific details of the police inquiry. He told Sky News: "We do know
some information that, one, we're not allowed to tell, and, two, we would never ever put anything into the public domain that
might put the investigation of Madeleine at risk."
Mr McCann, a cardiologist, said he and his wife "strongly believed" Madeleine was alive when she was taken from the apartment.
"We're not naive, but on numerous occasions the Portuguese police have assured us that they were looking for Madeleine alive
and not Madeleine having been murdered," he added.
The fact that he and his wife had come under scrutiny from detectives was "difficult", Mr McCann said, but he insisted
they were "more than happy" to cooperate.
"We expect the same thoroughness and to be treated the same way as anyone else who has been in and around this. And we
wouldn't expect it any other way," he said. "The same high levels will be applied to us as would be applied to anybody else,
and that's only right and proper."
The results of DNA tests on a drinks bottle used by a young girl resembling Madeleine who was seen in Belgium could be
returned on Thursday. A customer at a restaurant in the Flemish town of Tongeren, not far from the Dutch border, said she
was "100% sure" that she had seen the missing youngster.
