The Mails take on it
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/li...article_id=486351&in_page_id=1770&ito=newsnow
British scientists have found new DNA evidence which could link Kate and Gerry McCann to Madeleine's disappearance, it has been revealed today.
The results, obtained at the Forensic Science Service laboratory in Birmingham, support earlier forensic findings sent to Portugal by British scientists which led to the McCanns being named as official suspects.
Sources in Britain claim the fresh evidence shows the decision by Portuguese detectives to focus their investigation on the parents is justified.
Lawyers acting for the McCanns travelled to Portugal last week in an effort to have their suspect status removed. The couple sent their legal team to meet their Portuguese counterparts to discuss the case.
The news comes just as it was widely reported this morning that DNA evidence linking the McCanns to Madeleine's disappearance was 'inconclusive'.
But a senior source close to the investigation told the Evening Standard that the new DNA results showed the investigation was focused "where it should be". None of the new material provides definitive proof that Madeleine is dead.
The revelation of its existence will be a blow to the McCanns who deny any involvement in the disappearance of their daughter.
The new positive results have been obtained from analysis of a mass of further material gathered from the McCanns' apartment in Praia da Luz from which she disappeared on 3 May, their hire car and other parts of the Mark Warner holiday complex. Madeleine was six days short of her fourth birthday when she vanished.
The initial police decision to focus on the McCanns followed the arrival in Portugal early last month of a first batch of results sent by the Forensic Science Service.
A senior source close to the investigation said: "There is no reason to change the direction of the investigation and everything that has emerged indicates that it is focusing where it should.
"This is a very complex case and forensics are rarely conclusive on their own, but the new material adds to the existing picture that has been built up by police and fills in a few more pieces of the jigsaw."
Those involved also point out that all the material sent to Birmingham for testing was gathered by Leicestershire police.
Sources also said the further tests cast into question explanations offered by the McCanns for the original results which are believed to have shown traces of Madeleine's blood in the family apartment and of her bodily fluids in the couple's hire car, rented 25 days after her disappearance.
British scientists are understood to be fully confident in their ability to distinguish between Madeleine's DNA and that of her siblings or parents.
Similarly, it is understood that the widely touted theory that her DNA could have been transferred via her toys or clothes in substantial quantities has been fully taken into account.
But because blood, bodily fluids and other material can deteriorate rapidly in hot conditions, the quality of some of the DNA matches is not as high as would have been the case if the Portuguese had collected it earlier.
The McCanns insist their daughter could still be alive and are planning to intensify their PR campaign.
Clarence Mitchell, the McCanns' spokesman, said today: "There are wholly innocent explanations for any material police may or may not have found."
Sources close to the family have said DNA in the boot of the hire car could have come from Madeleine's clothing or sandals.
Mitchell said a campaign of TV adverts to be shown in Morocco was "ready to roll", as was a poster campaign in Spanish supermarkets.
Asked about possible replacements for Goncarlo Amaral, who resigned as head of the investigation last week, Mr Mitchell said he hoped the new chief, when he was appointed, would refocus the investigation on finding Madeleine.
Leicestershire police said it was not making any public statement on its view of what happened to the toddler. A spokesman said: "Since Madeleine's disappearance British Police have offered advice and support to the Portuguese. A wide range of specialist capabilities have been available for them to use."
