Posted by Last updated at 16:39pm on 16th October 2007
The McCanns are facing new claims today that evidence of a decomposing body was found in their hired car.
Portuguese police sources allege forensic test results show “bodily fluid” from a corpse in the boot of the Renault Scenic rented by Kate and Gerry McCann 25 days after Madeleine went missing.
Sources in the Policia Judiciaria are also claiming that the evidence was found on the underside of a carpet, indicating that a body was deliberately hidden there.
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Gerry and Kate McCann – they are having to spend a lot of their time clearing their name but say they want the focus to be back on finding their daughter
Police are understood to be waiting for further test resultswhich may show whether the DNA belongs to Madeleine.
The allegations were dismissed by sources close to the McCanns as the latest smears in a campaign waged against the couple by elements in the Policia Judiciaria.
Friends of the McCanns believe police have orchestrated damaging but false leaks in retribution for criticism of the way the search for Madeleine was conducted in the early days after she vanished on 3 May.
The source insisted there are “wholly innocent” explanations for any evidence that might have been found in the couple’s car.
But a source close to Portuguese police said: “Police are waiting for the results to confirm the identity of the DNA.
“That is what these DNA tests may show and police are waiting for that. They are being told the fluids come from a dead body. These are bodily fluids that could only come from a corpse.”
Officers are claiming the evidence was found on the underside of carpet in the boot, next to the space for the Renault’s spare wheel.
Police are arguing that if the DNA was found there through transference from Madeleine’s possessions or from her siblings – as the McCanns have claimed – then the evidence would have been discovered on top of the carpet instead.
The Forensic Science Service laboratory in Birmingham has conducted a series of tests on evidence found in the McCanns’ apartment in Praia da Luz and in the hire car.
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The McCanns with the hire car at the centre of new allegations regarding forensic evidence of Madeleine
Preliminary results were received in August prompting Portuguese police to name the parents as official suspects in the case.
The Standard reported last week how several “new pieces” of evidence linked the McCanns to their daughter’s disappearance.
One source 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.”
Clarence Mitchell, the McCanns’ spokesman, said today: “I cannot comment on yet further, unsubstantiated reports.
“Nor are we allowed to speak because of Portuguese judicial secrecy laws on anything that appears to touch on the evidential nature of the case.”
Sources close to the McCanns were quick to dismiss the latest claims coming from Portugal.
One friend said: “If Portuguese police really had decomposing bodily fluids in the car – and they had proof of that – do you really think Gerry and Kate would still be at home in Leicestershire?
“If there was something as critical as that Leicestershire police would have had the call by now and they have not.
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Madeleine McCann has been missing since May 3
“The Portuguese police are conducting a long-planned act of revenge for British newspapers showing disrespect at the start of the investigation.
“Police believe the criticism was inspired by the McCanns and these smears are an attempt to fight back.”
The McCanns have protested their innocence and are convinced a child abductor snatched the girl.
