British police are said to be pinning their hopes on the appointment of a high-flying Portuguese investigator now at the helm of the long-running investigation into the disappearance of toddler Madeleine McCann.
Inês Sequeira (full name: Inês Faria da Cruz Nascimento Ferreira Advínculo Sequeira) is described as being “one of the sharpest and most ambitious prosecutors in Portugal”.
According to reports in the British media, she is “utterly determined” to crack the case, and is due to meet British detectives in Portugal as early as next week.
Meantime, the British team working on Operation Grange is said to be putting together a fifth letter of international request to be allowed to carry out new inquiries on Portuguese soil.
The Daily Mirror writes that Grange detectives want “to discuss a shortlist of seven prime suspects”, while the Daily Mail maintains they are more interested in re-interviewing three.
But both papers are agreed that the current suspects are all Portuguese men and that the British police focus is still on the theory that Madeleine was taken during a bungled burglary.
They’re banking on this new meeting with Sequeira “being their chance to argue their case face-to-face,” a source is quoted as telling the Daily Mail.
The prosecutor will consult police chiefs in the Algarve before making her mind up on whether to sanction Grange’s latest requests, added the source.
Sequeira is described as “still trying to get her feet under the table” and as “having to be briefed on scores of other cases other than Madeleine’s”, but British counterparts are clearly excited by her arrival.
As the Mirror explained: “British police believe the appointment will shake-up the probe”.
The news follows another “high profile” week of media stories following the suicide of a grandmother “outed” as an example of the hordes of Internet “trolls” who have posted so-called hate messages online, suggesting Madeleine’s parents are implicated in their child’s disappearance.
New hope as Portuguese prosecutor “vows to crack Madeleine case”
