Madeleine McCann case in pictures

  • Published

A person has been declared an official suspect by Portuguese prosecutors investigating the disappearance of Madeleine McCann.

Here is a look back at the search for Madeleine, who has been missing for nearly 15 years after she disappeared from a holiday apartment in Portugal in May 2007.

The last known photo of Madeleine McCann, taken the same day she disappearedImage source, PA Media
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Three-year-old Madeleine McCann, from Rothley, Leicestershire, went missing on 3 May 2007 while on holiday with her family in the Algarve, Portugal. This photo was taken the day she disappeared

Photographs of Madeleine McCann are pasted onto a shop front on 4 May 2007 in the area of the Ocean Club apartment hotel in Praia da Luz in PortugalImage source, AFP
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The following morning photos were put up in shop windows in the town of Praia da Luz close to where she was staying

Gerry and Kate McCann speak to the press on 4 May 2007 at the Ocean club apartment hotel in Praia de Luz in Lagos.Image source, AFP
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The same day, Madeleine's parents, Gerry and Kate McCann spoke to the press and made an emotional plea for her return

Portuguese police helped by dogs search for Madelaine McCann in front of the Ocean club apartment hotel in Praia de Luz in Lagos on 4 May 2007Image source, AFP
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Portuguese police searched outside the apartment where she went missing

British tourists search for Madeleine McCann in wasteland on 8 May 2007 outside the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz in PortugalImage source, Getty Images
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British tourists also joined the hunt in the area around the resort

The media work outside the house of a luxury resort where Madeleine McCann disappeared in Praia da Luz, Portugal on 9 May 2007Image source, AFP
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The story has had international attention since 2007 - here camera crews are gathered outside the resort, six days after Madeleine disappeared

Everton fans hold a banner appealing for the safe return of Madeleine McCann prior to the Barclays Premiership match between Chelsea and Everton at Stamford Bridge on 13 May 2007 in LondonImage source, Mike Hewitt/Getty Images
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One of the photographs issued by Madeleine's family showed her in an Everton football club shirt. Here Everton fans hold a banner calling for her safe return during a Premiership match against Chelsea in May 2007

Kate and Gerry McCann leave church in Rothley, Leicestershire, after a service to mark the first anniversary of their daughter's disappearanceImage source, PA Media
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Kate and Gerry McCann leave church in Rothley, Leicestershire, after a service to mark the first anniversary of their daughter's disappearance

A poster released by the Find Madeleine Campaign which shows Madeleine McCann as she was aged three, and how she might look now, aged sixImage source, Find Madeleine Campaign/PA
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In 2009, the Find Madeleine Campaign, set up by the family, released an image of how Madeleine might look aged six

Kate and Gerry McCann giving a press conference in central London on 12 May 2011 on their newly published book, MadeleineImage source, PA Media
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In 2011, Kate and Gerry McCann released a book about the case

Forensic police officers prepare to examine an area of wasteland to search for Madeleine McCann in the town of Praia da Luz, PortugalImage source, PA Media
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British police began reviewing the case in 2011 and launched a formal inquiry two years later. In 2014, forensic officers searched wasteland near Praia da Luz after Portuguese police reopened their investigation to run alongside Scotland Yard's

Kate and Gerry McCann interview with the BBC's Fiona Bruce on 28 April 2017Image source, PA Media
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In an interview with the BBC's Fiona Bruce in 2017, the McCanns said they would do "whatever it takes" to find their daughter

A handout photo issued by Metropolitan Police of a VW T3 Westfalia campervan that has been linked to the suspectImage source, Met Police handout
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Police announced a new suspect in the case - a 43-year-old German man, who is now in prison for a sex crime. A VW camper van believed to be linked to the suspect was seen around Praia da Luz

A handout photo issued by the Federal Criminal Police Office of Germany of the inside of a house in Portugal linked to the suspectImage source, Federal Criminal Police Office of Germany/PA Media
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Police also released pictures of a house in Portugal linked to the man

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