Post by LadyBlue on Oct 16, 2007 16:25:57 GMT -5
It was found on the floor of the Portuguese holiday apartment where the McCanns were staying when Maddie vanished.
Investigators believe it was made by someone heading towards the bedroom the four-year-old shared with younger twins Amelie and Sean.
It was found when police returned to the Mark Warner apartment in Praia Da Luz to conduct a fresh search in a new attempt to crack the baffling case.
British forensic experts have been trying to see if the blood matches Madeleine’s – but the results are inconclusive.
Detectives have privately admitted the “bloody footprint” does not solve the mystery of Maddie’s disappearance.
But it is being linked with another, discovered during a close examination of the Renault Scenic car hired by parents Gerry and Kate McCann 25 days after Maddie disappeared on May 3.
In that search, the imprint of a shoe or trainer was found on the upper side of the rear bumper, suggesting someone had rested a foot there while standing by the boot.
A source close to the Portuguese investigation said: “The information is useful but is far from conclusive.
“It suggests that someone who was in the apartment was also at the back of the hire car at some time. It is the sort of information which would be useful to detectives.”
Other theories being re-examined by officers include one that Maddie could have been dumped in the sea on the night she disappeared.
New investigators drafted in to inject fresh life into the five-month probe were last night thought to be planning another question session with a key witness whose evidence supports the theory that Maddie’s final resting place is the sea.
Former Mark Warner nanny Charlotte Pennington told police she saw a mysterious boatman kicking at something in the hull of his vessel shortly after Madeleine vanished.
The mystery man, who was wearing a reflective yellow jacket with a hood, rowed away as the 20-year-old Brit went to investigate.
Miss Pennington’s evidence was last night described by one police source as “credible”. And Portuguese daily newspaper 24 Horas said it was “gaining
credibility” as the investigation went on.
Other reports claimed yesterday that police now hold out little hope of finding Maddie – dead or alive – on dry land. They fear the waters of the Atlantic off the Algarve could conceal the little girl’s body forever.
They are still prepared to follow any lead they can, though. Last night they were said to be studying a map sketched by a South American medium of an area in Portugal where she claims Madeleine can be found.
Chilean mystic Isabel Avila met Portuguese consular officials in her country’s capital Santiago on Thursday and handed them a drawing of a place thought to be near a bridge and tall antennae.
Investigators believe it was made by someone heading towards the bedroom the four-year-old shared with younger twins Amelie and Sean.
It was found when police returned to the Mark Warner apartment in Praia Da Luz to conduct a fresh search in a new attempt to crack the baffling case.
British forensic experts have been trying to see if the blood matches Madeleine’s – but the results are inconclusive.
Detectives have privately admitted the “bloody footprint” does not solve the mystery of Maddie’s disappearance.
But it is being linked with another, discovered during a close examination of the Renault Scenic car hired by parents Gerry and Kate McCann 25 days after Maddie disappeared on May 3.
In that search, the imprint of a shoe or trainer was found on the upper side of the rear bumper, suggesting someone had rested a foot there while standing by the boot.
A source close to the Portuguese investigation said: “The information is useful but is far from conclusive.
“It suggests that someone who was in the apartment was also at the back of the hire car at some time. It is the sort of information which would be useful to detectives.”
Other theories being re-examined by officers include one that Maddie could have been dumped in the sea on the night she disappeared.
New investigators drafted in to inject fresh life into the five-month probe were last night thought to be planning another question session with a key witness whose evidence supports the theory that Maddie’s final resting place is the sea.
Former Mark Warner nanny Charlotte Pennington told police she saw a mysterious boatman kicking at something in the hull of his vessel shortly after Madeleine vanished.
The mystery man, who was wearing a reflective yellow jacket with a hood, rowed away as the 20-year-old Brit went to investigate.
Miss Pennington’s evidence was last night described by one police source as “credible”. And Portuguese daily newspaper 24 Horas said it was “gaining
credibility” as the investigation went on.
Other reports claimed yesterday that police now hold out little hope of finding Maddie – dead or alive – on dry land. They fear the waters of the Atlantic off the Algarve could conceal the little girl’s body forever.
They are still prepared to follow any lead they can, though. Last night they were said to be studying a map sketched by a South American medium of an area in Portugal where she claims Madeleine can be found.
Chilean mystic Isabel Avila met Portuguese consular officials in her country’s capital Santiago on Thursday and handed them a drawing of a place thought to be near a bridge and tall antennae.