Timeline: Madeleine McCann

2007-09-09 17:33

London - Four-year-old Madeleine McCann from Rothley, Leicestershire, disappeared on May 3 during a holiday with her parents in the Algarve region of southern Portugal.

Here is a chronology of developments:

May 3 - She goes missing from her bedroom between 21:30 and 22:00 while her parents Kate and Gerry are dining just 100 metres away at the Mark Warner Ocean Club holiday resort in Praia da Luz. A window and shutter are open and she is presumed to have been abducted.

May 4 - McCann family members and British media criticise local police for what they call a slow initial response, failure to notify ports and borders in time, and failure to secure the crime scene, which may have led to vital clues being lost.

Police say that under Portuguese secrecy laws they are unable to reveal details of the investigation.

May 5 - Police say they have put together a sketch of a suspect and confirm they believe Madeleine is still alive and being held within three miles of the crime scene. Media reports say the sketch is vague and only features the back of a man's head.

May 8 - Police say they have investigated 350 suspicious incidents but still have no idea where she might be.

Portuguese newspaper Correio de Manha says Madeleine may have been kidnapped by a paedophile ring.

Manchester United's Portuguese striker Cristiano Ronaldo joins appeals for her release.

May 10 - The search around the resort winds down. Attention focuses on a blonde woman seen acting suspiciously before the girl's disappearance.

May 11 - Scottish businessman Stephen Winyard offers a £1m (R14.7m) reward. Former England soccer captain David Beckham makes televised appeal for information.

May 12 - Madeleine turns four.

May 13 - Virgin boss Richard Branson, author JK Rowling and footballer Wayne Rooney are among those to have contributed to rewards now totalling £2.5m.

May 13 - Half a million pilgrims attending the 90th anniversary of the first appearance of the Virgin Mary at the Sanctuary of Fatima pray for Madeleine's return.

May 14 - Her parents say they will not return home until they have found her but say they think she is safe. Police search a villa just up the road from where Madeleine was snatched and take a British man, Robert Murat, to a police station for questioning. He is later released.

May 15 - Police say they have identified a suspect but do not have enough evidence for an arrest. Five properties have been searched in the area, and two other people questioned as witnesses.

May 17 - Website, www.findmadeleine.com, is launched.

May 19 - Appeals are broadcast at the FA Cup final at the new Wembley stadium.

May 25 - Gerry and Kate McCann speak of their guilt over Madeleine's disappearance.

May 30 - They meet Pope Benedict during a general audience at the Vatican.

June 1 - The couple travel to neighbouring Spain where they hold a news conference to appeal for help from Spanish police.

June 6 - They take their appeal to Berlin. The Algarve is popular among Germans. They move on to Amsterdam. After British and German tourists, the largest group of nationals who make up the tourists in the Algarve are the Dutch.

June 10 - The couple fly to Morocco. British media reports suggest it might be the last country they visit before "taking stock" of their campaign.

June 13 - Police start searching an area of deserted scrubland 20km north of Praia da Luz after a tip -off to a Dutch newspaper. They find nothing.

June 21 - Police in Malta check two reports of possible sightings.

June 22 - Worldwide balloon release to mark the 50th day since Madeleine's disappearance.

July 22 - Gerry McCann flies to the United States to consult experts on missing children. While there, he is asked persistently by the media why the couple left their children alone that night.

July 26 - The McCanns' local paper the Leicester Mercury is forced to ban all comments on stories about the case after it was bombarded with messages calling for the couple to be prosecuted.

August 3 - Belgian authorities carry out DNA tests on a bottle and straw after a possible sighting of Madeleine with a couple in the eastern town of Tongeren. The test proves negative.

August 5 - Police complete a two -day search of the home of Murat.

August 7 - Traces of blood were found on the wall of the apartment where Madeleine went missing, local newspaper Diario de Noticias says.

August 10 - Gerry and Kate McCann say in a series of television interviews they would not be "bullied" into leaving Praia da Luz after some negative press reports, especially in the Portuguese media.

August 11 - Portuguese police Chief Inspector Olegario Sousa tells the BBC that Madeleine may be dead.

The McCanns mark the 100th day since her disappearance with a special church service and launch "Don't You Forget About Me", a channel on the video -sharing Web site YouTube to help trace missing children.

August 31 - Gerry and Kate McCann say they have instructed their lawyers to begin legal action against Portuguese newspaper Tal & Qual after it claimed police believe the couple killed Madeleine. The newspaper said it was "totally confident" in its report.

The couple are reported to be planning to leave Portugal and return home.

September 6 - Kate McCann spends 11 hours being questioned as a witness by police, a lawyer for the family says.

September 7 - Kate McCann returns for further questioning by police, who later question her husband. Police name both as suspects, but bring no charges, their lawyer says.

Gerry's sister Philomena McCann says police offered Kate McCann a reduced sentence if she admitted killing her daughter. She says police suggested that Kate accidentally killed Madeleine, kept her body and later got rid of it.

Family and friends dismiss the suggestion as "ludicrous".

A family spokesperson says Kate told her that police found blood in a car hired by the couple but there was no confirmation that it was Madeleine's blood. The car had been hired 25 days after the toddler disappeared.

September 8 - Family and friends of McCanns urge Portuguese police to eliminate the couple from their inquiries and to return to the hunt for Madeleine.

September 9 - Kate and Gerry McCann fly back to Britain with their twins Sean and Amelie. In a brief statement after landing at East Midlands Airport Gerry says: "We have played no part in the disappearance of our lovely daughter Madeleine."

He says their return does not mean they have given up the search for their daughter.

- Reuters