PADetectives searching for Madeline McCann have reportedly travelled to Bulgaria to talk to the wife of a convicted paedophile.
According to reports, detectives at the Metropolitan Police have re-examined witness statements taken at the time Maddie disappeared, discovering a new lead in the process.
Police are looking to speak to the wife of a man who allegedly tried to meet with underage girls, who was working with his wife as domestic helpers near the apartment in Portugal, where the McCanns were staying.
GettyBoth the man and his wife vanished after Portuguese police began investigating Maddie’s disappearance, despite locals reporting them to detectives.
Police have apparently been looking for the woman, whose husband died in 2007, for years but have been unable to track her down and now believe she may be in Bulgaria.
A source told The Sun:
There is no evidence they were involved but it would be good to eliminate them from the investigation.
PAMadeline McCann disappeared on May 3, 2007, from her bed in a holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, a resort in the Algarve region of Portugal, while her parents dined with friends at a restaurant just 55 metres away.
Her disappearance has become the most heavily reported missing-person case in modern history and her whereabouts remain unknown despite years of investigation.
Following Portuguese archiving the case due to a lack of evidence, Scotland Yard launched an investigative review in 2011 called Operation Grange – to investigate any leads into her disseverance.
GettySince it’s founding, Operation Grange has investigated over 8,000 potential sightings, taken 1,338 statements, collected 1,027 exhibits, investigated 650 sex offenders and 60 persons of interest.
The most notable lead during this time was a Northern Irish man who had been released from prison for the sexual assault of his four daughters and had moved to Carvoeiro, Portugal – not far from Praia da Luz.
He was there when Madeleine went missing.
They also investigated a deceased Swiss man called Urs Hans von Aesch, who’d been implicated in the murder of five-year-old Ylenia Lenhard in Appenzell, Switzerland.
PAAesch was believed to be close to Praia da Luz when Madeleine McCann disappeared and a white van, with Spanish number plates matching the description of his. was seen parked in front of the McCann’s apartment.
However, no link between von Aesch could be proven.
Operation Grange also interviewed a victim of the deceased broadcaster, Clement Freud in June last year. Freud had a home in Praia da Luz and had reportedly befriended the McCanns in the weeks following Maddie’s disappearance.
More of a concept than a journalist, Tom Percival was forged in the bowels of Salford University from which he emerged grasping a Masters in journalism.
Since then his rise has been described by himself as ‘meteoric’ rising to the esteemed rank of Social Editor at UNILAD as well as working at the BBC, Manchester Evening News, and ITV.
He credits his success to three core techniques, name repetition, personality mirroring, and never breaking off a handshake.