McCann 'may be alive'

British police involved in a review of the case surrounding the 2007 disappearance of then four-year-old Madeleine McCann from her family's holiday apartment in Portugal say they genuinely believe there is a chance she is still alive.

Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood said he and his team of 47 officers had identified 195 possible leads that could be followed up. They also urged Portuguese authorities to re-open the case, saying police there also wanted to start a fresh search for Madeleine. The case was closed in 2008.

As the five-year anniversary of her disappearance on May 3, 2007 approaches, police also released a computer-aged image of what Madeleine might look like today (pictured above). Her ninth birthday is on May 12.

"We genuinely believe there is a possibility that she is alive," said Detective Chief Redwood on Wednesday at a London press conference. "And we are currently developing material which we believe represents genuinely new information."

Redwood said that gaps in the forensic timeline originally established led to the idea that Madeleine had been taken as part of a criminal act.

He added, however, that police did have to acknowledge that she may dead despite their hope that she was still alive.

McCann seemingly vanished without trace while on vacation with her family in Portugal. Her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, were briefly considered suspects in the case but were cleared.

Redwood said he has regular contact with Kate and Gerry McCann.

"They (the McCanns) have drawn great strength from this whole process," said the family spokesman, Clarence Mitchell. "They feel that, finally, a proper investigative procedure is now being applied to the search."

"It feels like there still is momentum in the case. They want the case reopened and it was very encouraging to hear that the police in both countries want that as well," he added.

mz/jm(AFP, AP)