POLICE investigating the disappearance of British girl Madeleine McCann are now hunting two German-speaking men seen about the resort where she went missing six and a half years ago.
The revelation comes amid reports Scotland Yard had arrested a British man who was publicly bragging of having seen the missing girl on a Mediterranean island a few weeks ago.
Specialist police who have collected 40,000 pieces of evidence on the case have produced two e-fit images of two men seen in and around the Portuguese town of Praia da Luz when Madeleine was believed snatched from her hotel room on May 3 2007.
Police have described the men as German-speaking but have stopped short of saying they were directly involved in her disappearance, rather just wanting to identify and interview them. Their presence was known to Portuguese detectives who had been investigating the case years ago but was not pursued until now when British police took over the case.
British detectives say they are looking fro two German speaking men in relation to their investigation into the disappearance of Madelaine McCann from the Portuguese resort of Praia da Luz in 2007. Picture: BBC/ AFP
Yesterday police said the timeline of Maddie's disappearance had changed "significantly" but would not discuss the case further ahead of a BBC special to be shown in the UK on Monday. The CrimeWatch program which will include a 25-minute reconstruction video as well as interviews with detectives and the McCann parents Kate and Gerry will also show the e-fit images.
The McCann's are expected to fly to Munich on Wednesday to coincide with the launch of the program on the German version of CrimeWatch. The show will also be broadcast on Dutch television.
Madelaine's parents Gerry and Kate McCann have also been interviewed by Crimewatch.
Yesterday police released a short clip of the program showing a three-year-old actor portraying Maddie in the last known confirmed scene as she collected tennis balls at the resort court during a match between her parents. Dressed in pink shorts and a light pink T-shirt, the original image of Maddie was the one used widely in the hunt for her over the years.
In another released clip the McCanns said they think of their daughter constantly.
"When it's a special occasion, when you should be your happiest and Madeleine's not there, that's when it really hits home," he says.
Mrs McCann adds: "It's when you have big family occasions really. That's it isn't it? 'Family occasion' and you haven't got your complete family."
Senior investigating officer, Detective Chief Inspector Andy Redwood, discusses how the police have approached the inquiry.
He says: "Primarily what we sought to do from the beginning is try and draw everything back to zero if you like. Try and take everything back to the beginning and reanalyse and reassess everything, accepting nothing. "He adds: "The careful and critical analysis of the timeline has been absolutely key.
"Primarily, we're focused on the area between 8.30 and 10. We know at 8.30 that was the time Mr and Mrs McCann went down to the tapas area for their dinner and we know that around at 10pm that was when Mrs McCann found that Madeleine was missing."
Police have set up an incident room to be staffed to take information expected to come in from around the world.
Meanwhile, police will not confirm or deny a British man has bee arrested for bragging about seeing Maddie a few weeks ago.
The suspect was reportedly arrested by Greater Manchester Police; the arrest follows information from a barrister that the man had told him at a party in August that he had been introduced to Maddie on a Mediterannean island in summer.
The barrister has made a full statement to police and police have seized a computer. No further details were available although police confirmed they had arrested a man on suspicion of conspiracy to distribute indecent images of children. They did not go any further into claims by The Mirror newspaper that they were also investigating the man's alleged brag about Maddie.
