SelectPlusPortuguese Police Drop Madeleine McCann CasePortuguese Police Drop Madeleine McCann CaseThe Associated PressPortuguese media report police in that country are dropping their investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. (July 1)[Notes:ANCHOR VOICE] [Notes:still of McCann, exteriors of resort]It was more than a year ago when almost four-year-old Madeleine McCann disappeared from this resort in Portugal. Now there's word that police are giving up on the case. [Notes:VOICE OF] SOT: Clarence Mitchell, McCann family spokesman: ""If it is true then it is not before time. Kate and Gerry have suffered long enough in this process." [Notes:various stills of mccann]Portuguese media reports the police say there is a lack of evidence to continue the investigation. A spokesman for the McCann's says maybe that means [Notes:various of Kate and Gerry McCann] the couple will also no longer be considered formal suspects in their daughter's disappearance.SOT: Mitchell: "surely if these reports are true the time is now right for the Portuguese authorities to lift the arguido (suspect) status from their shoulders." [Notes:bosnia newspapers with report of sighting, various near shrine]In the year since the little girl vanished, there have been reports of sightings of the British girl They include an Irish tourist claiming he saw her near the Catholic Shrine in Medjugorje, Bosnia [Notes:image snapped by Spanish tourist] and a Spanish woman who snapped this image while on vacation in Morocco. The family hopes this latest development doesn't mean the police will stop looking for Madeleine.SOT: Mitchell: "the police, we would hope, would continue to search for Madeleine. Let's not forget her at the middle of all this. We have been doubtful about how much they have been searching over the last few months. That is why the private investigation is moving forward in all sorts of different directions, well outside Portugal in some cases." [Notes:file of McCanns]The McCanns still insist their daughter is alive. Their spokesman says they will never give up the search. ___ ___, The Associated Press
