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Praia da Luz: Portuguese police searching for Madeleine McCann faced further accusations of incompetence after it emerged they had failed to seize footage holding potentially vital clues to the abduction of the British toddler.
Authorities revealed that detectives have not asked for surveillance pictures of vehicles leaving Praia da Luz at the time of Madeleine's disappearance. The criticism came as Madeleine's family admitted for the first time that they no longer think she is in Portugal.
Her aunt Philomena McCann revealed their belief in an e-mail to well-wishers supporting the search for her.
She said: "We don't believe Madeleine is in Portugal any more and need to get her picture and the story across Europe as quickly as possible." Police have admitted they failed to notify guards on the border with Spain until the morning after Madeleine had gone missing.
The focus of the investigation, 16 days after Madeleine's disappearance, has returned to the Russian computer expert Sergey Malinka and his links with Robert Murat, the only formal suspect.
Detectives have reportedly discovered that Murat telephoned Malinka on his mobile at 11.40pm on the night the four-year-old disappeared.
Police sources claim there had been a series of calls between the pair that day despite Malinka allegedly claiming they hardly know each other.
They were also seen talking in an "animated" fashion by surveillance officers following Murat in the days after Madeleine's kidnap, sources said.
In interviews with three different journalists in the past week, Malinka's story has allegedly changed. He is said to have told one reporter, hours before he was detained, that he had not seen Murat for three months. In another interview after he was released by police he reportedly said he had not spoken to Murat for "around a year".
He told The Daily Telegraph on Thursday he "could not recall". Asked again to clarify, he said: "I have never officially talked about when I last spoke to Robert."
The global appeal for help in finding Madeleine led to reported sightings of her in Morocco, Crete, Switzerland and Spain. Police said none of the reports had yet led to a "positive outcome" but urged the international community to remain vigilant.
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