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Portimao, Portugal: The father of missing British toddler Madeleine McCann yesterday dismissed as "ludicrous" a suggestion that his wife was involved in her disappearance, adding she was "completely innocent".
"Anyone who knows anything about May 3 knows that Kate is completely innocent. We will fight this all the way and we will not stop looking for Madeleine," Gerry McCann wrote on his weblog, as Kate McCann was questioned for a second day in Portugal.
Since Madeleine disappeared on May 3 - she had been sleeping in an apartment bedroom while her parents ate in a nearby restaurant - Gerry and Kate McCann have strongly denied any involvement.
But a family spokesman said yesterday police now believe Kate McCann was involved in the accidental death of her daughter.
Family spokeswoman Justine McGuinness said Portuguese police had alleged Kate McCann might have been involved in her daughter's death.
"They believe they have evidence to show that in some way she is involved in the death of her daughter, which is completely ludicrous," McGuinness told BBC television.
McGuinness said the allegations related to traces of blood found in a car rented by the McCanns. She said the car was not rented until 25 days after Madeleine disappeared.
Gerry McCann's sister, Philomena McCann, said police were suggesting Kate might have killed Madeleine accidentally.
"They are suggesting that Kate has in some way accidentally killed Madeleine, then kept her body, then got rid of it," she told Sky News.
It has been more than four months since Madeleine disappeared, and Portuguese police have been criticised in Britain for the apparently slow pace of their investigation.
TIME LINE
Key events in Madeleine case
May 3: The child is reported missing from a holiday apartment in the town of Praia da Luz in the Algarve resort region of Portugal. Her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, had left her asleep with two smaller siblings while they had dinner at a nearby restaurant. They say they checked in frequently on the children and believe Madeleine was kidnapped.
May 6: Police say there is evidence the girl was abducted, and appeal for her return.
May 11: David Beckham and other soccer stars appeal for Madeleine's safe return. Police in Portugal begin to scale down local searches, saying the case has become an international investigation.
May 12: Madeleine McCann turns four-year-old.
May 13: Harry Potter author J.K. Rowling pledges a contribution to a £1.5-million (Dh11.1 million) reward for the safe return of the child.
May 13: Robert Murat, a Briton who lives near the complex where the child vanished, is questioned after British journalists report him to police, saying he was poking around the crime scene.
May 18: A website set up to help find Madeleine receives some 65 million visitors in 48 hours.
May 30: The McCanns meet at the Vatican with Pope Benedict to discuss their ordeal. The pontiff pledges to pray for her safe return.
July 10: Murat is questioned by police in the company of his lawyer, and again the next day. He insists he has nothing to do with her disappearance.
Aug. 3: Authorities in Belgium say they are taking seriously a reported sighting of the child in the town of Tongeren. Police issue a drawing of a Dutch-speaking man reportedly seen with the girl and an English-speaking woman at a table outside a pub. Authorities eventually carry out DNA tests on a milkshake bottle from the pub, but no DNA from the child is found on it.
Aug. 7: Portuguese media report that sniffer dogs found traces of blood in the hotel room where Madeleine went missing.
Aug. 11: Police say new evidence prompts them to consider the possibility the girl is dead.
Sept. 7: Kate McCann is named as a suspect in her daughter's disappearance, and a family spokesman says Gerry McCann has been told he too will be named as a suspect.
— AP
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