Portuguese police are winding down their search for a kidnapped three-year-old British girl, indicating they believe she has been spirited out of the resort region where she was taken, police said today.
Police have searched the countryside and more than 500 apartments in and around the Praia da Luz resort in the southern Algarve region since Madeleine McCann went missing a week ago.
Undated Everton Football Club handout photo of Madeleine McCann in an Everton football shirt
Chief inspector Olegario de Sousa told journalists there had been no arrests in Portugal or abroad since the girl vanished from her bed in a hotel apartment last Thursday night while her parents dined nearby.
The search for Madeleine in the area around Praia da Luz, which has included 150 police and many volunteers, is "coming to an end," Sousa said. But the investigation will continue.
Blonde-haired Madeleine was snatched after being put to bed in the apartment along with her two younger siblings.
Gerry and Kate McCann, the girl's parents, and friends were interviewed by police today but "there are no suspicions on them," Sousa said. They were also interviewed immediately after their daughter's disappearance.
Local media reported today that police were looking for two men and a woman. According to daily Correio de Manha, police have a video of the three and a young girl at a petrol station near the resort where Madeleine disappeared.
Sousa did not directly comment on that report but said police had received video surveillance images from several places "to check possible leads that may have been recorded".
Police released a picture of the pyjamas Madeleine was wearing when she disappeared in the hope it could help the investigation if they are found.
Portuguese police are bound by law not to divulge details of investigations, which has frustrated some foreign journalists covering the story.
Justice Minister Alberto Costa said the police were doing everything possible to find the girl.
"The government is helping and following the case with worry and will help to facilitate international cooperation but the fundamental rules of law and constitutional law must apply," Costa said.
Several British police officials have travelled to Portugal to help in the investigation and Interpol has issued a global alert asking for information about Madeleine at the request of the Portuguese authorities.