One of the most senior police officers in Portugal said tonight that it is a "strong theory" that the missing British child Madeleine McCann is dead.
Alipio Ribeiro, national director of the Portuguese judicial police, said forensic test results on blood traces from the holiday flat are due "imminently".
But he said the quality of the traces found was "not very good" and it was possible they would be inconclusive.
He told El Mundo: "Even though it's a strong theory and there is always a possibility, we cannot say that she has died. It is the theory that we have to work with. It is on the table and is precisely what we are analysing."
Asked if his force had any idea where Madeleine was, he said: "No. We have no idea where Madeleine could be."
One British newspaper reported today that blood traces found in the Praia da Luz holiday apartment where four-year-old Madeleine was snatched came from a man.
The results, printed in The Times, came at the end of a fortnight in which speculation has been rife that the girl was murdered there.
Tiny spots of blood found smeared on the bedroom wall are being analysed by experts at the Forensic Science Service in Birmingham.
Mr Ribeiro refused to speculate on what would happen if it did turn out to be Madeleine's blood, but said the results would be significant.
He said he was "optimistic" about getting to the bottom of the "very complex" case.
Asked if her parents were suspects, he said: "No. The parents have never been suspects. Never."
Asked why they were not told about the strong suggestion that she was dead, he said: "They are being informed about what happens, but it is a very dynamic investigation, we are working on many theories, and more could arise. We can't explain to them everything that we investigate."
Mr Ribeiro said Robert Murat continued to be an "arguido", or suspect, in the case.
He added: "We have to be clear that we are working to clear up a very difficult situation, above all in relation to the motive: it could have been for money, for vengeance, for crime, for hate. We do not know."
He criticised police officers for leaking information to the press although they were not supposed to, and these were often "people who did not know anything and only wanted to get involved".
Asked if the investigation was nearing its end he said: "We have to recognise that expectation is low. It is not easy. There is a long way to go and it would be frivolous of me to say that we are near the end."
PA