Maddie McCann Case Shelved; Parents No Longer Suspects

LONDON, July 21, 2008 — -- Nearly 15 months after British toddler Madeleine McCann went missing in Praia da Luz, Portugal, the Portuguese attorney general has ordered a halt to the investigation and cleared the child's parents of any involvement in her disappearance.

"The Attorney General's Office has hereby decided to 'archive' the investigation into the case of Madeleine McCann due to lack of any evidence of any crime being committed by the 'arguidos' [suspects]," Attorney General Fernando Jose Pinto Monteiro said today in a statement.

Kate and Gerry McCann and Robert Murat, a property consultant based in Praia da Luz, "are no longer considered suspects in the case of the missing toddler," he added.

Madeleine McCann vanished on May 3, 2007, while her family was vacationing in Praia da Luz.

Even after the case is shelved, however, it can still be reopened if any new evidence surfaces.

In his statement, Monteiro said that the attorney general's office reserved "the right to reopen the investigation, or upon request from an interested party, should there be legitimate cause or significant new evidence emerge."

For now, there are suggestions in the UK media that the evidence that led to the McCanns' being charged was based on incorrect DNA tests.

The Daily Mail reported that the attorney general's report accuses the British Forensic Science Service of making crucial errors during its testing of samples found in the McCanns' car and their apartment in Praia da Luz.

According to the Mail, leaks from Monteiro's report say that it was the forensic service's initial insistence that DNA samples found in the McCanns' car and apartment belonged to Madeleine, which was responsible for prosecutors formulating charges against the couple.

A month later though, the forensic service officials said they could not be certain of their findings, and were unable to determine if the samples belonged to Madeleine, Kate, or Kate's younger daughter, Amelie.

In an interview with ABCNews.com, a Forensic Science Service spokesperson said that, "unfortunately, we haven't seen a copy of the attorney general's report, so we can't comment on this."