The Sun
Alex West
Police have shunned FOUR potential new leads in the hunt for Madeleine McCann. Officers in Portugal are telling people coming forward with information that Maddie is DEAD - and the case is CLOSED. The shocking revelation came as new suspect Raymond Hewlett, a convicted British paedophile, refused to speak to detectives working for Maddie's parents Kate and Gerry.
Raymond Hewlett Rapist
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Raymond Hewlett
Drifter Hewlett, 64, is in intensive care in Aachen, Germany, with throat cancer. He was living near the Algarve resort of Praia da Luz when Maddie disappeared two years ago.
The double blow has angered sources close to the investigation, who confirmed there are still a number of OTHER paedophiles living in that area who had still NOT been ruled out.
One source said: "In the past week, three or four people went to Portuguese police with information and were told not to worry them because the case is closed and she is dead. "But there are sex offenders throughout the Algarve. It's difficult to see how they've all been eliminated."
They added: "The Portuguese police have been unhelpful. "They have been following the McCann's investigators everywhere they go but have not been co-operating in the least bit."
Disgrace
Sources also said fresh information gathered by British police was being largely ignored too.
Maddie Mystery ... missing Madeleine McCann
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A family friend of the McCanns, from Rothley, Leics, said: "Frankly, it's a disgrace - it's beyond frustrating. It is exactly the attitude we've been up against for months. "They closed the inquiry and were not prepared to lift a finger. "Yet Kate and Gerry's team are still providing the Portuguese with information - for example on the developments with Hewlett."
The team still hopes the Aachen public prosecutor will soon order a DNA test on Hewlett to see if it matched unidentified samples taken from the McCanns' holiday apartment.
Yesterday former Det Insp Dave Edgar, who is leading the probe, told newsmen: "If he's got nothing to hide, he should speak to us. "It's a matter of urgency because of his medical condition."
Hewlett - jailed in 1972 for abducting and raping a girl of 12 - allegedly made sinister comments after the disappearance of Maddie, then three. British police hope to speak to him over a 1975 indecent assault in West Yorks.
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