DNA evidence in McCann case exaggerated

[5 August 2008]

Kate and Gerry McCann have accused Portuguese police of exaggerating DNA evidence before naming them as suspects in their daughter's disappearance.

A UK forensic scientist had already warned that the DNA in the McCann's hire car was inconclusive. Police had told Mr McCann that his missing daughter Madeleine's DNA had been found in the boot of the car, which had been hired 24 days after her disappearance. A sniffer dog detected the odour of body in the hire car and apartmen, but tests on the car sample were inconclusive. The police inquiry into Madeleine's disappearance ended last month due to lack of evidence. The McCanns' lawyers were given access to the police files last week and they are studying the documents for fresh leads that private detectives can follow up.

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