PORTIMAO, Portugal - The mother of a British girl whose disappearance sparked an international search is considered a suspect in the case, friends and family said Friday. The girl's aunt said police suggested 4-year-old Madeleine McCann might have been killed accidentally.


Madeleine's mother, Kate McCann, was questioned for more than three hours Friday, her second day of questioning, and family friends said she was expected to be formally declared a suspect under Portuguese law. Earlier, family friend and former spokesman Clarence Mitchell told The Associated Press that police told Kate McCann and her husband, Gerry, that they would both be named as suspects.

Justine McGuinness, a family spokeswoman, said Portuguese police alleged that Kate McCann might have been involved in her daughter's death. Police summoned the couple after receiving new forensic evidence.

"They believe they have evidence to show that in some way she is involved in the death of her daughter, which is completely ludicrous," McGuinness told British Broadcasting Corp. television.

McGuinness said the allegations related to traces of blood found in a car rented by the McCanns. She said the car was rented 25 days after Madeleine disappeared May 3.

Gerry McCann's sister, Philomena McCann, said police were suggesting Kate might have killed Madeleine accidentally.

"They are suggesting that Kate has in some way accidentally killed Madeleine, then kept her body, then got rid of it," she told Sky News. "I have never heard anything so utterly ludicrous in my entire life."

On the Web site http://www.findmadeleine.com, Gerry McCann said any suggestion "that Kate is involved in Madeleine's disappearance is ludicrous."

"We will fight this all the way, and we will not stop looking for Madeleine," he wrote.

Under Portuguese law, the legal move grants certain protections to suspects, but allows police more latitude in questioning. Police also have to show suspects whatever evidence they might have against them.

Kate and Gerry McCann, both doctors from central England, have spearheaded an intense media campaign since Madeleine disappeared May 3 from the holiday apartment in the Algarve where she was sleeping with her 2-year-old twin siblings. The parents say they were at dinner at the time at a nearby restaurant, but were checking on the children frequently.

The McCanns toured Europe with photos of Madeleine, even meeting with Pope Benedict XVI at the Vatican. Celebrities including J.K. Rowling and David Beckham made public appeals that helped the family raise more than $2 million.

Kate McCann was questioned for 11 hours on Thursday at a police station in Portimao, a town in Portugal's Algarve region, and faced a media scrum as she returned for more questioning Friday morning.

The couple have maintained their innocence throughout.

The McCanns "continue to deny absolutely they had anything to do" with their daughter's disappearance, Mitchell said.

He said Kate McCann had found the police questioning "grueling."

"It's very intense, but she's remaining strong and determined to prove that they had nothing to do with their daughter's disappearance and they are innocent victims of the crime," he told The Associated Press.

Family spokesman David Hughes said police had told Kate McCann they wanted to ask 22 questions, but had not said what they were.

Police spokesman Olegario Sousa said authorities have received some results from forensic tests of the apartment, but declined to elaborate on the findings.

The tests — on specks of blood, clothing and other objects in the apartment — were conducted at a British laboratory.

Mitchell said the McCanns had not been informed of the results of the tests.

The couple's cause, and their apparent strength in the face of adversity, has hit a nerve among millions, who have followed their lives as they cared for their other children and attended a local church in Praia da Luz, the seaside town where Madeleine disappeared, and where they stayed ever since. Photographs of the bright-eyed, fair-haired girl have been posted throughout Europe and elsewhere.

The publicity has helped lead to numerous reported sightings of the girl, from as far away as northern Europe and Morocco, amid speculation she might have been taken by an international pedophile ring.

Just after Kate McCann entered the police station Thursday, another family representative read out a statement from her appealing to what she called Madeleine's abductors to "do the right thing."

"It is not too late. Please let her go or call the police," she said.

The only formal suspect until now has been Robert Murat, who lives with his mother near the hotel from which the girl disappeared. He has always maintained his innocence.

Sousa said he was prohibited under Portuguese law from discussing the case, but Murat's status as a suspect had not changed.

I still pray for Madeline...

here in central florida we had a famous case
the boy's name was trenton
his mom kill herself like 2 weeks after his disappearance
i'm my church we still pray for him, his mom, and his dad who has not lost his faith.

Any crime involving a child is more like a nightmare!

I am confused though ....The parents were at a nearby resteraunt? While two 2 year olds and a 4 year old were sleeping in an apartment? Was there a baby sitter or Nanny? Did anyone else catch that?

To thelonelywalker:

You are from fla., what ever happened to the college student who disappeared early in the a.m on her way to work. Gosh, I can't believe I forgot her name, she was posted everywhere in Florida.

This was about 1 1/2 yrs ago. Was anything ever found?

Hey LonelyWalker has there been any updates on Trenton's case? I followed it for a while and then never heard anything of a recent update.

Crystal her name is jenifer, and nothing she is still missing.
God forbid, but they have not found her body yet.
Khalei, no updates about trenton, but his dad is still on the search.

I think the **stinky** Serial Rapist has also returned down in Florida I can not recall if he as ever killed anyone yet.

Im a Brit and the "Find Maddy" circus has been in town for 4 months.

I always thought that the parents had something to do with it.

You do not leave three young children in a room on their own while the parents go to a restaurant nearby.

The parents have seen the Pope, a couple of European Prime Ministers .. it has been plastered all over the tabloids.

now they have made the father a suspect too

i'm sorry dunc ya sexy thing but as stupid as the parents were,I doubt they killed the little girl.With the Polly klause case in mind,kids do get snatched from their bedrooms....i see no motive and the other kids havent been removed soo..

The Portuguese police are saying it was an accidental death.

They have made them "official" suspects. That means that they can ask different questions and hold them.

They have not been arrested or anything like that.

I guess, I see "reds under the bed" and conspiracy in a lot of things.

honey ya wanna see scarry under the bed ****,check out my son's room....

damn!! There was me hoping to be thrown under your bed!!!

i'd rather throw ya on top of my bed ..

OH YEAH!!!!

go ahead ... throw me ... tell you what, Ill beat you to it ..

[leaps in the air, lands on the bed ... wearing a smile]