Police to question new 'people of interest' in case of missing British girl Madeleine McCann

This March 2007 photo shows three-year-old British girl Madeleine McCann. (AP)

Police say there are new suspects in the case of Madeleine McCann—a British child missing since 2007.

Scotland Yard officials told Sky News that after a review of the case, they have a list of “people of interest” whom they plan to question in connection with the little girl’s disappearance.

The case review began in 2011 as authorities tried to find out what happened to McCann—who was almost 4 years old when she vanished from her family’s vacation apartment in Praia da Luz, Portugal, six years ago.

"The purpose of the review was to look at the case with fresh eyes and there is always real benefit in doing so. The review has further identified both investigative and forensic opportunities to support the Portuguese. There is more than a handful of people of interest which could be explored further if only to be eliminated,” Detective Chief Superintendent Hamish Campbell told Sky.

Portuguese authorities who worked on the original investigation were widely criticized for how they handled the case.

Police initially focused their investigation on Madeleine's parents, Kate and Gerry. But the two were cleared in July 2008, when the attorney general ruled there was nothing to link them to Madeleine’s disappearance.

In response to reports of new suspects in the case, a spokesman for the McCann family said the couple will not comment.  "Kate and Gerry continue to be encouraged by Operation Grange and are very pleased by the work the police are doing," Clarence Mitchell said.

The McCanns left Madeleine, her brother Sean, and his twin sister, Amelie in their ground floor apartment while the couple had dinner with friends at a restaurant 130 yards away in May of 2007.  She disappeared just days before her fourth birthday.

Mr. and Mrs. McCann recently quietly celebrated her tenth birthday.

"We still celebrate her and her being part of our lives. I go into Madeleine's room and I don’t even have to talk - I can just think. It's as it was really and I’m not ready to change it,” said Mrs. McCann.

The McCanns have never stopped trying to find out what happened to Madeleine.

"We always include Madeleine in everything. She is in my head and my heart every minute of every day, " her mother said.

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