Search for missing 3-year-old to end

PRAIA DA LUZ, Portugal, July 18 (UPI) -- Portuguese authorities are expected to halt the search for a 3-year-old girl who went missing while vacationing with her parents, officials' comments suggest.

The British girl's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, both aged 40, will likely be relieved of their status as suspects in their daughter's disappearance Monday, the Sun reported.

Officials' remarks suggest the couple will be told there is no evidence linking them to a crime.

The couple's daughter, Madeline, went missing in May 2007 while the family was vacationing in Praia da Luz, Potugal, officials said.

Police are expected to reveal they are clueless about what happened to the 3-year-old or where she is, the newspaper said.

The Sun said the case will likely be officially shelved Monday.

"All Kate and Gerry want is to be allowed to keep looking for their daughter and this weight of guilt by association removed from their shoulders," the couple's spokesman Clarence Mitchell said.