Portugal ends McCann investigation

LISBON, Portugal, July 21 (UPI) -- Portugal's attorney general said Monday he is dropping the investigation into the disappearance of Madeleine McCann, the British girl who vanished in 2007.

Attorney General Fernando Pinto Monteiro says Portuguese authorities had found no evidence of a crime committed by her parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, or by Robert Murat, the first man named as a suspect, the Daily Mail reported Monday.

Murat, a British ex-patriot, and the McCanns have denied any involvement in Madeleine's disappearance from the Algarve resort where the McCanns were staying.

Madeleine hasn't been seen since May 3, 2007, nine days before her fourth birthday, when she was left in the apartment with her 2-year-old twin siblings while her parents ate dinner at a nearby restaurant. She would be 5 now.

Clarence Mitchell, the McCanns' spokesman, said they were "not surprised" by the news, The Times of London reported.

"There is a degree of relief but no air of celebration whatsoever," he said. "They should never have been arguidos (official suspects). The fact that they have emerged from this without being charged proves that."

A statement by Monteiro said investigators decided to close the investigative file "due to lack of evidence that any crime was committed by the persons placed under formal investigation."

The case could be reopened if new evidence emerges, Portuguese officials said.