“We played no part in the disappearance of our lovely daughter Madeleine,” Gerry McCann told reporters after they touched down at Britain’s East Midlands Airport.
The couple, centre of a tragic mystery that has intrigued Europe, stressed that they left the resort of Praia da Luz after their four-month ordeal with the full agreement of the Portuguese authorities.
“Portugese law prohibits us from commenting further on the investigation,” McCann said in a brief statement on the airport tarmac as the couple clutched their two-year-old twins.
“We would like to ask for our privacy to be respected now that we have returned home,” he said. “Whilst it is heartbreaking to return to the UK without Madeleine, it does not mean we are giving up our search.”
Not running away
The McCanns, pursued to Faro airport on the Algarve coast by a barrage of photographers and TV crews, insisted they were not running away from the investigation but were leaving for the sake of the twins.
Portuguese police declared the McCanns formal suspects on Friday but have filed no charges against them. Declaring them suspects indicates they believe the couple may have been involved in a crime, but does not necessarily mean they would be detained. Britain’s Home Secretary (Interior Minister) Jacqui Smith said UK authorities would continue to provide Portuguese police with any help they needed in the hunt for the little girl.
The McCanns’ lawyer, Carlos Pinto de Abreu, said he had no idea how long the case would take to be concluded in a country that suffers from serious bureaucratic delays in its justice system.
Police changed their line of investigation this week after receiving results of forensic tests on evidence collected by Portuguese and British experts from various sites, including the holiday apartment from which Madeleine vanished on May 3.
Pictures of Madeleine have been posted across Europe at schools, airports and restaurants.