Madeleine McCann's parents 'realistic' as German police investigation into toddler's disappearance zeroes in on jailed suspect
ABCGerman prosecutors say Madeleine McCann, the British girl who disappeared in Portugal in 2007 aged just three, is assumed dead. Key points: The spokesman for Kate and Gerry McCann says he cannot recall police zeroing in as much on one individual German prosecutors have identified a 43-year-old German prisoner as a murder suspect The McCanns say they are "realistic" over outcomes of the case given the prisoner's "dreadful" criminal record German and British police have launched a worldwide appeal for information after revealing the suspect in the girl's disappearance is serving time in a German prison for sex offences not related to the case. "In 13 years of helping the McCanns with the media, throughout the whole awful situation, I can't recall any police force — the Portuguese, the British or any other force involved — focusing so specifically on one individual with such detailed requests for such information from the public." Mr Mitchell said Kate and Gerry McCann had never given up hope of finding their daughter alive and that hope was "still keeping them going". 'As years go on, the mind plays tricks' Loading YouTube content Mark Williams-Thomas, an investigative journalist and former detective with Surrey Police for more than a decade, said the announcement by German prosecutors took the investigation to "another level".